Mobile Apps Built with Web Technologies You Already Know

PhoneGap is a hybrid mobile app framework originally created by Nitobi and later acquired by Adobe. It lets you build mobile apps using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Your web code runs inside a native WebView container on iOS and Android, and Cordova plugins give you access to native device features like the camera, GPS, contacts, and file system. You write your app once and deploy it to both app stores. It is one of the simplest ways for web developers to build mobile apps without learning Swift, Kotlin, or any platform-specific language.

PhoneGap apps are typically 30–50% cheaper than native because you build one codebase for two platforms. A simple app (5–10 screens, basic features) costs $6,000–$20,000. A mid-sized app with authentication, payments, push notifications, and offline storage runs $20,000–$55,000. A complex enterprise app with deep integrations, custom plugins, and advanced workflows ranges from $55,000–$150,000+. Maintenance and migration services are priced separately based on scope. Your existing web team can handle ongoing updates, which saves long-term costs.

Adobe officially discontinued PhoneGap Build in 2020, but the underlying Apache Cordova engine is still maintained by the open-source community. For simple apps, internal tools, or rapid prototypes, Cordova-based development still works and gets the job done. However, for new projects we often recommend considering Ionic with Capacitor (which is Cordova’s modern successor) or React Native for better long-term support. If you already have a PhoneGap app that works well, we can maintain, extend, and keep it running. We will always give you honest advice on the best path forward.

PhoneGap and Apache Cordova are essentially the same technology. When Adobe acquired Nitobi (the original creators), they donated the open-source codebase to Apache, which became Apache Cordova. PhoneGap was Adobe’s commercial distribution of Cordova with added cloud build services (PhoneGap Build). The core engine, plugin system, and CLI are identical. PhoneGap Build (the cloud service) was shut down, but Cordova itself is still open source and actively maintained. When we say PhoneGap development, we are working with the Apache Cordova engine.

PhoneGap is one of the fastest ways to get a mobile app to market. An MVP takes 4–8 weeks. A mid-sized app with authentication, payments, and offline support takes 8–14 weeks. A large enterprise app with complex integrations takes 4–6 months. Since PhoneGap uses standard web technologies, any JavaScript developer can start building immediately. Plugin integration for native features typically adds 1–2 weeks depending on complexity. We work in 2-week sprints so you see progress and can test on real devices regularly.

Absolutely — and we do this regularly. The most common migration path is PhoneGap/Cordova to Ionic with Capacitor, since Capacitor is the direct successor to Cordova and supports most existing Cordova plugins. We can also migrate to React Native or Flutter if your app needs closer-to-native performance. We start with a full code audit, map your plugins to modern equivalents, migrate your business logic and UI, and test thoroughly on both platforms. Most migrations take 6–12 weeks. Your users get a faster, more polished app with long-term framework support.