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Which Android/iPhone Cross Platform Framework for 2015? [closed]

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Three years ago I explored the option of using PhoneGap for one of my app developments. I found it extremely hard at the time to integrate with Facebook and connect to the camera and read a barcode. I ended up giving up and writing the app natively - and don't regret it.
But three years are past and I am wondering if I should be looking at this possibility again. I need JSON communications with my backend, facebook integration, swipeable cards (like tinder) and internal persistence.
I've noticed that the big players currently are:
Sencha
PhoneGap
Appcelerator Titanium
Corona
Xamarin
Did I forget any?
So, is anyone using any of the frameworks I've mentioned below and could tell me how mature they are these days?
Thank you

I am biased towards Appcelerator Titanium because I've been using it for years, however, I would still highly recommend it.
PhoneGap, Sencha and Corona basically all are website wrappers for your mobile phone. They do offer API support for stuff like camera, but it will still be HTML. HTML on a phone will always run slower than native implementation. Although you might not always notice it as a user, as a developer you need to spend a LOT of time optimizing so users will not notice it.
Xamarin I do not have experience with, but I heard is is basically Titanium, but a smaller community and much more expensive. I would consider that a no-go as opposed to Titanium.
So, I would recommend Titanium. But even though you build the app in JavaScript/XML it still will be compiled to use the Native API's, and the UI is actually native code manipulated by JavaScript in the backend. All UI interactions and building of UI will happen on native ground and will be much quicker.
Another alternative you haven't mentioned is React Native. Also in the same space as Titanium and Xamarin, but I personally do not really like the code structure for it. Titanium (by using Alloy, not classic) is pretty solid, and MVC.

Be sure to check out the following slideshow:
http://www.slideshare.net/joshcjensen/connectjs-2015-building-native-mobile-applications-with-javascript
It gives you a good overview about Titanium, Native Script and React Native.
And its good to know, that Appcelerator is creating "Hyperloop" (demo code: https://speakerdeck.com/fokkezb/titanium-develop-native-mobile-apps-with-javascript?slide=19 ) and there is a preview already. That allows you to use native code in Javascript without creating external modules and gives you even more system access.(use xcode projects inside your app, use CocoaPods, ...)

Sencha is really good Framework to make cross plateform web mobile and native application. You can go with this but before gone through you should read about this.
https://www.sencha.com/
https://www.sencha.com/business-web-applications-why-sencha/#developers

Intel’s Multi-OS Engine is a technology that enables developers using their Java expertise to develop native mobile applications for iOS and Android on Windows and/or OS X development host machines without compromising the native look, feel and performance. This technology is a stand-alone plug-in that can be integrated into Android Studio.
It's free and let's you write code and create UI easily in Android Studio. You can generate API for 3rd party libraries in Java etc.
More details and the download link are here: https://software.intel.com/en-us/multi-os-engine
One more tool it called XDK. The Intel XDK cross-platform development environment enables software developers to develop, test, preview and deploy HTML5 web and hybrid apps: https://software.intel.com/en-us/intel-xdk

Xamarin vs Titanium Appcelerator? [closed]

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I developed a Native Android App, now the requirement is that the developed app needs to be in a cross platform like Xamarin or Titanium Appcelerator, now please some Experts Software Engineers Suggest me that which cross platform should I choose and why? If I choose Xamarin then what are the advantages and disadvantages of Xamarin and if I choose Titanium Appcelerator then what are the advantages and disadvantages of titanium?? Any help will be highly appreciated.

Some factors where the 2 are different (or not).
Price
By now, both cost money. Xamarin has a useless (only very small apps) free version, paid versions start at 25$/mo. https://store.xamarin.com/
Titanium Studio used to be free, but they unfortunately changd it few weeks ago. Existing free users are moved to a free lifetime indie license (which is nice!), new ones have to pay, minimum of 39$/mo. http://www.appcelerator.com/pricing/
Also, the most recent version of Titanium is invitation-only and though I got an invitation to register for invitation, I am still waiting for weeks now to be accepted.
So Xamarin has a slight edge here - by now - though you also need to see what you want to do. Indie edition is ok to get everything "normal" done, though it lacks the Visual Studio integration.
Platforms supported
Xamarin supports Android and iOS, WinPhone is supported since .net runs on WP.
Titanium supports Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Web, WinPhone is said to be supported but does not work at all. https://developer.appcelerator.com/question/181588/how-to-update-to-preview-to-do-windows-development-the-requested-sdk-version-does-not-have-an-assigned-commands-handler
Titanium Studio with Windows Phone Plugin: Titanium SDK does not support the Windows platform This - should - work with the new version 4, which is rumored to be available, but I have not seen it (though I tried).
So, if you want WinPhone, use Xamarin, if you want BlackBerry, use Appcelerator.
IDE
Xamarin has Visual Studio integration (Business edition or higher), which is great. Visual Studio is just one of the best, perhaps the best, IDEs out there. Xamarin Studio is so so.
Titanium Studio is so so, similar to Xamarin Studio.
Installation and Ease of Use
Xamarin has an all-in-one installer that takes some time, but then you can start. It just works. Xamarin has very frequent updates (every few weeks), which it sometimes needs, since certain features are broken is certain versions.
Getting Titanium Studio to work is often a hassle. I had to (this is not documented!) use Java 1.6 32Bit, which can be difficult since normally one updates his Java. Officiall, Java 1.8 is supported, but this just did not work for me. Titanium Studio is way more difficult to set up. Titanium has infrequent udpates, less than once a month.
Language
Xamarin is C#. You get a great, typed language, that scales from small to very complex applications, and has great language constructs for complex data types and scenarios
Titanium is JS. You get a good dynamic language that is very flexible, and is mainly for small, flexible applications.
You can create good programs in both languages, it is a little more difficult in Javascript.
Both compile to native.
You can use both the many js (Titanium) and .net (Xamarin) libraries and frameworks out there.
Cross-Platform
Xamarin introduced Xamarin.Forms last year to provide cross-platform GUI. It is working, though a lot still is missing, like orientation needs to be implemented manually.
Using cross-platform hardware also is not easy. There are addons that you really should check out like xlabs https://github.com/XLabs/Xamarin-Forms-Labs though I have found not a single feature there to be working (of the ones I tried). Bug request were handled quickly though so I would assume this product to mature and eventually be very very helpful to allow having 1 code base for all platforms with very very little platform dependent code (just the DI part).
Titanium I have not really used much for this so I cannot really comment.
The Rest
Communities are large for both products.
Appcelerator has a free university program (videos to watch/download). Xamarin has an expensive university program, but that includes tutoring and small web classes. There also are free videos.
Appcelerator seems to need to make money by now. Xamarin always needed to make money, they have some backing by Microsoft by now, which is helpful of course.
Most important is probably your language background. it is not the most important, since you will still need to learn a lot about mobile and each platform as well.
Also, check out the competition: PhonGap/Cordova, and some new, smaller players, some C# and some C++ based.
Xamarin 2.0 vs Appcelerator Titanium vs PhoneGap
Comparison between Corona, Phonegap, Titanium
In your specific case: Java and C# are very very similar, much more than Java and Javascript.
You can get a free trial of the business version and also extend it a few times if you directly contact customer support and have good reasons - so I was told.

Months ago we had to choose between those 2 solutions. Our decision was made by the price of Xamarin which is really expensive when titanium is totally free. There is also more doc on Titanium and a bigger community due to his price.
The main disadvantage for me about titanium is that you absolutely need an internet connection to work with it. It's really annoying because you cannot open any project without wifi.

This decision is a matter of preference and requirements. With regards to developing a complex mobile app, I personally feel like the debugging and profiling tools that a strongly typed language framework gives you (such as Xamarin) are far better than those offered by developing a complex app in a weakly typed language framework (such as Titanium). Both offer you the full extent of the native mobile platform APIs (a characteristic that I personally consider essential), but Xamarin offers the following advantages:
the strongly typed and highly expressive C# and F# languages
great IDEs, like Visual Studio and Xamarin Studio
a vibrant and active community of developers
great profiling tools
Xamarin Insights for detailed post-deployment app performance monitoring
I'm a bit biased because I really enjoy doing Xamarin development. But I feel like 4 years in the mobile dev industry has given me a great deal of perspective on the options.
Again, as long as each framework provides full access to every bit of the mobile platform APIs, it really does boil down to preference. But my vote is very much for Xamarin.

Is developing an application for Android using Lua only possible?

So I read this article on Mobile Orchard and, as I'm planning on having my first steps in Android development, it got me thinking: is it possible to develop for Android in Lua only? I Googled the topic but found no definitive answer. I know Java is the "base style" for Android but for the coding newbie which I am (elementary Python, basic C++), Lua seems somehow clearer and more friendly. Then here goes my question: can one develop an Android app using Lua only? If so, could you please show me some directions to move from here?

I've been developing a mobile application in Lua to control robots remotely from iOS and Android phones. The app is in pure Lua and runs on top of Mosync platform using MobileLua. There is still some plumbing required, but it's not too complex.
I also have a debugger and a Lua IDE (ZeroBraneStudio) that support debugging of Lua scripts running remotely (including MobileLua scripts running on Android or iOS devices). I provide a demo app you can use as a client to run simple scripts and check remote debugging in action.
[Update] If you are interested in more game oriented options, there are several available: (1) already mentioned Corona SDK, (2) Moai, and (3) Gideros Mobile. There is also Marmalade Quick and Cocos2d-x Lua bindings (for example, quick-cocos2d-x). All these toolkits/frameworks allow to develop in Lua.
Here is a detailed comparison of Moai vs. Corona.

I know this is an older question, but just to correct some misinformation (in the comments) for people who come later, Corona SDK (as of spring 2013) has a Starter Edition which is free -- no splash screen or anything. The main difference between it and the "Pro" version is you can't do in-app purchases in the Starter Edition. But you can use it to create apps for sale, etc. No expiration date on it or anything.
And in answer to the original question, learning Java may allow you to write Android apps, but if you then also want to target iOS you don't have any great options. By choosing something that's cross-platform from the beginning you can target Android or iOS or both. Lua (in any of the flavors already mentioned) is a great base language to learn for mobile development.

The question is what kind of app do you want to build and what skills do you have. If you are already familiar with JavaScript there is Phonegap/Cordova. If you are building games there are a number of frameworks for 2D and 3D which use Lua. Some are free, others have licensing fees but are worth it if it provides a solution to your problem. All have pros and cons. For example I'm not sure if I would want to build an RSS reader in a game framework. Java is just another language, I would recommend just learning Java and the Android framework to start and knowing what is there before adding another application specific framework layer on top.

Corona SDK allows you to write iOS and Android apps in Lua. Its very easy to learn, but its not free.
Edit:
I saw you posted that you found Corona just after I sent my post...

You can try http://scormpool.com/luastudio
Develop and run code on your device including iOS, Android, Mac, Win.
Exporter can help you to make standalone app on listed above platforms.

This may not be useful to the OP, however for other people interested in using lua to write their apps, I'd share my thoughts. So to answer the question:
Yes, you can use only lua to write apps for android using LuaJava from the kepler project (though I don't believe its being maintained anymore). You can create and manipulate Java objects seemlessly, and interact with the Android APIs through lua. You can even create UI elements dynamically using just lua. However, a small amount of java bootstrap code is needed to start the lua VM from your app. The AndroLua project is a great place to start for Android. The creator has done a lot of work making lua work with Android and packaging it all into an app. From experience I can say it works great! However, I would in no way recommend this to a beginner, as it requires a lot of knowledge about java and lua to make things work, meaning more work not less.
For AndroLua, just clone the repo and use that as a base for your own app. Last time I used it, I just imported it into android-studio, and after fixing a few problems with my own setup, had it compiling and running on my device.

If only pure Lua then the answer is no.. unless you want to use a lot of libraries
If you want to make little Android app/games then use a game engine, learning is a step by step process, don't dive straight into the hard part.

Kivy for Android apps [closed]

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I've just started diving into the Android world. I have a lot of experience programming apps in Python, so I've searching for a good combination "Android + Python", and I think I've found it: Kivy.
I need to make applications that are able to download and upload content from the internet, maybe some connection with the map component included in Android and more stuff to make a nice Android app.
But I really don't want to waste my time on something that maybe won't work. So, does anyone has some experience developing Android apps using Kivy? Is it really useful, simple, possible? Or is there a better option you have in mind?

I've been using and contributing to kivy for some time, and using it for a big application intended for market. Although still not as complete as native developpment (not sure if using the map Android API is possible at all, but there are alternatives), it works very well, with good performance. The kv language for rapid prototyping is really cool.
And as bonus points, your apps work on windows/linux/mac/ios too… (we still have to try getting on apple store, but technically it works). edit: to this day at least one kivy app has been accepted on apple market, look for "deflectouch" if you are interrested.
As opposed to SL4A, you get a real apk to distribute, with kivy as well as a very nice and slick GUI api, fitted for multitouch apps.

I believe KivyMaps is pretty similar to what you are trying to do.
If you avoid non-Android platform specific code then your application, should run on Android without any problems.
I suggest looking at Python for Android also, it's a sister project of Kivy aiming to help you create your own Python distribution including the modules you want, and create an apk including python, libs, and your application. Specifically look at its native API wrappers for Android. The project is new so only a few native API's are supported but it might give you an idea on as to how to go about creating a wrapper for Android location service API's if you need that.
As for the Google maps external library, I agree with tshirtman. I'm not sure how it could be used but as the KiviMaps link above highlights there are alternative approaches available.

I have very little experience with it. But I do know that
SL4A (Scripting Layer For Android) does support writing Android applications with Python as well. Might be worth looking into that a bit before you make your decision of what to use.

Kivy is Cross-platform Python Framework for NUI Development.
It is Good for some prototyping android app. You can use Kivy Launcher for more fast test.
You can use python library so fast development for feature.
You can use pyjnius for accessing java classes for java based feature.
I suggest you to reading Kivy Interactive Applications in Python book for newbie.
But in some deeper depth, you should know how to use basic widget carefully.
Because some confusing concept is there. For canvas, it's different concept in html5. Kivy language's class rule and class is some confusing for newbie.
And for android app, there is some difficult to use not basic supported library like Beautiful Soup(famous html and xml parser library).

Will Google Android ever support .NET? [closed]

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Now that the G1 with Google's Android OS is now available (soon), will the android platform ever support .Net?

Update: Since I wrote this answer two years ago, we productized Mono to run on Android. The work included a few steps: porting Mono to Android, integrating it with Visual Studio, building plugins for MonoDevelop on Mac and Windows and exposing the Java Android APIs to .NET languages. This is now available at http://monodroid.net
Getting Started: http://monodroid.net/Welcome
Documentation: http://monodroid.net/Documentation
Tutorials: http://monodroid.net/Tutorials
Mono on Android is based on the Mono 2.10 runtime, and defaults to 4.0 profile with the C# 4.0 compiler and uses Mono's new SGen garbage collection engine, as well as our new distributed garbage collection system that performs GC across Java and Mono.
The links below reflect Mono on Android as of January of 2009, I have kept them for historical context
Mono now works on Android thanks to the work of Koushik Dutta and Marc Crichton.
You can see a video of it running here: http://www.koushikdutta.com/2009/01/mono-on-android-with-gratuitous-shaky.html
And you can get the instructions to build Mono yourself here: http://www.koushikdutta.com/2009/01/building-mono-for-android.html
You can get a benchmark comparing Mono's JIT vs Dalvik's interpreter here: http://www.koushikdutta.com/2009/01/dalvik-vs-mono.html
And of course, you can get a pre-configured image with Mono here (go to the bottom of the post for details on using that): http://www.koushikdutta.com/2009/01/building-mono-for-android.html

Yes, it will be possible and it won't be that difficult. All what's needed at this point to start with is some kind of converter that will turn MSIL into Dalvik bytecode. Since both formats are open-sourced and well documented, there won't be any problem with it.
So, writing Android applications in C# or VB.NET will be possible, question is how much of .NET framework standard libraries will be supported. But that's another issue.
Oscar Reyes wrote:
I'm pretty sure if google hand ANY
interest in .net, they would've design
something while Android was in the
first stages, not now when they are in
production stages. I don't mean it is
not possible, what I'm saying is
they're not interested. Maybe in mmm
hhhh 10 yrs.
Actually what they've already designed is very compatible with Java and .NET
They can't do everything at once, but if you look into Android SDK, there is a tool called dx. This tool converts Java bytecode into Dalvik bytecode, so in other words, you can run programs written in Java on Android with no effort today. Now the same tool is needed for .NET.
Considering how similar .NET and Java are, it's really a matter of time.
ddimitrov wrote:
The .Net->Java->Dalvik translation can
be done even now
(http://dev.mainsoft.com/), but I
think you underestimate the lack of
.Net libraries. Of course somebody can
port Mono, but it's definitely a
non-trivial effort.
No need to port Mono. Android already has VM and some basic API. All what's needed is CIL->Dalvik converter and tiny .NET wrapper for Android API (and maybe some basic implementation of some standard .NET classes). That's it.
Update: .NET already works on Android - you will need product called Monodroid (http://monodroid.net) as stated above.

Miguel de Icaza's announced on his blog on the 17th of Feb 2010 that they are starting work on mono for android which will be called MonoDroid.
This will be similar to MonoTouch on the iphone but for android instead.
It will provide binding to the android UI, so apps will look and feel live native android apps. This will require you to write an android specific UI.
You will however be able to reuse you existing lower level libraries without the need to recompile.

There is Mono for Android, the .NET framework ported for Android. And there is MonoDroid, a development stack for using C# and the core .NET APIs to develop Android-based applications. MonoDroid Preview 1 has been released a couple of days ago.

Since this is one of the first links on Google when search for Android and .net support, it is only fitting to post this here.
The mono project is working on a SDK to develop Android applications using CIL languages such as C#. The down side is it will be a commercial product. monodroid

MonoDroid is awailable for preview. I think that will bridge the gap. However, MonoDroid could be a costly option for development. Their other development tools costs anywhere between $199 and $4000 (The MonoTouch .. iPhone dev tool ... is priced between $399 and $3999). If people develop apps with these tools, they need a very strong business model to see some returns.

Check this out xmlvm I think this is possible. May be can also check this video

A modified port of Mono is also entirely possible.

.NET compact framework has been ported to Symbian OS (http://www.redfivelabs.com/). If .NET as a 'closed' platform can be ported to this platform, I can't see any reason why it cannot be done for Android.

.NET and Mono are great environments, with many tools and and excellent skills base of people who know how to use them.
I think Mono has the opportunity to be the mobile cross-platform development environment of choice, seeing as they are the only alternative to Objective-C on the iPhone and should be portable to Android, and .NET is already on Windows Mobile.
I'm really hoping to see a solid implementation of Mono on Android, with wrappers for the Android API as with Monotouch, and would be prepared to pay for it since I'm not in a position to do it myself.

You're more likely to see an Android implementation of Silverlight. Microsoft rep has confirmed that it's possible, vs. the iPhone where the rep said it was problematic.
But a version of the .Net framework is possible. Just need someone to care about it that much :)
But really, moving from C# to Java isn't that big of a deal and considering the drastic differences between the two platforms (PC vs. G1) it seems unlikely that you'd be able to get by with one codebase for any app that you wanted to run on both.

In my opinion, it would be technically possible to convert the CLI Bytecode to Dalvik, and to write wrapper classes for some core features such as Collections, File access, etc., even it would be hard work.
But a .NET desktop application ran on android would feel alien, as it would have a classic Windows-Like GUI which is not very usable on a touch device. If, on the other hand, you were to code an android-like GUI in .NET, you would need another set of wrappers (notice that wrapping is just the other way round opposed to the wrappers mentioned above).
I'm not sure if a .NET mobile application would feel native on android, but I'd guess it wouldn't.
Maybe you're interestend in another approach: You can write your application in the Java language. You can then compile it to .NET via Microsoft J# (I know it's discontinued but you can still download and use it) and use the same Java code on android. Again, that's for the core classes aka business logic and again you would have to write tow GUIs. Maybe you can tages J2ME as well, which you will not be able to do if you use .NET.

.NET for Android seems like a real possibility to me. There is news that Microsoft will release proper Silverlight for Android- Never underestimate the advantages to Microsoft for putting the boot into Apple. A smartphone that is faster, more feature rich, faster development lifecycle, impressive hardware, Flash & Silverlight as a standard installable.
Microsoft has a vested interest in improving Android, and at the same time, applications will be devloped for Silverlight on Android will also work on Windows Phone 7 OS with multi-touch, GPS, etc., etc.