Ionic app modernisation
An Ionic app is a web application in a native shell, which is good news for a takeover: the screens and the logic are web code that carries over. What ages is the shell and the framework underneath. Ionic 1 to 3 apps sit on AngularJS or early Angular over Cordova, both out of support, and Ionic's own commercial services are being wound down after its acquisition by OutSystems, with Appflow closing at the end of 2027. Solve With Software brings the framework current, moves the shell from Cordova to Capacitor, and gets the app shipping through the stores again, in stages, on a fixed price from the assessment.
Free · 1 hour · no obligation
Where Ionic stands
Split. The open-source parts, Ionic Framework and Capacitor, are alive and maintained, with Ionic 8 current. The commercial parts are not: Ionic stopped selling Appflow, Identity Vault and Portals in February 2025, is winding them down, and closes Appflow on 31 December 2027. If your app's builds go through Appflow, that's a date.
Old Ionic apps have older problems. Ionic 1 is AngularJS, which ended in 2021. Ionic 2 and 3 are early Angular, several majors behind. All three usually run on Cordova, which is open source, maintained by a shrinking community, and whose plugins are the first thing to break when the stores raise their targets. Since April 2026 the App Store requires Xcode 26 builds; from August 2026 Google Play requires updates to target Android 16. An old Cordova plugin often can't meet either.
What carries over
More than with most mobile stacks, because the app is a web app. The screens, the logic and the data handling are HTML, CSS and TypeScript or JavaScript, and they survive a framework upgrade largely intact. The backend is wherever it was. The design is yours.
What doesn't carry over is the shell (Cordova to Capacitor is a migration, not an upgrade), the framework version (AngularJS to modern Angular is a rewrite of the components; Angular N to N+3 is a series of upgrades), and any plugin that has no Capacitor equivalent.
The paths
Upgrade in stages. Angular major by major with the official tooling, Ionic to 8, Cordova to Capacitor with each plugin replaced or rewritten, the whole thing building and shipping to a test group after each step. The right path for Ionic 4 onwards, and for Ionic 3 apps whose Angular is upgradeable.
Rebuild the components, keep the logic. For Ionic 1 (AngularJS), the components are rebuilt in modern Angular (or React or Vue, if the team prefers) one screen at a time, with the services and the data handling carried across. Capacitor from the start.
Rebuild in Flutter. When the app is small, or when the web-in-a-shell approach was the wrong fit for what it does (heavy maps, camera, offline). The backend and the design carry across. We build in Flutter, so the assessment compares it on cost rather than preference.
Get off Appflow, whichever path: builds move to a pipeline you own before the end of 2027.
The assessment reads the app and prices each path as a fixed number.
The accounts and keys you need to own
The same list as any mobile app, plus Appflow. Apple Developer account, certificates and profiles. Google Play account, upload key, and whether Play App Signing holds the signing key. The backend account. Push certificates. And the Appflow account, whose build configuration has to be reproduced somewhere else before it closes. The assessment produces the list and the first stage works through it.
Your data
Behind an API or in a hosted backend, and it stays where it is, in an account you own. Nothing reaches your users until it has proven itself somewhere else: a build tested against a staging backend, released to a test group through TestFlight and the Play internal track, then to the store.
What it costs
The assessment is from £395 + VAT, sized on a free one-hour consultation, with an exact price before you commit. For an Ionic app it establishes the Ionic and Angular versions, the Cordova plugins and their Capacitor equivalents, the accounts, and whether it builds, then prices the upgrade and the rebuild as fixed numbers. What drives the price and the payment terms each have a page.
The risks of waiting
The store dates that have already passed, which an old Cordova plugin can't meet. Appflow closing at the end of 2027 if your builds depend on it. An AngularJS core with no fixes since 2021 on an app that talks to your backend. And the plugin that breaks on the next phone operating system update, with no way to ship a fix.
How we approach it
Keys and accounts first, then a build, then the shell, then the framework, in stages. Marc Allington builds mobile apps in Flutter and web applications in Angular, which are the two things an Ionic app is made of. Everything we build runs in your own accounts, with full source code and ownership transferring to you on final payment.
The technical checklist for an Ionic takeover
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Ionic version, and the framework under it: AngularJS, Angular N, React, Vue | Ionic 1 means a component rewrite; later versions upgrade. |
| Cordova or Capacitor, and the plugin list | Each Cordova plugin needs a Capacitor equivalent or a rewrite; the abandoned ones are the cost. |
| Does it build, for both platforms, on a clean machine? | The first failure tells you what the handover missed. |
| Appflow: is it used for builds or live updates? | A closing date at the end of 2027 and a pipeline to reproduce. |
| Apple and Google accounts, keys, Play App Signing | Without them no build ships. |
| Backend, push, analytics, third-party SDKs | Each is a dependency and a credential. |
| Store status: last release, current targets | How far from shippable it is today. |
| Tests and CI | Usually none. The safety net comes first. |
Each answer goes into the report with its stage and a fixed price.
Questions
What people ask before they book.
Is Ionic still supported?
The framework and Capacitor are, and they're open source. Ionic's commercial products are being wound down after the OutSystems acquisition, and Appflow closes at the end of 2027. Old Ionic apps have the older problem of AngularJS and Cordova underneath them.
Do we have to move off Cordova?
Yes, in practice. Cordova is maintained by a small community and its plugins are what break when the stores raise their targets. Capacitor is the current runtime, made by the same people as Ionic, and the migration keeps your web code.
Our builds go through Appflow. What happens in 2027?
Appflow closes on 31 December 2027. The build configuration has to be reproduced in a pipeline you own before then, and it's part of the first stage of any Ionic takeover we do.
Is it a rewrite?
For Ionic 1, the components are rewritten because AngularJS is a different framework from modern Angular; the logic and the data handling carry across. For Ionic 4 onwards it's a series of upgrades, not a rewrite.
How long until we can ship an update?
It depends on the versions, the plugins and whether the keys exist, which the assessment measures. The shape is the usual one: a build in the test tracks within about six weeks, then stages, each priced before you commit.
Start with a free consultation
An hour on your system, online or by phone. From there we size the assessment, from £395 + VAT, and give you an exact price before you commit.
Want the numbers first? See how pricing works.
Written by Marc Allington, founder. .