Pick Your Own Mobile Development Framework: Phonegap vs Titanium
Pick Your Own Mobile Development Framework: Phonegap vs Titanium
There are so many debates and discussion about which one the best cross platform mobile development framework out there. And there are 2 mobile framework that most adopted by developer right now, it’s Phonegap and Titanium. They can help you to develop a multi platform mobile application, including 2 most popular operating system iOs and Android.
Both framework is a mobile framework that make you able to develop your mobile app using web development skills like HTML, JS, and CSS. But the big difference between both of them is Titanium compile your codes to native code that running on mobile devices, but Phonegap take different ways, it’s has built in browser that render your code and show it as full screen web page on your mobile devices. Your app that using Phonegap will communicate with device through Javascript API.
From description below some of you think that Titanium has approach a better way because it’s native. Native might always has better performance, but I’m not sure with this statement. But for me, just like in web development environment that performance not always a big factor to choose a framework. The development comfortability is my main factor to pick a framework. That’s why I choose Phonegap instead Titanium.
Phonegap development not changes the way how you write a web. You still can use HTML, JS, and CSS to write your mobile web that run as mobile app. But Titanium need to use their own style, which mostly using Javascript to build the app. It’s hard to stylish your app using CSS with Titanium because to build the user interface you declare the UI element in Javascript and Titanium will convert it UI element like input box, dropdown, etc. Basically it’s need you to learn a new approach but using your web development skills.
But if you use Phonegap for your mobile app framework, you need to be carefully choose your Javascript framework. There are some discussions told me that JQTouch is too slow for Phonegap. XUIJS is a Javascript Framework that designed for mobile app will be better to use with Phonegap. Use CSS 3 animation is better than use Javascript effect because it’s use hardware acceleration on some mobile OS like iOS and Android.
So pick your own mobile development framework or go to native development if you want to focus on one mobile OS. But my suggestion is always choose a framework that make you comfort with development, not because it’s performance, features, or any brain washing statement out there.