I have been trying to make sense of some claims that Appcelerator Titanium makes. As per their site, if I know HTML and Java script, I can develop a native mobile app using their SDK. So I need someone to tell me this.
If I develop an app for calculating loan installments using a form in dream weaver that takes input (Down Payment Amount, Interest Rate, and Tenure) in text fields, apply form validation using Java script, and calculate the installment amount using Java Script, and then display the amount.
Will appcelerator turn all of this into a native app? Sounds too good to be true...
Titanium just provides a bridge so that a iphone/android app can be developed using javascript and you need not learn java or objective c for android and iphone respectively.
You may read this and this to get a picture of how titanium actually does it.
Bottom line, you cant use dreamweaver or some other "web-building" for titanium.
Appcelerator can create native apps, but you need to write your app using their javascript API. Appcelerator provides the developer with a lot of javascript functions, which you then use to add views to your app (tableviews, images, text, etc).
Despite what Javanator claims, it really does turn into a native app, but no, you cannot just use any WYSIWYG html editor (i.e. Dreamweaver) you like to turn HTML into a native app.
However, Appcelerator recently bought Aptana, which is an user-friendly editor. For more information, see http://www.appcelerator.com/appcelerator-acquires-aptana/
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I'm a little confused about this. Titanium is bragging about being able to style with CSS, program with javascript and create with HTML5, whilst making the final product native to the platform. How is this possible? If I'm writing in JS/HTML/CSS then won't they be run within the browser? Making them non-native?
See jhaynie's explanation of how the Titanium Mobile SDK is used to compile to native code. In essence, the Titanium Mobile SDK creates a mapping between their APIs in javascript and the native APIs of the target platform.
Titanium code are written in core JavaScript and code is then converted into native code(i.e. objective c or java) But when you use HTML and CSS into titanium you need to render them into "WebView" a browser without address bar. So in that sense titanium is completely native.
You code a Titanium Mobile app in js using their API that 'bridges' your code to the native API.
You don't use html/css at all unless you want to include a webview with local content.
It's possible you are looking at old documentation. Titanium used to use HTML/CSS/JavaScript for creating applications which did not use native UIs but as of 0.9 is more of a JavaScript abstraction of a generic mobile device. This means you won't be using HTML or CSS to build your app and the process bears little resemblance to building a web app. Other tools like PhoneGap use the web app model in place of a native UI.
That said, you can create a web view (in-app web browser) in Titanium which you can use to show HTML5 content if you so desire. Also, as of Titanium 1.5, you can also use a CSS-style language called JSS to separate your JavaScript application model from your content.
Apple iOS has a "WebView" which is basically a browser window under control of the program. They take your code, plop it in to a WebView and wrap some infrastructure around it, and compile and ship it as a "native" program.
I have a fairly simple website where users can fill out a form describing a flowering plant. They click on buttons and checkboxes to describe the leaves and flowers, and then the site returns a list of the possible plant families they are seeing. The site is built with jQuery and all of the data are in a javascript as a series of comma-separated numbers.
The problem, of course, is that the plant ID tool is on the web and it would be much more useful if it could be a stand-alone tool on a smartphone so it would work in a remote jungle somewhere.
I've been scared off of developing an app up til now because I've heard that it costs tens of thousands of dollars. But I keep reading that the new version of Dreamweaver can do the job for me. Can someone clue me in on this? Can I really build an iPhone app in Dreamweaver CS5.5 without knowing Objective C?
Yes. According to this link you can package a native iOS app with CS5.5:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/dreamweaver/cs/using/WSeffff8bffc80208478c8d43312e240fe0ad-8000.html
NOTE: You'll still need to register as an Apple iOS developer to upload apps to the app store.
You can also look into non-Objective-C tools like Corona SDK.
http://www.anscamobile.com/
To register as an iPhone developer you do not need tens of thousands of dollars, more like 100 dollars. Writing iPhone apps is not simple, and for someone to write an app for you might cost as much. BUT, since you have your website up-and running, i would recommend adjusting the website to smartphone screen sizes, and creating an iPhone app that is basically just a wrapper to a web-browser which will show your site pages. Basically that's what CS5.5 does for you as stated. Similar platforms are Corona (as stated), phoneGap, or titanium - all of which allow creating/using web pages that show inside a native app. The app is just a shell for the webpages. Please note that titanium and phoneGap claim to be able to publish from a single project BOTH iPhone AND android native apps.
I have seen a blog which claims that we can develop iPhone applications in HTML5. Untill then I was aware about Objective-C on Mac.
Can we develop an interface with backend support application in HTML5 on iPhone? Will it be secure and scalable?
If HTML5 is a markup language, then how can I make conditional statements in it? Would it be via jQuery or Javascript?
Which IDE should I use to develop an iPhone app in HTML5?
A great place to start when developing an iPhone app in HTML5 is PhoneGap.
You could either go the full-blown app route by developing an iOS app using PhoneGap, or only selecting certain tools/frameworks to help build a web-based app for mobile devices.
And very much like how it works with websites, HTML is used for the structure, CSS for presentation and JavaScript for behaviour. So yes, JS is used for conditional statements, etc.
Yes.
You can develop an HTML5/CSS3/Javascript app, then wrap it in PhoneGap or Apache Cordova to make it native and put it in the App Store (or Android Market...), as well as publish it on the web. You can do this with whatever tools you're comfortable with.
Using a tool like PhoneGap has many benefits over browser-based Mobile Web Apps, such as allowing you to parse iPhone contacts and access the local hardware.
It's great in combination with jQuery Mobile, but since performance is a MAJOR issue you must be very cautious to really streamline your images, CSS, and Javascript.
See this link to learn more about Mobile Frameworks.
I have seen a blog which claims that we can develop iPhone applications in HTML5. Untill then I was aware about Objective-C on Mac.
If you want to write a native iPhone application, then Objective-C is your only option. However, as the iPhone’s web browser has a lot of capabilities (e.g. offline caching), you can develop applications that run in its web browser, as opposed to natively. They can’t access all the features of the iPhone, and they are simply websites (so you need a server to serve them), but before the iPhone SDK was released, Steve Jobs himself described web apps as the way to write software for the iPhone.
Can we develop an interface with backend support application in HTML5 on iPhone? Will it be secure and scalable?
I have no idea what that means.
If HTML5 is a markup language, then how can I make conditional statements in it? Would it be via jQuery or Javascript?
Correct: JavaScript. (jQuery is just a JavaScript framework, and it’s probably a bit heavy to use on current iPhones.)
The HTML5 spec blurs the distinction between HTML and JavaScript by defining the DOM interface for the HTML elements it specifies, and defining new DOM features (e.g. offline caching) that aren’t technically part of HTML. Apple (and other people) have further blurred the term “HTML5” by using it to encompass various CSS features like animations and transforms, which you’ll probably find very useful for making web apps feel more like native apps.
Hi I have been recently exploring some of the Javascript mobile frameworks that can be used for developing mobile web apps like Sencha, JQTouch, JQuery mobile etc.
I know the adv and disadvantages of both.
I just need some recent stats which show the market's adoption or opinion.
I tried three ways to develop mobile applications.
First method is to use frameworks that will take your html/css/js files and package them into mobile applications depending on your targets (BlackBerry, iPhone, Android, ...). I used PhoneGap (known today as Cordova). I didn't like it at all because the UI's rendering is so ugly on some devices and the user experience is broken. I had to use it with jQuery Mobile because it gave me a good UI design start. I tried some Phonegap Android generated applications on my personal device and it's really horrible. Some of them got rejected by Apple because of that ...
Second method is to use Appcelerator Titanium SDK. One word to sum it up: Awesome. One language to use (javascript) to create your UI/Controller. It's so easy to learn, so powerful to develop with and it has many out-of-the-box functionnalities (like facebook API, Yahoo Query Language, ...) that will allow you to put in place solutions easily for both Android and iPhone. BlackBerry is coming soon. What I liked the most is that it converts the written Javascript into the targetted platform with the default UI. It's really great. And, above all, the UI is easily customizable (with a css like system).
Personally, I put in place apps that can: Take a photo with the device then send it to a remote server, send messages to twitter/facebook, advanced geolocation, etc.
Third method: Native! It would take time if you target both iPhone and Android but, the big advantage is that you can create anything you want without being tied to a Framework for areas such as games, augmented reality , etc.
In my opinion, if you want to create simple applications with some nice features (weather, twitter feeds, sending on a facebook wall, ...), use Appcelerator Titanium SDK.
It converts your code into NATIVE.
If you have time to spend learning native languages, do it. It's the best way ;)
Hope it helps.
Regards.
I've summed up my thoughts on the whole "native vs. web" discussion in a blog post here: http://www.springenwerk.com/2011/09/thoughts-on-mobile-ui-design.html
In a nutshell: You can't get around getting to know the platform you are targeting if you want to provide a great user experience. Plus, you shouldn't try to mimic native UI/UX in a web application, it will only disappoint your users.
here are some pros and cons of native apps vs. web apps:
Native apps:
Native apps have more security
Native apps have higher user engagement, it has higher click-through rate (CTR) among the ad-serving publishers
When it comes to aesthetics and overall user experience, it is incredibly difficult for web apps to trump native apps
you don't have to buy a server and maintain it, therefore, for small businesses it is the ideal solution, not web apps which require a server.
Web apps:
it's cross platform - that means your one app will work on both iphone and android
cheaper and faster to develop and maintain
you will find programmers easier than native apps
updates are easier
Check out this post for some more opinion - http://www.thorntech.com/2013/01/html5-vs-native-apps-which-will-win-the-mobile-app-development-battle/
In particular, the last paragraph is worth noting. If you go down the path of building an HTML5 app, it is worth having some type of background "syncing" of content so you are not always pulling it from the web in real time. The app will be much more responsive if you load HTML pages from disk.
From my experience, the success rate of a native apps are much better than html or javascript based ones. I do not have sufficient numbers to back it up, but these are some issues that may crop up when trying to build html5 apps for different platforms. e.g.
Browser OS or webkit differences can cause unexpected bugs, css issues that could take quite a while to debug.
Your app is running on top of a webkit browser engine which takes up additional resources.
Older or non-smart phone devices may not have a modern webkit engine.
Nevertheless if you have good web skills over native, then getting an app to the market the quicket and cheapest route would be html5. Some apps lend very well for html5 such as data listing, and text content driven apps. I have written a writeup on HTML5 vs Native on my blog. Hope its useful.
I was looking into PhoneGap and Titanium framework, and I did not clearly understand how to they work, let's suppose I have already developed an app for android or iphone, can I run this app on another mobile with a different OS with PhoneGap or Titanium help?
Or I have to develop again my app with PhoneGap/Titanium framwork?
In this case I have full support at all the features like thread, JSON or XML parsing and so on?
Thank you
PhoneGap basically takes a client-side web app (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and wraps the whole thing in a native device's web view control. You can hook to some of the device's native functions, but as you can guess, it's pretty limited compared to native development. But easy, and brings in a whole range of skills that a lot of people already have. That's really the appeal of PhoneGap.
Titanium is also html/javascript oriented, but it actually claims to compile to native code. Their sample "kitchen sink" app demos quite a lot of the native APIs, at least for the iPhone. I doubt you'd be able to deal directly with threading, but JSON for sure, and I'd think XML as well.
Titanium has full support for JSON or XML parsing.
You can see Titanium examples - Kitchen Sink - for more details.
The idea behind phone gap is that you can take a browser based client app that is written in html/css/javascript and use phonegap to gain access to some native mobile hardware like contacts, gps, accelerometer, etc. Phonegap allows you also to build this web app for different mobile devices all using the same web app code.
To answer the first part of your question, no, you would not be able to take a developed app and use PhoneGap or Titanium to run the app on another device.You would have to write the app in either the PhoneGap or Titanium Framework and then build the application to the devices you want to support through the tools that each give you.
For example, you would write your code in JavaScript(Titanium) or HTML/CSS/JavaScript(PhoneGap), then use the app's build tool to create the file that would be released onto the phone.