Category: Mobile web

Progressive Web Apps and the enterprise

I’ve recently been watching talks from Google’s PWA Summit while watching the various videos I could really see how Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) can really help in an enterprise arena.

For example a few months ago I was working on contract at the UK Houses of Parliament, for a team that built apps using web technology. We started building mobile apps using jQuery mobile, Bootstrap and eventually Ionic all great technologies (though Ionic is my personal favourite). While we could easily develop these apps it was the building and releasing the apps where we encountered problems.

The main cause of the problems was IT security. As you would expect security there was very tight, this also included IT security. So having access to tools like NPM or GitHub was restricted, both tools that modern web developers take for granted. We even had to download the Ionic framework ZIP folder in order to create a Ionic site/app.

So in order to release an app we uploaded the ‘site’ to an external host (a mission in itself). Then when a user went to the site they were told that they could add a link to the this mobile site on their phones home screen. Using the fantastic AddToHome JavaScript library. Then when the user clicked on the newly created icon the mobile site opened in a full screen browser.

For offline support we used appCache and if we wanted to record offline data we used localStorage, though it does have limited amount of space.

Now after reading about Progressive Web Apps, I can see where they would be extremely useful in situations where teams don’t have access to the modern build tools or app framework tools that are now common place in the web.

For the apps we built at the House’s of Parliament, Progressive Web Apps would be so useful. Using service works for offline support, IndexDB for data storage, push notification and the install on home screen features that are part of PWA are all features that we used at Parliament. And being able to release apps without having to build them or release through the apps stores, both of which access to them could be blocked due to the security settings.

When I told the team at Parliament about PWAs they were really excited. I for one look forward to seeing what they make with them.

I really think that Progressive Web Apps are a fantastic technology and I really look forward to working with them.

Free Work, does it pay

Recently I was contacted about a small project, which is fine. It’s nice when someone reaches out to you about a project. The project is a small mobile app (using Ionic) with probably a tight deadline. This is all I know so far, but from the tone of the message I received it does sound like it would be a ‘do this for nothing so we can see if we will send more work your way’ type of thing.

These type of projects do seem to come up more and more for mobile apps, just ask Jason Keen he’s a AppCelerator developer who I follow on Twitter, who has discussed this issue many times.

Now I like the sound of this app, it would be another example to add to a portfolio, something it the app store. I also have time while looking for a new full time contract to do the app, but is free work ever a good thing? (This ending a sentance with a ? reminds me of when my wife watched Sex in the City, terrible program)

So what to do when something like this comes up. It’s a bit of a gamble, especially if you are starting out. You like to have some work coming in and if a new project could lead to more regular work (though there is no guarantee of this).

Well there are still plenty of more questions than answers so it’s worth seeing where this goes.

What do others think? Is free work ever worth it? (Dam!! I have to stop finishing sentances with question marks)

My thoughts on the mobile web 

Currently the mobile web is growing and growing, every week there is a new ways of using web technologies to create mobile apps.My weapon of choice is Ionic, mainly because the Ionic team have created a framework that allows a web developer to create apps that work well and look fantastic. 
It really shows the power of the web, it’s everywhere, you can build anything with just HTML, CSS and JavaScript. For a company who want their product to reach as many platforms as possible, the mobile web is the ideal solution. A single web developer can built apps for mobile, tablet, desktop and now TV.

The web has always been an exciting place to be, but now with the options for the mobile web, being a web developer is a great place to be.

Unfortunately with more and more technologies coming out, different approaches to using web technology to develop cross platform apps. This ‘my technology is better than yours’ arguments start. Usually these are fuelled by the companies who’s technology it is. I mean they have to sell their product. But what is better, native, hybrid, or these ones that use web technologies to compile down to native. They are all great, but for me as a web developer I want to be able to create great apps for as many platforms as I can. For the people who use these apps, they don’t care what technology the apps was developed in. All they care is it works as they wanted to, it’s fast and looks good. For me as a web developer I want to use something that I can use my current skills for and Ionic is my platform of choice for these reasons.

So web developers enjoy this current growth we have in the mobile web it’s a very exciting time.