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We just released a number of really awesome features. Check them out!

Server Code

The new Server Code is being added to Appery.io integrated backend services that already includes a cloud Database and Push Notifications. The Server Code allows to write any custom app business logic using JavaScript without the need to build and maintain server infrastructure. The custom code is instantly exposed via REST API and can be quickly invoked from the app.

Source Code Editing

Ever since we launched Appery.io our users have been asking if the generated app source can be edited without leaving the platform. Now the answer is yes. Any app files can be edited in the cloud without leaving the platform. Simple switch to the Source tab to start using this new features. We are planning to add more features to source editing. For now, once you start editing the source files, the changes will not be reflected in the visual view yet.

Visual editor:

Source code editor for the same page:

App Versioning

Did you ever want to save a particular app version or roll back to a previous working version?? Now you can. We have introduced a new version feature. At any point you can quickly create an app version and continue development. At any point you can quickly roll back to any previous version of your app.

Salesforce API Plug-ins

We made it very simple to build mobile apps with Salesforce API with two new plug-ins:

• Salesforce Contacts API Sample App
• Salesforce oAuth API

Both plug-ins take care of connecting to Salesforce via oAuth2 so you can start using the API immediately. . The Contacts API Sample plug-in includes a ready-to-run app that allows viewing, and editing Salesforce contacts. Use the plug-ins to learn how to use Salesforce API or a starting point for your mobile app. View detailed documentation on how to import  and use the plug-ins.

If you are building a mobile web app in Appery.io, you can instantly host the app (give it a URL). Here is how. When you create an app, the default type is Mobile App (hybrid app with Apache Cordova). To host the app, first switch its type to Mobile Web by clicking on Hosting tab:

Click Change project type to mobile web button. You will now be able to use an Appery.io domain (app_name.app.appery.io) or a custom domain that you already registered.

Click Publish and your app will be published on the URL specified in 2-4 minutes. It’s that simple.

Appery.io has always made it quite simple to integrated with backend systems via REST APIs — but what if those systems are behind the firewall and don’t support REST??  Many enterprise apps required access to data that is sitting on a SQL Database or on some business application like SAP or Oracle.

Enter RESTXpress!

Read the rest of this entry »

As many of you know, we formally launched Appery.io at the TechCrunch Disrupt hackathon in New York. We came back from it super stoked about Appery.io and just wanted to share some of our excitement from the event.

Appery.io was the product most widely adopted by developers at the Hackathon! More than 30 teams completed and submitted their projects, and many of them won prizes!  This is a TechCrunch record. A distant second was TechCrunch itself — who was promoting its CrunchBase API — with 15 teams.

Over 1,100 developers!

This was TechCrunch’s largest Hackathon to date with over 1,100 developers.  Check out the scene in the picture below.

TechCrunch’s Largest Hackathon!

And the Winners Are…

Congratulations to the Bar Power (1st), Career Hound (2nd), and Waterlog (3rd) teams for winning prizes in our contest!  We were impressed with the innovation and quality of all the projects built in Appery.io — other Appery.io projects won prizes from other sponsors as well, including prizes from Visa and AT&T!

Team Bar Power and Team Waterlog with Max and Francisco

Team Career Hound

Tons of APIs Used!

Developers loved the large collection of plug-ins in the Appery.io catalog. These plug-ins allow developers to add ready-made connections to popular APIs. APIs used at the Hackathon included Twilio, CrunchBase, Foursquare, AT&T, The New York Times, SendGrid, Weather Underground, SkyDrive, LinkedIn, Pearson, Yammer, Facebook, and ESPN.

Overnight Hacking with 24×7 Support

Tons of developers continued their hacks through the night fueled by the sheer excitement of the event and lots of caffeine! There were so many teams developing on Appery.io that we decided to not sleep that night, so we could provide developers all the help they needed. We had a team of three onsite plus a remote team providing support via Skype. Our support table was the most popular by far, with lines throughout the night.

The Most Popular Table: Ours

We were humbled as 30 teams presented their Appery.io projects on stage to a crowd of over 1,000 influencers. Many thanks to all the developers and designers who participated. We are looking forward to seeing many of your projects turn into real businesses!

You can watch a few of the presentations on our YouTube channel using this playlist.  Also, check out more pictures and buzz from the event on Storify.

Neil Mansilla (Mashery) and Max Katz (Appery.io) will describe the Mashery API management platform and the Appery.io mobile app development and support platform and will explain how they fit together. Max will then demo building two apps in Appery.io using Appery.io plug-ins for Mashery-managed APIs.

When: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM (Timezone: America/Phoenix)

Register now: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/920503433

As you probably already know we launched Appery.io in April. One of the new things in this release is that our platform has been upgraded to jQuery Mobile version 1.3.  You can always check the latest version by going to Project > App settings > External resources tab:

The entire team is super excited to launch Appery.io.

First, some history. Appery.io has come a very long way since its roots as a prototype-building tool. Because of its heritage, the service is great at rapidly building mobile apps using a visual IDE. However, the product is now a complete cloud-based platform with integrated backend services and a rich catalog of plug-ins that make it easy to integrate with cloud services (including enterprise systems such as Salesforce.com). We are introducing a new brand to reflect the evolution of Appery.io as well as to support where our platform is headed. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re partnering with VisionMobile for their new Developer Economics survey to help them extend their reach and make sure more developers have a chance to make their voice heard. The survey reaches across thousands of app developers and provides the data for VisionMobile’s well-known reports on the state of the developer nation.

Now in its 5th edition, the new Developer Economics survey examines some of the hottest issues of mobile development, such as top mobile platforms, most widely used revenue models, and web vs. native development.

The report will be available for free to the entire mobile community in July.

If you’re an app developer, take the 10-minute survey for a chance at some  great prizes. VisionMobile has 7 devices up for grabs (one iPhone 5, two Samsung Galaxy S III, two Nokia Lumia 920 devices, and two BlackBerry Dev Alpha handsets).

Take the survey now!

We just added some really cool features to Appery.io Platform. Check them out!

New Source view

As we continue to make Appery.io Platform enterprise-level, just just added a Source view where you can see and open the actual files behind your app. Right now the files are opened as read-only but we are working on allowing you to modify them as well.

jQuery Mobile themes

We got all our custom themes back and you can also create new themes using the jQuery Mobile ThemeRoller tool. Simply create your theme in the tool, download and then upload to Appery.io. It’s that simple.

jQuery Mobile ThemeRoller site:

Once you create a new theme, select Create New > Theme and upload the theme you created.

Android permissions

You have been asking for this feature and now it’s here. Customize the permissions for your app before building a binary.

Binary build errors log

You no longer need to email support to find out why the binary build failed. You can now view the error and try to fix it:

New UI components

We added two new jQuery Mobile components, Grouped Buttons and Collapsible Set:

Pointer and Array types in database

On the Backend Services side, we added two new data types to the database: Array and Pointer:

New tutorials and getting help

Don’t forget to check our new tutorials and as always, if you have any questions let us know via email, forum or @apperyio.