Mobile app development is the action or process used to develop mobile apps for mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants, corporate digital assistants, or mobile phones. This app can be pre-installed on the phone during the manufacturing platform, or sent as a web application using server-side or client-side processing (e.g. JavaScript) to provide an "app-like" experience in a Web browser. Application software developers should also consider a long series of screen sizes, hardware specifications, and configurations due to the intense competition in mobile software and changes in each platform. Mobile app development continues to grow, in revenue and jobs created. The 2013 analyst report estimates that there are 529,000 direct application apps jobs within 28 EU members, 60% of which are mobile app developers.
As part of the development process, mobile user interface (UI) design is also important in mobile app creation. Mobile UI considers constraints, context, screen, input, and mobility as an outline for design. Users often become the focus of interaction with their devices, and the interface requires hardware and software components. User input allows the user to manipulate the system, and device output allows the system to show user manipulation effects. Mobile interface design constraints include attention and limited shape factors, such as the screen size of a mobile device for the user's hand. Mobile UI contexts gesture cues from user activity, such as location and scheduling that can be displayed from user in-app mobile interactions. Overall, mobile interface design goals are primarily for easy-to-understand and easy-to-use interfaces. The mobile app interface should: take into account the limited user's attention, minimize keystrokes, and task-oriented with a minimum set of functions. This functionality is supported by mobile enterprise app platform or integrated development environment (IDE).
Mobile UIs, or front-ends, rely on back-end phones to support access to enterprise systems. Mobile back-end facilitates data routing, security, authentication, authorization, off-line work, and service orchestration. This function is supported by a mix of middleware components including mobile application servers, mobile backend as a service (MBaaS), and service-oriented architecture (SOA) infrastructure.
Video Mobile app development
Platform
The platform organizations required to develop, deploy, and manage mobile apps are built from the many components and tools that allow developers to write, test, and deploy applications into target platform environments.
Front-end development tools
The front-end development tool focuses on user interface and user experience (UI-UX) and provides the following capabilities:
- UI design tool
- SDK to access device features
- Cross platform/support accommodation
Important tools are listed below.
Back-end server
The back-end tool takes the place of the front-end tool stops, and provides a set of reusable services that are centrally managed and controlled and provide the following capabilities:
- Integration with back-end systems
- Authentication-user authorization
- Data services
- Reusable business logic
Available tools are listed below.
The security add-on layer
Bringing your own (BYOD) device into the norm in more companies, IT departments often need a tactical, tactical solution that lays over apps, phones and platform components. Features include
- Application wrapper for security
- Data encryption
- Client action
- Reporting and statistics
System software
Many system-level components are required to have a platform that works to develop mobile apps.
Criteria for selecting a development platform typically contain the target mobile platform, existing infrastructure, and development skills. When targeting more than one platform with cross-platform development, it is also important to consider the impact of the tool on the user experience. Performance is another important criterion, as research on mobile apps shows a strong correlation between app performance and user satisfaction. Along with performance and other criteria, the availability of technology and project needs can drive the development between the original and cross platform environments. To help choose between the original and cross platform environments, some guidelines and benchmarks have been published. Typically, cross platform environments can be reused across multiple platforms, utilizing original containers when using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for the user interface. Instead, the original environment is targeted at one platform for each of these environments. For example, Android development takes place in Eclipse IDE using Android Developer Tools plugin (ADT), Apple's iOS development takes place using XCode IDE with Objective-C and/or Swift, Windows and BlackBerry each have their own development environment.
Mobile app testing
Mobile applications were first tested in the development environment using the emulator and then subjected to field tests. Emulators provide an inexpensive way to test apps on mobile phones where a developer may not have physical access. Here is an example of a tool used to test apps across the most popular mobile operating systems.
- Google Android Emulator - Android emulator patched to run on a Windows PC as a stand-alone app, without having to download and install a full and complicated Android SDK. It can be installed and compatible Android apps can be tested on it.
- The official Android SDK emulator - a mobile device emulator that mimics all hardware and software features from a typical mobile device (no calls).
- TestiPhone - web browser based simulator to test iPhone web apps quickly. This tool has been tested and works with Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2 and Safari 3.
- iPhoney - provides an accurate pixel web search environment and is supported by Safari. This can be used when developing websites for iPhone. This is not an iPhone simulator but is designed for web developers who want to create 320 by 480 (or 480 by 320) websites for use with iPhone. iPhoney will only run on OS X 10.4.7 or later.
- BlackBerry Simulator - There are a variety of official BlackBerry simulators available to replicate the true functionality of BlackBerry products and test how device software, screens, keyboards, and trackwheel will work with the app.
- Windows UI Automation - To test applications using Microsoft UI Automation technology, Windows Automation API 3.0 is required. It's already installed on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and later versions of Windows. On other operating systems, you can install using Windows Update or download it from the Microsoft Web site.
- MobiOne Developer - an integrated mobile web development environment (IDE) for Windows that helps developers to encode, test, debug, package and deploy mobile web apps to devices like iPhone, BlackBerry, Android , and the Palm Pre. MobiOne Developers are officially declared End of Life by the end of 2014.
Tools included
- eggPlant: GUI-based automated test tool for mobile apps across all operating systems and devices.
- Ranorex: Automation test tool for mobile, web, and desktop apps.
- Testdroid: Automated mobile device and test automation tool for testing mobile and web apps.
Maps Mobile app development
Patent
Many patent applications are pending for new mobile apps. Most are in the areas of business method technology, database management, data transfer, and operator interfaces.
On May 31, 2011, Lodsys confirmed two of its four patents: US Pat. 7,620,565 ("the '565 patent") on "customer-based design modules" and US Pat. 7.222.078 ("the '078 patent") on "Methods and Systems for Gathering Information from Commodity Units across the Network." against the following app developers:
- Join
- Re-emerge
- Ilusi Labs
- Spades
- Quickoffice
- Richard Shinderman from Brooklyn, New York
- Wulven Game Studios of Hanoi, Vietnam
See also
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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