Have you ever wished you could publish your existing web application as a mobile app? In this article I will provides a detailed guide for building cross-platform mobile and desktop applications using Ionic, Angular, Capacitor, and Electron.

I will covers all the necessary steps, including installing Ionic and Angular, adding Capacitor, and integrating the app with iOS, Android, or with desktop environments using Electron.

Additionally, I will provides some valuable advice on how to debug on iOS and Android devices, and how to integrate with Electron using the @capacitor-community/electron package. I hope this article helps you get starting learning how to efficiently and effectively build high-quality, cross-platform mobile apps.

Introduction

Let’s start my describing each of the tools we’ll be working with.

If you’re reading this article, you probably already know that Angular is a framework for building complex, single-page web applications (SPAs) and dynamic user interfaces. It uses a component-based architecture, in which individual pieces of functionality are broken down into reusable components that combine into larger applications.

Ionic is a popular open-source mobile app development framework that provides a set of pre-built UI components and tools for developing hybrid mobile applications that can be deployed to multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, and the web. One of the most common ways to use Ionic is in conjunction with Angular.

Capacitor is an open-source cross-platform native runtime that provides a set of APIs for accessing native device functionality, such as camera, geolocation, and sensors. Capacitor was created by the Ionic team, and it is designed to work seamlessly with the Ionic Framework, as well as other popular frameworks like React, Vue, and Angular.

Finally, Electron provides a runtime environment that allows developers to wrap web applications and run them as desktop applications on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Now let’s combine these tools so we can create iOS, Android, and desktop apps using Angular.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, it’s important to note that you will need to have Node.js and Node Package Manager (NPM) installed on your computer. If you don’t have these tools installed, you can download them from the official Node.js website.

Also, to integrate your Angular app with iOS and Android, you will need to have the corresponding SDKs (Software Development Kits) installed on your computer. For iOS you will need Xcode (which means you will need to be working on a Mac), and for Android you will need Android Studio.

Step 1: Install the Ionic CLI

The first step is to install the Ionic Command Line Interface (CLI), which is a tool that allows you to create and manage Ionic projects from the command line. To install the CLI, open a terminal window and run the following command:

npm install -g @ionic/cli 

Step 2: Create a New Ionic Angular Project

Once the Ionic CLI is installed, you can use it to create a new Ionic-enabled Angular project. To do this, run the following command in your terminal:

ionic start myAppName tabs --type=angular

This command will create a new Angular project with Ionic, the name “myAppName”, and the tabs starter template.

Step 3: Add Capacitor to the Project

Capacitor will allow our Angular app to access native APIs on iOS and Android. To add Capacitor to your Angular project, run the following command in your terminal:

npm install @capacitor/cli @capacitor/core
npx cap init myAppName com.example.myapp

Step 4: Integrate With iOS, Android, and Electron

Assuming you have the prerequisite mobile SDKs installed from above, you can now integrate these into your project.

To build your Ionic Angular app for iOS, run the following command in your terminal:

npx cap add ios
npx cap open ios

To build your Ionic Angular app for Android, run the following command in your terminal:

npx cap add android
npx cap open android

To run your app on iOS or Android, you can use the Ionic DevApp, which is a mobile app that allows you to test Ionic apps on your device without having to go through the process of building and deploying.

Step 4: Integrate With Electron

To be able to run your Ionic Angular app on a desktop operating system, you will need to integrate it with Electron. We can accomplish this using the @capacitor-community/electron package, which is a community-maintained Electron plugin for Capacitor.

To install the plugin in your application, run the following command in the terminal:

npm install @capacitor-community/electron

You will also need to register the plugin in your capacitor.config.json file by adding it to the plugins array:

{
  "plugins": {
    "Electron": {
      "path": "./node_modules/@capacitor-community/electron"
    }
  }
}

Then you can use the following command to add the Electron platform to your project:

npx cap add electron

To run the app on the electron, you can use the command:

npx cap open electron

This will open the electron development environment and you can run the app and debug it.

Note: The @capacitor-community/electron package is a community-maintained package and may not be as stable or feature-complete as official Capacitor plugins. It’s recommended to test your app thoroughly before deploying to production.

In conclusion, with the help of the @capacitor-community/electron package, you can easily integrate your Ionic Angular app with Electron and run it on Windows, Mac and Linux. With this Electron support and the Capacitor support for iOS and Android, you are able to provide a much more comprehensive solution for your end-users and increase the reach of your app.

Debugging on iOS and Android

Once your Ionic Angular app is integrated with iOS and Android using Capacitor, you can use standard debugging tools to debug your app on each mobile platform.

For iOS:

• Open your Xcode project and select the “myAppName” target
• Select the “myAppName” target and go to “Signing & Capabilities”
• Select your development team, then press “Run” to start debugging on an iOS simulator or an iOS device.

For Android:

• Open your Android Studio project and select the “myAppName” target
• Select the “myAppName” target and press the “Run” button to start debugging on an Android emulator or an Android device.

Additionally, you can also use the browser’s developer tools to debug your app while it runs on the device. To do this, you can use the npx cap serve command to start a local development server for your app. Then, you can connect to this server from your device using the browser’s developer tools.

Note: Make sure that your device and your computer are on the same network and use the IP address of your computer to connect.

Conclusion

With the help of Capacitor, Ionic, and Electron, we can easily integrate our Angular apps with iOS, Android, and desktop OSes, and debug them using standard debugging tools. This allows for a streamlined development process and faster time to market for your mobile and desktop apps.