Guide to Native Mobile application development for iOS
This is a guide to developing Mobile Native applications in iOS for iPhone, iPod, iPad and Apple Watch.
XCode (IDE)
Objective-C
Swift
GUI Builder
iOS Device Simulator
Guide to Native Mobile application development for Android
This is a guide to using Android Studio for developing on Android.
Android Studio (IDE)
Java (Dalvik)
Differences from J2SE/J2EE
GUI Builder
Device Simulator
Side-Loading on your own Device for Testing
Deploying to Google Play store
Working with Apache Cordoba to make a cross-platform hybrid Mobile App
Write once, run anywhere
A pile of mobile devices including smart phones, tablets, laptops and eBook readers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Despite its best intentions, the motto of Java did not ring quite so true when it came to natively supporting the complex slew of Mobile devices such as Smart Phones, Tablets, E-Readers and Fitness Devices (wearables, smartwatches, etc) that began to emerge in the mid 2000’s through to today. Theoretically, yes, one could write a small basic Java project using only the most essential native Java library packages/APIs, which “should” then pretty much just run on any device upon which you were able to get root access and install a JVM (if one weren’t already installed), and then run your compiled code. On smaller less powerful devices like Mobile phones in the early days we could use various flavours of Java Micro Edition (or “JME”, then called “J2ME”, although rarely used it is still deployed in edge contexts, mostly just for IoT and embedded devices these days). The problem was we could not use the full suite of Java Swing or later JavaFX UI components, and had to learn a whole new set of UI programming techniques which was more similar to the “bad ol’ days” of Applets and raw GUI programming via the Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT). Inefficiently re-painting the complete GUI with each interaction programmatically, and commonly needing to get right down to X,Y,Z graphics programming, rather than deferring to UI libraries for rendering reusable components.
“Ok, I’m sold already” you say? Then jump to the Apache Cordova instructions! If not read on for the rest of the abbreviated/opinionated take on Mobile development history.
SmartWatch showdown – Pebble .vs. the rest
Picture of a wristwatch band, showing in detail the locking mechanism (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Pebble, a company and SmartWatch brand started by Eric Migicovsky in 2012, set the standard for SmartWatches and in many ways single-handedly ignited an entire SmartWatch industry, totally separated (yet later tightly integrated) to the Fitness Band & Activity Tracker craze which was separately growing. Each of these types of products fall within the broader Wearables market, and often get lumped in with a plethora of other devices which are all considered to be part of the “Internet of Things (IoT)”. The goal of a SmartWatch product (other than generating sales and profits for its company) in many cases, is thus to be capable of acting as a “control platform” for the IoT. There is much promise in being able to be more productive and manage one’s digital lifestyle, without being one of the so-called “SmartPhone zombies” who are constantly staring down at their smartphones rather than interacting with the people and world around them.
As a device, the SmartWatch promises to maintain the level of “constant connectivity” society, work and family/friends have come to expect of one another somehow in this crazy hyper-digital modern era, yet teases at the possibilities of a little relief in manageability and having information available but only taking out your phone to “dig in further” when absolutely necessary. In short, it makes it that much easier to ignore the constant buzzing, vibrating, bell chiming & ringing of SmartPhones as they receive Message Center Notifications, SMS texts, IMs, Chats, Emails, Calendar event updates, Video conferencing sessions (Facetimes/Hangouts/Skypes), and yes how quaint, even still occasionally Phone calls. At a glance you receive notifications pushed over to the watch from the phone via Bluetooth and can see at a quick glance without taking out your phone whether a given piece of distraction is truly worth your time or not at a given moment. Time is valuable, and watches not only help you be more timely but when they are smart they help you manage your entire life better as well. It also helps simplify keeping track of your physical activity (if you’re into that sort of thing) without needing a myriad of other wearable fitness gadgets. Let’s take a look at how the various options stack up, premising it with the following graphic which represents the “Hollywood-fueled” somewhat unrealistic dream of what a SmartWatch can do for you:
Raspberry PI – Alexa PI experiment
Turn your Raspberry PI into a fully functioning Alexa (either by literally calling Amazon’s Alexa APIs, or, calling a variety of services in specialized areas as a stand-in).
BC$ = Behavior, Content, Money
The goal of the BC$ project is to raise awareness and make changes with respect to the three pillars of information freedom - Behavior (pursuit of interests and passions), Content (sharing/exchanging ideas in various formats), Money (fairness and accessibility) - bringing to light the fact that:
1. We regularly hand over our browser histories, search histories and daily online activities to companies that want our money, or, to benefit from our use of their services with lucrative ad deals or sales of personal information.
2. We create and/or consume interesting content on their services, but we aren't adequately rewarded for our creative efforts or loyalty.
3. We pay money to be connected online (and possibly also over mobile), yet we lose both time and money by allowing companies to market to us with unsolicited advertisements, irrelevant product offers and unfairly structured service pricing plans.