Creating a native mobile experience has always been a top priority for app developers worldwide. At the same time, bringing together the user experience of both Apple and Google ecosystem of devices for engaging and future-ready user experience has equally been a priority. As mobile user experience continues to evolve, achieving a higher adoption rate across platforms has equally been a focus area. Ionic 5 us the answer to all these development needs and priorities for an Ionic app development company across both iOS and Android platforms.
Thanks to the latest Ionic 5, mobile app developers from now will have full access to everything they need to deliver native user experience across the latest flagship phones. While both app design and user experience continue to remain important for the purpose of steady and continuous user engagement, the new Ionic 5 framework will come with everything to deliver optimum performance besides creating new app features.
While there are so many promises, the framework deserves some serious elucidation. Here we are going to explain the value-additions and new features of the Ionic 5 to explain how it can really help app developers across both Android and iOS platforms.
What is Really New in Ionic 5?
The new features and changes that come loaded with Ionic 5 core framework can also be extended to the integrations of React, Angular and Vue. For example, to make integration of new Ionic with the React framework simple, Ionic React has been launched a few months before. Apart from these extended integrations with other frameworks, there has been some serious design revamps that will help the developers to meet the latest UX standards and requirements for the latest smartphone devices.
Let’s first explain the design updates offered by the new Ionic 5 framework.
iOS Design Update
As of now, this has been the biggest update that Ionic 5 came with. The Ionic 5 design update for the iOS platform is extensive and is ready to be deployed across all UI components supported by the platform. Most importantly, the updates perfectly address the design requirements befitting to the latest iOS 13 mobile OS and the corresponding design components.
In this respect, it is important to have a look at the important design specific changes that the latest Ionic 5 update comes loaded with.
Segment
In the iOS platform, the way checked and unchecked buttons look are completely changed by the Ionic 5 framework update. The segment design now comes with no borders and filled backgrounds. They are no longer differentiated in the look and feel in the same way we were familiar with. Now, just one indicator does the differentiation between two distinct buttons. Moreover, there is a new gesture by using which you can drag and move the indicator.
Collapsible Header
The latest iOS 13 unleashed the collapsible headers. Well, to keep with the pace of change iOS 5 update also provides support for the collapsible headers. The framework does this by providing certain specific components that can work jointly with the header-specific components. This will help developers to create collapsible headers with no glitches.
Titles of Varying Sizes
As you scroll the content while using the iOS 13, you can see titles of varying sizes. To help this transition happen smoothly and without any glitches, Ionic 5 allows shrinking large titles to standard or smaller sizes.
Swipe Down to Close Modal
This is a typical iOS 13 feature with some UI shortcomings like covering the whole screen. Well, this UI design feature so common to iOS users has now been changed for positive UX benefits. By building the apps with iOS 5, we can have a new modal that can keep a page pushed behind it. On top of that, the users now can use the dragging down gesture to close it.
Overlay Type Menu
iOS users find it annoying when they need to push aside the main content from the screen just for getting access to the side menu. The New Ionic 5 design update now ensures that the menu is seen with overlay appearing over the content underneath. But in spite of this new design-oriented value addition, the users can always stick to the previous design.
Animation From Ionic
With the new Ionic 5, developers can also utilize custom animation. Ionic Animations is the open-source utility tool and public API that comes loaded with the repository. Mobile app developers by using this tool or API can now deliver high-performance animations with any other framework and technologies they choose to use. As per the developers behind the Ionic 5, thus new utility tool delivers 40% improved performance and at least 98% superior output of device CPU.
Ionicons
Ionic design update also offers some exciting new elements. Ionicons 5, the latest and open-source repository of icons provides a lot of icons that work both across dark and light modes of the apps. The new icons coming with Ionic 5 comes in 3 distinct varieties including default fill, sharp and outline. This will add value to the user interface simply for the fact that that icons now will change as and when the mode changes from darker to light or vice versa.
Ionic 5 Colors
This design element comes as default with the Ionic 5 framework. The app designers will now have access to a broad set of new colors. All the apps built using React or Angular, updating the colors need to be done manually. In addition to this, Ionic will prescribe using a new set of colors appropriate for the dark mode.
A New Starter for Redesign
With the new Ionic 5 update, also have updated and new starters. Apart from updating the old starters, the new update also included some new starters for the list, tab, and menu. This is particularly done to complement the design changes with other elements of the Ionic 5 update.
Customizing Component
Last but not the least of major value additions to the new Ionic 5 design repertoire is the ease of customizing the components. Previously, there were real difficulties corresponding to the storage of CSS variables. Naturally, this was common for the component style to override and overpower custom styles.
To address these limitations, Ionic 5 new update came with a lot more CSS variables. Apart from these significant changes have been brought to the components like Card, Segment, Back Button, Split Pane into Shadow DOM, etc.
How Developers Can Upgrade the Apps to Ionic 5?
Though it is univocally agreed upon that the New Ionic 5 design update comes with a lot of crucial value additions that will make the job of the developers a lot easier, developers don’t have many difficulties in upgrading their apps to the latest Ionic 5.
Since the Ionic framework already uses web components that allow API changes between the UI components and JavaScript framework, without much difficulties the developers can easily upgrade from Ionic 4 to Ionic 5. To make sure you are availing of the important changes that are going to add value to the app, before updating from the previous version just evaluate the entire list of changes that can make or break the user experience.
Conclusion
Are you seriously thinking of embracing Ionic 5 for building your mobile apps? Well, you probably have made a move in the right direction. The Ionic 5 framework is great for all kinds of challenging entrepreneur-focused and enterprise app development projects. There is no wonder in the fact that more than 5 million developers from as many as 200 countries already adopted cross-platform or hybrid approaches of development and for them Ionic 5 is going to bring a fresh breath of ease.
