reposition & orientation

Corona Classifieds Corona Jobs
#1

i have been developing small business websites in html/css for 10 years and some clients are now starting to ask for apps.

is Corona the best way for me to start offering my services as an app developer?

will i be able to learn quickly how to put an app together, using the same skills i already have?

is it best to make an app, or to make several mobile versions of a website or to make one single responsive website to fit all screens?

i need an experienced developer to work with me on a project coming up in the near future

in the meantime i appreciate your time and expert orientation.

#2

Hi

You could develop business apps with Corona but you’d have to learn Lua first, although that’s fairly easy if you already know Javascript. You only mention HTML/CSS but I presume that as a web developer you know Javascript as well? If so you may be better using your web development skills first in which case there are a number of choices available to you for creating web apps. You’ll have to decide whether a specific web app is what your client needs or a mobile web site. You will read all sorts of stuff about Native vs HTML5 for apps, mainly around performance issues, and its not a clear cut scenario by any means. It really depends on what you need to achieve so do some research, not just on the technologies but also the business case.

I would take a look at some of the HTML5 frameworks geared at developing web apps. One that I particularly like and use is Chocolate Chip UI (www.chocolatechip-ui.com) which does a good job of emulating both the iOS and Android Jelly Bean UI components and is free.

So how might Corona fit into this scenario? Well you can develop your web app using tools you know then create a Corona app containing just a web view which displays your HTML/CSS/Javascript code. Depending on the code you use it should also be cross-platform - Corona handles the native device wrapper code and the device web browser does the rest. Of course they’ll be minor differences between mobile Safari and the Android web browser but it does work. Testing your web app with desktop Safari and Chrome should reveal any real differences.

There are other platforms which can do the same native wrapper around a web view functionality (like PhoneGap for example), and some will also allow you to build in the cloud as Corona does (again PhoneGap Build for one), but now that Corona Starter is free it’s a good place to start. If you want to get clever later on you can start combining your web views with the native Corona graphics canvas. Communicating between a web view and the Corona API is a bit clunky at the moment but it can be done.

Let me know if that’s useful and if I can be of any help in the future.

Stefan

#3

Thanks Stefan, no i don´t code Java, thats always been outsourced,

so learning Lua is gonna be tricky (for me at least!)

but thanks for expaining how Corona fits into the scenario

do developers need to use Corona or PhoneGap or can they simply custom code an app?

when you say web app you refer to an app for use on a computer screen

as opposed to a mobile app for smaller devices?

#4

Hi David

A web app, in this context, is more than just a mobile website but one that can be installed as an icon on the iOS desktop. Once there it can be launched like any native app, and use the full screen unlike a website viewed in mobile Safari. This is achieved via meta tags and you can include a Javascript file that automatically displays a popup to tell the users how to do this (see http://cubiq.org/add-to-home-screen). You can also selectively cache the web content so the device doesn’t have to be online for the app to work.

One of the best examples of this is the Financial Times web app ( apps.ft.com/ft webapp /)

Here’s a book that give comprehensive details on how to create web apps …

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596805780?ie=UTF8&tag=ucmbread-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0596805780

Remember that when Apple first released the iPhone, and before they released the native SDK, they expected all apps to be created this way so it is well supported (http://developer.apple.com/library/safari/#referencelibrary/GettingStarted/GS_iPhoneWebApp/_index.html%23//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40008134).

You probably need to do a lot of reading and research before tackling this further!

Stefan 

#5

Hi

You could develop business apps with Corona but you’d have to learn Lua first, although that’s fairly easy if you already know Javascript. You only mention HTML/CSS but I presume that as a web developer you know Javascript as well? If so you may be better using your web development skills first in which case there are a number of choices available to you for creating web apps. You’ll have to decide whether a specific web app is what your client needs or a mobile web site. You will read all sorts of stuff about Native vs HTML5 for apps, mainly around performance issues, and its not a clear cut scenario by any means. It really depends on what you need to achieve so do some research, not just on the technologies but also the business case.

I would take a look at some of the HTML5 frameworks geared at developing web apps. One that I particularly like and use is Chocolate Chip UI (www.chocolatechip-ui.com) which does a good job of emulating both the iOS and Android Jelly Bean UI components and is free.

So how might Corona fit into this scenario? Well you can develop your web app using tools you know then create a Corona app containing just a web view which displays your HTML/CSS/Javascript code. Depending on the code you use it should also be cross-platform - Corona handles the native device wrapper code and the device web browser does the rest. Of course they’ll be minor differences between mobile Safari and the Android web browser but it does work. Testing your web app with desktop Safari and Chrome should reveal any real differences.

There are other platforms which can do the same native wrapper around a web view functionality (like PhoneGap for example), and some will also allow you to build in the cloud as Corona does (again PhoneGap Build for one), but now that Corona Starter is free it’s a good place to start. If you want to get clever later on you can start combining your web views with the native Corona graphics canvas. Communicating between a web view and the Corona API is a bit clunky at the moment but it can be done.

Let me know if that’s useful and if I can be of any help in the future.

Stefan

#6

Thanks Stefan, no i don´t code Java, thats always been outsourced,

so learning Lua is gonna be tricky (for me at least!)

but thanks for expaining how Corona fits into the scenario

do developers need to use Corona or PhoneGap or can they simply custom code an app?

when you say web app you refer to an app for use on a computer screen

as opposed to a mobile app for smaller devices?

#7

Hi David

A web app, in this context, is more than just a mobile website but one that can be installed as an icon on the iOS desktop. Once there it can be launched like any native app, and use the full screen unlike a website viewed in mobile Safari. This is achieved via meta tags and you can include a Javascript file that automatically displays a popup to tell the users how to do this (see http://cubiq.org/add-to-home-screen). You can also selectively cache the web content so the device doesn’t have to be online for the app to work.

One of the best examples of this is the Financial Times web app ( apps.ft.com/ft webapp /)

Here’s a book that give comprehensive details on how to create web apps …

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596805780?ie=UTF8&tag=ucmbread-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0596805780

Remember that when Apple first released the iPhone, and before they released the native SDK, they expected all apps to be created this way so it is well supported (http://developer.apple.com/library/safari/#referencelibrary/GettingStarted/GS_iPhoneWebApp/_index.html%23//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40008134).

You probably need to do a lot of reading and research before tackling this further!

Stefan