I am new to mobile development, but have some experience with web app development. I am looking at starting work on a mobile app that involves shooting and editing video on the phone initially for Android and possibly to be extended to other platforms. Phonegap seemed to be an interesting potential way to start both given my realm of familiarity and the potential to port to multiple platforms. I noticed that it has camera an audio recording support on Android. But how much sense does it make to develop something that relies so much on the phone's hardware on something like Phonegap? Would it be so cumbersome and poorly performing to do this way that I should just start from scratch with Java?
You should think of PhoneGap as an easy way to create the UI; anything unusual (like video support) will still have to be written in Java (or whatever the platform's native code is).
The portability of the Java code to a platform like BlackBerry will rely on how much platform specific code you use (and you may not have a choice).
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I hope this question is specific enough. I have a client for whom I made an iOS native app and an Android native app (same app, different platform). It's a fixed pixel design (I made this work for Android somehow:) and it works on iPad, iPhone and most Android devices (with some letterboxing). Now I am asked to write the same app for the Windows store and they want me to use HTML and JavaScript. My question is, when I use HTML and JavaScript, would it be "easy" for me to use this code into some sort of hybrid solution (PhoneGap, etc)? The app doesn't need much complicated functionality but does need to support push notifications on iOS and it needs to be able to play videos, preferably HLS. Any advice on what the best hybrid solution and do hybrid solutions allow you to build for Windows 8?
I'm a cross-platform developer working on PhoneGap and Titanium Appcelerator. The correct answer is "It depends". Currently the state of cross-platform development is not very recommendable. Yes, you can write plugins for PhoneGap and it does support windows phone but you will have a ridiculously hard time getting them to communicate with each other properly. I learnt this from experience.
If it was a hacking/hobby project to further the cause then I would say go for it but for a time-bound client project like yours, I would recommend against cross-platform solutions and go native instead. Plus native always gives considerably better control, speed and ease of development. You will probably develop it faster in native than cross platform anyway. I've played around with windows SDK and it seems easy to use and well-built with good documentation and you can use C# which is similar to Java since you have already used it on android.
You can also build windows 8 desktop apps using html and javascript natively but this isn't present in windows phone 8 yet.
As I mentioned, If you don't need too many native controls, then you can go cross-platform. For your requirements, it can be done. If you have already developed android and ios apps and only need windows app now, then going native would be easier. But if you have to make all 3 then you can go cross platform if your requirements are restricted to what you mention. Here's a good quora thread that discusses the pro's and cons:
http://www.quora.com/Is-Titanium-good-for-developing-iPhone-apps
Take a look on Xamarin
Main idea - they brings real native code for all platforms.
They have instruments to compile C# code that it can be used at all platforms
For example you should create UI in XCode (for iPhone) and use ModoDevelop to create DAL/BLL, then you can re-use C# code base over all other platforms
They have cross-platform iPhone/Android/WP7/W8 samples on GitHub
Also see Q&A on Stackoverflow tagged Xamaring
We are starting to build multiple apps for multiple clients both in IOS and Android native platforms. The problem is we are going completely native which is taking too much time.
I would like to look at the linked in method (http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/10/a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-linkedins-mobile-engineering/) which is a more hybrid approach using HTML and native code.
The problem is I don't think Phonegap is that good - good for prototyping but maybe not for full versions of apps as it can be a bit slow and a bit buggy.
I would like to look into doing a model where we create like 65% HTML and 35% native to that device (like linked in)
Would anyone have any suggestions for this? Would people say we need a massive development team to pull such an approach off?
I welcome thought:)
Thanks
I have a question about mobile application development. I'm wanting to develop an application for my Kindle and looking through the tutorials I found that HTML5 CSS and JavaScript could be used to develop Mobile Applications instead of native Programming language like Java, Objective C and so on.
Don't get me wrong I have nothing against learning a little more Java and the Kindle/Android specific APIs. But knowing that you could use HTML5 CSS JavaScript for the Android, Blackberry and iOS platforms AND WEBSITES sound very interesting to me. I've have also seen Game frameworks like Play'n from Google that seems to do a pretty good job with HTML5 and JavaScript.
My question is, is it worth the learning curve of each individual API, and programming languages or are HTML5 CSS JavaScript just going to change the way we do front end development?
Any input on this will be very appreciated.
In general it is worth learning the native SDK for the platform you're targeting because you'll have maximum flexibility, best performance, broadest API coverage keeping up with the latest advances from the platform vendor (e.g. iCloud, Siri APIs etc), and you'll find plenty of open source software that's built by and for the platform's native developers (see http://cocoacontrols.com as one example). So it's definitely worth investing in a platform's native SDK, especially if the platform itself is proven to be successful, such as iOS and Android.
However, sometimes it can be more practical to build an app using Javascript/HTML5 frameworks like Titanium Appcelerator. This can be useful in controlled environments like enterprise apps where your customer base is limited, or just to rapidly prototype a concept.
I would consider a Javascript framework a disadvantage if my app or game had to compete in the open market / App Store against thousands of other native apps. If my competitors are using native code and can rapidly evolve their UX or features, I don't want to be "stuck" with a limited Javascript framework.
On the other hand, if I worked for say, a large supermarket and my job was to create an app that only their staff would use for a few hours a day to do inventory, a Javascript framework would help me prototype faster without any threat of competition or unexpected requirements.
Hope this helps.
This topic can be debated forever but this is my take on it:
If you need performance on a device (such as for a complex game), then it's better to go native because you can fine tune to the specific device or set of devices and platforms you are targeting.
If you can build your idea and have it scale and function well using Web Technologies then it would be wise to continue using Web Technologies because it's extremely easy to scale to multiple platforms with relatively little effort.
If you want to leverage cutting edge API's for a specific platform then it's better to go native
Personally I think that if your app is going to be complex (doing beyond the standard enterprise data API stuff), then it'll be easier to go native in the long run. I've leveraged both methods and whilst Web Technologies were incredibly easy to implement and prototype, implementing anything complex increased the amount of effort needed by a large amount to the point that it negated any time saved by not going native. Eventually I just decided to concentrate on native apps but your milage may vary as Web Technologies are increasingly improving.
We will develop a, social network integrated mobile application which will need to access native device capabilities but 90% of the logic will be implemented in the HTML5/Javascript code posted by Ruby back end to the device. Thus, we would like to update or change the logic/GUI of the app without user involvement. We have strict deadline and have to support iOS, Android and Blackberry.
In this case, what approach would you recommend us? We considered the approaches below but could not decide since we do not have any experience with mobile development even if we are experienced in Ruby, C/C++, Java, Javascript, Flex.
Our considerations:
Develop native apps for each platform and embed the native browsers
to implement our logic, which can take too much time.
Use one of the frameworks for cross-platform development such as
PhoneGap or rhomobile. In this case, we are afraid of facing some performance issues. We would love to hear the experience of developers with those frameworks.
Use Adobe Air for accessing the device and its WebKit component for the rest.
First, I hope you understand that there is no simple answer. At this junction, having been looking at cross-platform solutions for mobile development for two years, I feel that in order to get fully native UI look, and to access all the device and UI features, one is forced to produce native application on each platform.
But, since you asked about cross-platform tools, here's a list of the main contenders:
Sencha http://www.sencha.com/products/touch “Sencha Touch is the world's first app framework built specifically to leverage HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript”
Dojo http://dojotoolkit.org “Dojo saves you time, delivers powerful performance, and scales with your development process”
Phonegap http://www.phonegap.com “PhoneGap is an open source implementation of open standards”
jQuery Mobile http://jquerymobile.com “Touch-Optimized Web Framework for Smartphones & Tablets A unified user interface system across all popular mobile device platforms”
Rhomobile http://rhomobile.com “Free and open source mobile application framework”
Titanium from Appcelerator http://www.appcelerator.com
There are plenty of comparisons online, including on SO, and this fellow actually tried to use several platforms, code included.
Anecdotally, I have seen Phonegap produce a rather iPhone-centric look, that may not mesh well with Android, plus showing performance problems when loading screens (there may be workarounds via pre-loading). Also, access to more complex devices was limited, or at least lagging. Rhomobile is a good fit for data-driven apps (simple display of large databases), but architecturally could show performance issues, so check for yourself. Personally I did not get into Sencha, Dojo seemed a little small, and Titanium showed dated architecture. So next time I'm attempting a cross-platform app, I'll give jQuery Mobile a serious try.
Let us know what you pick and how it works out.
Iam using this rhomobile rhodes for my cross-platform development App which will run in Android, Blackberry and iPhone.
We have developed application and sucessfully runned in all devices without any issues. we used ruby for backend webservice call, And remaining app is constructed with HTML5 and java Script. I didn't face any issues regarding rhomobile.
intially we faced memory issues, But later on we resolved this issue by implementing local storage for our App. For android it wont supports local storage so we used Rhom Storage only for Android Device.
Sounds like a project doomed to fail.
If I were you, I'd build a mobile-friendly site for all 3 platforms if deadline is tight. What native features do you even need, first off? If it's something like a camera, you're better off just build a native app for all 3.
I need to develop an Application for both iPhone and Android platforms. I am looking for a cross-platform development frameworks. The important factors need to be taken into consideration are :
The App will be running in intranet environment (with NO internet
connection).
Drag and drop features will be available in this App.
Needs to use the barcode reader library.
Needs to use map (it will probably be a custom map)
Receives Push notifications (currently I have mqtt in mind, since
there is not internet connection)
If possible I only want to maintain only one source code for both platforms. I have done some research and I found 2 frameworks which are PhoneGap and Mono(touch and droid).
PhoneGap seems to be slow.
Mono need two code base for 2 platforms, only the libraries can be
shared (correct me if I am wrong). This is my another worries about mono: http://redth.info/2010/04/09/is-monotouch-now-dead-in-the-water-what-does-apples-new-iphone-developer-agreement-mean
I know the native is the best but for the sake of maintenance and reusing our developer talent (which are C#, HTML, JavaScript) we need to find out the second best option.
Note : Please bear in mind the first 5 features listed on top for your answer.
Thanks in advance.
UPDATE:
After exploring a few more tools, I like the performance of Appcelerator as well. But writing the whole app in JavaScript looks very messy to me and can't use OOP. And the extra package size of (5~7 MB) is also something to take note for frequent releases environment. I like to hear from you guys as well. I will be updating our decision in coming few weeks.
This recent article here may be helpful. It contains a rundown of several new cross platform mobile frameworks including Mono, Appcelerator Titanium, Rhodes, PhoneGap, MoSync and Moai.
From reading your requirements I'd say that either MoSync or Titanium might be the best fit for you. Apart from PhoneGap, which is really just a web app running inside a mobile browser (and might be the reason you thought it was slow), they all generate native UI code apps.
You may want to look into this article comparing 5 different cross-platform mobile development tools.
This Wikipedia article may be helpful as well.
go for http://www.appcelerator.com/
They first compile code in native code so performance is like native and they have barcode reader, push notification (via urban airship) too...
How about doing a hybrid application, using a mixture of native code and HTML5. Write native code for all the IO, and heavy lifting, and for the GUI use jQuery or similar in a web control embedded in your app. Android has a web control that allows you to interact with javascript. I assume you can do the same with Apple. I'm trying to do something similar myself using Monodroid, and its looking very promising, although I discovered Monodroid does not have native Javascript interface yet.
Just so you know, we were using Appcelerator at my last company, and the performance for Android was less than desirable. Our lead developer found the Mono products, and hasn't looked back.
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I am curious to know if there are any drawbacks or limitations of using Phonegap as compared to using Android. What else can we do that cannot be accomplished using the other platform?
Why would one specifically choose Phonegap over Android (besides budget or cross platform compatibility) or vice versa ? I am looking for clear scenarios with justifications.
Full disclosure I'm one of the core committers to PhoneGap's Android implementation so my opinion may be biased but I like to think I'm fair.
To answer your question it really depends on what your requirements are. You've already dismissed budget and cross platform which are two of PhoneGap's key benefits. For instance if I never intended to target any platform but Android I would probably go with native Android development but if we were going to other platforms I'd pick PhoneGap. Also, I'd take a look at my team, are they hard core Java programmers? Go Android. Are they HTML developers? Go PhoneGap or pure HTML5.
Also, it depends on what type of application you are writing. A first person shooter, go Android. A table driven data applicaiton, PhoneGap is the way to go.
Anyway, without knowing what type of app you are trying to develop it's hard to be specific.
PhoneGap Pros
PhoneGap is an excellent solution in a number of situations:
Multiple platforms: Since the front end of the application is built using web technologies, a PhoneGap application with the exact same source code can be deployed across different platforms.
Access basic native functionality: If the application requires minimal access to the native APIs such as camera, geolocation and contacts PhoneGap allows access to these APIs with just a few lines of JavaScript code.
Offline usage: Although the app is built using web technologies, it can still provide offline functionality and has access to the browser’s local cache.
PhoneGap Cons
Since the front end of the application is built in JavaScript, it causes a number of limitations.
Data processing: Native languages are much faster than JavaScript for data processing on the device.
Background processing: A large number of applications rely on background threads to provide a smooth user experience: calculating the GPS positions in the background, for example. PhoneGap APIs are built using JavaScript which is not multi-threaded and hence do not support background processing.
Access advanced native functionality: A number of native APIs are not yet supported by PhoneGap’s APIs.
Complex Business Logic: A number of applications such as enterprise applications are quite complex. In this scenario it is simply better to have a certain amount of native code.
Advanced Graphics: Apps that use advanced graphics which can only be accessed using third-party libraries are best done natively.
Benefits of building mobile web app:
1) Just need HTML5/CSS/Javascript skills vs Objective-C or Java. We made things even simpler by using Mobl (http://www.mobl-lang.org), a domain-specific language for creating mobile web applications that compiles to javascript/html.
2) Single code base for all platforms (iOS, Android, Windows 7, mobile web)
3) Rapid testing and deployment (up until you Phonegap it, at which point you're subject to App Store review conditions, etc)
4) With Phonegap, you can still take advantage of distribution and integrated payment via the App Store or Android Market
Drawbacks:
1) Poor performance, esp if your app is graphically intense, i.e. a game. You can implement caching or leverage some 3rd party solutions (i.e. Sibblingz) for native graphics acceleration but for the most part a native app is much faster/smoother than mobile web app
2) Lack of pre-built UI widgets, transitions, standard controls, etc. Your development time can take longer, especially if you want a polished-looking app with a native look and feel. You can try using Sencha Touch, JQ Touch, or similar tools with pre-built UI elements, but you'll probably still need to spend a good amount of time styling the app to look native.
So, should you build a mobile web app or a native one? If you're building an app that's graphically involved or involves any computationally expensive operations, go native for sure as the tools aren't quite there yet to make the job easy for mobile web apps. If you're building something fairly simple and you don't need any native styling or design polish, go the mobile web route.