Cordova

Apache Cordova (formerly PhoneGap) wraps HTML/CSS/JS apps in a native WebView container. While largely superseded by Capacitor and React Native, it remains active (CLI 13.x) for specific legacy use cases.

When to Use

Legacy Hybrid App Maintenance: Maintaining existing enterprise Cordova / PhoneGap codebases.
Migrating to Capacitor: Modernizing legacy Cordova projects into modern Capacitor runtimes with minimal friction.
Cross-Platform Plugin Integration: Utilizing long-standing Cordova plugins for specialized industrial hardware (barcode scanners, thermal printers).
Zero-Native Mobile Builds: Compiling HTML/JS into mobile binaries using command line build scripts without touching native IDEs.

Quick Start

npm install -g cordova
cordova create hello com.example.hello HelloWorld
cd hello
cordova platform add android
cordova platform add ios
cordova run android

Core Concepts

Declarative config.xml Schema

The central manifest orchestrates app metadata, permissions, preferences, and plugin parameters across platforms:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<widget id="com.example.logistics" version="2.4.0" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/ns/widgets" xmlns:cdv="http://cordova.apache.org/ns/1.0">
    <name>LogisticsTracker</name>
    <description>Enterprise warehouse scanning application.</description>
    <preference name="Orientation" value="portrait" />
    <preference name="DisallowOverscroll" value="true" />
    <platform name="android">
        <preference name="AndroidXEnabled" value="true" />
    </platform>
</widget>

deviceready Lifecycle Event

Cordova requires waiting for native bridge initialization before invoking any hardware plugin APIs:

document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);

function onDeviceReady() {
  console.log("Running cordova-" + cordova.platformId + "@" + cordova.version);
  // Safe to invoke native plugins
  navigator.splashscreen.hide();
}

Native Plugin Hook Architecture

Hooks execute arbitrary Node.js scripts during the build lifecycle (e.g. copying release Google Services JSON, injecting Gradle properties):

// hooks/after_prepare.js
const fs = require("fs");
const path = require("path");

module.exports = function (context) {
  const root = context.opts.projectRoot;
  const src = path.join(root, "config/google-services.json");
  const dest = path.join(root, "platforms/android/app/google-services.json");
  if (fs.existsSync(src)) {
    fs.copyFileSync(src, dest);
    console.log("Injected google-services.json into Android platform.");
  }
};

Common Patterns

Modernizing Legacy Webviews via Capacitor Migration

Problem: Deprecated Cordova build tooling causing build breaks with modern mobile OS toolchains.

Solution: Migrate web assets and plugins to Capacitor as a modern drop-in runner:

npm install @capacitor/cli @capacitor/core
npx cap init
# Capacitor automatically reads config.xml and supports most Cordova plugins

Best Practices

Do:

Enable AndroidX: Ensure AndroidXEnabled preference is true in config.xml to prevent build failures with modern Android SDKs.
Plan Migration to Capacitor: Treat Cordova as maintenance-only; transition new features to modern tools like Capacitor.
Pin Exact Plugin Versions: Avoid dynamic plugin versions (latest) in config.xml to ensure reproducible CI/CD builds.
Check for Plugin Deprecations: Audit plugins against current iOS WKWebView and Android 14+ target SDK requirements.

Don't:

Commit platforms/ or plugins/: Keep them in .gitignore and regenerate them from config.xml and package.json.
Use synchronous file I/O: Heavy synchronous web operations inside Cordova WebViews freeze UI rendering.
Rely on obsolete plugins: Discard abandoned plugins that lack 64-bit binaries or modern privacy manifests.

Troubleshooting