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Latest Version of Ionic Provides Universal Design System for Enterprises

MADISON, Wis., Jan. 23, 2019 GLOBE NEWSWIRE -- Ionic, the most widely used platform for building mobile and desktop apps using web technology, has launched version 4.0 of the open source Ionic Framework. The highly-anticipated release provides a complete cross-platform UI library built on Web Components, compatible with any front-end framework. Through the use of open web standards, Ionic 4.0 helps enterprises address the growing need to adopt design systems: A centralized library of components that can be shared across teams and projects to simplify design and development while ensuring consistent brand experiences, at scale.

More than five million developers worldwide use Ionic Framework to tackle development of consumer-facing and internal enterprise applications—using one shared codebase across platforms. This level of efficiency is especially critical for companies today given the increasing demand from consumers to build connected digital experiences. Previous versions of Ionic Framework were based on Angular components and only worked with the Angular front-end framework. With the 4.0 release, Ionic has rebuilt its entire UI library using Web Components, a set of standardized APIs that make it possible to build fast, feature-rich apps that are natively supported in any modern browser on all major platforms, and are compatible with any front-end framework.

Ionic 4.0’s foundation in Web Components makes it possible for developers to build for any platform or device, no matter the tooling or front-end technologies involved. The benefits of this for individuals and enterprises, alike, include:

  1. A customizable component library that works across teams and projects: Of all cross-platform approaches, only Ionic 4.0 provides UI components that are truly customizable, reusable, and shareable across all types of applications, including iOS, Android, Desktop (Electron), and the Web (Progressive Web Apps, etc.).
  2. Faster load times and smaller sizes: The shift to Web Components means that apps built with Ionic will load significantly faster and work better in low-bandwidth environments. On top of that, the 4.0 version adds smart defaults to improve load times. Put together, these improvements have helped Ionic achieve a 100/100 in Google’s Lighthouse score for application speed and performance.
  3. Technical agility to close the talent gap: Due to the flexibility of open web standards, Ionic now give developers and teams the freedom to build with the current and emerging tools they love, including Angular, React, and Vue; thus insulating enterprises from “framework churn” and making it easier to hire and retain developer talent.

“When we look at what’s happening in the world of front-end development, we see two major industry shifts,” said Max Lynch, co-founder and CEO of Ionic. “First, there’s a recognition that the proliferation of proprietary components has slowed down development and created design inconsistencies that hurt users and brands alike. More and more enterprises are recognizing the need to adopt a design system: a single design spec, or library of reusable components, that can be shared across a team or company. Second, with the constantly evolving development ecosystem, we recognized the need to make Ionic compatible with whatever framework developers wanted to use—now and in the future. Rebuilding our Framework on Web Components was a way to address both of these challenges and future-proof our technology in a truly unique way.”

Along with the Framework, Ionic offers a powerful set of tools and services to help enterprise teams address the need for digital experiences, from Studio, its localized development environment, to Appflow, a mobile DevOps solution, and Enterprise Engine, a fully-supported version of the Ionic development ecosystem.

Ionic Framework 4.0 is now available to use with Google’s Angular web application framework, including support for Angular tooling, such as the Angular CLI and Router. Versions of Ionic with Vue and React are currently in alpha.

About Ionic

Ionic is an open source UI toolkit and developer platform that makes it simple to build, test, and deploy stunning, high-performance apps for any platform or device—all using a single codebase. Since its inception in 2013, Ionic Framework has become the #1 adopted cross-platform hybrid development framework in the world, serving a vibrant community of more than 5 million developers in over 200 countries. Ionic’s open source Framework is best known for its developer-friendly tools and services, which have helped build and power notable cross-platform apps for consumer brands like Sworkit, Shipt, and MarketWatch as well as mission-critical apps for companies like NASA and Nationwide. For more information about Ionic and its suite of tools, visit ionicframework.com.