Currently I am planning to use Hybrid App (ionic framework) to develop an initial version of our app. The reason is I am planning to start a startup and currently not in a position to afford individual developer for various platforms (especially for iOS, the developer rate is too costly).
So I decided to use Hybrid App using ionic, and our requirements fits well for hybrid app at-least for initial few releases. But at later point planning to migrate to native Android and iOS when I earn enough funding. Because later versions of app may have features like payment gateway integration, chat features etc.
So my question is, is it possible to release initial version of app using hybrid and at later updates push native version? If yes can someone give me basic idea of how is this achieved so I can take it forward? I searched quite in Google but didn't find enough information regarding same.
Publishing hybrid app on platform specific stores are same process as publishing native app.
You can develop and build application using any cross platform mobile application development tool (i.e. ionic framework or any other) and later easily move to native development tool. You can also develop application on hybrid tool(ionic framework) and build it on native development tool(Xcode or Android Studio) and proceed further for publishing on store.
In Android, package name(application ID) should be same for different versions of app binary. Also signing certificate remain same during version change.
In iOS, Bundle ID must be same for different versions/builds of app binary. Apart from this, provisional profiles and certificates also need to be same.
It is possible unless the binary have the same bundle identifier.
You may first release an app with Ionic framework and later push a native version of it. One thing is that the two binary have to have same bundle identifier.
You can surely do by keeping package name same at google playstore or say bundle identifier at App store. It will replace your old apk or ipa file with code using native APIs at later point in time.
Related
How to create several versions of a Flutter app: a usual version and a development testing function differing that the development testing version has unlimited credits (credits are an in-app product)?
In C++ there are #if/#endif, what can I do like this in Flutter?
I use Android Studio.
I need to do this reliably, not to accidentally release developer's version to usual users. How to protect securely against such a case (releasing developer's version to usual users), against an incidental error?
Currently, I need this only for Android, not iOS.
I have an Android/iOS app built with Apache Cordova. I am having some issues in getting some enhancements done to it.
Is it possible to shift to a different architecture of the app like from Apache Cordova to Flutter, without relauncing the app in the AppStore?
It could be Cordova to Native Android App, or hybrid ones like Flutter, but I want to know if I can change the app development framework architecture.
I have checked in here, but could not get the exact answer.
I dont think it is possible, but I wanted to check one final time before re-architecting. If the answer is yes, please do provide some pointers so that I can take a look.
So long as you sign it with the same key, yes. The store doesn't know or care what framework an app is written in. All it cares is that the signing key is the same, and that the version code increases.
I have a feeling I already know the answer to this, but I'm still hoping it's possible. Awhile back, I made an app for android using an Adobe Flash trial. Since then, I've made numerous similar apps in Android Studio, which look much nicer and don't require the user to download AIR. For whatever reason, the app I made in Flash is doing really well, despite the fact that it's easily the worst one I've made. What I'd like to do is replace the app with a remade, nicer looking, native version of it. Is this possible somehow?
Yes. The only requirements Google has for Google Play is that your application have the same package name (e.g. "com.example.myapp") and is signed with the same certificate. It also requires a new, higher version code and will prompt a user for a manual update if it requires additional permissions.
Google does not compare the contents of the APKs for similarity, so do what you want as long as you have your certificate.
But - is your "app" an app or a webpage? The Adobe AIR APK is a native app. They just provide a framework and toolset for constructing apps.
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/air/build/WS901d38e593cd1bac1e63e3d128cdca935b-8000.html
More specifically, Adobe uses the same distribution method for AIR apps as native apps, so re-distributing as a native app is possible:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/air/build/WS901d38e593cd1bac-77bd3ea112e2c0a7ed0-8000.html
I'm developping an HTML5 cross-platform game. Now I'm using Phonegap with the Android sdk. But I want this game to work on iOS. Should I have a Mac and repeat all the work on it, or the game will be working on iOS without all this procedure?
PhoneGap doesn't produce one app that can run on different platforms, instead it is used to create an app per platform (each app contains the same version of your HTML5 code). Thus you will have to create an iOS specific version of your app using PhoneGap. This is very quick to do, however you will need a Mac and XCode in order to build the app.
Apple apps also need to be signed with certificates, so you will need to sign up as an iOS developer with the Apple web site and create the necessary certificates.
You could use this site to build your application for all plateforms: https://build.phonegap.com/. For generating your iOS application you should have a certofication licence.
Good luck!
I have been researching PhoneGap and I'm now at an impasse and need some advice. I know that PhoneGap essentially 'converts' html5,css,JS sites to 'apps' for distribution, which leads me to my question:
Why wouldn't one simply utilize a webview within an activity to do the same thing and keep the app native?
The advantage of PhoneGap is that it provides APIs that enable your HTML/javascript to interact with the phone (e.g. camera, accelerometer, media etc.)
These APIs are standard across multiple devices (iOS, Android, WinPhone, Blackberry etc.). So you can write one set of HTML/javascript and deploy to multiple platforms.
If you just created a WebView you would not have the PhoneGap APIs and you would need to build containers on each platform you were interested in.
Good question I have searched me too, because we went in Phonegap solution and I think it is a wrong way for us.
The long story:
That is very true if you write once a UI with web developer skills than not needed to know native language and it compile, and ready for testing.
Web developers are more so higher the demand => developer price even cheaper.
When the client want a Milestone 1 for his great idea it will ask a few company, freelancers about development price and time. If is a very basic application version with Phonegap you will have the less development cost( off if your web dev skills are the same laver as platform dev skills) with webView at second place and last one the native.
The client is satisfied with app result buit with Phonegap and want to get more investors so it will make a presentation, where they are asking more features.
At Milestone 2 you will add a few features. Some are easy command line install and you get it, some aren't. Maybe you will be unlucky as you want a combination of 2 existing plugin with a few extras. The conclusion will be: you have to develop a plugin. At this point is already a very big sign of interrogation which is cheaper: the Phonegap + Phonegap plugin or a WebView. If you need 5 existing plugin and your has a little modification, than still Phonegap. But if you need only 1 plugin, only yours, than the web view is the proper way. There are also cases which makes the Phonegap stucture useless. Also there is a problem with version control system under Phonegap if you develop web files, and native code too: some are regenerating at each build time some not. Still is expensiver the native platform. Now the required features are developed. The client will make a demo for investors, where will be visible execution speed with this new features. Or here they will require optimisation, runtime speed-up or after publish to market they will see some are running with low end phones and not the ultimate, which ws used at demos and they will decide to go to Milestone 3 : speed up.
At optimisation, speed up (Milestone 3) you will decide as you need native GUI. After all GUI developed with web now you will need to throw out at fence and implement the side, maybe some parts need even NDK to speed up. No way to be good here with Phonegap. But you have hired web developers, or contracted that company. Now go back to that company , developers which can make native code. They will not start from 0, so they need to analyse the code, refactor and your development price will go up at least with 50% as you would start it from 0 with native.
Good Question, you still could use webview for that but you won't be able to access native functions like ringtone, camera, and all that, however, the app done that way will be regarded as a native app.