NativeScript is an open source framework which is used along with JavaScript to build mobile apps. Here you can easily have mobile apps build for Android, iOS and Windows platforms. The best thing about using NativeScript is that you will be able to offer complete native user experience through your mobile apps as it uses the rendering engine of the native platform. This is the reason why today more focus is on using NativeScript instead of Ionic for hybrid app development with AngularJS.

NativeScript comes with a JavaScript virtual machine, a bridge module and a runtime. JavaScript code gets interpreted and executed by the JavaScript virtual machine. Once it is done the calls are translated by the bridge module to calls that are platform-specific APIs and the result is then returned to the caller. This means with NativeScript the developers can use JavaScript to command the native platform instead of using Java for Android or Objective-C for iOS.

If you wish to build amazing mobile apps with reusable codes and skills, then you should choose to go for NativeScript development with Angular. If you are still thinking about why NativeScript should be used with Angular then keep reading the post.

The present combination of Angular with Ionic for mobile app development

We all know that currently, we have Ionic app development with AngularJS. Ionic is one of the most popular hybrid mobile app development platforms available in the market. This is used along with AngularJS — a popular JavaScript library as frontend SDK.

This combination offers a number of benefits to the developers and businesses and they have been explained here:

— >> Ionic offers several ready-made components for mobiles. This comes with beautiful themes which are extensible and can work with different platforms. You can find here a number of default CSS tools and JavaScript components. They are functional, stylish yet simple.

— >> Ionic can be easily set with standard development SDKs. In order to deploy apps natively, it focuses on native apps which are running inside PhoneGap or Cordova. Similarly, it is easier to use AngularJS as it interacts with backend services and external data.

— >>One of the major benefits of using Ionic is the CLI function. This helps the developers to use a single command to build, create, test and deploy an app over any platform. Some other features which enhance the experience are Logging and Live Reload.

A little Comparison of NativeScript V/s Ionic

NativeScript and Ionic are two popular frameworks available for frontend development. To help you have an understanding of their basic features, we have put up some comparisons here. They are:

->>NativeScript makes use of a combination of JavaScript, XML and a subset of CSS while Ionic makes use of a combination of JavaScript, HTML and a subset of CSS.

->>With Ionic you can build highly interactive apps while using NativeScript you can build native apps for Android and iOS.

->>The ionic framework focuses on building performance apps by making use of latest web technologies while NativeScript focuses on building apps with Native UIs using single codebase.

->>With NativeScript you can access any API or device component directly with JavaScript while with the Ionic framework you will need Apache Cordova plugins for the same.

->>You can create a plugin for NativeScript with the knowledge in JavaScript while you need to know Objective-C or Java to develop Apache Cordova plugins for Ionic.

The mobile app development trends keep on changing and things are not different in case of hybrid app development. Today there is a shift from Ionic to NativeScript. Entrepreneurs choose to go for NativeScript development company to build effective apps with native UIs for their business.

To know more about NativeScript and AngularJS influenced mobile app development, let’s start from here…

What is NativeScript? Where is it used for?

NativeScript is nothing but a framework which is used to build cross-platform mobile applications. You can build apps for Android, iOS and Windows platform using this framework along with JavaScript, CSS and XML. Instead of using WebView for rendering UI of the app like Cordova, NativeScript uses the rendering engine of the native platform to offer complete native user experience.

NativeScript is used to build almost any kind of app –thanks to its native nature! Some of the examples of NativeScript apps are:

Social networking apps and news apps

Simple gaming apps

Geo location apps and maps

Music and video streaming apps

Chat apps

Apps that offer live feeds

Apps that access the hardware device

Why Choose NativeScript? Benefits explained

In case of NativeScript, you can use a single codebase to build apps for Android and iOS platforms. Again, how much modifications you want to make based on the platform needs, completely depends on you. There are a few reasons to choose NativeScript and the same has been mentioned here:

· Native performance:

NativeScript offers native performance for the developed application while making it accessible and beautiful. It comes with native UIs without WebViews. You can easily customize it to set with different devices and screens.

· Cross-platform:

Just by using a single codebase you can write and deploy mobile apps with native features for Android and iOS platforms. You can share existing web-based code by using Angular or Vue.

· Extensible:

By using NativeScript you will be able to access APIs for Android and iOS completely easily. Additionally, you can reuse Android SDKs and CocoaPods as well as find free templates, plugins and samples of application on the Marketplace.

· Easy to learn:

It is easy to get started with NativeScript. Here all you have to do is to use your web skills and then develop native apps by using Native UI markup, CSS and JavaScript.

· Strong support:

NativeScript enjoys the support of NASDAQ: PRGS. They have been developing software for decades now and also offer support to developers for the same. They even offer enterprise support to important projects.

· Free and open source:

NativeScript is open source and free and comes with Apache 2 license.

Latest version of NativeScript

The latest version of NativeScript is 5.3.1. NativeScript 5 enjoys a weekly download of 54,267 and has 16,667 GitHub stars.

Do I have to use Angular?

No there is no need. NativeScript offers complete support for Angular and they ensure to keep themselves up-to-date for the framework. NativeScript offers you the freedom to choose the architecture based on the needs and preference of the applications. In case you want to go for Angular then you can or else you can simply choose to go for JavaScript. If you wish to go ahead with Angular, then you should better hire Angular developer for the job. It also lets you build your app using Babel or TypeScript; as well as offers support for Vue.js integration through its community.

Why and what happens when we Combine NativeScript and Angular?

Having the knowledge of JavaScript can let the developer to build applications for the real world and this should not be limited to the web. When it comes to browser APIs, Angular is fully de-coupled. This way you can remove the browser and plug-in the NativeScript rendering engine and thereby to build native applications which runs on the web.

There are a few reasons to bring together NativeScript with Angular and they are:

Native mobile performance:

Now with NativeScript you can come up with non-compromising apps by using Angular as it helps to offer native UI and high performance. Without having to be an expert of CSS or JavaScript or Android platform you can now have 60fps.

Application structure and plumbing:

Angular will provide all the plumbing which is important to build highly maintainable and quality NativeScript apps. In order to build native apps reuse the Angular concepts like dependency injections, data binding, routing and services.

Code and skill reuse:

Working smart is what matters. So use NativeScript with Angular to build native apps for Android and iOS and use TypeScript with Angular for the web. Moreover, you can even reuse Android Arsenal libraries, native iOS Cocoa Pod and JavaScript npm modules directly with NativeScript.

Angular community:

You get to enjoy an active community of 1 million members for Angular. They will offer you help if you get stuck and even let you have reusable codes which can be used in the NativeScript project directly. By using NativeScript, Angular developers can build native apps for mobile devices.

You can also read the article NativeScript V/s React Native: What To Choose For Cross-Platform App Development

Conclusion

The latest version of AngularJS makes it possible to make it work outside the web browser. The developers of Progress company who developed NativeScript is now working closely with Google developers to make Angular work with NativeScript smoothly. AngularJS follows more of a structured path to build a JavaScript app. It offers better way to load views and modular piece of codes into the application dynamically. This needs less composition, less comprehension demands, cleaner codes and fewer issues. It also comes with features like animations, routing, dependency injections, view orchestration and others. If you want to have native UI, then you can work AngularJS and NativeScript together. This will also help you have a mobile app developed for Android and iOS in less amount of time.