Adobe killed PhoneGap in 2020. No patches, no PhoneGap Build, no compatibility work for the iOS and Android releases that keep shipping every year. Every one of our PhoneGap development services exists for one reason — getting your app onto a runtime that's actually still alive, without losing the users you already have.
Why Entalogics for PhoneGap
PhoneGap isn't a technology choice anymore — it's a countdown. Adobe stopped investing in 2020, and nothing about that has changed since. Here's what actually matters if your app is still running on it.
Nobody has shipped a security patch for a PhoneGap plugin since 2020. Each one sitting in your app is a CVE with no one watching it. We catalogue your full plugin inventory and swap each one for an actively maintained Capacitor or native equivalent.
iOS and Android ship major updates every year, and PhoneGap's WebView bridge and build tooling stopped keeping pace in 2020. There's no team fixing compatibility on the other end. Migrating puts your app back on a runtime someone actually maintains.
PhoneGap runs on Cordova's async JSON bridge between JavaScript and native code. Capacitor's bridge is typed and direct. In our own migration case, that difference measured out to 47% faster native calls — and users feel it immediately.
A PhoneGap app is still HTML, CSS, and JavaScript underneath. That code carries into Ionic Capacitor with far fewer changes than people assume. Your team's existing skills and business logic move with it.
Migration paths
There's no version of "keep PhoneGap running" that holds up past the next OS release. What matters is picking the right target framework for your app, your team, and your timeline. We'll give you a straight answer on the first call.
MOVE TO IONIC CAPACITOR WHEN
MOVE TO REACT NATIVE WHEN
MOVE TO FLUTTER WHEN
WE SAY NO WHEN
What we migrate
The shapes of PhoneGap development work we take on most — every engagement ends with a modern, actively maintained app live on both stores.
The most direct path off PhoneGap. Your web codebase stays largely intact, Cordova plugins get swapped for Capacitor equivalents, and the native bridge is rebuilt on a runtime that's actually maintained.
A full UI rebuild on native-rendered components, with your existing business logic carried over from JavaScript. Expo handles OTA updates and cloud builds going forward.
A complete rewrite in Dart for teams that want maximum control over rendering and a genuinely fresh architecture, not a patched-over legacy codebase.
Every unmaintained plugin in your PhoneGap app identified, risk-scored against known CVEs, and replaced with a Capacitor or native equivalent that's still receiving updates.
PhoneGap apps failing review or flagged for deprecated APIs get fixed at the build-tooling level, then resubmitted against current App Store and Play Store guidelines.
For apps that have genuinely outgrown the hybrid model. Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android, built from your existing app's real specification instead of starting from a blank page.
The playbook
Patterns proven across real PhoneGap rescues — not a theoretical upgrade guide someone wrote without doing one.
P01
Every Cordova and PhoneGap plugin catalogued with maintainer status, last update date, known CVEs, and its Capacitor equivalent. This inventory is what the entire migration plan is built on.
P02
The old PhoneGap app and the new Capacitor build run side by side for the length of the migration. Each screen ships independently, with a kill-switch on every cutover.
P03
PhoneGap Build shut down years ago. We wire GitHub Actions, Codemagic, or Appflow to build, sign, and submit to both stores from CI — no manual Xcode steps standing in the way.
P04
Every native API call moves from Cordova's untyped callback pattern to Capacitor's typed async/await. TypeScript strict from the plugin layer up.
P05
Cypress or Playwright runs against every migrated screen before it goes live. Nothing ships until it matches or beats the old version's behaviour.
P06
Updated build tooling, current SDK targets, privacy manifests, and store metadata. We own the first submission, including compliance with whatever review guidelines are current that quarter.
Signature case
An enterprise field service app on PhoneGap — 23 Cordova plugins, 9 unmaintained with known CVEs, camera plugin crashing on iOS 17, and a PhoneGap Build replacement jury-rigged with shell scripts. Migrated to Ionic 8 with Capacitor 6 in 7 weeks. Every plugin replaced. Both store listings updated. Zero user disruption.
Before
PhoneGap · 23 plugins, 9 unmaintained · camera crash on iOS 17 · no CI/CD · 3 known CVEs
After
Ionic 8 Capacitor 6 · all plugins maintained · camera stable · GitHub Actions CI · 0 CVEs
Engagement shape
Screen by screen — never flag-day. The current app stays live on both stores while we work.
Two senior engineers on the project. Full plugin inventory, CVE scan, OS compatibility check, build tooling assessment. A ranked migration plan — not just a list of what's broken.
Capacitor baseline established, the first batch of plugins replaced, one production screen migrated end-to-end and measured on a real device.
Old and new versions running side by side. A kill-switch on every cutover. Your team keeps shipping the rest of the roadmap throughout.
Both stores updated, CI/CD wired in. Runbook handed to your team — or we stay on retainer for what comes next.
Stack
Our default PhoneGap migration stack.
Engagement
No hourly retainer billing for "thinking time." Every migration engagement is fixed-quote or transparently rated.
A defined migration scope, a fixed price, a senior-only team. From audit to both app stores live, typically 6–12 weeks.
FIXED SCOPE
Senior engineers embedded in your team, handling the migration alongside your existing roadmap. Pause, resize, or end with 30 days' notice.
PER ENGINEER
For organisations running multiple PhoneGap apps that need a phased, prioritised migration roadmap across quarters rather than one project.
PROCUREMENT-FRIENDLY
Founder-direct
Thirty minutes with the founder — a senior migration engineer in the room, the relevant playbook on the table, and a straight answer on whether Capacitor, React Native, Flutter, or native is the right destination for your app.
