Expertise

Native apps

A so called "native app" is an app which is specially written for a certain Operating System:

• For Android, Java or Scala is used with the Android SDK and Eclipse
• For iPhone and iPad, the language Objective C is used with Xcode

Advantages of native apps are:

• Good Integration with the rest of the system and other apps.
• Good Performance
• Easy access to Sensors
• Good availability of well tested component libraries

A separate app must be developed for each Operating System.

HTML5 apps

HTML5 is the language of the web. Especially administrative apps are well suited to development in HTML5 using toolkits such as Sencha Touch.
Advantages are:

• Only one app needs to be developed which can then be used on all or many platforms (with some tweaks)

Currently, HTML5 development is relatively complex which somewhat overshadows the advantages.

App Store and Google Play

Every manufacturer has its own ecosystem and ways of offering apps to users.

• Apple has the well known App Store and uses a review process before allowing an app in the store.
• For Android there is Google Play (formerly known as the Android Market) and several independent markets such as those by Amazon and Opera.

To prepare an app for release, the correct digital signatures must be created and applied and accounts must be created at the relevant stores. We can help you with this process or do it for you if you so prefer.

Backoffice/cloud

We can help you design an architecture for an app that connects to a server or website to store user data.

Often the user should be able to edit data both on the website and inside the app. The system must then integrate data from both sources.

Technologies which are typically used are JSON-RPC and REST; and both Google and Apple have technologies for pushing messages to users when the app is not running. There are also third party services that make implementing push notifications easier when supporting multiple platforms, for example Urban Airship.

Near Field Communication

Near Field Communication or NFC is usually mentioned in one breath with mobile payments.

There are many other use cases for NFC as well:

• Data can be transferred from phone to phone by swiping phones together.
• Data can be written to and read from "NFC tags" which can be located anywhere.

One of NFC's major problems at this time is content standardization.

We can help you implement NFC functionality and construct the message format for NFC tags so that they are as broadly supported as possible.

NFC is especially well supported on Android, many other manufacturers have announced new devices with NFC functionality. Apple has not made any announcements, but rumours about NFC in the iPhone 5 are growing.

Measurement devices

Some apps use devices outside the phone or tablet. Measuring devices can be connected through Bluetooth, USB or WIFI.

After performing a measurement calculations can be performed on the data, either in the app or on a server. The app should then stay responsive while the calculations are performed or data is transmitted.

Operating System aanpassingen

Especially on Android (depending on the device) it is possible to customize the operating system to fully adapt the system to your app.

Some things that can be done are:

• Changing the splash screen
• Changing the Launcher application and stripping it.
• Adding drivers for devices such as touch screens, cameras etc.

Android Bug Sweeper

Do you have an existing Android app which often crashes or misbehaves?

We have much experience with the peculiarities of the Android operating system and the effects this has on apps. We can probably help you find the causes of any misbehaviour relatively quickly and can help you fix the problem if you would like to.

Android en iOS development cursus

We offer a course in Android or iOS development.

Things that are part of this course:

• How to setup the development environment.
• What are the basic concepts?
• How to build a basic app (hands-on).
• How to integrate with the rest of the Operating System, the web, etc.

Advanced topics on request: NFC, cloud integration etc.