Ionic vs PWA

Overview

Ionic

Stacks9.5K

Followers8.6K

Votes1.8K

PWA

Stacks86

Followers132

Votes0

Ionic vs PWA: What are the differences?

Ionic and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are both technologies used for developing mobile applications. Let's explore the key differences between them.

Development Approach: Ionic is a hybrid mobile app development framework that uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build mobile apps that can be deployed on multiple platforms. On the other hand, Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are web applications that can be accessed through a web browser, but offer a mobile app-like experience with features like offline functionality and push notifications.
Platform and Device Access: With Ionic, developers have access to native device features and APIs through plugins, allowing them to leverage device capabilities such as camera, GPS, and accelerometer. PWAs, being web applications, do not have direct access to most native device features, although ongoing browser advancements are gradually improving this limitation.
Distribution and Installation: Ionic apps are distributed and installed through app stores (like Google Play Store and Apple App Store), just like native apps. PWAs, on the other hand, are accessed directly through a web browser, eliminating the need for app store distribution and installation. Users can simply access a PWA by typing in the URL or saving it to their home screen like a bookmark.
Offline Functionality: Ionic applications can leverage offline functionality through the use of local storage and caching techniques. However, this requires additional implementation and can vary in effectiveness across different platforms. PWAs, on the other hand, are designed to work offline by default, thanks to technologies like Service Workers which allow caching of resources and data.
App Performance: Ionic apps may exhibit slightly lower performance compared to native apps due to the underlying web technologies. While performance improvements have been made in Ionic through optimizations and the use of tools like Capacitor, the performance may still not be on par with native apps. PWAs, being web-based, may also not provide the same level of performance as native apps, but advancements in browser capabilities are constantly improving PWA performance.
App Store Approval Process: Ionic apps are subject to the app store approval process imposed by platforms like Apple and Google. This process ensures that apps meet certain standards, guidelines, and security measures before being made available to users. PWAs, being accessed through a web browser, do not undergo a strict app store approval process, allowing for more flexibility and ease of deployment.

In summary, Ionic is a framework that allows developers to build cross-platform mobile applications using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It provides a set of UI components and tools to create native-like mobile experiences. On the other hand, PWA is a web application development approach that leverages modern web capabilities to provide a user experience similar to that of native mobile apps. PWAs can be accessed through a web browser and offer features such as offline support, push notifications, and the ability to install on the device's home screen, making them a compelling alternative to traditional mobile apps.

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Advice on Ionic, PWA

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.

666k views666k

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!

540k views540k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Ionic	PWA
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.	Building a high-quality Progressive Web App has incredible benefits, making it easy to delight your users, grow engagement and increase conversions.It is intended to work on any platform that uses a standards-compliant browser.
Performance obsessed;Utilizes Angular and React;Native focused;Beautifully designed;Based on Web Components;	offline, performance, speed, app
Statistics
Stacks 9.5K	Stacks 86
Followers 8.6K	Followers 132
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	Pros 1 Free 1 Doesn't need a native building tools/sdk 1 It's javascript, html, and css 1 Allows for rapid prototyping Cons 1 Adoption across mobile OSes varies

What are some alternatives to Ionic, PWA?

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.

Related Comparisons

Ionic vs PWA: What are the differences?

Ionic and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are both technologies used for developing mobile applications. Let's explore the key differences between them.

Development Approach: Ionic is a hybrid mobile app development framework that uses HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build mobile apps that can be deployed on multiple platforms. On the other hand, Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are web applications that can be accessed through a web browser, but offer a mobile app-like experience with features like offline functionality and push notifications.
Platform and Device Access: With Ionic, developers have access to native device features and APIs through plugins, allowing them to leverage device capabilities such as camera, GPS, and accelerometer. PWAs, being web applications, do not have direct access to most native device features, although ongoing browser advancements are gradually improving this limitation.
Distribution and Installation: Ionic apps are distributed and installed through app stores (like Google Play Store and Apple App Store), just like native apps. PWAs, on the other hand, are accessed directly through a web browser, eliminating the need for app store distribution and installation. Users can simply access a PWA by typing in the URL or saving it to their home screen like a bookmark.
Offline Functionality: Ionic applications can leverage offline functionality through the use of local storage and caching techniques. However, this requires additional implementation and can vary in effectiveness across different platforms. PWAs, on the other hand, are designed to work offline by default, thanks to technologies like Service Workers which allow caching of resources and data.
App Performance: Ionic apps may exhibit slightly lower performance compared to native apps due to the underlying web technologies. While performance improvements have been made in Ionic through optimizations and the use of tools like Capacitor, the performance may still not be on par with native apps. PWAs, being web-based, may also not provide the same level of performance as native apps, but advancements in browser capabilities are constantly improving PWA performance.
App Store Approval Process: Ionic apps are subject to the app store approval process imposed by platforms like Apple and Google. This process ensures that apps meet certain standards, guidelines, and security measures before being made available to users. PWAs, being accessed through a web browser, do not undergo a strict app store approval process, allowing for more flexibility and ease of deployment.

Ionic vs PWA

Overview