Next.js + Tailwind CSS + Ionic Framework + Capacitor Mobile Starter
Note: this repo is in active development and not quite ready for production use!
This repo is a starting point for building an iOS, Android, and Progressive Web App with Next.js, Tailwind CSS, Ionic Framework, and Capacitor.
Next.js handles the production React app experience, Tailwind can be used to style each page of your app, Ionic Framework provides the cross-platform system controls (navigation/transitions/tabs/etc.), and then Capacitor bundles all of it up and runs it on iOS, Android, and Web with full native access.
Usage
This project is a standard Next.js app, so the typical Next.js development process applies. However, there is one caveat: the app must be exported to deploy to iOS and Android, since it must run purely client-side. (more on Next.js export)
To build the app, run:
npm run build
npm run export
All the client side files will be sent to the ./out/ directory. These files need to be copied to the native iOS and Android projects, and this is where Capacitor comes in:
npx cap copy
Finally, to run the app, open the Native IDE for the platform and follow the IDE's run process (note: a CLI run will be available in Capacitor 3:
npx cap open ios
npx cap open android
Caveats
One caveat with this project: Because the app must be able to run purely client-side and use Next.js's Export command, that means no Server Side Rendering in this code base. There is likely a way to SSR and a fully static Next.js app in tandem but it requires a Babel plugin or would involve a more elaborate monorepo setup with code sharing that is out of scope for this project.
Additionally, Next.js routing is not really used much in this app beyond a catch-all route to render the native app shell and engage the Ionic React Router. This is primarily because Next.js routing is not set up to enable native-style transitions and history state management like the kind Ionic uses.
What is Capacitor?
You can think of Capacitor as a sort of "electron for mobile" that runs standard web apps on iOS, Android, Desktop, and Web.
Capacitor provides access to Native APIs and a plugin system for building any native functionality your app needs.
Capacitor apps can also run in the browser as a Progressive Web App with the same code.