Developing Android Apps & iOS Apps with the help of Cordova and PhoneGap has been capturing the market of mobile application development for quite sometimes now. The mobile app developers have the privilege of using their existing HTML, JS and CSS skills to develop cross-platform mobile application for iOS and Android, along with using the other platforms. Implementing Cordova and PhoneGap has a special benefit, which includes updating the current codebase for a single time and using it for all the platforms, instead of creating a separate code for each platform. This article states about the seven most eminent factors to consider before developing mobile app for iOS and Android through Cordova or PhoneGap. Hire Mobile Application Development Company – Get a Project Quote – http://www.mobileapptelligence.com/enquiry.html Choosing between Cordova and PhoneGap
Making a choice between Cordova and PhoneGap may seem to be difficult, but it is indeed very simple. Adobe owns PhoneGap which is accompanied with additional built-up service. One more element associated with PhoneGap is the fact that eventually additional service may or may not be offered and there may be charges associated for future use. Apache is the owner of Cordova and it will always be maintained as the open source project. Both PhoneGap and Cordova have similar API and it is better to choose Cordova, until you want to utilize the additional features of PhoneGap. Deciding the Plug-in Plug-ins forms an eminent part of the Cordova development. Cordova comes with the minimal required APIs and you add the additional API according to the requirement of the project. The entire set of registered plug-in is available to you through the Cordova plug-in registry. There is something called the core set of “blessed” Cordova Plug-ins, which gives access to the battery, camera, geo-location, dialogs and many other features which are available across all the platforms. There is certain third-party plug-ins which makes extra functionality like native sharing, analytics and many platform specific and device specific functionalities available for use. Cross-platform support is limited to the third-party plug-ins. What you need to confirm is the plug-ins and the version available in each platform, before deciding on the platform to use. Deciding the Platform and version Supporting iOS6, iOS7 and iOS8 and Android 4.4 (Kitkat, version 19) would mean that it is blessed with third-party plug-ins along with HTML and CSS3, which are modern browser friendly. The best example is the iOS apps for Face book and Twitter which only supports iOS6 and later. Supporting versions earlier to iOS5 is not easy and Cordova has assigned these versions as 3.5. Version 5.1.1 is implemented in the first generation iPad and this makes these iPad users not able to download your apps unless you customize the application in XCode. The nest is support for 64-bits iOS device like the iPhone 5S for which you will have to use the current version of Cordova (3.5 and greater) or the other option is conducting customization with XCode. The level of complication is more when you want to choose the legacy version for Android, which would depend on your needs. It is advisable to keep a track of the Android developer dashboard for the weekly update and statistics of the Android platform version. Play market don’t form a part of the Android version 2.0 and before that, this makes the downloading of the apps difficult for these users. For Android version 2.3 which is the Gingerbread version 10, is not recommended to be used for the Cordova security guide. Many of the third party plug-ins is also not compatible with the Gingerbread version and it is prohibited from use. The number of users for the Android 3.x which is the Honeycomb version 11-14 has zero number of users, which means that it is not worthy to put in time and effort for testing this version. When we speak about the Android version that is worth using, we can take into consideration version 4.4 which is the kitKat version 19. It renders excellent CSS3 and HTML support. This makes it possible for the mobile App developers to build their own iOS Cordova app for Android and view the same in the 4.4.x version of the Android device. For version 4.0- 4.3, which is the ice-cream sandwich and the Jelly bean version and version 14-18 would require the app developers to put in little more effort, specifically for the implementation of hardware accelerated CSS 3D transforms and scrollable divs. This would land in you spending majority of the UI bug-fixing time working on these versions. Modernizr would be the approach that I would recommend for CSS and platform support as well as version fragmentation. Cordova device plug-in could be used for the detecting the OS and version along with rendering special class to the HTML or the body elements like iOS, Android and Jelly-bean. You can bring in a little variation to this concept by adding a class like “legacy” for some of the platform versions. This helps in simplifying the CSS selectors and allowing similar kind of platform and version differentiation. Considering the Form factor This is the question that is raised in relation to the device that you would support. Would it be a mobile phone or tablet from-factors or are you interested in providing a responsive and universal experience. These are the factors that would have an effect on the requirement for designer, developer and tester for your project. This is similar to the extra effort required for each platform and platform version or a new level of effort for the designers and developers required for each form-factor and break-point setting. This could be anticipated with the extra level of effort associated with the testing requirement for each platform version with the extra level of effort put in by the designer or the developer. Considering the offline support By offline support we mean the function of the app when there is no availability of internet connection. Certain apps like the calculator don’t require any internet connection, while there are other apps which don’t function in the absence of internet connection. Cordova network or Cordova connection plug-in could be used for detecting the connection type along with handling online and offline detection. Coping-up with XCode and Eclipse There are certain elements associated with Cordova XCode implementation, which may not be liked by most of the app developers. Some examples would be hiding the status bar while launching the application, disabling of the universal application status and customization of some of the Cordova application setting sand plug-ins. When you have the intending of launching the developed app in the app store, it is essential to learn certain basic XCode development. Knowledge regarding Eclipse IDE is essential as it would enable direct change to the AndroidManifest.XML file. Testing of the App It is advisable to have more than one physical device associated with each version or platform. Identification of some of the major devices could be accomplished with the help of simulators and emulators, but having a real device for testing would be an excellent idea. In certain cases emulators give false positive or negative for the bugs. It also helps to get aware of certain specific bugs and issues with the platform, version and device. Debugging of the Cordova application could turn out to be challenging in certain cases. But this challenge could be eased out with the help of chrome and safari dev tools. In case of the Android devices, you must be capable of choosing the tool, inspect the devices along with having full access to the application’s HTML, CSS and JS. You will have access to the developer’s panel with the enabling of debugging of iOS safari and Mac safari. You can reload the app with the help of Command + R instead of opening of safari developer panel, which could be painful. All the important points mentioned for developing iOS and Android app with Cordova and Phone Gap would be helpful for the readers in taking decision.
0 Comments
As the horizon of mobile technology is expanding rapidly, the mobile app development landscape is turning to be astonishingly intriguing. Now many are enthusiastic about hybrid or cross mobile applications. They combine many good features of both native and HTML 5 apps. The issue which is the preferable one has led to a heated debate in the related circles. Before coming to a conclusion, let’s have a bird’s eye view of each of these applications. Looking for mobile application development services ? - Get a Project Quote : http://www.mobileapptelligence.com/enquiry.html A native mobile application is a smartphone application that is coded using the native programming language for platforms like iPhone or iPad apps built using Objective-C, and Android application built with Java. Native apps are loved for their fast performance and high reliability, sophisticated user experience and interface. They have full access to a phone's various features, such as its camera, geo location, and address book. Since native apps run smoothly, it is a better way to go for games. Businesses value their ability to submit to app stores and generate visibility. Users can use some apps without an Internet connection too. Moreover, Native apps are widely regarded as being the more secure solution. On the downside, this type of app is expensive to create and maintain, because a separate app is to be created and maintained for each platform (OS, Android, Windows phone) if you want to cover a larger audience across all platforms. So companies, to cut costs, have looked beyond the Native apps.
Hybrid (cross-platform) mobile application is developed with both HTML5 and Native technology, built using web technology and then wrapped in a platform-specific shell. It has not only cross-platform compatibility but also has moderate access to some of the native APIs and phone’s hardware. However, speed of Hybrid is slower that the Native apps. A high level of technical skill is required to develop and maintain Hybrid apps. Still, many Hybrid apps get rejected at the Apple app store since the app is just a wrapper for a website. Keeping the above facts in mind, you may choose between Native and Hybrid according to your requirements and the way you want your user to interact with your app. Author is a senior business analyst and an expert in native mobile app development. Resources: http://www.mobileapptelligence.com http://www.mobileapptelligence.com/cross-platform-appdevelopment.html http://www.mobileapptelligence.com/iphone-app-development.html Cross Platform App Development Tools, Mobility Companies in USA, India and Singapore are Using1/28/2015 Cross platform app development has been termed as the demand of the present age mobile app developers. It is a technique involving single codebase for the apps, which would have the capability of being used in different operating system. When we speak about the leading operating systems like Android and iOS, they are structurally different specifically in the architecture. From the point of view of a developer, it is challenging and troublesome to develop mobile apps which possess the capability of cutting across the products. For Cross Platform Mobile Development – Get a Project Quote – http://www.mobileapptelligence.com/enquiry.html The kind of coding written for Goggle and Apple can be termed as contradicting, which restricts the written code to one operating system and ineffective in others. The mobile app developers eventually tweak the code to make it work in different platforms. With a code specific to one platform, there would be multiple questions raised by the mobile app developers. Some of the most common questions would include:
1. MoSync - MoSync is considered to be the most advance tool when it comes to cross-platform mobile app development. The standard development kit of MoSync includes the libraries that consist of the most common technologies which are intended for enhancing the web technology in future. The programming languages supported by MoSync are C/C++, Java, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby and Python. MoSync could be compared to Eclipse. Mobile app developers prefer the IDE that lies behind MoSync which allows native apps to be shipped to Symbian, Linux mobile, iOS, Windows, Android and iPad. Related: Hiring Mobile App Development Company 2. Whoop - Whoop is the best choice for the mobile app developers who have just began developing mobile apps. This platform is often considered to be controversial as it declares itself to be effective for the non-developers as well. It is also effective for the mobile app developers working on the beta version of the projects. Whoop is user friendly and easy to use and comfortable, which puts itself with the declaration that it is the cross-mobile app development tool for the beginners. The tool has the basic and don’t have the latest and the advance features. One of the features of Whoop that is worth mentioning is the WYSYWIG interface. The WYSYWIG interface facilitates the developer to drop the app element and tweak the code using the task bar. It is a free mobile app development tool and is most compatible with windows mobile, iPhone, Android and Symbian Blackberry. 3. Appcelerator - Appcelerator makes use of the web technology which initiates cross-platform compatibility among the different platforms. Technologies like HTML5, Ruby, CSS3, JavaScript, PHP and Python are used for the development of native apps. Users can get access to around 300 APIs making it one of the most effective tools. Related: How to Hire Android Application Development Company 4. Widgetpad - Widgetpad is a web based platform that helps in the effective development of cross-platform mobile software. It consists of the key elements used for the development of cross-platform mobile app development. One of the drawbacks for this tool is the absence of some of the most eminent hardware features. The most common example that comes to my mind is absence of Android-centered GPS chips. But if you are planning for a light weight solution, Widgetpad could is the best form you. 5. Rho Mobile - Rho Mobile is based on Ruby and is an integrated framework, which helps in the development of mobile apps capable of working on multiple platforms. Using Rho Mobile you can develop native apps for Windows, Symbian, RIM, Android and iOS. It possesses advance features and its compatibility is termed as sharp. Mobile app developers can code centrally with the help of Rho Mobile, which is a great support for the budding developers. This tool has certain add on features which is available to the users of Rho Mobile only and helps in marching ahead of its competitors. One of the best to depict the add-on features of Rho Mobile is a feature called RhoHub, which is a cloud code hosting environment. Rho Sync is another added feature which is an on-the –fly standalone server and helps in enhancing the element of richness to the developers experience. Both these features add to the practical element of mobile app development. Related: Cross Platform App Development Company 6. PhoneGap - An award winning development platform for Android, Symbian, Blackberry, iPad, iPhone and Plam. PhoneGap is supported by the distributed system technologies and web shortcuts like HTML, CSS# and JavaScript. Though this tool the mobile app developers can get access to the advance hardware tools like GPS and accelerometer. The forum of PhoneGap developers is an excellent resource to learn about the tool and know about the latest developments. 7. Xmarin - Based on C#, this tool facilitates app development for iOS and Android which is differentiated during the deployment phase. Xmarin is an advance tool and helps the developers to call the native APIs in the developed application. The code used in this tool is executed on.NET framework before the final phase of compiling, and is achieved through implementation of native dialects of iOS or Android. Xmarin would be best suited for a large team working on different parts of the same project. With the huge demand that cross platform mobile app development has at the present, it is advisable to know about the tool that can enhance your app development experience. Ranging from a wide range of sectors like banks, silicon start-up, government organizations and convenience store, cross-platform mobile app development has invaded and preferred at almost every-where and considered as top mobility solutions. Resources: http://www.mobileapptelligence.com/ http://www.mobileapptelligence.com/cross-platform-appdevelopment.html http://www.mobileapptelligence.com/mobile-app-developers.html |
Categories
All
|