In 2013, Max Lynch, CEO of Ionic, announced the launch of the Ionic Framework, a free and open-source tool designed to facilitate the development of HTML5-powered mobile applications. Ionic aimed to capitalize on the untapped potential of HTML5 for mobile development by creating a framework that offered the ease and flexibility to build custom apps, closely integrated with AngularJS, while not being tied to any single framework. The framework was built to work with new-generation iOS and Android devices, focusing on native app development rather than web apps and incorporating features like an icon font inspired by iOS 7 and the use of Sass for styling. Although the framework was not yet ready for release at the time of the announcement, the team behind Ionic promised ongoing support and development, encouraging interested parties to follow their updates and join their mailing list for future announcements.