Hybrid Mobile Apps: How Ionic + AngularJS Combo Works

Hybrid mobile applications are a necessity if companies today want to maintain a good foothold for mobile applications. In the past, this would have been the exclusive domain of large companies that could afford the R&D necessary to build and maintain websites and mobile applications. But with the rise of newer coding languages and systems to build mobile apps, any brand can leverage the advantages of hybrid applications.

Image source: Olalekan Oladipupo from Pixabay

And this isn’t just relevant to those selling web design services. According to the latest research, more developers are making the switch towards hybrid apps:

• Over 5 million developers around the world are using the Ionic framework for app development. (ionicframework.com)
• Hybrid apps save about 10 to 30% of front-end costs in terms of time and resources. (mlsdev.com)

• 76% of all mobile app users rate the speed and responsiveness of the application as “critically important.” (techbeacon.com)

Two key systems can make this possible: AngularJS and the Ionic framework. In this article, we’ll be looking at how these systems can build and maintain a hybrid mobile application – and the concrete steps you can take to leverage their strengths. 

Defining Terms

What are hybrid applications? They’re applications that have been built to be released on multiple platforms. Unlike native apps that have been designed for a specific operating system like Android or iOS, hybrid apps work equally well on both. Some builds even integrate between the web and mobile versions – but this flexibility comes at the cost of increased load times and server lag.

Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AngularJS_logo.svg

AngularJS is a Google-backed JavaScript framework that makes app development far more simplified. It works by reducing the number of code developers need to write and compile, with the addition of identifying and helping remove extraneous and excess source codes. For hybrid apps that need a very streamlined code to run, using AngularJS is crucial.

Image source:https://ionicframework.com/

Ionic is a new method of adding elements to the front end of mobile applications, removing the need to program and code each one. This allows developers to just pick features they want to add, instead of building them from the ground up. Not only that, but Ionic puts a lot of emphasis on UX and UI, allowing apps to have a more confident balance between form and function.

The reason these two work so well is that they’re built that way: Ionic backs up the client end development with AngularJS, and AngularJS provides a good foundation for Ionic to express the point of the app on the front-end. Combined, these two make a potent combination that makes the performance of hybrid applications come closer to native ones.

Best Practices For Using Ionic and AngularJS Frameworks

But how can you bring out the best of a hybrid application using these two frameworks? Here are our tips:

#1. Reuse Code For Different Platforms And Systems

Hybrid apps powered by Ionic and AngularJS share the same code structure, so there’s no need for you to put in extra code for cross-platform features. Keep your front and back end consistent across your app, and these two frameworks will do the rest.

Simple is better, and if you let the framework do most of the work, you’ll be able to save quite a bit in terms of operational costs and resources required.

#2. Implement Three-Way Data Binding Capability

Image source: https://www.slideshare.net/anantn/ngconf14-firebase

Most AngularJS models implement two-way binding, which reflects the changes to the scope and model at the same time. While this approach is great for applications that require little user input, it becomes inefficient when there’s a third factor that changes your model (in this case, user changes) so that the changes reflect in your scope.

There are three advantages to this approach:

• It’s a real-time reflection of all the changes made from all sources.
• It removes the need for manual adjustments to your scope and model.
• It promotes user-to-user interaction and engagement via your mobile app.

This is great for applications that rely on communal content, such as chat applications or other broadcast systems. 

#3. Clean Up And Introduce UI Elements

Image source: 200 Degrees from Pixabay

The main disadvantage of using hybrid systems in the past was that the coding was too complex to incorporate a streamlined, smooth UI experience like native apps. But the Ionic framework has an impressive collection of UI elements that you can integrate into your code, allowing you to create a customer-centric mobile app.

This isn’t just so you can flex your app development skills: most research shows that people consider the interface a critical component in using their applications. While UI should not be prioritized at the expense of the back end, what people see is still something that matters a lot for any mobile app.

#4. Create Custom Components

Another issue you might have run into when creating hybrid apps is the difficulty in creating splash and icons for different platforms. Because of the different resolutions, screen sizes, and display settings on different mobile devices, your visual assets would look different on each device.

While you had to incorporate each graphic package per device, Ionic can create these visuals for you if you upload a master image. The framework creates and adjusts these assets per device.

#5. Lean Into Cross-Platform Compatibility

Image source: Coffee Bean from Pixabay

While native apps still hold the edge in terms of raw performance and packed features, hybrid applications have a wider reach across platforms. This can be handy if your mobile application encourages peer-to-peer sharing or cross-connection since you’re not limited by the device or even coding framework.

If your mobile apps do this, make sure that you advertise this. Not only can this help you secure a wider audience, but it can also help to make hybrid monetization models possible. Cross-platform compatibility also secures user-to-user engagement, giving you a wider market to push the use of your app on.

#6. Implement A Coding Style Guide With AngularJS

Image source: Artur Czuba from Pixabay

Your back end development may comprise many engineers that have their own experiences and coding styles. This leans into the multi-area approach of hybrid applications, but there’s a danger that having too many styles of code will crash your systems.

That’s why you must create a coding style guide for these applications. Not only does this play to the strength of AngularJS and it’s simplified coding framework, but it also helps lessen the work needed to be done with Ionic to accommodate these changes.

#7. Let Ionic Still Be The Face Of Your Application

Image source: https://ionicframework.com/docs

While AngularJS can carry the backbone of an application, it’s important to not undercut the usefulness of the front-end development capabilities of Ionic. Your Ionic framework should still inform some part of your back end construction according to best design practices and other research since it’s your best (and most of the time, only) chance of getting your users to enjoy your UI.

Hybrid Apps: Form And Function

It’s not technologically workable to create a mobile application that will work on every device. But hybrid applications are your best bet of bridging the gap between native apps and the generalized nature of devices. If you want your mobile app to succeed on multiple platforms, building it on a hybrid framework is non-negotiable.

AngularJS and Ionic are two frameworks that make this process far easier for your code. Not only are they designed to work with each other, but with the right methods and mindset, you can bring out the strengths of each system while covering for the weaknesses of the other.

What do you think the future of mobile apps will look like? Let us know in the comments below.