The Android Instant Apps is a new thing, and I just wanted to know if it can be integrated with the Hybrid app structure (HTML/JS with Cordova wrapper).
I'm not a native app developer so I'm not sure of this myself.
According to Googlers ,well main idea behind instant app is
To make the native app experience as convenient as surfing to a web
site. “Web pages are ephemeral,They appear, you use them, and never
think about them again.” Apps, have lots of friction and
often you only want an app to perform one action or to get a specific
piece of information.
Google's examples of Instant Apps included museum or resort apps with maps and schedules, along with apps that help you pay for parking. These are the kinds of rarely-used apps that are useful in the moment, though you wouldn't necessarily want to install them on your phone beforehand or keep them around afterward. Developers can, however, can provide "call to action" links that encourage users to download and install apps that they find particularly useful.
Instant Apps are a logical evolution of App Links, a Marshmallow-era feature that lets installed apps designate themselves as the default options for opening certain kinds of links. For instance, clicking a link to Pinterest might open up the Pinterest app rather than Pinterest's mobile site—Apple's "Universal Links" in iOS 9 provide similar functionality.
Google requires apps that use App Links to prove that they're associated with the sites they say they're associated with; the exact same sort of verification will be used for Instant Apps.
So if we analyze all the information provided by googlers Instant Apps for a start is only for native apps there is no scope for Hybrid Apps...
Hope this make sense...I am able to clear your doubt..we will know more when..the exact availability of instant apps for both end users and developers will gradually expand access to feature and bring it to users...
Technically, I don't see why not as Instant Apps end up compiling to what is just a regular APK (or set of APKs).
Will it work out-of-the-box? I doubt it, as there may be issues with tooling (which is via Android Studio) as well as runtime issues (Instant Apps have some restrictions on what they can do, see the FAQ).
Is it recommended? Probably not, as the point of Instant Apps is to provide a fast, native app experience. If the hybrid app ultimately loads HTML/JS then there is likely minimal advantage over simply loading an optimized mobile website.
Related
I am trying to understand at a little bit lower level how Android Instant Applications work, as well as analyse a bit the security aspect. I know you create an app, it has its modules and activities, and you need to specify an URL entry-point for each feature module. Now, I have my application, I have my link, I browse to it. Two questions here:
1) How does Android, my browser, DNS, whatever parses that link, know that it's not a normally browsable internet link, but that it's actually an instant app and and should open it like an instant app using the android framework, download base and feature modules, isntant-compilation, etc. ?
2) What does it actually do after it understands it's an instant app? What calls are made? WHERE exactly is the application contained? We start from the browser we use to search and find that link, after that? Is it contained in that browser's sandbox? Does it create a new container for that app? From a security perspective, this information would be quite important and interesting.
How can I gather more info about all this? Are there any tools that allow me to see into these load procedures? Any link to some extra documentation or knowledge of how this particular aspect of android works?
I suspect there won't be much public info because even though they were introduced in the end of 2016, Instant Apps is still a very new and explored feature, but that's exactly what I'm working on. If there is anything that can allow me to see what's going on, tools, debuggers, stuff I don't even know it exists, please let me know.
Recently I just started to learn Android Instant app. As far I research, it make me feel that it behaves like a Web App, which used to replace mobile websites.
This may be a dumb question, but I want to figure out whether Android Instant app is a Web App or not. And, any difference between both of them ?
Android Instant Apps allows Android users to run your apps instantly, without installation.
Web apps or Now most used as Progressive Web Apps are user experiences that have the reach of the web, and are: Reliable - Load instantly and never show the downasaur, even in uncertain network conditions
Differenrences between Webapp and AndroidInstantApp:
Web apps have lack integration with some smartphone features like contacts,Bluetooth, flashlight etc. AIAs always have.
Web apps can be crawled and discovered by search engines. While they don’t need to be developed as fully fledged apps, they still need to
be developed as web apps that meet Google’s standards.Whereas AIAs only need to be upgraded from the already existing
native mobile app.
You can also got more info here:- Android Instant Apps
Native Android apps, without the installation
Instant Apps are Native applications.
The description says:
Native Android apps, without the installation
An evolution in app sharing and discovery, Android Instant Apps allows
Android users to run your apps instantly, without installation.
Android users experience what they love about apps—fast and beautiful
user interfaces, high performance, and great capabilities—with just a
tap.
You can see the official documentations from here.
A android instace app can be run without internet and ... not a web app :)
I'm currently getting involved in an app project with a web site that will mirror its actions, the main goal is to confirm presence in clubs and bars and get discounts with it. (A little more than that, but not the scope of the question).
Despite my programming experience, I've never developed an app before, and at this time we already have the front-end of the website done, my question is if there is any advantage in developing the app from scratch, with an IDE or is it just time-wasting compared to using tools like those recommended in this article here.
What could be the drawbacks of just "converting" the website to an app?
TL;DR: Developing an app, is worth it to develop with an IDE or an online paid tool should do this job perfectly?
Both the options are viable.
Facebook, an extremely popular app just uses a WebView and renders the mobile version of their website (I am oversimplifying here). You still need a mobile version of the website though. The downside is, it will not look (or feel) as good as a native app.
On the other hand, a separate native app means more maintenance efforts.
Pick your poison.
Are there any default apps on Android? Especially in 4.2?
iOS 6 has Passbook, built-in Facebook/Twitter support, allowing for greater integration into these services.
Is there something similar on Android that can reliably be accessed across all devices running the latest Android OS version?
I know that there are Android apps that can read the Passbook file, but they're not Google products the way Passbook is an iOS product. Similarly, I know that there are Facebook and Twitter Android apps, but they may or may not be installed and may or may not respond to an Intent that's possibly structured differently between versions of those apps. Am I just doomed to deal with this fragmented space, building for the past and hoping it won't break in the future?
Yes, all Android developers are doomed to this fate. Most Android devices come with things like GMail, Google Calendar, and so on, but Android is fully open, which means not all devices have to include these (and in fact, have gotten in trouble for including them in the past).
Here are some things to keep in mind, though (in 99.999%+ of cases):
The Google Play store will always be installed on the device (assuming that's where you publish your app).
Either the browser or some form of it (Chrome, Dolphin, etc.) will be installed on the device.
And some other tips for developing for compatibility:
I would suggest you read up on intent filters; basically, when someone makes an app like, say, Twitter, they register it for a "share" intent filter. That way, when some app (maybe yours?) requests the user to "share" something, Twitter is shown as an option to share with.
I hate to make a bullet point entirely out of links, but you should read up on Receiving Content from Other Apps, Sending Content to Other Apps, and Sending the User to Another App. These are all key ideas in core Android that will apply to your situation.
Those aside, I have one final note: Assume nothing. Assume everything will break. Whenever you call an intent, you should be wary and catch any issues (such as ActivityNotFoundExceptions).
I work at a large company that is looking at building apps for internal use only (iPhone/iPad). We are looking for a SIMPLE way of creating apps that essentially are just a web browser with a predefined URL and no address bar/tabs, etc. Essentially a very dumbed down browser with a custom logo. What is the easiest way to accomplish this?
We would obviously be distributing these oursevlves and they wouldn't be available in the App Store, so app guidelines aren't an issue. We are on Windows boxes and are Java/Web developers so we'd rather not get into too much C sharp if at all possible, fyi. Basically it'd be nice if the tool (if one exists), were to allow us to give it a URL, an icon image, and it builds the app from there.
And while we are starting out with Apple devices, we need to be cross platform compliant with whatever tools we use because I can imagine the day when they decide to buy Android or WindowsPhone devices later on.
MobiOne? PhoneGap? Appcelerator Titanium SDK? Can either of these do what we need? Something else?
A big 'No' for MobiOne. I bought it for 99 dollars. As they advertised, I was able to create a static app within hours. But that's pretty much what MobiOne can do. The moment you start using html, javascript or even audio, all sorts of problem seem to creep up. And there is no support in their forums either. My basic question about using the audio player remains unanswered for a month now.
Here is the worst part:
The tool has a poorly built emulator. Often times, my app worked fine in the emulator but failed to run when deployed to a real device. And at times, i have seen the vice versa too.
Since then, I switched over to PhoneGap(which is free). It took me 2 days to just set my environment right. But once I had the environment setup, it took only minutes to deploy my app in to a virtual device.
Looking at your requirement, I would say that your safe bet is PhoneGap.
I don't have a working knowledge in Titanium but I read in a lot of forums that it supports less platforms when compared to PhoneGap. Titanium seems to give a more native feel to the app but that also means you cannot port it to multiple platforms without changing the code.
Apple may reject your app if all it does is wrap a web site in a WebView. You need to have more functionality in your app than just loading a web page.
From the app review guidelines for iOS:
2.12 Apps that are not very useful, are simply web sites bundled as apps, or do not provide any lasting entertainment value may be rejected
You would need to add additional screens to the app like an about page and a contact us page in order for your app not to be rejected.
As you say you know JavaScript, look into appcelerator.com it allows you to build cross platform apps and only writing your code once.
I would re-evaluate your reason for wanting to create these projects as an app in the first place. What app functionality do you want that you don't have now with your web page? You didn't mention anything in your question that would indicate this needs to be an app.
On Apple devices, you could create an icon that points to a web site. You could define the pages in a way that hides the address bar. Lastly, the web pages could easily be cross-platform already.
Wrapping this into an app would just possibly complicate the process. You may need to deploy updated app code to the device, where a refresh in a browser works just as well.