What is Framework 7?
Framework7 is an open-source and free mobile framework for building iOS, Android, and desktop apps using web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It allows developers to build high-performance apps with native look and feel without knowledge of native languages like Objective-C or Java.
Framework7 provides a wide range of UI components like navigation bars, tab bars, list views, inputs, buttons etc. modeled after native iOS components. This allows developers to build the UI using simple HTML but have it render natively on devices. It also handles transitions and animations to provide smooth native scrolling and transitions.
Some key capabilities and benefits of Framework7:
- Build using web tech like HTML/CSS/JS without needing to write native code
- Apps support iOS, Android and desktop for code reuse
- iOS-style UI components like navigation bars, tab bars, inputs, sliders etc.
- Smooth animations and transitions that are hardware accelerated
- Theming and customization using CSS
- Lightweight at less than 90kB gzipped
- MIT license allows using in commercial apps
Framework7 has been around since 2014 and sees good adoption. It strikes a balance between native capabilities and web development ease. For developers looking to build mobile apps using their existing web skills, Framework7 is a great cross-platform framework.