Overview

Ionic

Stacks9.5K

Followers8.6K

Votes1.8K

Apache Flex

Stacks14

Followers14

Votes0

Apache Flex vs Ionic: What are the differences?

Introduction

Apache Flex and Ionic are both popular frameworks used for developing cross-platform mobile applications. However, there are key differences between the two that developers should consider before choosing one for their projects.

Language and platform compatibility: Apache Flex primarily uses ActionScript and Adobe Flash, while Ionic relies on web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This means that developers with experience in Adobe technologies may find Apache Flex easier to work with, while those more familiar with web development may prefer Ionic.
UI components: Apache Flex provides a rich set of built-in UI components that can be easily customized, whereas Ionic offers a more limited set of UI components that are designed to look and feel like native mobile apps. Depending on the desired look and functionality of the application, developers may choose one framework over the other.
Community support and documentation: Ionic has a larger and more active community compared to Apache Flex, which means that developers are more likely to find resources, tutorials, and support for their projects. This can be crucial for developers who are looking to troubleshoot issues or learn new features.
Integration with native features: Ionic allows for seamless integration with native device features such as GPS, camera, and notifications, making it a preferred choice for applications that require extensive use of these features. Apache Flex, on the other hand, may have limitations in terms of native feature integration.
Performance and speed: Ionic is known for its fast performance and smooth user experience, making it a popular choice for developing high-quality mobile applications. Apache Flex may have performance issues due to its reliance on Adobe Flash technology, especially on older devices.
Development environment: Apache Flex requires the use of Adobe Flash Builder for development, while Ionic can be developed using any text editor or IDE of choice. This difference in development environments may impact the ease of use and accessibility for developers working on projects.

In Summary, Apache Flex and Ionic vary in terms of language compatibility, UI components, community support, integration with native features, performance, and development environment.

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Advice on Ionic, Apache Flex

Anonymous

CEO at ME!

Jun 7, 2020

Decided

While with Ionic it is possible to make mobile applications with only web technologies, Flutter is more performant and is easy to use if you are willing to learn Dart, which is a fun language. Plus, it has awesome documentation and, while its ecosystem isn't near as big as JavaScript's is, it has a good package manager called Pub and its packages are generally high quality.

403k views403k

Comments

Thuan

FE Lead at SOLID ENGINEER

Jun 16, 2020

Decided

Javascripts is the most populated language in the world.
Easy to learn & deployed production
Fast development
Strong community
Completed Documents
Native performance with lower RAM used.
Easy to handle native issues by using native code like Java / Objective C
Powered by Facebook.

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Comments

Melly

Dec 19, 2019

Needs advice

Hi, we are an early startup (with an iPOC prototype) but need to get started on our MVP, and our tech developers in India recommended a hybrid, and they use Ionic, then we spoke with a software company in the US and he recommended Flutter or React Native. Any advice or input for us on the differences between these? Our app will need Bluetooth GPS for "near me" and social media sharing reviews capability, and also link on the backend with businesses. Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

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Detailed Comparison

Ionic	Apache Flex
Free and open source, Ionic offers a library of mobile and desktop-optimized HTML, CSS and JS components for building highly interactive apps. Use with Angular, React, Vue, or plain JavaScript.	It is a software development kit for the development and deployment of cross-platform rich Internet applications based on the Adobe Flash platform.
Performance obsessed;Utilizes Angular and React;Native focused;Beautifully designed;Based on Web Components;	UI components; Buttons; Forms; Containers; Lists; Data grids
Statistics
Stacks 9.5K	Stacks 14
Followers 8.6K	Followers 14
Votes 1.8K	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 248 Allows for rapid prototyping 228 Hybrid mobile 208 It's angularjs 186 Free 179 It's javascript, html, and css Cons 20 Not suitable for high performance or UI intensive apps 15 Not meant for game development 2 Not a native app	No community feedback yet
Integrations
No integrations available	Bootstrap HTML5 CSS 3 .NET for Apache Spark

What are some alternatives to Ionic, Apache Flex?

Flutter

Flutter is a mobile app SDK to help developers and designers build modern mobile apps for iOS and Android.

React Native

React Native enables you to build world-class application experiences on native platforms using a consistent developer experience based on JavaScript and React. The focus of React Native is on developer efficiency across all the platforms you care about - learn once, write anywhere. Facebook uses React Native in multiple production apps and will continue investing in React Native.

Xamarin

Xamarin’s Mono-based products enable .NET developers to use their existing code, libraries and tools (including Visual Studio*), as well as skills in .NET and the C# programming language, to create mobile applications for the industry’s most widely-used mobile devices, including Android-based smartphones and tablets, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

NativeScript

NativeScript enables developers to build native apps for iOS, Android and Windows Universal while sharing the application code across the platforms. When building the application UI, developers use our libraries, which abstract the differences between the native platforms.

Apache Cordova

Apache Cordova is a set of device APIs that allow a mobile app developer to access native device function such as the camera or accelerometer from JavaScript. Combined with a UI framework such as jQuery Mobile or Dojo Mobile or Sencha Touch, this allows a smartphone app to be developed with just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Framework7

It is a free and open source mobile HTML framework to develop hybrid mobile apps or web apps with iOS native look and feel. All you need to make it work is a simple HTML layout and attached framework's CSS and JS files.

Qt

Qt, a leading cross-platform application and UI framework. With Qt, you can develop applications once and deploy to leading desktop, embedded & mobile targets.

PhoneGap

PhoneGap is a web platform that exposes native mobile device apis and data to JavaScript. PhoneGap is a distribution of Apache Cordova. PhoneGap allows you to use standard web technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript for cross-platform development, avoiding each mobile platforms' native development language. Applications execute within wrappers targeted to each platform, and rely on standards-compliant API bindings to access each device's sensors, data, and network status.

Expo

It is a framework and a platform for universal React applications. It is a set of tools and services built around React Native and native platforms that help you develop, build, deploy, and quickly iterate on iOS, Android, and web apps.

Vue Native

Vue Native is a mobile framework to build truly native mobile app using Vue.js. Its is designed to connect React Native and Vue.js. Vue Native is a wrapper around React Native APIs, which allows you to use Vue.js and compose rich mobile User Interface.