In mobile application development, Ionic frameworks have played a major role in building successful mobile apps of our time. They have evolved the way mobile app developers build their apps for Apple and Google marketplaces. And, with the latest version of the Ionic framework - Magnesium - the process of mobile application development is set to experience some amazing transformations.

The launch of Ionic Magnesium framework, popularly known as Ionic 5, has been long-awaited. Now that it is released, the upcoming mobile apps are likely to be built with innovative designs and advanced UX standards introduced by Apple and Google. Ionic 5 has brought several major design updates for mobile app developers. The latest version of the Ionic framework is packed with quick and intuitive animations that help developers offer evolved UX for iOS and Android users.

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What’s New in Ionic 5?

Being one of the widely-used frameworks for developing mobile applications and web-based desktop apps, Ionic enables developers with advanced mobile and web technologies. Its latest version, Ionic 5, is now available as an open-source mobile app development framework. It is ready to be used by mobile app developers for leveraging new capabilities of business mobile apps.

The introduction of Ionic 5 aims at the development of high-performance consumer apps and interactive user-centric mobile apps on iOS and Android platforms. The Ionic 5 framework has several new features and updates, mostly involving some major improvements in the UI design elements and the UX standards.

All-new UI components and updated controls have been introduced. The new version is built by considering the latest additions in the mobile app development capabilities of iOS 13. A specific focus on material design style components such as header, segments, and swipe-to-close, along with better gesture control and stronger support for CSS variables and dark mode themes, makes Ionic 5 a strong tool for building quality apps.

So, let’s run through these key updates launched in the Ionic 5 mobile app development version.

Ionic 5 - New Designs

The highlight of Ionic 5 is its range of new design features and UX updates. Considering the critical role of UX and design components in the success of an app, Ionic 5 brings a great advantage for the development of modern mobile apps. The new design components introduced in this version of the Ionic framework ensure that the user falls in love with the app in the first instance itself.

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The iOS-specific design update of Ionic 5 is perhaps the most remarkable new addition for mobile app developers. Ionic app developers would be thrilled to implement these new iOS-supported UI components.

• Titles: Concurrent to the introduction of iOS 13, Ionic 5 allows users to set titles with varied sizes for the apps. Upon scrolling the content, the titles of apps can differ in sizes and are no longer confined to a fixed size. This also supports the transitions and allows the Ionic 5 framework to enable design components that shrink large titles to their standard sizes.
• Headers: Ionic 5 supports the iOS collapsible headers. It introduces specific components that could be added to header-related design components. As a result, the headers can collapse without any glitches.
• Segments: Ionic 5 has introduced a new change in the checked and unchecked buttons. They can now be differentiated in iOS apps. The new segment design update does not compel Ionic app developers to have filled backgrounds and borders. It offers a single indicator that differentiates between the two buttons and enables a user with gesture control that enables the indicator upon dragging.
• Swiping Down to Close: Another key usability update comes with a new mode of operations - Swipe Down to Close. In this mode, the user does not need to swipe down the entire screen nor tap any button to close it. An app developed with Ionic 5 framework runs a mode where a page gets pushed back behind it and a gesture of dragging it down closes it.
• Menu Overlay: Users would no longer need to push the main content to display a side menu. Ionic 5 iOS app development enables menu overlays but users can switch back to the traditional method. 

The above new UX and design elements are quicker, smoother, and easier to use. Compared to Ionic 4, the latest version has a faster click/touch response. And, the UX performance of the app gets improved without increasing the processing load, which helps the app to free up its space for running multiple design components.

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Ionic 5 - New Animations and Aesthetics

Ionic 5 animations will remodel the way open-source animations run utilities with public APIs. The new Ionic animations offer app developers with a range of tools that help them build high-performance animations for both - mobile app developments.

The latest Ionic framework makes animations a staple of mobile user experience. It offers more options for web developers in customizing their animations and avoiding risks of performance issues. The release of Ionic 5 animations sets the path to the easy addition of new animations and continues to deliver them with optimum app performance. These new animations are showcasing around 40% improvement in the app’s performance and nearly 100% CPU efficiency on user devices.

• Custom animations: It is now possible to build your own interactive and appealing animations with Ionic 5 open source animations utility and public APIs. Ionic app developers can add animations in their iOS app development projects and improve the attractiveness of the app.
• Ionicons: The latest version introduces Ionicons 5 which is a set of new, open-source, and free icons that work well in the dark mode as well as light mode. The Ionicons 5 is available in the default fill, outline, and sharp variants. Hence, the developers would not need to build different icons for different app modes/themes.
• Ionic colours: Additionally, the animations and icons can be designed with a set of new colours. Developers can use Ionic colours that haven’t been used or overridden yet.

If building apps with ReactJS or AngularJS, developers must use these updates manually.

What’s More New in Ionic 5?

Ionic 5 is an excellent framework for developing mobile apps for enterprises. It creates aesthetically appealing mobile applications. It also delivers high-performance apps for all devices and platforms. In addition to the above highlights, Ionic 5 is also packed with updates such as:

Redesigned Starters

Ionic 5 has a new range of design starters. It has added new ones with the existing starters of Ionic 4. The redesigned starters capture tabs, lists, and menus. The redesigning complements all the other design changes in Ionic 5 components.

Component Customization

Ionic 5 makes component customization super easy. In Ionic 4, customizing components was difficult as it resulted in lack of CSS variables. There were also issues when the component styles overpowered custom styles. Ionic 5 solved this by adding a new set of CSS variables and by transforming the common scope components such as Card, Back Button, Split Pane, and Segment into a Shadow DOM.

Ionic 5 also disables bleeding of styles into other components. It enables developers in the use of CSS variables within a specific component and simplifies the theming process.

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Upgrading to Ionic 5

There are so many benefits of developing mobile apps with Ionic 5 that every leading mobile app developer is excited to try these updates. Existing Ionic app developers can upgrade to Ionic 5 from Ionic 4 by following some simple steps from the migration guide.

In just a couple of weeks, millions of mobile app developers have already adopted the Ionic 5 framework for their iOS app development projects and cross-platform hybrid app development processes. Get ready to try it for yourself!