Max Katz

In three previous blog posts I told you about Appery.io Server Code, Push Notifications and API Express. Appery.io App Builder is another core component in the platform. The App Builder is where you build your app (the client side). The App Builder is where you design and build the app pages, drag and drop UI components, define navigation between pages and any other UI logic.

When you create a new app in the App Builder, you can create an app with one of the following UI frameworks:

• Ionic
• Bootstrap
• jQuery Mobile

Every new app that you create (regardless of the UI framework) comes with Apache Cordova (PhoneGap) installed. Cordova enables you to access native devices APIs via JavaScript. The following Cordova plug-ins are available out-of-the-box:

• Cordova Media Plugin
• Cordova Device Plugin
• Cordova Contacts Plugin
• Plugin for Google Analytics
• Cordova Network Information Plugin
• Cordova File Plugin
• Cordova Device Orientation Plugin
• Cordova Console Plugin
• Cordova File Transfer Plugin
• Cordova Globalization Plugin
• Barcode Scanner Plugin
• Cordova Splashscreen Plugin
• Cordova Camera Plugin
• Cordova Vibration Plugin
• Cordova Battery Plugin
• Push Notifications Plugin
• Cordova Media Capture Plugin
• Cordova Device Motion Plugin
• Cordova InAppBrowser Plugin
• Cordova Notification Plugin
• Cordova Geolocation Plugin

3rd party and custom Cordova plugins can be added as well.

The app is designed using the visual drag and drop editor. At the same time, you can write any custom code to customize the app as much as you need. As you are building a hybrid mobile app, you can write custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You can also import any custom JavaScript libraries.

In addition to creating a hybrid app, you can also build a mobile web app that runs directly in the browser. When you are done building your app, you can get:

• Android app (Cordova)
• iOS app (Cordova)
• HTML5 mobile app

Right inside the App Builder you can launch the build service which will package the app for either Android or iOS. If you are creating an HTML5 mobile app, you can host the app with the Appery.io platform or export the web resources (HTML/JS/CSS) and host it on a server of your choice.

Every mobile app has to talk to some backend or server. Your app can easily use Appery.io Push Notifications, Server Code, API Express or the Database for its backend. Your app can also easily connect to any 3rd party API.

To test the app, you can launch it directly in the browser. This is the case where you can test everything but the native functionality. To test any native functionality, you can test the app inside the Appery.io Tester app for Android or iOS. This app allows you to test your hybrid app without installing it on the device.

A Weinre debugger is also available to debug the app when installed on the device. When running and test the app directly in the browser, you can use the powerful Chrome Developer Tools for debugging.

We have a number of short videos on building an app on our YouTube channel here.

Happy coding.