Is PhoneGap a good choice for App Development? [closed]

Answer 1

You're looking for a tool to develop Android version of apps which already exist? So cross-platform ability, which is a key benefit, won't be used?

I'd recommend you to invest some time in native Android development. You are probably familiar with Objective-C, getting into JAVA won't be a tough task. Native apps get better ratings than web apps because of their consistent look (buttons and other layout components) and way better performance. PhoneGap apps run enjoyable on iOS devices but lag even on dual-core Androids like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Getting started:

• Android SDK Download
• Eclipse IDE Download
• Google's Getting Started Training

Answer 2

phonegap works as a native webview with some access to main native features such as gestures camera.... using it you can do whatever you can do in any web app in addition to native features.... so its all depending on your app and what you really want to do

Answer 3

I've been developing with Phonegap quite a while ago.
NOTE: this is all based on my own experience

Pro's:

• You don't need any 'native' experience, only intermediate 'web development skills' will be enough.
• For 95% you don't have to worry if it'll work on both iOS and Android, because Phonegap does all your worries, Just use the Phonegap Libs.
• As for my experience, for iOS it is really easy and fast to test.
  • Another part of my team was building the 'android version'. Don't worry, you don't need to. That was a personal choice. In the end we merged everything together and only needed rechecks on a few things. (e.g. different layouts on different pages. See the Cons for more about this.)

Cons

• You have to think about the buttons you are going to use. Android devices have an own 'back' button. As for iOS you need to develop this in your application. This is a choice of your own, but you might ending up designing two pages.
• Performance wise Phonegap is not the best.. I cannot tell you the exact reason for this, core-wise. Our application didn't need a highly graphical interface, but Phonegap seemed to struggle with 'decent' webpages already. So, when you are planning to build a game or some app that needs high graphical performance, you'd better go native.

Then I did some quick research for you.

• Here I found a nice mobile framework comparison. (via this SO q.)
• Here is a really well-written article comparing Titanium, Phonegap and Native application development.
• Here are pro's and cons listed.

Binding all together, it really depends on the purpose of your application.
When designing a game or other application that needs high graphical performance, you'd better go native programming.
When you are planning to build a light weight application and you already have web development knowledge, I recommend Phonegap.

Answer 4

I have just gone through coming from scratch into trying both native Android and Phonegap. Phonegap can be a good idea if you want to do something on Android which does not require specific phone features not covered by phonegap (because otherwise you will be both working on phonegap and android native for developing phonegap plugins =D).

On the other hand, Android introduces a bit of complexity on the management of the Activity lifecycle which you do not need to worry when you use phonegap.

So, if you do not need a very complex application, but something that could pretty much work well as if it was a simple web application, or if all phone features you need are supported by phonegap, phonegap is perhaps the preferred choice (specially if you are already familiar with web development).

Ah, and off course, you cant expect a phonegap application to have the same performance as a native one. But again, if your performance requirements are not too high, it is perhaps worth considering phonegap.