02.02.10
Cross Platform Hybrid Communication
For those who wish to develop their own hybrid library or framework here is a table that may be of help. It also explains how QuickConnect communicates back and forth with the native device code on multiple platforms.
Key:
- URL data transfer – Information must be passed as if the view was being updated with a new page to display or, in the Case of Android, and HTML “JavaScript:” URL is used.
- Direct Call – JavaScript objects are available from the underlying language or underlying objects are available from within JavaScript depending on the direction of the call.
- Built In – The native development environment is HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
| Device | To Native | From Native |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone/touch/iPad | URL data transfer | Direct Call |
| Android | Direct Call | URL data transfer |
| Blackberry | Direct Call | Direct Call |
| Palm WebOS | Built In | Built In |
| Nokia/Symbian with QT | Direct Call | Direct Call |
02.01.10
Milestone Passed!
Today QuickConnect passed the 12,000 downloads mark. Thank you!
It looks like the rate for the last few days is between 50 and 100 downloads per day.
The development blog will pass 90,000 hits today.
Thanks again for your support.
Lee
QuickConnect Always Open
Apparently the PhoneGap team, a competitor to QuickConnect, has run into a storm. Initially they stated that any contributors of code are required to sign a legally binding document essentially turning over rights to the code being submitted. Contributors and potential contributors were understandably upset and asking for clarifications.
Nitobe has now changed their statement and are now saying that they are only proposing this requirement due to talks with their lawer. It looks like contributors are still having a strong, negative reactions.
I can’t help but put this action together with the rumors I’m hearing from multiple independent sources that the Nitobe company, owner of PhoneGap, is actively or passively (depending on the source) seeking someone to buy PhoneGap. I guess, and it is only a guess, that they aren’t making the money they had hoped.
QuickConnect comes from a very different direction.
I’ve been doing the preliminaries to create a non-profit organization for QuickConnect so as to avoid these kinds of problems. This non-profit would run the conferences, manage user groups, and all of those other types of things that you are used to when you think of an open source project.
I’ve never planned on making money on QC. I’ve worked on QC since March 2008 for enjoyment and to help you. Helping you and talking with you is what makes this fun and is my payback.
I love it when you send me questions via the QC Google group or when I’ve been able to talk with you via twitter, email or phone.
I also love getting your feedback and working toward what you need.
Thank you.
Update: I just got off the Nitobe phone call with their users. They say that they are doing this at the request of Symbian and that Symbian is interested in putting it on their phones as a development environment. That is all Symbian needs. One more development environment. They already have FOUR. Do they really need another? How does a developer know which Symbian environment to pick? I feel for anyone developing for that platform.
01.28.10
Apple iPad Simulator
I just ran the QuickConnectiPhone framework in the iPad simulator. It works without changes. All I had to do is add the iPad build target and run it.
Slick.
I won’t add it officially to the framework template until the 3.2 SDK release ships so it won’t mess you up. You can add it to your app if you want.
01.26.10
QuickConnectFamily 1.6 beta 11 Now Available!
We are getting closer to build once and launch all all platforms! The Android template is much more functional now and prepares the way.
This beta 11 of QCFamily 1.6 has some important features
- Enterprise Sync supports synchronization with all remote databases.
- Stabilization of the iPhone enterprise synchronization for native and in-browser databases
- Enterprise synchronization is now available for Android devices. Unfortunately Google is not supporting in-browser HTML 5 databases at this time. This means that if you want to use this feature you will need to use a native database (include a .sqlite file)
- Google doesn’t support the XMLHttpRequest object in their WebView class. Therefore I have written a simple replacement. It is not fully featured but works in support of the Enterprise data sync ability.
- The QC Android template now includes the ability to build and run on a connected Android device in addition to the build for release and build for simulator functionality it already had.
Target features for the next beta:
- iPhone in-app purchase
- Enterprise data sync for Palm WebOS
- First Blackberry template
- Enterprise data sync for Blackberry
- One click build and run on all platforms
01.23.10
Bad History Repeating Itself?
I just finished reading an article in SD Times (Software Developer Times) about Microsoft and touch technology.
In this article a man by the name of Patrick Hynds, the president of CriticalSites and a Microsoft regional director, is quoted as saying that businesses won’t be using touch very much and that there will only be a few business apps that use touch.
Chris Menegay, also a Microsoft regional director, goes so far as to say that most work is text input and that nobody wants to repeatedly go from touching their screen to the keyboard and back.
Both of these individuals appear to be short sighted. They are equating business applications with filling out forms. Currently nearly all business apps are forms because forms require no thought from the engineer and developer to create. In fact, Oracle will generate the forms for you and you don’t even need developers or engineers.
The problem is that forms are highly inefficient from a training and usability perspective. When was the last time you thought, “Oh wow. This form I’m filling out is really easy to understand. Nobody even needs to tell me how to use it. I love this.” I’m going to guess that you never have.
The attitude of these gentlemen reminds me of the bad old days when leaders in similar positions to theirs were saying that operating systems and applications didn’t need to have windows since real business apps were all written for DOS. The people back then were saying that windowing systems were only needed for games.
Sound familiar? Those people back then were way off the mark and so are Hynds and Menegay.
I’ve recently been working with a company to help them move from forms based input to touch. It makes the user interaction much easier and more enjoyable but does require that the engineers and developers think differently than in the past. We have been trained for many, many years that forms are the way to go for business apps and it takes some thought to get over that fallacy.
Making an app touch friendly doesn’t just mean adding touch events to a form. It means rethinking how your user interacts with the data. Notice that I said the data, not the application. A form is only one of the many ways to interact with simple or complex data. We, as engineers and programmers, just need to think more broadly.
If we allow the user to interact with the data using touch a new revolution in worker productivity will be produced. If all we do is present forms with touch inputs, as these two gentlemen seem to think, productivity will be stuck where it is.
Embrace touch. Rethink user-data interaction. Don’t miss this great opportunity.
01.13.10
QCDC Conference Announcement
I am pleased to announce the first annual QuickConnect Developers
Conference and look forward to meeting you. The conference will be held August 5th and 6th and looks to be an exciting and interesting event.
You will meet and interact with experts in mobile development of web
and hybrid applications.
Hands-on tutorial sessions will be provided both for those new to and
experienced with the QuickConnect cross platform JavaScript
application framework.
Topics include but are not limited too:
- migrating existing mobile web apps to installable apps quickly and easily on all major mobile platforms
- How to use one click to build your application for the iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and WebOS platforms
- interacting with HTML 5 components to build your app
- reducing time to market using the QuickConnect framework
- interacting with the device for functionality such as accessing contacts, embedding google maps, using Apple push, etc. all from within JavaScript
- using QuickConnect enterprise data synchronization for both installed and web applications
Attendees will also have a say in the new feature roadmap of the framework.
Cost
The cost will be $150 for one day or $200 for both. This includes presentations, hands-on tutorials, and labs.
Location
The conference is being held in Rexburg, Idaho the home of BYU-Idaho.
Attendees
If you are interested in attending please send an email indicating
this to quickconnectfamily@gmail.com. I would hate to run out of
space for you. This is not a firm commitment to come, just a
statement of interest in coming. A conference registration system
with further information regarding the conference will be setup soon.
Additional Activities
For off time activities you will find that Yellowstone and Teton National parks are within day-trip range as well as several parks such as Craters of the Moon National Monument and Harriman State Park. There are many outdoors activities available locally. Everything from world renowned fishing to horseback riding, hiking, etc. Jackson Hole is about an hour and a half away by car with all of it’s tourist activities as well.
Access to Rexburg is easy since there is a good sized airport within 30 minutes of the location that is only one connection away from the Denver or Salt Lake hubs depending on your choice of airline.
This is a wonderful outdoors activity area in August. The temperature is usually in the upper 80’s during the days of the conference.
Potential Speakers
If you would be interested in speaking please send an email with your
speakers resume, a proposed topic, a description of what the attendee would be able to do after your presentation, and an outline of your presentation to quickconnectfamily@gmail.com.
Lee S. Barney – The QuickConnectFamily framework creator and moderator.
12.30.09
Apple Push now Available
The QuickConnectFamily framework now includes support for Apple push functionality. In addition to retrieving any update information for you and sending it to your JavaScript when your app starts if a push is received when your app is running your JavaScript is passed the notification.
Hopefully you can use it.
iPhone Enterprise Data Synchronization
The QuickConnectFamily framework now has Enterprise Data Synchronization built in. It is included in the 1.6 beta 9 and later versions. In beta 9 the only tested version is for the iPhone but in beta 10 there will be tested versions for the iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Palm Web OS devices.
You can find a ‘how to’ on the wiki.
An example app, synchronization, is also include in the 1.6 beta 9 and later downloads. It uses http. You should use https in your implementation
It was fun to create this ability. I hope you can use it.
Lee
11.28.09
Cross Platform Mobile Development Documentation
Available on the wiki you will find documentation on how to start using the latest 1.6 beta to develop for iPhone, Android, and Palm with the same HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code. I hope this helps you creating the apps that you want.
I’m still working on getting Blackberry development to work the same way as the others but I’m close to having something that works.
I’m also uploading 1.6 beta6. It makes some small fixes related to the Images directory in the project. If you are using beta5 you should upgrade.
