An Introduction to the PhoneGap
Published On - October 22, 2013
When it comes to developing cross platform compatible apps, there is one app which is recommended even by the seasoned mobile application developers – PhoneGap. We have nearly 7 mobile operating systems which fuels every mobile phone of our times. But none of the mobile operating platforms has a common native development tool of its own.
This has been one of the scenarios which have led to the cross platform mobile framework. The PhoneGap is the ideal integration of web technologies and native development. It is the perfect cross platform approach which is combined with the web. PhoneGap is a tool which makes combining possible with different architecture and different platforms. The app which is born out of the PhoneGap is able to use the features like GPS, Accelerometer, Camera, media access and Contacts as well as the data storage feature which are commonly present in a general smartphone.
The PhoneGap in a nutshell
The PhoneGap is essentially a platform which focuses on building mobile apps. The platform is powered by existing web technologies such as HTML 5, CSS 3 as well as the JAVA script. The original proprietor for the platform was Nitobi but several multinational Companies such as IBM and Microsoft contributed to its creation. Later it was acquired by Adobe and was given to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). PhoneGap was renamed as Apache ‘Call Back’ at that point of time. It can be available today absolutely free of cost under the Apache license 2.0.
PhoneGap is suitable for creating a wide range of mobile platforms including the Android Platform, a variety of iOS versions, Blackberry, Symbian as well as the Palm OS.
9 Advantages of the PhoneGap
When it comes to PhoneGap there is a host of advantages a mobile app developer including both the iPhone and the Android application developers can avail too. The following line of the blog post would be discussing the benefits of the PhoneGap Platform.
- First and foremost, the PhoneGap application uses web technology which helps the web developer to create mobile applications using the modern tools of web development including HTML5, JAVA script as well as CSS 3. These tools help in the development of UI/ UX (User Interface and User Experience).
- PhoneGap is used for creation Hybrid applications with the help of native functionalities and rich UI and that too by using web functionalities.
- It helps to support cross platform application development.
- It involves an extensive re-usability of codes.
- Functionalities which are prevalent in the smartphones like GPS, Accelerometer, Camera, media access, and Geo Location, Notification as well as the storage functions are supported by the apps which are made by PhoneGap.
- The PhoneGap community is emphasising in the Plug-in functions as we speak.
- The platform provides various Deployment frameworks for multiple platforms.
- PhoneGap is also able to interact in Cloud based build creation facility for a variety of Platforms including that of Android and iOS.
- Mobile application developers can work with tools which are contributed by the PhoneGap community. In case of any queries, the mobile developers can take help from these PhoneGap forums or the communities.
Creating apps with PhoneGap
For the creation of a variety of apps through PhoneGap, the SDK needs to be installed for the specific mobile platform for which the apps are going to be created. These software development kits are used professionally by the mobile application developer for compiling the app for a specific platform such as the Android or Apple.
Android App Creation: If any of the developers is willing to create an Android based app, he has to have the Android SDK (Software Development Kit) and Android NDK (Native Development Kit) to be installed in the system. The Android development process requires some additional installations. Applications like Eclipse IDE along with its ADT plug-ins have to be installed. The other applications which are required for the development process include Apache Ant and Ruby. For running in the Windows system, one requires the Git Bash software to be installed.
IOS App Creation: In case of iPhone app creation one needs a totally different kind of hardware for it. For the hardware requirements of the iPhone App creation in PhoneGap, Intel powered Apple computer fitted with a graphics card would suffice. For the software part, iPhone app developers have to be equipped with the iPhone SDK along with XCode application running on the MAC OSX Snow Leopard operating system and above. These requirements are crucial for the development of the app for iPhone.
The developers have to download and install the application of PhoneGap. It has to be placed in a way that one can see in a separate folder for each of the platforms that the framework would support.
The PhoneGap has a default in-built application which can show the power of the SDK which will help in the creation of a huge range of apps. These apps do not have to stick to only the default OS whether it is Android or the iOS. The PhoneGap platform has the ability to share a single codebase into different platforms. The apps can be designed with the help of HTML 5, JAVA script and the CSS tools.
Whether you want an app created for games, business, entertainment, social media or any reasons, PhoneGap will help you with the development of multiple apps. PhoneGap is the answer to the creation of affordable apps across varying platforms.
Did you get the opportunity to use PhoneGap lately? If you have then please leave your opinion in the comment section given below this post.
