What is this?
Capacitor is a cross-platform runtime that lets you run web apps natively on iOS, Android, and the Web from a single codebase, with APIs for calling native SDKs from your JavaScript.
Capacitor is a cross-platform runtime that lets you run web apps natively on iOS, Android, and the Web from a single codebase, with APIs for calling native SDKs from your JavaScript.Is this a framework or a library I add to my project?It's a cross-platform API and code execution layer you drop into a web app: it bridges your JavaScript to native SDKs and lets you write custom native plugins.
It's a cross-platform API and code execution layer you drop into a web app: it bridges your JavaScript to native SDKs and lets you write custom native plugins.How do I add it to an existing web app?It's designed to drop in to any existing modern web app: run the init commands in your project, then install the native platforms you want. For brand-new apps the README recommends starting with Ionic via npm install -g @ionic/cli.
It's designed to drop in to any existing modern web app: run the init commands in your project, then install the native platforms you want. For brand-new apps the README recommends starting with Ionic via npm install -g @ionic/cli.Do I need the Ionic Framework to use it?No. Without Ionic you may need to implement Native UI yourself and configure tooling like livereload manually, but Capacitor works fine on its own.
No. Without Ionic you may need to implement Native UI yourself and configure tooling like livereload manually, but Capacitor works fine on its own.I've used Cordova before — will my app and plugins port over?In spirit it's very similar, and Capacitor is backward compatible with a vast majority of Cordova plugins. It just takes a more modern approach to tooling and treats native projects as source artifacts rather than build artifacts.
In spirit it's very similar, and Capacitor is backward compatible with a vast majority of Cordova plugins. It just takes a more modern approach to tooling and treats native projects as source artifacts rather than build artifacts.Does the same codebase also reach the regular web?Yes — Capacitor has first-class Progressive Web App support, so one app can ship both to the app stores and to the mobile web.
Yes — Capacitor has first-class Progressive Web App support, so one app can ship both to the app stores and to the mobile web.Which languages would I use to write my own native plugin?Plugin authors are encouraged to use Swift for iOS plugins and Kotlin (or Java) for Android.
Plugin authors are encouraged to use Swift for iOS plugins and Kotlin (or Java) for Android.Can I share my plugins with other developers?Yes — a plugin can live inside your Capacitor app or be packaged as an npm dependency for community use.
Yes — a plugin can live inside your Capacitor app or be packaged as an npm dependency for community use.Is Capacitor free and open source?Yes — it's MIT-licensed and maintained by the Ionic Team, the same group behind the Ionic Framework.
Yes — it's MIT-licensed and maintained by the Ionic Team, the same group behind the Ionic Framework.What are similar projects?ionic-framework, NativeScript, framework7, ng-native, mui, react-native-continued-task, react-native, ratchet
ionic-framework, NativeScript, framework7, ng-native, mui, react-native-continued-task, react-native, ratchet