What's the intent behind a framework like Dojo or jQuery Mobile in the context of developing a cross-platform app?
I want to rapidly prototype a mobile app GUI that includes a schedule/calendar. In this case, would I use Dojo instead of just PhoneGap because I would want to also have a web browser based app that goes alone with my mobile app?
Mobile JavaScript frameworks like those provided by Dojo or jQuery theoretically allow you to
write mobile browser independent client side code for web based applications. In other words, you as the developer do not need to be concerned with writing specific code for each mobile browser.
Dojo (or other JS mobile toolkit) and PhoneGap are generally complimentary. PhoneGap is for access to native device services which aren't yet reflected to the browser, like camera or telco access. Dojo and the other toolkits generally let you create mobile-style UIs (may also run on Desktop browser, but would look like a phone) and handle things like touch and scroll gestures. And, as Peter says, cross-browser issues are also handled for you.
Related
I have a server hosting a website that is HTML5 compatible. I can access the site from my android phone via chrome just fine but i don't want the app to look as if its running within a chrome browser. I want it to look like a stand alone application.
I've taken a peak at Cordova, and PhoneGap but it just feels like what i'm trying to do should be much simpler and without need of a framework so to speak.
How can i package my website for delivery to android/ios so it runs without look like it is inside the native browser?
Thanks!
On Android there is Progressive Web Apps
https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/
Other than that you'll have to use a framework to make real apps like the one you mentioned.
Many cross platform solutions has come out for ios/android/tablet,etc, why not just use web instead? web is the best solution for cross platform and using javascript in HTML5 can achieve plenty of features. So we could develop web-based cross-platform application instead of mobile apps and all you need is a browser (might be different from desktop browsers). However, consider some special features in mobile apps, like sensors, we could implement a javascript framework for mobile apps to achieve mobile features. Any thoughts on that? is it doable?
There are attempts for Mobile Web App Frameworks Ionic (AngularJS). Why stick to native apps? Here's a good benchmark why-mobile-web-apps-are-slow. The main reason - Javascript is too slow for mobile apps for now to fit every app requirements.
I am beginner in designing user interface for web based mobile apps. Is there any software on Mac OS X that i can use to develop user interface of web based mobile apps easily without using too much of CSS or HTML5.
E.g I developed some pages using Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac. Since my app requires a lot of pictures any program with easy drag and drop features would do. Thanks!
For web based mobile apps you mean mobile app written with web technologies such html5 or css?
Because i don't think that drag-and-drop UI builder exist, apart from MIT App Inventor, but it will generate java code.
You can use a framework like http://phonegap.com/, but it will require html5, css and javascript.
I want to develop an application which works both in a regular browser and as an Android app. Both seem suitable but would I be right in saying if I went with Phone Gap, deploying the same html content as a regular, server hosted website is not trivial and would require modification? Also, are multi page applications not desirable in a Phone Gap wrapper?
Are there any alternatives I should consider? I'm surprised someone hasn't already written an Android wrapper with all the hardware access wiring done already. Or have they?
There are few things you should know,
If you are going to publish your app also on iOS, you can't use server hosted website for your app.
All of your basic functionality must stand on your app assets, is one of the iOS guidelines, and its also make-sense for best ui performance (both iOS & Android).
Use server-side wisely, when you want to fetch data which have to be up-to-date.
there are some new mobile browser features which will be available in the future, that allow your website to use the device hardware functions:
Device API on W3C
Good luck dude ;)
You can try with jquery mobile framework:
http://www.jquerymobile.com
It is jquery based framework for developing web apps that works on standard web and on multiple mobile devices (with cordova)
I am .net developer. I want to develop an application for mobile devices. As i am a web developer i am well versed with web technology & scripting languages. I am a big fan of JQuery so, i found something Jquery Mobile Framework for mobile application development.
So, I've got few questions:
Will this framework help me develop web applications or only for designing purpose?
Can i use my Jquery knowledge to implement web application using Jquery Mobile Framework?
Can i use Jquery AJAX in mobile app development?
It won't help you build a mobile "application" but it will help you create a mobile enabled web site.
It will help you build the front end of a mobile web application.
Yes
Yes, if you are referring to mobile web applications.
The back-end technology you use does not matter. I've built several .NET MVC sites using jQuery Mobile, which have all worked pretty well.
jQuery Mobile will help you build a website, you can then view that website in a browser or package it into an app. If you want to create native applications out of HTML/CSS/JS then you will need an intermediary step that lets you run a webview as your app. PhoneGap is an example of a framework that allows you to use native APIs while building your application in HTML/CSS/JS.
Your knowledge of jQuery will come-in handy but you will be forced to think about a jQuery Mobile website differently. For instance, pages are not HTML documents, but pseudo-pages that can be in separate documents but can also have multiple pseudo-pages inside a single HTML document. And because remote documents are brought into the DOM via AJAX (for animated transitions), you need to code your site to use unique IDs across the whole site, not just from page to page.
Absolutely! jQuery AJAX makes creating dynamic websites and native apps easy. You basically just load a bunch of views (in HTML/JS/CSS) into the app. package and then your server does the modeling. One cool thing to take into consideration is that since you are running from a mobile app., there is no domain from which the response is sent, so there is no cross-domain-policy to worry about.
If you have not yet checked-out PhoneGap, do so, and also see the documentation on the jQuery Mobile website regarding how to create PhoneGap applications using jQuery Mobile:
http://jquerymobile.com/demos/1.1.0/docs/pages/phonegap.html