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Update June 1st: we have pushed the support end date to July 10, 2016.

We want to let you know that we will be ending Windows Phone support in the Appery.io platform on May 15, 2016 July 10, 2016. The reason for this is very simple; very few Windows Phone apps are being built and deployed on the Appery.io platform; even Microsoft bets its future on the universal Windows 10 applications, and not on the Windows Phone (information regarding this topic can be found here, and here).  The resources we used to support the Windows Phone will be redirected to add a more easy-to-use tooling for building enterprise iOS and Android apps, which is a good thing.

If you need to export a Windows Phone project source or build a binary, go to Export windows inside the App Builder:

Export menu

You will be able to export the files until May 15, 2016.

Appery.io API Express enables enterprises to easily and securely integrate apps with any back-end system. Recently, the Appery team has published two guides on how to create databases with Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud SQL and then use them with API Express. If you are new to API Express, start with this beginners tutorial. It shows you how to create services based on API Express models and perform CRUD operations.

Check the API Express documentation, and make sure to check out all of our mobile development tips.

Do you want to build apps fast? Start developing with our trial plan!

A recording of the first webinar in our 2016 webinar series is now available. It introduces you to the App Builder and how to build apps with Ionic/AngularJS.

From this video, you will learn:

• How to create a new Ionic app
• The various views inside the App Builder for Ionic and AngularJS
• How to build an app connected to a cloud database:
  • Building the app UI using the Design view
  • Mapping data between scope and services using the visual Mapping view
  • Binding data between scope and page using the visual Binding view
• How to test the app quickly in the browser

Check out the video now:

To learn more how to build apps fast, go to our YouTube channel.

You can still sign up for our next webinar (tomorrow), “Getting Started with App Builder for jQuery Mobile Apps”!

Using Server Code snippets and plug-ins are a great way to save time when making server scripts. Instead of digging through the Server Code documentation, you can simply choose one of the snippets located on the right side of the screen in script editor mode. The set of snippets provided by the Server Code API are the most common, but if you think of other useful snippets, let us know and we’ll add them to the list.

Server Code plug-ins are another way to save time when implementing your logic. To find Server Code plug-ins, go to the Server Code page and then to the Plugins tab. For now, there are two plug-ins. With them, you can quickly integrate with the Twilio or SendGrid API via XHR (XMLHTTPRequest). Simply click “Import” to create the server script based on the plug-in selected, and then customize it by specifying your API keys.

Make sure you check out all of our mobile development tips.

Do you want to build apps fast? Start developing with our trial plan!

To help developers with uploading their files to the Appery.io backend, we have just released the Files Upload plug-in for AngularJS (both Bootstrap and Ionic).This process uses the Input component with afile type. You can click Choose File to select the needed information to enable it appear as list on the page at the end. To upload all files click Upload all, or for single files select Upload selected.

A quick note about configuring the plug-in: the Appery.io database requires a sessionToken for uploading files to the database. To make the plugin simpler to use, use the Master Key.To configure this plugin you should provide the ID of the database that you will be using to store the files, and select the Master Key instead of sessionToken.

However, please keep in mind that for security reasons, we recommend you use sessionToken instead of Master Key.  This plug-in is configured to work with the Appery.io database, but it can be modified to work with any other API provider that allows for file uploads. You will need to change the upload REST API and update any parameters.

As usual, we’ve prepared a detailed tutorial for this plug-in, which you can find here.

If you have any problems with this plug-in or with file uploading in Appery.io, contact our support team for assistance.

“It’s crazy just how fast I can build an app using Appery.io, but what is even better is that I can push the same app to Android, IOS, and Windows Phone with very little work. The speed of development was astounding.”

An independent developer with limited coding experience, has successfully created the Motorway Cam App that has over 40,000 downloads from the IOS and Android app stores. Appery.io’s ability for customization, and our easy-to-use platform has enabled the developer to build coding into the background. This has allowed the developer to design the app to preform as intended instead of following pre-designed templates.

Not only has Appery.io’s easy-to-use platform enabled the developer to create two other Motorway Cam Apps for Netherlands and Spain, our updates have allowed the developer to introduce the AUTOCAM feature. This feature takes the user’s GPS co-ordinates, and direction of travel to provide them with 4 live camera feeds so that they can view current motorway traffic conditions.

Click here to view the full case study.

Snippet to invoke a REST API

A snippet is a pre-made and reusable section of code that can be quickly inserted into your own code. It is a convenient and time-saving way to pull frequently used Appery.io functions.

A recent update has introduced a new snippet – Invoke REST API ($http).  Invoke REST API ($http) is a wrapper for Angular’s($http) and can be used to send AJAX requests. This snippet is described in more detail here.

Shortcuts, like snippets, can save you time. A shortcut allows you to type a few characters that expand into the corresponding code. For example, type $Cg and then press Ctrl+Space or Cmd+Space to quickly add the Config.get function. The shortcut will be translated into:

Apperyio.Config.get( expression/*, default*/ );

You can find the whole list of shortcuts here.

Make sure to check out all of our mobile development tips. Do you want to build apps fast?

Start developing with our trial plan!

Happy 2016!

2015 was a great year for Appery.io, and we’re looking forward to another fantastic year in 2016!

In 2015, we hit some amazing milestones, including:

• Surpassing 300K users (see below)!
• Adoption of Appery.io into educational curriculums at over 1K academic institutions worldwide!
• Selection as a 2015 top 100 global Red Herring winner!

As the new year unfolds, we’d like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2016!

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The Appery.io team is starting 2016 with new and exciting updates and improvements to the platform!

App Builder enhancements

The latest Appery.io update brings some cool features to the visual App Builder.

New Ionic components

Two new UI components for Ionic were just released: Card and Text.

The Card can be used to visually separate information on a page. It allows for more control and flexibility, and can even be animated. This new component is based on Google’s Card UI design.

The Text component can be used to conveniently place any custom text or AngularJS expression (wrapped with {{...}}) on the page.

The Ionic Button has obtained new property – Icon Only. It makes a button look like an icon. This property converts a button to an icon by changing Icon Style and Style properties, and ignoring the Text property.

It’s now possible to copy and clone components in the App Builder. To create a full copy of a UI component with all nested children, (including other components), click the clone icon on the top right of the component:

Cloning a component

Ionic page templates

When creating a new page in Ionic, you can choose a blank page or a page with ionContent. The blank page is a simple page without any extra components. Use it when you don’t need to make any special adjustments to the scroll or scrollbar settings. The page with ionContent is a multi-tool page with a ion-content directive and many settings provided by Ionic. Use it when you need to make flexible adjustments to page scroll behavior.

You can find more detailed templates description in our docs.

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API Express visual editor

Appery.io API Express make it fast and simple to connect to an enterprise data source and expose it via a REST API. With API Express you can quickly create an API for:

• A relational database
• A WSDL service (SOAP)
• An existing REST API

In this tutorial, I’m going to show how to expose an existing WSDL service as a REST API and then build a mobile app using the API.

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