I have recently been asked to help put together an Android App, mostly UI for myself.
Knowing nothing about it and even less about Java, I stumbled upon Appcelerator.
I got it all installed, and fought my way through getting the Kitchen Sink app to work, but that's not what I am looking for. So I am hoping some here might know or be experienced with this.
First off, is Appcelerator as good as it appears to me at first glance?
Second, my main task here would be that each time someone places a call, I would like to check the number being dialed and, if it falls under specific circumstances, throw up a modal dialog box with options for the user to select.
Is this something doable in Appcelerator or am I fishing in the wrong pond?
Any info/advice is appreciated.
First off, is Appcelerator as good as it appears to me at first glance?
Here is my answer when somebody asked that yesterday.
Is this something doable in Appcelerator or am I fishing in the wrong pond?
It is not doable in Appcelerator, except perhaps by writing your own Java-based plugin. Even with that I am skeptical -- most of these sort of cross-platform toolkits (e.g., Titanium, PhoneGap) are designed for apps where the UI is point of control, not system-level events like phone calls.
Related
I am doing some research for my employer. They would like to create a mobile app for their business.
My background is NOT in web/app development; however, I have been tasked to research the possibility of building it in-house.
Therefore, I thought I would start at this forum, my questions are:
1. Do you think this is possible? (I know some html, but not a lot)
2. Could you recommend some tutorials for beginners?
3. I have found some GoDaddy type websites for mobile apps, would this be a good option and any recommendations?
4. If NO to all of the above, could a single contracted developer build? (nothing too complicated, imo)
Welcome to SO.
Afraid this isn't really the place for this sort of question. But...
It entirely depends on what it is you want to do and how much time you've been given to do it. I built a fairly complex app with almost 0 experience when I first started. It's was terribly written but worked fine. There are loads of online resources to help but it isn't a small undertaking :)
I've been programming for over 20 years, but mostly in the VB and SQL. As a side job, I host game shows at local bars and restaurants (Trivia, name that tune, etc.) and I'd like to develop an android app that I can install on mobile devices to give to customers to interact with the game.
I'm trying to make the game shows more interactive than just pen and paper (and time-consuming, manual scoring). I can get Kindle Fires for $40 each, so I thought it would be cool to create an app that will allow the user to do 3 things:
Choose an answer from a list (Multiple choice), and everyone can answer
Buzz in (blocking other users out)
type in an answer
I'd like the tablets to send the responses to a central "hub" or application that will record the answers so it can automatically do the scoring for me. If possible, I'd prefer to be able to have everything connect through an ad hoc wifi network that I would set up on site (that part I know how to do, too).
I'm not looking to have the questions appear on the phone at this point; I have an office-based application that automates a powerpoint presentation based on questions/answers and other parameters imported from a database/spreadsheet. (VBA is nice and easy for me.)
Ideally, the quiz questions would work like this:
I project the answer where everyone can see it.
After announcing the questions, the tablet apps are "activated" and
the user can then select their A, B, C or D answer (or buzz in, or
type an answer depending the type of questions/quiz).
My hub application would then receive the following information:
team/player name, answer choice, time it took to answer the question
(because I'm thinking of using a points tier that gives faster
players get more points, either based on time ).
The catch is, I don't even know where to begin from an android development standpoint, as I have no experience in that realm. In most programming cases, I know keywords to search on, but I'm totally flying blind here.
Does this seem like a feasibly application? There are systems online that I can buy, but the buzzers are expensive and the software has some significant limitations that prevent me from spending the money. I'd rather develop something myself and spend $40 per client unit and load it up with my software.
(Then, of course, license the whole kit and kaboodle and make a mint and retire in 5 years, living the good life off of my pub quiz empire...)
So, if you have any suggestions on starting points, or specific methods and processes to being fiddling with, an IDE...any help would be greatly appreciated. Once I'm up and running, I will reward you with extra points if you ever come to one of my events.
Go full kotlin !
Android works well with Kotlin and you can have a server quickly setup with : https://start.spring.io/#!language=kotlin
https://kotlinlang.org/docs/tutorials/kotlin-android.html
A good client for Android is provided here :
https://github.com/square/retrofit
You will probably have hard time to get started. Using same language for every part of the system will make things easier.
Also, Kotlin is less verbose than Java and will prevent you to make the usual mistakes found in Java world.
Also, if you create an open source project out of it, you may be eligible for IntelliJ.
Your very first stop is : http://try.kotlinlang.org/#/Examples/Hello,%20world!/Simplest%20version/Simplest%20version.kt
Get to know the language by trying it out. When you are in ease with it, start looking at Anko (https://github.com/Kotlin/anko).
To do the project in an easy way, break it down in milestones.
Simple app which shows 4 buttons (choices) and shows a message for each button. (Eg. you clicked "1")
Small server with spring boot. It should display whatever you post to it. (An "echo" server)
Improvement of the simple app to POST something to the server and display the answer in a dialog.
At that point, you application is practically done! You would have understood enough to complete it. The hardest thing would be behind.
Don't think your are smarter than the flock. Do these milestones, at least. You will be thankful to yourself.
This post may seems unrelated, but I explain how good Kotlin can be in such projects : https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-do-android-projects-cost-less-than-ios-christian-baune
I know this has been asked before (did not find a straight forward answer) but can I (Or how can I) create and Android App using CSS/HTML/Jquery ?
I will not need to hook into native functions, such as the accelerometer, camera, or even the Toast Messages...I only need to create an app to show a list of names and some details when name is selected, therefore I don't know if it's worth learning to make my life more complicated for something like this.
PS: I need the app to work offline, otherwise I would have just made it with jQuery Mobile and uploaded it on a server.
UPDATE AFTER GETTING DOWNVOTED
Ok, so I get downvotes for this question, probably because it's been asked before, or maybe not, since he/she didn't take the time to write a reason...
Anyway, my point is: I did googled it and searched, but at this moment there are a lot of ads of websites and web apps that will help you do this BUT are they reliable, safe..do they really do the trick or it comes with bugs? That is why I asked the question, to see who used what and what was their experience with it. So yeah, you can downvote me for not trusting every ad and not taking the time to try out everything out there!
Well you can use https://software.intel.com/en-us/html5/tools to develop cross-platform apps. I used it to develop too. It is quite good but it only has one major issue: you can't use php. It also enables you to do on-device testing.
I am about to decide which way to push our smartphone development.
I have read numerous articles about these technologies. I have also created test apps, but wanted to be 100% sure that I get this right.
I am not able to create EXACTLY the same look and feel like native app in PhoneGap because it runs in WebView Controler. And the webish look and feel is as far as I will get with this tech. correct?
(In the example app I have created with PG, the look might be similar, but there is a delay when i click on buttons and the animation is not so fluent as in native apps)
Latest Titanium seems to have changed its approach to WebView, to remedy that lack of look and feel of native apps. My question is (I havent tested this myself). Can I create EXACTLY the same look and feel of an native app with Titanium?
EXACTLY is the key word. I mean can a person tell a difference if app was created with Titanium? because I can definitely tell that app was created with PG.
Final goal is the UX, ppl sense this things, and on smartphones anything that is webish and is suppose to be appish is a bad UX i believe.
Thanks
Compared to PG Titanium is more Native like UI experience but it's kinda problematic for Android.Since it's originally intended for IOS.
Titanium for Android is pretty buggy and can mess you up and the thing that you have to come up with workarounds and if you cant find any then you are stuck.
But if you are okay with that and i can easily advise that Titanium is way to go though it's nearly native (not exactly) which close to exactly.I dont think an average user would understand Titanium .
2) yes, since titanium uses the original UI. your javascript code is wrapped to native Objective c code that creates native elements. only constraint is that your are not as flexible as with real native code written by yourself. but you can write native modules and add them to your projekt. so you're able to expand your project with custom UI too.
Just curious. I am already a Java android guy but am interested in the new app inventor beta for android.
I was wondering what "real" developers are thinking. A lot of people want to develop an android app but don't really have programming skills. Seems like a lot of apps could be written with app inventor - not sure since I haven't tried it yet.
Hopefully this clears up some things for people that are still just hearing about App Inventor. (Keep in mind App Inventor is extremely beta right now, so all of this is subject to change.)
If you're interested in playing around with some of the features it offers and haven't had the time or interest to get involved with the full Android SDK, then App Inventor is probably a good fit for you.
The interface of App inventor offers some unique features you won't find in the Android SDK and is pretty easy to get the hang of (make sure to look at the shortcuts for the Blocks editor, or it might start to feel tedious real fast). It has live debugging and live edits to both the interface and the supporting logic. That alone cuts down on time and frustration if you aren't quite sure about the proper way to do something yet and is probably my favorite feature of the whole system. New developers will especially find it rewarding to actually see their changes implemented on their phone without waiting for things to compile and run. It is a huge time saver and much easier to get used to than the traditional compile and wait process you face if you are trying to learn things through the SDK.
It is also quite handy if you have been playing around with the Android SDK and simply want to try something new out that App Inventor supports that you haven't had the time or aren't quite sure how to approach yet. So long as you keep things focused on features that App Inventor supports, this can provide valuable insight into understanding a problem by getting your phone doing something you can see and use in a matter of minutes. That's something even seasoned developers are likely to appreciate.
The real problem is more when you start hitting walls. Walls that you simply can't climb. And you quickly realize that the limits of this tool must be understood or you will probably spend a lot of time trying to do something that just isn't currently possible. Sooner or later your going find yourself in this position if you use App Inventor very much.
All coding is graphical.
Look at some of the demos or screen shots of what's available through the Blocks editor if you don't understand what that means. Setting values in those big colorful blocks is as close to code as you will get with App Inventor, for better or worse.
If you have any previous development experience, you are going to find yourself longing for the ability to do some simple coding to supplement what you are doing. Or at least the ability to export your project and pick up where you left off in Java. Sorry, this isn't that kind of tool.
Your only options when you get to this point are to pick up and start all over in code or forget about it, at least until the desired feature gets added to App Inventor (which may be never). That right there likely to irk a good number of people and turn them off to it.
If you are looking at getting into Android development, I see no problem with starting out with App Inventor. It might even save you hours of effort that might otherwise be spent trying to wrap your head around some concepts that are simple to understand when you do them, but a bit confusing if you are building them for the first time.
If you are a seasoned developer, or looking to make money or gain Android experience beyond just the concepts, this isn't your end destination by a long shot. If you are a student that is new to programming, this is probably a good environment with sufficient challenges and room to play around in to keep your interest for a decent amount of projects.
Despite it's current limits, I still see App Inventor as valuable resource to learning new concepts and as a playground for trying out new ideas. It is proving to be an awesome tool for introducing someone to Android development, and would probably do as good a job as you could ask for when introducing someone to programming in general.
I have been playing with it for a bit and my thoughts are that is is great for:
An introduction to programming. It is not something people can pick up and develop great programs with straight away, it does still require a lot of thought and logical thinking, but it doesn't require people to learn the correct code syntax
Prototyping. As it is relatively quick and easy to develop with (and has live debugging on the Android device), it allows you to prototype and see/interact with it in real time
Quick coding. If you want to develop a program quickly, this might be the simplest tool
As the tool develops, it will allow more feature-rich applications (it already allows integration with other back-end programs, etc.). The screen design right now is very basic, but will be improved soon.
Overall, I think that if you know Java for Android, then you will be able to pick up Google App Inventor within an hour and start making some functional apps. You might find it more suitable for building some apps, or you might prefer to stick with your current tools.
For people looking to start programming, I think it is an excellent introduction. They can concentrate on logic and program design, instead of setting up their IDE, code structure and syntax. Plus they will see results as they code.
To answer your question 'Should I learn it'. I would suggest that you play with it for an evening - that is all it will take you to get a good feel of it.
It probably won't make you a better developer, but all knowledge is good, so it can't hurt :)
I plan to play around with it anyway.
The generic answer to any "Should I learn ..." question is usually "Yes, it can't hurt to know things." From a practical standpoint, I would skip it. These sorts of things are usually nice ideas that never catch on. Sure this might be a neat way for non-programmers to build very simple applications and perhaps a real programmer could build a compelling application with it but it looks like if you are a programmer the benefits to using App Inventor don't seem that compelling.
I haven't checked it out, but I think it might be worth a look to help in UI development. Most software engineers are good at really solving problems with software or coming up with cool ideas for apps, but when it comes to UI design we find a lot of obstacles. At least myself, I've always been used to working with UI Designers.
I honestly don't like tools that generate code, (except WSDL to java or java to WSDL) but pretty much anything else I find myself spending more time trying to trouble shoot an issue when it comes up than the time I would've spent writing the app from scratch...
Appinventor is so easy to learn, I would suggest go for both options.
Concentrate most of your time on your main Dev environment and learn AppInventor, in the background, to give yourself a break.
The advantage of Appinventor is you can put together reasonably complex apps
in a relatively short period of time.
It's also pretty forgiving, for example, if you have a numeric variable, you can treat it either as a string, or a numeric value, meaning you can put together
prototypes pretty easily and quickly.
If you want an app putting together, quickly, Appinventor might be the better
option, if you need something more powerful, more control over you UI etc, then
a more sophisticated Dev environment might be called for.
With Appinventor being so easy to use and learn, you're giving yourself more options.
Considering Eclipse seems to introduce errors I can't find and can't remove--even after using Project-Clean, I'm looking forward to any alternative.