Ionic 5 Brings Major Design Updates for Mobile App Developers

MADISON, Wis., Feb. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ionic, the most widely used platform for building mobile and desktop apps using web technology, today announced the release of Ionic 5, the latest version of the popular open source Framework—used by millions of developers and thousands of businesses to build high-performance consumer and employee-facing mobile apps for iOS and Android. 

The updated Ionic Framework is packed with major design updates that help developers keep pace with the latest UX standards and design patterns, including:

• New and updated UI components: brand new components, plus updated controls to match iOS 13 and Material Design style guidelines (segment, header, swipe-to-close, and more), improved gestures, and better support for dark mode and CSS variables.
• Ionic Animations: an open source animations utility and public API that makes it easy to create custom animations for any web-based application or hybrid mobile app.
• Brand new version of Ionicons: an open source library of more than 1,100 mobile-ready icons artfully crafted to look and feel at home in the latest iOS and Android devices.

"As Apple and Google introduce new UX standards and design patterns in the latest versions of iOS and Android, app developers need to make sure their mobile experiences evolve with them," explained Ionic CEO and Co-Founder, Max Lynch. "Mobile experiences that feel outdated will see lower rates of adoption and engagement. 

"The good news is that, with our open source Framework, web developers have everything they need to create a native experience that looks and feels at home on the latest devices. In fact, our mission has always been to make it possible for all developers (not just the design experts) to craft beautiful, engaging app experiences. With this release, we're doing just that."

Ionic users like Marcus Green of MIXO.dj, a media sharing app for DJs, echo that sentiment. 

"Design and UX are absolutely critical to the success of our app," Green said. "You've only got one shot at getting a user to love your app. It's gotta be fast, and it's gotta be easy to use. With Ionic 4, we hit the fast button. Our app now has excellent performance. And with the design changes coming in Ionic 5, we can improve our UX even further—without having to focus on the tricky stuff. That frees us up to focus on new features for our users instead."

Ionic Animations

Ionic Animations is an open source animations utility and public API that provides the tools web developers need to build highly performant animations.

"Animations have become a staple of any modern, mobile user experience," explained Lynch. "But up until now, there have been very few options for web developers to build their own custom animations without risking a huge performance hit. 

"With the release of Ionic Animations, web developers now have an easy way to add their own animations, while still delivering stellar performance—whether or not they use Ionic Framework. Compared to traditional alternatives, our new Animations utility delivers 40% better animation performance and 98% greater CPU efficiency on a user's device."

Upgrade Guidance for Existing Ionic Developers

While Ionic 5 brings tremendous benefits and exciting updates for developers, existing users should expect the upgrade process from Ionic 4 to Ionic 5 to be painless. The update includes very few breaking changes and should take just a few simple steps to complete.

About Ionic

Ionic makes it easy for entrepreneurs and enterprises to build beautiful, high-performance apps for any platform or device. The Ionic Framework is the #1 adopted cross-platform hybrid development framework in the world with a vibrant community of more than 5 million developers in over 200 countries. Ionic's open source Framework and developer-friendly tools and services power apps for some of the world's best-known brands, including highly successful consumer apps like Dow Jones MarketWatch, Sworkit, and Untappd, as well as mission-critical apps supporting Nationwide and NASA.

With offices in Madison, WI (HQ), and Boston, the company is backed by premier investors including General Catalyst Partners, Arthur Ventures, Founder Collective, and Lightbank. For more information, visit ionicframework.com and follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Media Contact

Andrew Haire

Vice President of Marketing

[email protected]

SOURCE Ionic