First Attempt to Hybrid Mobile Apps with Apache Cordova

First Attempt to Hybrid Mobile Apps with Apache Cordova

I have been always working with native Android application development using Java and Android SDK. With the usage of Android Studio its been simple straight android development with full usage of Android SDK and quality filled android applications. From a couple of years, I have been listening about Hybrid mobile apps and development using Javascript. Here the concept is simple, write the code in HTML, CSS, JS and then compile the code to any platform like Android, iOS, UWP(Unified windows platform) or so on. 

• Android
• iOS
• Windows platform
• OS X (for mac systems)
• Blackberry [deprecated]
• web OS [deprecated]
• Symbian [deprecated] 
• Windows phone [deprecated]

I would not go rather deep into its introduction, but I will refer to the Wikipedia link : Wikipedia Apache Cordova

I have built my first application using Microsoft guide to Develop first app:Guide to Develop Sample app

Environment I used is as follows:

• Windows 10
• Visual Studio 2017 with Apache Cordova as shown in the link

Most of the guide works perfectly well. I will go ahead list some common issues:

• Unable to 'set as Startup project' - This happens usually when the visual studio 2017 pops up a banner saying an extension has caused the visual studio to lag a bit and then asks for disabling an extension. If you click the option you probably have to enable it back. If not it will not let you debug the application or deploy it onto a simulator. 
• Virtual device not available - This happens when you do not download the complete installation of virtual devices like android sdk, windows sdk, Google chrome. You will have to just look into the console and click on download the missing extensions. 

GUIDE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN NATIVE AND HYBRID APP DEVELOPMENT

Once you analyze the information above, you’re likely to reach a number of needs for your project which may include;

• Your choice is a native mobile application if you want:
• The application needs to be able to work offline as well as online
• You want the most responsive application possible
• You need to accept some degree of low responsiveness
• The application needs free access to services and resources on the device
• You would like wide functionality with your application

Your choice is a hybrid mobile application if:

• You need to download content constantly which requires a connection
• The app doesn’t require calculations or complex animation
• The app should also make use of whatever hardware the device offers
• You’ll need to test ideas within the market as soon as possible
• You already have a website and want to build an app for the lowest price in a short time

Please let me know which one you would like to prefer when having your apps compatible across all platforms

Thank You!!

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