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Images are an integral part of any mobile app UI. A frequent requirement is to process these images (for example, making the image smaller for a particular device screen size). Such processing could be done on the client, but requires additional code and likely will effect app performance. A better solution is usually to process the images on the server where it is much faster and also gives you more options and flexibility. Sirv is a cloud service that does just that. Sirv and Appery.io have joined forces to show you how easy it is to use advanced image processing when building your app in Appery.io. Read the rest of this entry »

“I must say thank you to Appery.io,” said Charles Fergins, a High School educator and graduate student in Southern California. “Teaching application development has been tough, but also very rewarding, and is something that could not have been done without the team at Appery.io.”

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Recently, the Appery.io App Builder was updated with several significant features. One of the most important and fundamental changes was the introduction of Model and Storage notions. To show the best practices of using these features, we created a MusicShop app and step-by-step tutorial which describes in detail how to build such an app from scratch. This tutorial also has a MusicShop app backup attached to allow you to pay more attention to Model and Storage usage (you shouldn’t create the app step-by-step in this case, just create it from the backup).

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The Appery.io platform was upgraded with a number of new features. This is a quick overview of what’s new.

First, we got a new splash screen…!

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With the proliferation of mobile devices and increased demand for mobile apps in the enterprise, many developers have switched their interests to mobile development. Even those who are not familiar with the craft of mobile development have considered or tried to create a mobile app at some point. But to be perfectly honest, mobile development is challenging. If it was easy, everyone would be building apps and experienced developers wouldn’t enjoy such high demand. In reality, you need to have pretty strong background using technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to build even the simplest mobile app. This is not even considering the various frameworks you would need to learn, on top of everything else. 

If you are not a traditional developer but want to a build a mobile app, you have to follow a challenging routine of learning endless set of information, libraries, frameworks and other tools. Of course, such an approach gives your more low-level control over your code, but the chance that you will lose interest before you build something is rather high.

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Gone are the days when you could afford to take months to build an enterprise mobile app. In today’s fast market, you need to be able to prototype the app in a few days (or even hours), release the first version in a few weeks, get feedback, fix bugs, release the second version. Repeat.

To help you meet this challenge, Appery.io and Orchestrate have collaborated to create this step-by-step tutorial on just how fast you can build a real mobile app. The app is built in the Appery.io visual development platform, connected to an Orchestrate database via REST APIs, tested, and deployed. (If you’re new to Appery.io you can start with the Building your first mobile app tutorial.)

In addition, Appery.io and Orchestrate will hold a joint webinar titled “Building Enterprise Mobile Apps Fast with the Orchestrate Database and Appery.io Development Platform” covering this material on September 11 at 10:00am Pacific time. Register now!

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The Appery.io team just released a number of really nice features. Learn about what’s new in this post.

App Builder improvements

New jQuery Mobile Popup component

The new jQuery Mobile Popup component gives you more power to build app UI.  The component can be used to notify the user to confirm an action, or just display any important information.

More List options

We added a number of properties to the list to simplify UI building. For instance, it is now easy to make the list read-only.

We also added the ability to manage the list items order. You can do this by using the Index property in the Properties panel:

A better way to select icons

Everyone likes icons, and there is now a better way to select one. If the component supports an icon (List, Button etc.), the Icon property will be available:

By clicking “Choose,” the icons list will appear:

This is much more fun as you can see the actual icon.

Cloud database improvements

The Appery.io cloud database got a number of very useful upgrades.

Indexes management

By adding the ability to manage database indexes, we allow you speed up the frequently used queries. It’s a good thing to use when transferring a lot of data between the devices and Appery.io backend:

To reduce data transfer and speed up the app, use the MongoDB Projection concept that the Appery.io database now supports. By using Projection, you can selectively retrieve columns from the database without the need to transfer excess data (columns). This will decrease the data being sent to the client (app), and also increase app responsiveness.

New ACL editor – for simplified database access rights

User access control is  now more flexible with the new ACL editor. You can specify access rights for each user separately, for all users at once, or just for the user that created a specific collection entry:

The Appery.io database now supports the Media Manager that helps manage files. You can upload and delete any sort of files directly from the database console by using it:

API updates

It’s now possible to get a file list based on the Files collection content and provided ACL for every file (you can of course control user access rights for files too).

Database versioning for more peace of mind

It’s always a good idea to make a backup of your database. With the new database versioning features, you can create versions (backups) of the database and restore to a particular version instantly:

Server Code improvements

To make development and testing faster, we combined the Script tab and Test tab into a single page. You can now quickly test the script and see the execution result without the need to switch tabs:

API update

The Server Code API was upgraded with a new service – multiUpdateObject. By using it, you can update multiple objects via a single REST service. See the Server Code API to learn what functionality can be used on the Appery.io server side.

Customer Console improvements

Customer Console is a great way to create a development process where a customer can manage databases and push notifications without the developer attention. The Customer Console adds the following new features:

• Export/import database data in JSON or CSV formats.
• Schedule push notifications.

Push improvements

To simplify working with Push, we have moved the Push tab together with the app. So now it’s a lot simpler; with every app, you can enable its own push capability: 

If you new to Appery.io Push Notifications, we recommend starting with this tutorial.

App exporting improvements

Now, when the app is exported from the Appery.io with “Release” checkbox checked, JavaScript files will be minified. This option works for all binary exports and reduces the final binary size. Head to the Exporting the app section if you want to know more about Appery.io app exporting possibilities.

With every new Appery.io update, our goal is to make app development faster and simpler in the cloud.

Follow us Twitter, and Facebook.  And if there is anything we can do better, let us know on the forum.

Building mobile apps with identity management wasn’t simple, until now. Auth0, a cloud service that eliminates the friction of identity for your app, and Appery.io, the only cloud platform with visual development tools and integrated backend services, are collaborating to make this happen. With the jointly created Appery.io Auth0 plugin, you can simplify identity management integration for your app, and this post will show you how.

Appery.io Platform

Appery.io is the only cloud-based platform with visual development tools and integrated backend services. Appery.io provides a powerful visual environment to build HTML5 and hybrid mobile apps connected to any API.

The Appery.io platform provides the following core features:

• Build HTML5 mobile apps and hybrid apps for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.
• Drag and drop visual app builder for quickly building the app UI, with Source view for customizing the UI with any code.
• Connect to any cloud API service, and bind the service to the page via a visual binding editor.
• Integrated backend services that include: cloud database, push notifications, and server code.
• HTML5 app hosting.
• Fast testing in-browser, and on device via Appery.io Mobile Tester app.
• Collection of plugins that provide fast integration with popular API providers.

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Have you ever needed to perform operations in a certain time interval? For example – have you ever needed to check database records, and then based on specific conditions, send an appropriate push notification?

Some parts of this can be done via client-side code, but there is no guarantee that the user’s device will be online at the right time. The solution to this lies in one of Appery.io’s great backend features, Server Code.  If you aren’t familiar with it yet, here is a quick tip: Server Code enables custom and scalable business logic in the Appery.io cloud without the need to build and maintain server infrastructure. And one of the server code features is the jobs scheduler.

All of the scheduling logic can be found in a separate Jobs tab:

You will see schedule builder if you open it:

The basics of working with the jobs scheduler is simple – you choose the script that should be executed at a certain time or time interval. Then you should specify that time or interval. This can be done in two ways: by using the schedule builder or by using the Schedule expression:

Unlike the schedule builder where you simply need to select the needed parameters by choosing them from comboboxes, the Schedule expression retrieves values based on Quartz. Note one important thing – the Appery.io job scheduler doesn’t use a seconds parameter in Cron expressions. So, if you use an expression such as 0 0/5 * * * ? you’ll get an error. Remove the first number (zero in this case) and the expression will be correct – 0/5 * * * ? .

The minimum interval between script invocation is based on your plan. See our pricing to learn more.

All of your scheduled scripts are displayed at the bottom of the page:

If you no longer need to execute some of your scripts, turn them off by toggling the on/off button or delete it by clicking the cross icon.

Generally, that’s all you need to start scheduling your scripts. Simple, isn’t it? Here is detailed documentation about the Server Code jobs scheduler in case you’re stuck somewhere. Or get touch with us via forum or email to get our help. Happy coding!

EZAPP, a company from Israel, uses Appery.io to quickly build mobile apps for their customers.

“With Appery.io, we reduced the time to build an app to a minimum, we can easily integrate new services into our system, and we provide our customers with more value,” said Elad Welner, CEO of EZAPP.

About EZAP

EZAPP, located in Kfar-Sava, Israel, provides applications as a service to SOHO and SMB enterprises. They provide their customers with a sales app that allows them to increase their revenue,  manage their customers, publish coupons and promotions, and create an online store.

Situation:

With their demand for applications increasing exponentially, EZAPP needed an up-to-date development environment with integrated backend services, and a rich catalog of API plug-ins that would simplify integration with cloud services. Perhaps most importantly, they needed a platform that would allow them to create cross-platform apps easily and rapidly. EZAPP’s monetization strategy is subscription-based, centered on a monthly fee for their service.

Solution:

EZAPP evaluated several platforms, focusing most on Appery.io and Conduit. In the end, EZAPP chose Appery.io because of the following features:

• Simple-to-create templates and access to the source code. With Appery.io’s visual builder, it’s easy and efficient to create app templates that can be saved and reused. You also have immediate access to, and ability to edit the application source code.
• Excellent support. With multiple channels of support available, Appery.io’s support policies are top-notch. The EZAPP team evaluated Appery.io over a two-month period, and was so impressed by Appery.io’s excellent support and great overall results that, “from there it [Appery.io] was an easy choice.”
• Awesome Plug-ins. You can quickly add powerful functionality to your app with the numerous plug-ins available with the Appery.io platform, and you can easily create and add your own.

Results:

Thanks to Appery.io, EZAPP significantly reduced their build time, and gained access to a huge catalog of useful and easy-to-use plug-ins and services.

“Had we not used Appery.io, we had to develop and maintain all the platform aspects ourselves, and write all the add-ons instead of using existing ones, a process that would have cost us a lot of money and time,” continued Elad Welner, CEO of EZAPP.

Using Appery.io’s Database Hosting and Push Notification services, EZAPP expect to reach over 100,000 users in the coming year, and created more than 1,000 apps.

Read the complete case study.