What’s the difference between “ionic build” and “ionic prepare”? Technology Community › Category: Ionic › What’s the difference between “ionic build” and “ionic prepare”? 0 Vote Up Vote Down VietMX Staff asked 4 years ago ionic prepare <platform> copies all files from the www folder into the target platform’s www folder. ionic build <platform> also does this, but also builds the app’s source code so that it can be run on a simulator/emulator or a device.