Making Mobile Apps With HTML5 Builder

I have written several mobile apps with HTML5 Builder and describe how to do this in my book, but today I just wanted to share some general information for those contemplating a mobile project.

I recommend against installing all the mobile toolkits.  Sure you can do it, and it’s cheaper to do so yourself, but you will need a Mac for iOS apps, a Windows VM or PC to do the HTML5 Builder work, and a lot of time to keep everything co-ordinated.

I found every time I wanted to do another build, something was updated and incompatible.  You need to keep up with the latest PhoneGap modules, the latest iOS toolkits (you can’t distribute 32-bit only iOS apps anymore like HTML5 Builder builds natively), the latest Android toolkits, etc.  And then there is the latest PlugIns.  It’s a nightmare.

Luckily Adobe offers a service to do almost all the work for you: http://build.phonegap.org   I do not receive any money from them, but I have been a paying customer for ages.  They charge $9.99 US per month, and for that sum they keep everything updated.  They also add Hydration to automatically update your test clients, and debugging features.  I think $10 per month is fair money for my sanity.

If you want to add a plugin, you just add a line of XML.  Wonderful.  This service lets you get back to coding and testing, not configuring.

So to those who slave over staying current, my hat is off to you, but I’ll take the fast lane.

Erick