The NativeScript framework enables you to use a complete stack of cross-platform APIs to write your application code or, if you need to, you can directly access all platform-specific native APIs using JavaScript only. That’s right—you can access all native APIs, not only the ones we thought would be useful!

We did not want to create yet another ecosystem around a native cross-platform framework. We wanted to integrate and play well with all existing JavaScript and native iOS/Android ecosystems. That is why we also support using existing JavaScript libraries, as well as existing native Objective-C and Java libraries. We want to stress that you don't need to know Objective-C, Swift, or Java in order to reuse these libraries—their entire APIs are available in JavaScript with no changes.

Because of the features listed above you get some important functionality right out of the box. The first is that applications built using the NativeScript framework support the same accessibility models as native apps. This is important for anyone creating apps that need to meet certain accessibility standards before going live. This is also very useful when you start implementing functional or unit tests for your app. Several existing cross-platform tools like Appium already work directly with the NativeScript framework and provide accessibility automation.

The second major feature you get out of the box is 0-day support for new native platforms. Because the NativeScript framework exposes unmodified native APIs and UI components, you can use the latest native APIs and new UI components when Apple, Google or Microsoft updates their mobile platforms.

So let’s summarize what the NativeScript framework enables you as of today:

• Build 100% native cross-platform apps, with a declarative UI, and the ability to implement platform-specific UIs.
• Share 100% of your code, or use platform-specific APIs, depending on the app you’re building.
• Code in standards-based ECMAScript 5 JavaScript, or use our built-in Babel or TypeScript transpilers
• Use standards-based CSS syntax for styling.
• Use rich data binding and existing UI patterns to easily build complex user interfaces.
• Reuse any native library available in Objective-C or Java.
• Reuse any JavaScript library that is not browser-dependent.
• Reuse the QA tools for accessibility automation to write tests.
• Use the latest native platform features to create an amazing native user experience.
• Code in any IDE of your choice to implement your applications’ code using the NativeScript framework's CLI.
• Use NativeScript Sidekick to get rich starter templates, verified plugins, cloud builds, and debugging all while using your own preferred IDE and tooling. Paid support is also available.

We hope this gives you a good idea about what you can expect from the NativeScript framework. Check out our Getting Started Guide to get started.