Current Frameworks
| Feature | Apache Cordova | Appspresso | AppFurnace | Application Craft | iUI | NS Basic/App Studio | WorkLight | QuickConnectFamily | Big5Apps (discontinued) | Rhodes | Appcelerator Titanium | MobileReflex | iPFaces | MoSync | Canappi | Jmango | mobl | Sencha Touch | NEXT | Jembe | codenameone | Kivy | AMPchroma | Enyo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Website | cordova.apache.org | appspresso.com | appfurnace.com | applicationcraft.com | iui-js.org | nsbasic.com | worklight.com | quickconnectfamily.org | big5apps.com | rhomobile.com | appcelerator.com | mobilereflex.com | ipfaces.org | mosync.com | canappi.com | j-mango.com/web | mobl-lang.org | sencha.com | nextinterfaces.com | www.jembe.fr | codenameone.com | kivy.org | enyojs.com | ||
| Open Source License | Apache Public License v2 | closed source freeware | No | No | MIT | No | No | MIT | GPL v2 | MIT | Apache Public License v2, Proprietary | No | closed source freeware | GPL v2 (+ commercial edition) | Generated Native Code | MIT | GPL v3 (+commercial edition) | Apache License v2.0 | No | No | LGPL 3 | No | Apache License v2.0 | ||
| Free? | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Framework target | Embedded applications | Embedded applications | Embedded applications | Web, Native and Enterprise Applications | Web Applications | Web Applications | Embedded and Enterprise Applications | Embedded and Enterprise Applications | Web applications | Embedded applications | Embedded applications | Enterprise Applications | Enterprise Applications | Hybrid, Native and Enterprise Applications | Enterprise Applications | Web applications | Web applications | Embedded and Enterprise Applications | Embedded and Enterprise Applications | Hybrid, Native and Enterprise Applications | Web applications | ||||
| Development languages | HTML, JavaScript and CSS | HTML, JavaScript and CSS | JavaScript | JavaScript, HTML and CSS | JavaScript, HTML and CSS | BASIC, JavaScript, HTML and CSS | JavaScript, HTML and CSS, Native code or a combination of both | JavaScript, HTML, CSS for mobile and desktop apps. Objective-C, C++, PHP, Java, Erlang for Desktop and Server apps | HTML, JavaScript | HTML, JavaScript, Ruby | HTML, JavaScript, (PHP, Ruby & Python for Desktop apps) | Java ME, C#, Objective-C, JavaScript, Java, CSS for mobile and desktop apps. | PHP, ASP.NET, Java | C/C++, JavaScript, HTML and CSS | Objective-C, Java, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Silverlight | mobl | HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript | GWT, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Java | HTML, JavaScript and CSS | Java | Python | HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Java, Native code or a combination of both | HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript | ||
| Platforms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| iOS support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Android support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | On Roadmap | Yes | Yes | Beta | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Windows Phone support | Yes | On roadmap | No | Yes | Yes | Yes, via Cordova | Yes | On roadmap | ? | Yes | On roadmap | Yes | On roadmap | Yes | On roadmap | Yes | On roadmap | On roadmap | Beta version | No | Yes | Yes | |||
| BlackBerry support | Yes | No | No | Yes | Limited models | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Beta version | Yes | Beta version | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | On roadmap | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | |||
| Symbian support | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes, via Cordova | For web apps | No | ? | Yes | ? | On roadmap | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ? | No | No | No | |||
| Palm WebOS support | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | For web apps | No | ? | No | ? | On roadmap | ? | ? | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| WAC support | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Other Device support | Bada | Tablets, desktop and web environments | Tablets, desktop and web environments | Tablets, desktop and web environments | Linux & Mac OS | Tablets and Windows (Win32) | Windows, Linux & Mac OS | Linux, Windows | Java ME beta version, general web browser through XSLT | Java ME, Moblin, Windows Mobile | Tablets | Webkit/Firefox desktop browsers | Webkit desktop browsers (Chrome, Safari) | Bada, BlackBerry PlayBook, MeeGo | Windows, Linux & Mac OS | Tablets | Tablet, desktop and web environments, Tizen, Firefox OS | ||||||||
| General | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Without recompiling development | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | Yes, for web apps | |
| Enterprise data synchronization | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes, via RhoConnect | No | No | On roadmap | On roadmap | Yes | No | ? | ? | Yes | ? | |||||
| Multi-Threaded Applications | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes, via Ruby | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | ? | Partial (Python based.) | Yes | ||||||
| File uploading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes, via Cordova | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes | No | Yes, via Cordova | |||||
| Image Library Browsing | No | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes, via Cordova | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | On roadmap | Yes | On roadmap | ? | Yes | No | Yes, via Cordova | |||||
| In Application Email | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | ? | Yes | No | ? | |||||
| Application distribution support | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes, via RhoGallery | Yes, via Cloud Services | AppStore, Cloud Services | AppStore, Cloud Services | On roadmap | No | No | ? | Yes | Yes | ||||||
| Distribution analytics | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes, via Cloud Services | AppStore, Cloud Services | AppStore, Cloud Services | On roadmap | No | No | ? | No | Yes | ||||||
| Self contained, no web required | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, Mobile | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes, Offline Support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, Offline Support | Yes, Offline Support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, Offline Support | Yes | ||
| Web Services | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes (XML/JSON AJAX) | ? | Yes (REST or SOAP with JSON or XML) | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes (PHP/MySQL - XML/JSON - HTTP/SOAP) | Yes(JSON) | Yes (JSONP, JSON) | Yes (JSONP, JSON, GWT RPC) | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes (JSONP, JSON) | ||
| Mobile APIs support | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes (Sencha Touch, JQTouch, etc.) | Yes | Yes (Sencha Touch, JQTouch, etc.) | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes (Simple Connector Architecture, Facebook, Twitter, RSS, Twilio, Zillow, ...) | Yes | Yes | Yes (In progress) | Yes | ||||||
| Able to access the web for data | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
| Geolocation support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cell ID, GPS, DRM | Yes | Yes | On roadmap | Yes | ? | On roadmap | Yes | Yes, via Cordova or browser | |||
| Vibration support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, via Cordova | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | On roadmap | Yes | ? | Yes | No | Yes, via Cordova | |||||
| Accelerometer support | Yes, BlackBerry requires OS 4.7 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | On roadmap | On roadmap | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes, via Cordova | ||||
| Sound (play) support | Yes | On roadmap | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | Yes, via Cordova or HTML5 Audio | |||||
| Sound (record) support | Yes | On roadmap | No | Yes | ? | Yes, via Cordova | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | On roadmap | On roadmap | ? | Yes | No | Yes, via Cordova | |||||
| Camera support | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes, via Cordova | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | In beta | Yes | Yes, via Cordova | Yes, via Cordova | Yes | ? | On roadmap | Yes | Yes, via Cordova | |||
| Zeroconf (Bonjour) support | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Partial | No | No | No | No | No | ? | Yes (external) | No | ||||||
| XMPP support | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes, via Cordova | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Via JS | No | ? | ? | No | No | ? | Yes (external) | No | Yes, via Cordova | |||||
| File system IO support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes, via Cordova | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, via Cordova | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes, via Cordova | ||||
| Gesture / Multi-touch support | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Device Motion Event (accelerometer) support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes (iOS) | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes, via Cordova | ||||
| Device Orientation Event (accelerometer) support | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes (iOS) | Yes | ? | On roadmap | Yes | Yes, via Cordova | ||||
| Native date/time picker support | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | ||||
| SMS support | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Sending | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? | On roadmap | No | ? | |||
| Telephone support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? | On roadmap | No | Yes | ||
| Maps support | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Beta | On the roadmap | Yes | ? | No | No | Yes | |||||
| Orientation change support | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
| Contact support | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes, via Cordova | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | No | Through Cordova | Through Cordova | On roadmap | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes, via Cordova | |||
| SQLite support | Yes, not possible on BlackBerry | On roadmap | Yes | Yes, not possible on BlackBerry | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | On roadmap | No Uses onboard storage and back-end databases via service layer | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | Yes, based on device support | ||||
| Native Language Application Development support | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes, via Rhodes extensions | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||||
| Graph Library Support | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes, via HTML5 SVG or Canvas | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes, via HTML5 SVG or Canvas | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | ? | Yes | No | Compatible with other libraries | |||||
| Other notes | XML-driven UI. | transparent caching of resources & data | Accelerated with OpenGL ES 2. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Read more about this topic: Multiple Phone Web-based Application Framework
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