From Performance Gains to Developer-Friendly Features: All About Angular 19

Angular 19 has marked a significant leap forward for the framework.

With enhanced reactivity, faster build times, and more efficient Server-Side Rendering (SSR), the November 2024 release (version 19) focuses on performance and developer productivity. It’s a refined, streamlined version of Angular, built for the demands of modern web development.

And the evolution doesn’t stop here. The March 2025 release of Angular 19.2 brings even more to the table, including experimental features like httpResource, improved TypeScript 5.8 support, and a host of subtle enhancements designed to make Angular apps smoother, faster, and easier to maintain.   

So, what makes Angular 19 a must-have for modern web apps? And how can these new features enhance your app’s speed, performance, and developer experience?

Let’s break it down in this exclusive read.

5 Key Angular Version 19 Enhancements

1. Build for Speed

Performance is at the core of Angular’s evolution, and version 19 takes things to the next level. Over the past few years, Angular has made strides in optimizing speed, introducing zoneless Angular, server-side rendering into the CLI, and collaborating with Chrome Aurora to refine hydration and image loading.

With Angular 19, developers get even more power with incremental hydration, route-level render modes, default event replay, and enhanced zoneless support. Let’s uncover them! 

– Incremental Hydration (Developer Preview)
Incremental hydration in Angular 19 brings smarter loading strategies to the table. Inspired by deferrable views, this feature enables parts of a template to load and hydrate asynchronously. Using the @defer syntax, developers can prioritize hydration based on user interactions or when an element enters the viewport. The result? Fewer unnecessary JavaScript downloads, faster load times, and a smoother user experience.

– Code Snippet – app.config.ts

import { provideClientHydration, withIncrementalHydration } from ‘@angular/platform-browser’;

export const appConfig: ApplicationConfig = {

 providers: [

…

provideClientHydration(withIncrementalHydration());

]

– component-name.cmponent.html

@defer (hydrate on viewport) {

 <product-list/>

}

– Event Replay (Now Enabled by Default)
Angular 19 now enables event replay by default, making server-side rendered applications more responsive. This feature captures user events during the initial page load and replays them once the necessary JavaScript is available. It eliminates the delay between user interaction and JavaScript execution, enhancing performance in high-stakes scenarios like eCommerce or real-time apps.

– Code Snippet – app.config.ts

import { provideClientHydration, withIncrementalHydration } from ‘@angular/platform-browser’;

export const appConfig: ApplicationConfig = {

 providers: [

…

provideClientHydration(withEventReplay());

]

– Route-Level Render Modes (Developer Preview)
One of the standout features in Angular 19 is the introduction of route-level render modes. This gives developers fine-grained control over how each route is rendered, whether server-side, client-side, or prerendered. The new ServerRoute interface simplifies configuration without duplicating logic, while dynamic parameter resolution makes prerendering more efficient.

export const serverRoutes: ServerRoute[] = [

 { path: ‘/login’, mode: RenderMode.Client },

 { path: ‘/dashboard’, mode: RenderMode.Server},

{ path: ‘/product-detail’, mode: RenderMode.Server},

 { path: ‘/profile’, mode: RenderMode.Prerender },

];

– SSR with Zoneless Angular
Continuing its performance-first approach, Angular 19 strengthens support for zoneless applications in SSR environments. By removing the dependency on zone.js, it reduces overhead and improves server-side rendering efficiency. Developers can now use new primitives for tracking pending requests and navigation, alongside RxJS operators that signal when rendering is complete, delivering more predictable and faster rendering workflows.

2. Developer Advancements

Angular v19 introduces several improvements aimed at making development faster and more efficient. Here’s what’s new:

– Instant Edit/Refresh with Hot Module Replacement (HMR)
Angular 19 enhances developer productivity with out-of-the-box HMR support for style changes, applied instantly without a full page reload. It also introduces experimental HMR for templates, enabling developers to view template updates in real-time. To enable this, use the command NG_HMR_TEMPLATES=1 ng serve. HMR can be turned off by setting “hmr”: false in angular.json or using ng serve –no-hmr.

– Standalone Defaults to True
Standalone components now come enabled by default, simplifying Angular development by reducing boilerplate. Angular automatically removes the need to declare the standalone metadata property. The ng update schematic helps developers migrate existing codebases smoothly without manual change. Set standalone to false for all non-standalone abstractions if needed for any directives, components, and pipes.

– Strict Standalone Enforcement
To support a cleaner architecture, Angular 19 introduces a new compiler flag that enforces standalone usage across all components, directives, and pipes. Developers can enable strict standalone mode by adding “strictStandalone”: true to their tsconfig.json, ensuring consistency and alignment with modern Angular patterns.

{

 “angularCompilerOptions”: {

   “strictStandalone”: true

 }

}

– State of Testing Tooling
Angular has introduced a developer preview of Karma with esbuild, aimed at significantly improving test build speeds and compatibility. This update leverages esbuild’s fast bundling to enhance test performance during development. However, Angular is moving towards deprecating Karma by the first half of 2025 and plans to recommend a new default test runner by mid-year to streamline testing workflows.

As part of this transition, Angular is actively exploring experimental support for modern tools like Jest—popular for its speed, simplicity, and snapshot testing—and Web Test Runner, which enables fast, native browser testing using ES modules. These tools are being evaluated to modernize the Angular testing experience and align with evolving developer needs.

– Secure From the Start
Angular 19 makes applications more secure with support for hash-based Strict Content Security Policy (CSP). This automatically generates secure hashes for inline scripts, helping prevent the execution of unauthorized code. Developers can enable it by setting autoCSP: true under the security section in angular.json.

{

    “projects”: {

        “angular-app”: {

            “architect”: {

                “build”: {

                    “configurations”: {

                        “production”: {

                            “security”: {

                                “autoCsp”: true

                                // set autoCsp to true 

                                // To allows Angular to automatically apply CSP rules.

                            }

                        }

                    }

                }

            }

        }       

    }

}

3. Evolving Reactivity

Angular continues to refine its reactivity system with new APIs, enhanced stability, and experimental features.

– Stabilization of Inputs, Outputs, and View Queries
Angular v19 stabilizes key APIs—@Input, @Output, and view queries—for improved consistency in component interaction. These are now considered stable defaults, helping developers align with the latest best practices in code structure. To help teams migrate easily, Angular provides schematics for input, output, and query migration.

ng generate @angular/core:signal-input-migration

ng generate @angular/core:signal-queries-migration

ng generate @angular/core:output-migration

For a complete migration in one go: 

ng generate @angular/core:signals

Note: Since signal inputs are read-only, some manual adjustments may be needed after migration.

– Language Service Integration for Code Modernization
The Angular Language Service now integrates directly with Visual Studio Code to suggest and apply modern APIs in real-time. This empowers developers to adopt updated patterns and APIs more easily, right from their code editor, without manually rewriting older syntax.

– Linked Signals (Experimental)
Linked signals help solve common UI state management challenges by introducing writable signals that can derive their value from other signals. This experimental feature gives developers more control while maintaining reactivity and composability.

– Introducing resource() for Asynchronous Data (Experimental)
Angular introduces a resource() to handle asynchronous data with a reactive pattern. It powers components to manage loading, resolved, and error states using signals, without falling back to traditional subscriptions or async pipes.

For RxJS users, rxResource() provides a way to convert an Observable into a reactive resource:

import { rxResource } from ‘@angular/core/rxjs-interop’;

– State of the Effects API
Based on community feedback, the Effects API has been refined for better execution and debugging. While it’s still in developer preview, these refinements aim to provide a cleaner way to manage side effects in a reactive application.

– State of Zoneless Angular
Angular continues its journey toward removing dependency on zone.js. In this release, zoneless support is further improved with enhancements in server-side rendering (SSR), better testability, and real-world evaluation through teams like Google Fonts adopting it internally.

How to Try It?
ng new [project-name] –experimental-zoneless

Or 

bootstrapApplication(App, {

  providers: [provideExperimentalZonelessChangeDetection()]

});

4. Advanced Angular Material and the CDK

– Enhanced Theming API
With Angular v19, theme customization is now more streamlined. Instead of defining themes for each component separately, developers can now use the new mat.theme mixin to apply a theme globally in a single step.

@use ‘@angular/material’ as mat;

@include mat.core();

$grazitti-theme: mat.define-theme((

    color: (

       theme-type: light,

       primary: mat.$violet-palette,

     ),

   ));

html {

  // Apply the custom theme by default

  @include mat.core-theme($grazitti-theme);

  …

}

– Component Overrides
A new override API in Sass enables granular customization of individual components while preserving the original theme settings.

@include mat.product-card-overrid(

    (

      ‘content-background-color’: blue,

      ‘container-divider-color’: red,

    )

  );

– Two-Dimensional Drag & Drop
The Angular CDK now supports mixed-orientation drag-and-drop, enabling elements to move in horizontal and vertical directions, a highly requested feature from the community.

<div cdkDropList cdkDropListOrientation=”mixed”  …>

  @for (todo of todoList; track item) {

    <div cdkDrag class=”todo-card”>

      <h4>{{todo.title}}</h4>

      <p>{{todo.desc}}</p>

      <div class=”todo-status”>{{todo.status}}</div>

      <mat-icon cdkDragHandle svgIcon=”dnd-move”></mat-icon>

    </div>

  }

</div>

– Tab Reordering
Angular CDK introduces built-in support for draggable tabs, already implemented in Google Cloud Console’s BigQuery.

– New Time Picker Component
A long-awaited addition to Angular Material, the time picker component aligns with accessibility standards and provides a seamless way to select times in Angular applications.

<input matInput [matTimepicker]=”picker”>

<mat-timepicker-toggle matIconSuffix [for]=”picker”/>

<mat-timepicker #picker/>

5. Quality-Of-Life Improvements

– Reporting Unused Imports in Standalone Components
Angular 19 brings a much-requested quality-of-life improvement, automatic reporting of unused imports in standalone components. The Angular CLI now flags them during builds, while the Language Service highlights them in IDEs. This makes it easier to clean up code and keep projects lean.

You can suppress these warnings in angular.json by setting:
{

  “angularCompilerOptions”: {

    “extendedDiagnostics”: {

      “checks”: {

        “unusedStandaloneImports”: “suppress”

      }

    }

  }

}

– Command-Line Environment Variable Declaration

New –define flag enables passing environment variables at build time:

ng build –define “apiKey=’$API_KEY'”

– This helps manage API keys and other dynamic configurations without modifying code.

– Local Variables in Templates
Initially introduced as a developer preview in v18.1, local variables in templates are now stable in Angular 19. This feature lets developers create variables directly in templates using @let, making expressions cleaner and easier to manage, especially with template references and async pipes.

<input #name>

@let greeting = ‘Hello ‘ + name.value;

@let user = user$ | async;

– Evolving Apps with Best Practices
Angular 19 embraces standalone mode by default, minimizing boilerplate and metadata. Migration schematics simplify upgrades, whether it’s replacing constructor-based DI with inject(), modernizing decorators, or updating outputs.

• ng generate @angular/core:inject-migration  
• ng generate @angular/core:signal-input-migration  
• ng generate @angular/core:output-migration
  

The CLI now auto-converts eagerly loaded routes to lazy ones. It also brings Google Maps clustering API support, retires the Protractor builder in favor of modern e2e tools, and moves toward esbuild and Vite for faster performance and streamlined builds.  

Related Read: Latest Improvements in Angular 17 

Building on the momentum of Angular 19, version 19.2 brings even more enhancements to streamline development and improve reactivity.

Angular 19.2 Updates: Building on the Momentum

1. resource() and rxResource() Enhancements
Now support defaultValue for fallback states and stream for live data updates. Great for building real-time UIs with observables or WebSockets.

2. New httpResource() API
Simplifies reactive HTTP calls by syncing with signals and integrating with interceptors. Ideal for dynamic data-fetching scenarios.

3. Template String Interpolation
Template literals like `Hello, ${name()}` are supported directly in templates. Cleaner, more expressive syntax with signal or pipe support.

4. Self-Closing Tag Migration
A migration auto-updates void elements to self-closing tags. Helps maintain modern, compact template code.

5. Forms Support for Set Type
Validators like minLength, required, etc., now work with Set, not just arrays and strings. Enables richer form logic.

6. TypeScript 5.8 Support
Full compatibility with TS 5.8 brings better type-checking and build improvements. Supports the latest TypeScript features.

7. AoT Support in Testing
Tests with Karma, Jest, and WTR now support Ahead-of-Time compilation. Helps catch template errors missed in JIT mode.

8. Karma Builder Moved
Now part of @angular/build, facilitating cleanup of legacy dependencies like @angular-devkit/build-angular.

9. SSR Improvements
provideServerRoutesConfig is replaced with provideServerRouting in Angular 19.2. Furthermore, matcher-based routes are now supported with Server or Client render modes.

10. @angular/animations Deprecated
No longer included in new projects. Safe to remove unless used explicitly, reflects shift to more lightweight animation strategies.

Related Read: Angular vs React – Which JavaScript Framework to Choose From 

The Next Step: Seamless Angular 19 Upgrade with Expert Guidance

Upgrading your Angular application ensures you stay in sync with the latest features, performance improvements, security patches, and bug fixes. Angular 19 introduces Standalone Components by Default, Incremental Hydration, TypeScript 5.6 support, and performance optimizations. 

Steps to initiate the upgrade: 

Step 1: Review Angular 19 Release Notes

Review the changelog for new features, deprecations, and breaking changes.

Step 2: Backup Your Project

Ensure your project is backed up or under version control.

Step 3: Update Global Angular CLI

Run npm install -g @angular/cli@19 to update your global CLI.

Step 4: Upgrade Angular in Your Project

Run ng update @angular/cli@19 @angular/core@19 to update core packages.  

Step 5: Update TypeScript Version

Run npm install [email protected] –save-dev to update to TypeScript 5.6.

Step 6: Update Other Angular Dependencies

Run ng update @angular/forms @angular/router @angular/material for other dependencies.

Step 7: Update Third-Party Dependencies

Run npm outdated and update outdated packages using npm install package-name@latest.

Step 8: Fix Breaking Changes and Deprecations

Address breaking changes like Standalone Components and hydration updates.

Step 9: Run and Test the Application

Run ng serve, ng test, and ng e2e to verify the application.

Step 10: Optimize Build Configurations

Update angular.json and tsconfig.json to match Angular 19’s best practices.

Step 11: Perform a Production Build

Run ng build –configuration=production to generate a production build.

Step 12: Deploy and Monitor

Deploy to production and monitor for issues or performance improvements.

Partnering with a web application expert, like Grazitti Interactive, can ensure a smooth Angular upgrade. With their deep knowledge of Angular’s architecture, they can ensure third-party dependencies are compatible with Angular 19 and assist with updates. They also help resolve breaking changes, particularly with features like Standalone Components or incremental hydration. Experts can fine-tune applications to leverage Angular 19’s performance improvements, ensuring better rendering and change detection.

Enhance Your Development Experience and Boost Application Performance with Angular 19 Framework. Let’s Talk!