Create a mobile webapp with Angular

Issue

I'm currently learning Angular JS and plan on creating a website using RESTFul to communicate with the server (which will be in Node.js).

I would like to know how to proceed to "convert" this website into a mobile app.

I saw tools like Apache Cordova but I have no mobile developing experience so I don't really know how all of this works.

I saw other tools like Ionic and ngCordova (created by Ionic) but I don't get the point, Angular is just a JS script to insert in my HTML page right ?

So why would I need something like Ionic ? Isn't Apache Cordova enough ?

Solution

Ionic is a webframework that makes use of apache cordova in the back.

Cordova is used for mobile app programming in javascript and will compile your javascript code to native code for android, iOS, ...

AngularJS is used for making development of Single Page Web Applications more delightful by offering many nice code features for programming MVC apps.

Ionic now at the end, puts it all together by offering you user interface components that will look native on all mobile devices + the browser. And on top offers you angular js modules that make working with webapps easier (e.g. navigationHistory ...)

If you start new and want to create a nifty mobile application, I would start with ionic. It comes with a lot of css or sass that makes it feel / look native and of course you can change everything to your needs. To access phone features (e.g. location, camera ...) cordova steps in. I suggest doing this guide, that will take you through your first ionic app.

Answered By - niklas