Ionic Framework Version History

In this article, we will understand the version history of the Ionic Framework and its new functionality with every new version. 

As we know, the ionic framework is open-source. In recent times, it's the most popular framework for mobile application development. It uses the web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and javascript to create interactive UI mobile and desktop applications. The ionic framework provides developers with everything from the front-end perspective for continuous delivery. 

Version history is as follow:

• In 2013, Drifty Co. introduced the first version of the ionic framework. 
• In November 2013, the first alpha version came into existence. 
• In 2016, released the Ionic 2 version.
• In 2017, released the Ionic 3 version. 
• In 2019, released the Ionic 4+ version. 
• After 2019, releasing the new versions every six months with more stable functionalities. 

What functionalities have they released in each version?

The first version was released to create the mobile apps with angular 1. In this version, it does not carry any web component. It was released nearly in the end year of 2013. It uses only one directive to provide the developer the custom angular components. These customs run inside the angular apps. 

The Ionic 2 version is an extension of version 1 but with the new version of the angular framework known as angular 2. This version came in the year 2016. The behavior and functionality of the latest version of the angular framework are entirely different from the previous version. It has again only angular components. It does not have any web component. Due to this, we can use Ionic 2 only in Angular applications. 

The Ionic 3 version, continuing the previous versions only with a few new features. It is the more enhanced of Ionic 1 and Ionic2. Till this version, the focus is still more on the angular. It becomes more compatible with the new version of the angular framework known as angular 4. This time the Ionic founders thought they became restricted to angular due to which developers might not use the Ionic. The developers can not create the native mobile application with the help of another framework such as vue.js and react.js. 

The Ionic 4 version, releases in the year 2019. It is the future version of the ionic with the web components. It creates native mobile applications and Progressive Web Apps(PWAs) using the web technologies such as HHTML, CSS, and javascript. It supports almost all browsers in which one can run HTML components. This version can work with any framework. 

After Ionic 4, they continuously release new and more stable versions every six months.