Building Mobile Building Mobile Apps Apps for Business for Business Dan Hermes Mobile Consultant Lexicon Systems Website: www.lexiconsystemsinc.com Email: [email protected] Phone: 781-526-0738 Twitter: @lexiconsystems Blog: www.itshopkeeping.com
May 06, 2015
Building Mobile Apps Building Mobile Apps for Businessfor BusinessDan HermesMobile Consultant
Lexicon Systems
Website: www.lexiconsystemsinc.comEmail: [email protected]: 781-526-0738Twitter: @lexiconsystemsBlog: www.itshopkeeping.com
Takeaways Takeaways Responsive Design is fast and
cheap◦Good for websites ◦OK for some lightweight apps
Most serious mobile apps are native
Cross-platform is often necessaryChoose your toolset carefully
SponsorSponsor
Why mobile? Why mobile? Americans used smartphone and tablet apps more than PCs to access the Internet.
Source: CNN, January 2014 / corroborated by Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo(Google isn’t telling.)
80-90% of U.S. adults now own a mobile phone. 50-60% of those are smartphones. Sources: various (Pew)
¼ to ½ of online searches take place on a mobile device Sources: various
And what about tablets?And what about tablets?When we were an agrarian nation, all cars weretrucks. But as people moved more towards
urbancenters, people started to get into cars. I thinkPCs are going to be like trucks. Fewer people
willneed them. And this transformation is going tomake some people uneasy... because the PC
hastaken us a long way.
Steve Jobs, 2010
Post-PC Era: 2015Mobile Phones > first world
population◦1.9B devices
Tablets > PC sales◦320M tablets vs. 316M PCs worldwide
Android devices > 3x Windows◦1.3B Android devices vs. 373M Windows
Ultramobile > 20% of PC sales◦MacBook Air, Surface Pro, etc.◦62M in 2015
Source: Gartner 2015 Device Shipment Projections (June 2014)
The UpshotThe UpshotData Consumers (Conclusive)
◦Mobile phones and tablets
Data Producers (Jury is still out)◦PCs and Ultrabooks◦Some tablets and phones◦The future of business machines
Android vs. Windows
◦Many unknowns here
What Do Data Consumers What Do Data Consumers Need?Need?
Responsive DesignResponsive Design
Images courtesy of Beacon Technologies and Arcplan
Responsive Design #FAILResponsive Design #FAIL
Image courtesy of moxy ox
Responsive Design #WINResponsive Design #WIN
Image courtesy of moxy ox
Responsive Design #WINResponsive Design #WIN
Responsive Design #WINResponsive Design #WIN
The Responsive The Responsive ExperienceExperience
Image courtesy of responsivedesign.ca
Responsive Design isResponsive Design isrecommended whenrecommended when
the app is SIMPLE and user expectation is LOW
What is a website?
a simple app
Mobile Web Toolset Mobile Web Toolset OptionsOptionsHTML5, CSS, JavaScript
and
C#/ASP.NETJavaPHP
Limitations of Responsive Limitations of Responsive Web AppsWeb AppsReduced FunctionalityUnfamiliar InterfacePoor PerformanceDecreased User Experience
THE REAL RISK?
Responsive Web App Responsive Web App #FAIL#FAIL
Older Facebook app written in HTML5
Solution#1Solution#1
1. Escape Hatch / Full Screen Button
◦ Goes to full-screen web app◦ May or may not be useable◦ Doesn’t address experience
or performance
Solution#2: Native Mobile Solution#2: Native Mobile AppAppGo Where the People Are
◦App Store StatsBetter PerformanceOptimal User Experience
PCR EssentialsPCR Essentials
On iTunes and Play StoreAndroid version by our teamWritten in Xamarin
DineBostonDineBoston
DineBostonDineBostonVIDEO
Mobile App TypesMobile App TypesMobile Web /Responsive
◦Browser-basedNative
◦iOS, Android, OR WindowsHybrid
◦Web app wrapped in a native appCross-platform
◦iOS, Android, AND Windows
Mobile App Mobile App Tools/ResourcesTools/ResourcesMobile Web/Responsive
◦HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript, (C#, Java, PHP, etc.)
Native◦Objective-C, Java, or C#
Hybrid◦PhoneGap, Titanium
Cross-platform◦Xamarin (C#)
Smartphone OS Market Smartphone OS Market ShareShare(Q1 2014)(Q1 2014)Android – 81%iOS – 15%Windows Phone – 3%
What does this mean?
Source: International Data Corporation (IDC)
Single platform apps are risky
Hybrid AppsHybrid AppsWeb app wrapped in a native app
◦PhoneGap◦Appcelerator Titanium
Yes, it’s in the app storesNo, it’s not really a native app
Cross-platform AppsCross-platform Apps◦Shared Code
Code reuse
◦One technology stack Instead of several
◦Native app quality◦Native app performance◦Native phone functionality (location,
camera, etc.)
Cross-platform Cross-platform DevelopmentDevelopment
Cross-platform AppsCross-platform AppsHigh-performanceGreat user experienceFully native executableReusable codeJust one dev team
Gartner Strongly Gartner Strongly Recommends XamarinRecommends Xamarin
“Xamarin's architectural approach provides completely native UIs with better performance than other cross-
platform techniques... Xamarin uses multifaceted technology built by a cohesive team with a solid long-
term track record.”-Gartner, August 2013
Recognized as Mobile “Visionary” in 2013 Magic Quadrant for MADP
Xamarin Customers Xamarin Customers Include…Include…
Xamarin pre-3.0Xamarin pre-3.0
Layouts XAMLUIKit
Xamarin 3.0 with Xamarin 3.0 with Xamarin.FormsXamarin.Forms
Takeaways Takeaways Responsive Design is fast and cheap
◦Good for websites ◦OK for some lightweight apps
Most serious mobile apps are nativeCross-platform is often necessaryChoose your toolset carefullyNeed high-performance cross-
platform business apps?
Building Mobile Apps Building Mobile Apps for Businessfor Business
Do you want to know more?Do you need an app built?
Dan HermesMobile ConsultantLexicon [email protected](781)526-0738Twitter: @lexiconsystemsBlog: www.itshopkeeping.com
Jonathan LaMasterDirector of SalesLexicon [email protected](617)833-5816