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Tag: iOS

  • Native Apps Part II: A Hybrid App

    Not yet  appstoreScreenshot_2013-02-03-21-07-15

    My app experiment now includes a build for iOS, and the app has been tested on my iPads. However, a certificate/mobileprovision file is needed to install the app on iPad/iPhone (and must be done through iTunes). I have submitted the app to the Apple App Store, where it is now under review.

    Getting the Android app into Google Play was a bit easier, and the EA Glossary app is now available there:

    googleplay

    Assuming the iOS app is accepted in the App Store, I will declare mission accomplished.

    The mission was for me to learn about native apps, and I have worked with both iOS and Android so I learned more than one architecture.  I started out setting up both platforms and went through installing both XCode and Eclipse, and learning how to create certificates, profiles, etc. on the two platforms.

    I hereby apply what Gartner calls hybrid architecture, which “combines the portability of HTML5 Web apps with a native container that facilitates access to native device features”.  Gartner says:

    Mobility has always been a separate topic for IT professionals, but it is now influencing mainstream strategies and tactics in the wider areas of technology enablement and enterprise architectures. … Increasingly, enterprises are finding that they need to support multiple platforms, especially as the [bring your own device] BYOD trend gains momentum.

    More than 50 percent of mobile apps deployed by 2016 will be hybrid, Gartner predicts.

     

     

  • Native EA Apps

    Update: Native Apps Part II: A Hybrid App

    Every single web page out there, if you like, is like a computer.
    Tim Berners-Lee

    platforms

    Modern web technologies (HTML5, CSS, Javascript) allow us to build advanced solutions.

    Although not that advanced, a service like EA Glossary is in fact just one single web page, i.e. one HTML5 document. With a bunch of supporting stuff, primarily jQueryMobile, it is “like a computer”.

    I created the website some years ago so I could refer students and others to it. I turned it into a mobile-friendly web app last year.

    For a while now, I have been playing around with the idea of turning it into a set of native apps (for iPhone, iPad, Android, etc). I basically want to learn more about what it takes to build native apps, and EA Glossary seemed a good place to start.

    build_bot

    Instead of digging into just one native platform, I went looking for a solution that supports multiple platforms, as I would want apps for both iOS, Android and if possible Microsoft and others. And works on both tablets and smartphones. And works offline.

    I decided to use PhoneGap, an open source framework for quickly building cross-platform mobile apps using HTML5, Javascript and CSS. Or rather, I use Phonegap Build, where the compiling is done in the cloud.

    And so: Get EA Glossary Native Apps for Android, Blackberry, Symbian, webOS and Windows Phone.

    The iOS app is as yet unavailable and still work-in-progress. I have signed up for Apple’s iOS Developer Program, but await confirmation, and cannot build an app until I get a signing key. The Android app has been signed. The Blackberry not so, as I have not looked into that. The other apps cannot be signed.

    The apps are not in an app store, so you must set your devise to accept untrusted apps.

    If your devise supports QR codes (get an app for that) just scan the QR code here:

    eaglossay-qr

    If anyone is interested in joining me in making this app even better, the source is in GitHub.