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We used Ionic 1.x for a few projects. We found that for relatively basic, brochure-ware apps, it worked just fine. However, for some of the more complex apps,
by MaxLegroom 10y ago
We used Ionic 1.x for a few projects. We found that for relatively basic, brochure-ware apps, it worked just fine. However, for some of the more complex apps, we really fought the lack of support/options in the Cordova plugin space. This, of course, is not the fault of the Ionic team, but it does create a frustrating development experience that played a large part in us abandoning it as an option.
This was also our first experience with Angular. I really wanted to like Angular, but after more than a year of development, we left it for greener pastures. I understand that Angular 2/Ionic 2 are touted as being significantly better, but while all those improvements were being made, we invested our efforts in learning and building with Swift. I can say that we are delighted with the outcome and have no real inclination to leave it for an alternative.
- nvahalik 10y agoAbout to embark on a potentially large Ionic project. What were some of the issues that you had?
- WayneBro 10y agoI am about to release my largest Ionic project to date. It is a highly dynamic data entry and reporting system for field workers. My client is able to create and publish new data entry forms and reports from the private back and angular web app that I built for them. The lack of any kind of commercial support is real and frankly that is the largest issue that you will have to deal with. I have searched high and low for any kind of commercial support that I can offer my customer. I am it. Or somebody like me. However, I will say that in two years of using Ionic I have never had to modify one Cordova plug-in or any native code in order to release my apps. I do mess around with the native code sometimes but usually on an exploratory mission. Other than that, my biggest issue so far has been with how quickly ionic and Cordova get updated and how quickly my code gets out of date because of that. Then when I have to update I have to make sure that nothing breaks by writing all sorts of tests or doing manual testing yada yada yada. Also getting answers from support or anybody qualified is sometimes difficult and you have to wait days or just figure out your own work around.
- MaxLegroom 10y agoTo be specific--and maybe this only pertains to version 1.x--I found managing navigation state in our largest app to be quite clumsy and at times, downright perplexing. In Swift, managing navigation state is relatively easy to reason about, though it is a bit more laborious to implement. The bigger issues were things like having access to leveraging background processes via Cordova. At last check, there was a plugin for backgrounding the app, but it came with a big, red warning that it may cause issues with Apple's App Store approval process. Another issue was the dismal state of background geolocation. There is a commercial plugin; however, I found the maintenance schedule to be quite lacking. As well, the maintainer of the plugin was quite abrasive and impolite toward users raising valid issues.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- blueflame_99 10y agoAngular 2 is a completely different animal so I would disregard that part of this comment. However, the parts about Cordova still ring true with regards to Ionic 2.
- MaxLegroom 10y agoAgreed. For me, that was another reason to move away from Ionic. That its largest dependency came to differ so greatly from that of the previous version, was enough for me. If I was going to be forced into learning something new, then Swift it would be.