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This video shows how to build a mobile app with Appery.io Mobile Apps Builder.

Appery.io Mobile Apps Builder just added Appery.io Proxy feature. Appery.io Proxy makes it very easy to use any REST service which doesn’t support JSONP. Learn how to use Appery.io Proxy.

HTML5’s local storage is undoubtedly one of the most interesting and most talked about features in the HTML5 technology stack. Local storage is part of Web Storage specification and is supported by all modern browsers (destkop and mobile). Although local storage (or Web Storage) sounds rather sophisticated, the functionality is very easy to use. You basically get a map as storage inside the browser (available to all browser windows). You can insert, delete or read key/value pairs. That’s it. Data stored in local storage (localStorage) will be there when you close and open the browser. There is also session storage (sessionStorage). As the name implies, it will be only available as long as the browser window is open, and will be cleared when browser window is closed.

The only other thing to know is that data saved by a page is only available for a pages from the same domain. In other words, a page loaded from abc.com, doesn’t have access to data saved by page from domain xyz.com.

We are going to going to build an app that looks like the screen shot below. In fact, you can try the app (scan the QR code). Try it on your mobile device as well.

To build the app, I used Appery.io Mobile Apps Builder. If you are wondering why Appery.io? Well, because it’s incredibly simple and fast to create a project and build app. If you don’t have an account yet, quickly sign up here.

First build the UI by dragging and dropping jQuery Mobile components from the palette on to the phone. At any point, you can click Test to try the app in browser, or mobile browser.

You can use Appery.io to build real mobile apps without writing any JavaScript. But, for more advanced cases (like ours), you can easily write any custom JavaScript. You can even import 3rd party JavaScript libraries. In our case, we are going to create a new JavaScript file (called asset) with the following content:

// save item
function save(item) {
  var size = localStorage.length + 1;
  localStorage.setItem('key' + size, item);
}
// get storage content
function storage(){
   var output='';
   for (i=0; i <= localStorage.length - 1; i++)  {  
      key = localStorage.key(i);  
      val = localStorage.getItem(key);  
      if (i == 0) {
         output = val;
      }
      else {
         output = output + '\n' +val;
      }
   }
   return output;
}
// clear storage
function clear () {
   localStorage.clear();
}

There are three functions, one for saving a new item (save()), one for getting the current storage (storage()) and one for clearing the content (clear()). Local storage API is very simple. For example, to save an item:

localStorage.setItem('key', 'item');

then, to get a value from storage:

localStorage.getItem('key');

This is how the complete file looks inside Appery.io JavaScript editor:

The last step is to invoke JavaScript when the buttons are clicked. We also want to load storage content when the screen is loaded for the first time. Let’s work on the buttons first. To invoke JavaScript on button click, we first add click HTML event to the button:

Then we add Run Custom JavaScript action by clicking the + button:

Click on the action to enter JavaScript code. The code for Save to Local Storage button looks like this:

var item =$('[dsid="input"]').val();
save(item);
var output='';
output = storage();
$('[dsid="storageContent"]').text(output);

We first find the input component using jQuery (it’s going to simpler to do that, once we introduce Appery.io JavaScript API, work in progress). Save the value from the input element, reload storage content so we can display it inside the textarea.

Clear Local Storage button looks like this:

clear();
$('[dsid="storageContent"]').text('');
alert('Local storage cleared.');

Lastly, we also add load event to the screen itself so that we can show storage content when the screen loads for the first time:

var output='';
output = storage();
$('[dsid="storageContent"]').text(output);

Try it yourself (it’s easy and fun!).

If you don’t know what Appery.io is, Appery.io is a Web-based mobile apps builder or a mobile RAD (Rapid Application Development) tool. It enables developers to build mobile Web and native apps very quickly. Appery.io comes with a visual editor and jQuery Mobile components. You simply drag and drop components into the phone area.

This makes it very easy to prototype and build the UI. Once you have developed the UI (which you can share and test in browser or mobile device), you define and connect to REST services. Once the service is defined, it is mapped to the UI. A service usually has inputs and outputs. Mapping means taking input from UI (such as input component) and using it as input for the service. On the other side, taking service output and mapping it back to the UI, for displaying the result. One last step is usually adding an event to invoke the service. For example, on a button click the service can be invoked. What I just described is a very easy and fast way to build mobile Web apps. There is nothing to setup or configure, just launch the Appery.io visual editor and start building.

Now, how do you get a native app? That’s where PhoneGap comes in. PhoneGap is an open source framework, it wraps your mobile Web app and gives you access to native device API. To use native features, PhoneGap provides very clean and elegant API. For example, to sound a notification beep twice, you need to call the following:

navigator.notification.beep(2);

Simple, right?

To get device information, the following code is used:

alert ('Device Name: '  + device.name     + '\n' + 
     'Device PhoneGap: ' + device.phonegap + '\n' + 
     'Device Platform: ' + device.platform + '\n' + 
     'Device UUID: '     + device.uuid     + '\n' + 
     'Device Version: '  + device.version  + '\n');

Any native mobile project in Appery.io comes configured with PhoneGap version 1.0. How do you invoke this API when building a mobile app in Appery.io? It’s very simple. Appery.io comes with Run Custom JavaScript action which can be invoked on any HTML event. Let’s take a button. When a button is clicked (click event), you add an action (Run Custom JavaScript) to invoke. That’s it. Inside the Run Custom JavaScript, you can run any custom JavaScript.

You start with a button, we will use the Vibrate button:

Add click HTML event to the button:

Add Run Custom JavaScript action:

and finally add PhoneGap JavaScript call:

navigator.notification.vibrate(1000);

Another option is to create a JavaScript file (Project > JavaScript), write all the custom code there in functions and then invoke any function via Run Custom JavaScript action.

JavaScript file:

Invoking a function from the custom JavaScript file:

Once you use native API, testing in Web browser is no longer possible. To make it super easy to test your native app, you can use Appery.io Mobile Tester. It’s a native app (Android, iOS) which lists all your mobile projects created in Appery.io. You simply tap any app and launch the native app. The app looks like this:

Like what you see? Try Appery.io Mobile Apps Builder yourself!

Thanks to Paul Beusterien for the example idea.

Building mobile apps in 5 easy steps in Appery.io Mobile Apps Builder.

Appery.io Mobile Apps Builder upgrades with brand-new UI and very cool new features.

Brand-new attractive UI

Appery.io Mobile Apps Builder got a new and very attractive UI. You can see how it looks below but the best way to experience it, is to log in or sign up. You will like it.

Upgraded export-and-build capability with support for Android, iOS, and mobile Web

That’s big one. From the screen shot you can see that it’s now super easy to get the source code and build for Android and get the source code for iOS.

Android binary release (.apk) settings editor

What’s really cool is that you get get an Android binary and immediately publish it to the Android Market. How can you do that? Appery.io has a new Android .apk settings editor where you can enter all the information needed for the Android Market.

Upgraded test capability. Quickly test your app in a browser or on a mobile device

The Test screen has been upgraded. It’s now super easy to test the app in desktop Web browser, mobile Web browser, and on the actual device via Appery.io Mobile Tester.

Support added for REST XML services and for using the POST method

REST services are no longer limited to just JSON response format, Appery.io now supports XML. We have also improved ability to make POST requests.

New service “echo” mode makes it possible to test the app without connecting to the actual service

To make it even easier to work with remote services, we have introduced an “echo” or mock service. Basically, instead of making a call to the actual remote service each time during development, you can invoke a local “echo” or mock service which returns a sample of the real data.

Use custom external JavaScript libraries in your app

To make it simpler to customise and use custom JavaScript, we have added a feature where any custom JavaScript library can be loaded and included in the app.

New Appery.io JavaScript framework to make it simpler to extend your apps with custom JavaScript

Check it out here.

Create and use custom JavaScript functions when mapping service data to the UI

When mapping UI when data source, you can now specify custom JavaScript to run when the mapping occurs

Improved support for HTML5 attributes and support for the HTML5 video tag

We have added HTML5 input types, attributes such as placeholder and HTML5 video tag.

New iPad screen layout

We added project template with iPad layout – to make it simple and faster build apps for the most popular tablet.

Next week Appery.io Mobile Apps Builder is getting new and very nice UI. Here is a sneak peek how it’s going to look:

We are also expanding the Export/Build feature. Here is how it’s going to look and what platforms we are going to support:

You don’t need to wait until next week, sign up and build your first mobile app today.

Appery.io slides from conference in Vienna:

(Reposted from Maxa Blog)

If you have have done native mobile app development on Android or iPhone (iOS) then you probably know that testing native apps is not that simple. On the other hand, testing traditional Web applications is pretty straightforward: Launch a Web browser, and you see exactly how the application works and how it looks. Read on and I will show how to test a native app in a similarly straightforward fashion after considering various alternatives.

Option 1: Installing the app on the mobile device

This option is great in that you can test the app on the actual device. However, getting the app on the device can be very time consuming. And, for each testing iteration, the app would have to be built, sent (or copied) to the phone, installed, and launched on the device. While you get to test on the actual device, the process is very slow. Just imagine if you need to make just a small change in the app.

Option 2: Using device emulators/simulators

Getting the app on a device emulator is simpler than getting the app on the actual device. However, now the app is not tested on the actual device, so you may not be getting exactly the same behavior or look-and-feel that you would get on the actual device. Now, this is more of an Android problem than an iOS problem. The Android emulator runs a bare-bones Android version. Most Android phones from HTC, Motorola, and Samsung have their own, slightly modified builds of Android (even the same browser can be slightly different on different devices). Another problems with emulators (mostly Android) is that they are usually much slower than the actual devices, for obvious reasons. While the iOS simulator is pretty fast, the Android emulator is notoriously slow.

The Best Option: Launching the app on the device without installing

I consider this final approach the fastest and most straightforward. It doesn’t require installing the app on the device each time, but you still get to test on the device. This approach uses the Appery.io Mobile Tester app on the device while the mobile apps themselves are developed using Appery.io Mobile Apps Builder.

This tester app only needs to be installed once. The Android version is here and the iOS version is available as an open source version. The app is rather simple. After signing in to your Appery.io Mobile Apps Builder account, it will show a list of all mobile apps (native and Web) created in your Appery.io account. Here is how it looks:

The most interesting part? Clicking (or tapping) on any project will launch the app. Make any changes to the app in Appery.io? Save the changes, and click the app in Appery.io Mobile Tester. You now get the new version, with all the changes. With this approach we get the best of everything. We don’t need to install the app each time, the app is tested on the actual device and last but not least, it’s very fast.

Still not convinced? Then sign up for Appery.io, create your first mobile app, install Appery.io Mobile Tester (Android or iOS) and test the app.

Earlier this week we released Appery.io version 2.3.2. Most of the updates are for Mobile Apps Builder. There is a new services editor, new jQuery Mobile theme editor and we launched a new help site.

New services editor with test feature

New services editor is now easier to use, it clearly separates service setting (such as name, URL ) and service request parameters and response parameters into separate panels.

What’s really cool is that you can now test the service right from Appery.io. When entering the request parameters, there is a Test button. This allows you to check that the service works and what soft of output (JSON) is returned.

But, there is another very cool feature. Every service returns data and you need to define response parameters (which later can be mapped to components). Some services return many parameters and manually creating each parameter can be tedious. When you test the service there is Populate Response Button. When the button is clicked, all the output parameters from the service will be automatically created. Here is how it looks using Twitter’s search URL (http://search.twitter.com/search.json?q=html5):

Lastly, you can also paste the response from a service to auto create response parameters. This works sort of like an “echo” test. This is useful if you are not able to invoke the service but do know its response format. In Response Parameters panel, click Populate from Sample Response. Then, paste the response.

New jQuery Mobile theme editor

Mobile Apps Builder comes with 6 jQuery Mobile themes out-of-the-box. Now you can also create custom themes. To create one, in Project view, click Add > Theme. You will see the theme editor:

As you modify the theme (on the left), the phone on the right will instantly be updated with the changes.

New help site

We launched a new help and developers site: http://docs.appery.io. It’s still work in progress but do let us know if there is content you want us to add.

If you worked with JSON, then you are aware of the cross-domain policy which prevents a script loaded from one domain, to invoke services from another domain. This means that the domain of the requested URL must be the same as the domain of the current page. A number of work around exists but one of the most popular once is using JSONP. JSONP allows a requesting URL from one domain to invoke a service from a different domain. Appery.io Mobile Apps Builder now supports JSONP. Why is this important? Well, it makes very simple to build and test mobile apps in Appery.io. Now a page can be loaded from abc.com domain and invoke a service from xyz.com. Most REST services today support JSONP.

To use JSONP is very simple. When defining REST service, select jsonp for Data Type:

JSONP support

Twitter Search App

To try this in action, try this Twitter Search app built in Appery.io.