JH

Johnny H.

Developer

Broadcast Media

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

2/1/2016

"Awesome tool for building cross-platform applications with JavaScript"

5/5

What do you like best about Apache Cordova?

Cordova is one of the most powerful tools for a JavaScript developer. A proficient JavaScript web developer can easily become a general software and application developer by deploying web technologies for various environments aside from browsers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Cordova?

Deploying the same application across various platforms and the web can be a hassle due to differences. This isn't a weakness of Cordova per se, but is a problem that comes along with using Cordova. As for Cordova itself, the use of XML for its configuration was an odd choice. A JavaScript file that exports a configuration object as a module is a more powerful choice. It is great that Cordova offers a series of hooks to add behavior to various parts of the compiling process, but it is also unfortunate that there is no package management for these hooks. People often copy and paste them from project to project. For this reason, I usually write the main logic of my hooks as npm modules and require them into app-specific hooks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AC

Alessandro C.

Full Stack Developer

Marketing and Advertising

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4/14/2016

"Building and hybrid application for iOS and Android"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Apache Cordova?

The ability to write source code in HTML, CSS and JAVASCRIPT and build one single application, to be converted into a native app with Cordova Framework.

You can build and maintain only one single source code, and then deploy on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, etc, without learning a different native language or rewriting your app every time.

You can access native functionalities of the device, like accelerometer, camera, wifi, etc, with the built-in API, or use an open source plugin from the official GitHub repo, to create a local database and access the internal storage of the device.

Wonderful if you want to build a native app, by using standard web code. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Cordova?

No suer intuitive the first time you use it. The configuration with xCode sometime creates some issue and the lack of a built-in simulator forces the developer to have the same project on multiple IDE, like xCode, Android Studio, etc.

Not a big deal, but if you're not savvy enough with the terminal, the learning curve is pretty stiff. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Apache Cordova:

Read the documentation, entirely. At the beginning can be tricky and the openness of the app will give you too much room for mistakes. You risk to delivery a pretty heavy and bloated app, that could be rejected from the App Store or Goggle Play store. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Apache Cordova solving and how is that benefiting you?

Building multiple native applications at the same time, without learning different native languages, like Objective-C, Swift, Java, etc. or the necessity of having different developers per each version.

You can have the same source code base on HTML, CSS and JS, use a JS framework to extend its functionality, and build multiple native apps, and a web app, at the same time,w with hybrid code. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

FO

Filipe O.

Senior Software Architect

Information Technology and Services

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/26/2016

"Great option for quick development"

5/5

What do you like best about Apache Cordova?

What I like most is the fact that Cordova isn't only a HTML app running in a browser, it's much more than that. You can write native plugins that works with any of the supported platforms and a JavaScript wrapper will take care of integrating your HTML app with native code. This give you much power to interact with the opreating system. The community is strong and very helpful, there are a lot of examples in GitHub. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Cordova?

It takes some time to get used to style mobile apps using HTML and CSS because it looks very weird at first sight. It's also not very easy to make your app UI adapt to different operating systems visual identity, but it's doable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Apache Cordova:

Don't expect matching your hybrid apps with native apps. Cordova is really great to quickly develop functional apps to be deployed to multiple operational systems with ease. Ionic Framework is also a very good addition to create beautiful UI for your apps. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Apache Cordova solving and how is that benefiting you?

I don't have the time and neither the money to invest in native apps for the 3 major mobile opreating systems (iOS, Android and Windows Phone), so, developing a single hybrid mobile app that works seamlessly across the three is very helpful. Thus, I'm already very familiar with AngularJS because I develop all my web stuff using it, and this has came very handy to get started with Cordova. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AF

Arthur F.

Creative Technologist

Design

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

1/12/2016

"The right steps to the future"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Apache Cordova?

Cordova does an amazing job on the hybrid app field. It is super easy to use and it works! It is amazing how much support this tool has over internet, you can literally search for anything you need and somebody has already an answer for it. Not only that but a lot of people have been developing plugins for it and now it came to a point that you can add so much features in your app without having to code much.

Cordova turns time consuming coding into simple functions and that are portable to many platforms. It is quite hard to be better than that. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Cordova?

As hybrid apps are still emerging, there are a few issues that still needs to be addressed and Apache Cordova is not exception. Running cordova apps on low end devices can feel laggy, running background tasks is also quite limited. Other than that is quite hard to point negative things in it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Apache Cordova:

If you are stuck on a problem don't be afraid of searching. Apache cordova has a huge community and somebody has probably already fixed your issue. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Apache Cordova solving and how is that benefiting you?

I have been using Apache Cordova with Ionic 1 and 2. I started using to develop prototypes in a very small amount of time. After developing a few prototypes I decided to use Cordova on a bigger scale project and it worked perfectly. Now I am even using on my daily job for prototyping ideas. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

SG

Stephen G.

Software developer

Computer Software

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/11/2016

"Quick development cycle using existing skills"

3.5/5

What do you like best about Apache Cordova?

Developers can reuse their existing skills in web technologies to make multiplatform apps pretty quickly. You can use a single code base and publish to multiple platforms, making adjustments to the output on each platform as required. As totally free technology, the only cost is getting developers set up with the environment on their machines, or better, on the CI server or cloud. The time to release is drastically reduced compared to developing the same number of native apps. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Cordova?

If you write individual styling information for each platform target, you can't have Cordova automatically apply the transormation at build time; you have to change the linked style manually or by a script, so it's not a fully automatic multi-platform build solution. Some older platform targets don't have good support any more. As free software, the support can be lacking in general. Sometimes the commonality between Cordova and PhoneGap can be confusing, especially when it comes to packages. Setup and use can be tricky as it requires use of the command line. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Apache Cordova:

Use Adobe's PhoneGap Build in combination with this system to build in the cloud. This lowers the cost of upkeep because you don't have to maintain the target build environments on premises. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Apache Cordova solving and how is that benefiting you?

We used Cordova to create a multiplatform customer-facing app for a business client. We are currently using those skills to provide new apps for other clients. We cut costs by reusing our development team's existing skills Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

IC

Ian C.

Senior Software Developer

Information Technology and Services

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/8/2016

"A really good opition!"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Apache Cordova?

With Apache Cordova, it's possible to make portable apps, with, almost, the same code to various platforms. It's the dream of every developer, code one time, enjoy everything.

Cross-platform are the main function to me. In that time, I need a good cross-platform framework to develop a simple app to Android, iOS and Windows Phone 8. I've some problems, but the final result was very good, to me and my client. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Cordova?

The worst part it's that nothing it's perfect, so we have a lot of bad code generated, some things unnecessarily done by the framework. And after the compile part, we'll have such a big size app and this isn't a good feature to have. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Apache Cordova:

A great way to do simple multiplatform apps.

You need to consider the size, performance and time to development. If you don't need too much performance, don't mind about size but time to develop really matter, Apache Cordova it's the way to go through. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Apache Cordova solving and how is that benefiting you?

When I have some small apps, but need a multiplatform approach, Cordova it's the way. The portability are the biggest benefit. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AS

Amrudesh S.

Co-Founder

E-Learning

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/13/2016

"A great enabler. Perfect for a start and beyond"

4/5

What do you like best about Apache Cordova?

Cordova in simple terms allowed us to deploy a single codebase across both iOS and Android. We didnt yet publish for other platforms but could have. Our Ionic (angular js based) app built on top of cordova was the first I ever wrote using Javascript with no prior building mobile apps. Libraries like ng-cordova (from ionic team) enabled access to the camera, geolocation etc.. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Cordova?

Documentation could have been better. Far too many versions and what parameters is valid for one version is not always valid going forward.

Performance of course is not going to be great because we still work out of the webview with a single thread. Limitation of the approach. Not so much of Cordova itself. Worth exploring React Native / NativeScript etc now. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Apache Cordova:

If you need better performance and native UI rendering, do try to head towards ReactNative or other solutions but otherwise, Cordova makes for a great tool. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Apache Cordova solving and how is that benefiting you?

Being an education / training related app, the app's value does not really come from super smooth performance as from what it enables one to do. To work offline, learn offline and sync work on assessments later to the server. Being able to deploy on both iOS and Android in first attempt in a short time was the big plus. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

X

Xavier .

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/11/2016

"The best option for hybrid apps"

5/5

What do you like best about Apache Cordova?

With the increasing demand of mobile apps for every device on the market and also the necessity of web apps, Apache Cordova is a tool you must be using.

Apache Cordova uses standard web technologies, so for a person with a web development background, the develop a mobile app doesn't has no learning curve.

Use Apache Cordova will increase your productivity and will reduce the money you spend on training. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Cordova?

Some things are easiest to develop in native platform and some HTML features are only available in modern devices, but those are exceptional cases. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

MN

Minh N.

Developer

Computer Software

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/13/2016

"Perfect tool for web dev to bring their dreams into mobile world"

4/5

What do you like best about Apache Cordova?

* Very fast development process, one responsive web app + a week or two for tweaking on real devices = awesome cross devices applications (iOS + Android + Web + ...)

* Not required mobile development experiences (of course it'll be a plus for super complex project)

* A robust plugin repository at https://cordova.apache.org/plugins and friendly community at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/cordova

* Able to extend to lower level with some device specific experiences (android, ios plugins ..) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Cordova?

The biggest downside of hybrid apps may be performance, most of the time it's smooth on iOS, but not that natural perfect on some old Android devices. But it's not really that bad, especially for an exchange of very fast development speed and money invested. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Apache Cordova:

Highly recommended to web development (js, css, html ...) enthusiasts who wanna be able to make cross device apps. Also perfectly suitable for startups with incredible innovations about device-related solutions but just lack of time. Fast development, save money and time, as one build for all iOS + Android + Web .. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Apache Cordova solving and how is that benefiting you?

I use cordova for most of my mobile projects with my web dev stack skillset. By far, I can say my preference is AngularJS + cordova (you know it, I'm a AngularJS fan) or plus Meteor for even quicker. Cordova is really a cool solution for web devs who wanna bring their incredible ideas to devices, but just don't have much time to put into iOS and android learning curves. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

AP

Ajit P.

Software Developer

Computer Software

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/10/2016

"Apache Cordova, the swiss knife of modern app development"

4.5/5

What do you like best about Apache Cordova?

Whether you are a web developer or a platform developer, you will appreciate the power and flexibility of a cross-platform tool like Cordova. When we started building our productivity apps, we realized that there are a lot of mobile browsers out there and a lot of mobile devices with varying hardware and screen sizes. Hence, going the HTML5 web app route with Cordova seemed like the most sane route for us. For those familiarizing themselves with Cordova today, there is good news! Plugins have moved to NPM, the CLI has updated and there is support of Crosswalk as a pluggable web view. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Apache Cordova?

Sometimes there are complications with linking to other apps like Google Maps and require custom hack to make it work. Also, a few native APIs are not yet supported by but we are confident this support is coming in future releases. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.