PLATFORM
“Mobile apps” is the latest hot trend in today’s business world and I get the privilege here at Tyndale House Publishers to create one. I’m currently developing the app using a cross platform development framework called PhoneGap.  So far I like the framework a lot.

What I really like about PhoneGap is that it allows me to create apps using the tools and web languages I use every day as a web developer.  That means that the skills and experience I have acquired in creating websites using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can be utilized in creating meaningful and profitable mobile applications.  This is a huge time saver as it cuts R&D cost way down and reduces the time-to-market of a product.

Another benefit of PhoneGap is that with some work you can port your PhoneGap created app to other devices a lot quicker than if you were going to write the app in each of the mobile device’s native language.  The devices currently supported by PhoneGap are: iPhone, Andriod, Blackberry, Palm, and Windows Mobile.  This means that I could theoretically write an app and be able to port it on several device types.  This is a great way to increase market visibility without taking a huge hit in development cost!

PhoneGap also allows me to tap into the devices hardware features such as vibration, geo-location, photos, and contacts.  Of course, nothing is ever perfect; PhoneGap isn’t without its limitation.  If you wanted to create a complex app (or a game) there’s no shortcut you can make and you’ll have to buckle down and learn the platform’s specific language.  Or if you wanted to use Apple’s proprietary programs such as iAd and the In-App Purchasing, you’ll have to learn Objective-C and the iOS SDK.

I have been researching Appcelerator Titanium, which shows a lot of promise and could be a little more powerful than PhoneGap, but at the hands of being able to port to only the iPhone and Andriod.  However, I’m very excited about this platform and can’t wait for their official guide to come out on December 21^st in which I’ll probably read cover-to cover.

STORAGE
I can save and retrieve data in several different ways in a mobile app such as statically in the code using arrays, session storage, or local storage.  But the storage type I want to talk about today is client-side databases, specifically SQLite.  Simply, SQLite is awesome.  It’s a self-contained, server less, transactional SQL database that lives in the app.  That means I can store tons of information without connecting to the web.  The syntax is SQL so any web developer can pick it up easily.  Love it.

UI
I’m currently using JQTouch for my front-end user interface.  It’s pretty simple to use, especially if you’re used to working with JQuery.  In fact, JQTouch is basically a mobile extension to JQuery.  JQTouch allows you to simulate animations and visual effects that you’re used to seeing on the iPhone using JavaScript.

NOTE: I don’t think the animations will work on an Android since I recently tested a mobile site with JQTouch using the Android default browser (Chrome?) and Opera and the animations failed to appear.  Still I wouldn’t expect them to all totally work since iPhone and Android looks and operate a little differently anyway.

That’s it for now, stay tuned for my next post which guides you through the process of setting up a PhoneGap environment within xcode and getting your device registered with Apple so that you can test your apps on them!