6 ms·

IDE for developing PhoneGap HTML5 Apps

42 points by dthevenin 15y ago

quanfucius 15y ago
Has anyone here tried Titanium Appcelerator? You can build native cross-platform apps in javascript. I've been using it to build my app: http://getswaggur.com http://getswaggur.com and it's been pretty good so far.
- tannerburson 15y ago
  I wrote a post on my blog about that a little less than a year ago. I'm sure some things have improved, but in general, I've moved on. http://tannerburson.com/2011/04/03/Thoughts-on-Appcelerator-Titanium.html http://tannerburson.com/2011/04/03/Thoughts-on-Appcelerator-...
  - spacy 15y ago
    me too!
- andreadallera 15y ago
  Beware. Titanium looks good on the surface but as soon as you push it to its limits ugly things start to happen. There's a still ongoing discussion about Titanium on my blog, here -> http://usingimho.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/why-you-should-stay-away-from-appcelerators-titanium/ http://usingimho.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/why-you-should-sta... , it's up to you to decide if Titanium fits your needs or not. If you're building only small and simple applications it might be fine.
Yarnage 15y ago
Sometimes I feel like the only person who is NOT a PhoneGap fan. It just has so many oddities (white flash on Android for one) and the apps never seem to work as well as anything native. Am I missing something? Serious question, not trying to troll.
- untog 15y ago
  I haven't used it extensively, but it's one of few ways to make a truly functional app using just JS+HTML5- allowing you to skip past Java, Objective-C, etc. Of course, there are huge prices to pay for that- particularly on the UI front. But if your mobile app is a very small part of your business (as opposed to the primary offering, which it is for many) then it can make sense. I've actually ended up making an app that's a hybrid of native (for top bar navigation) and one big webview for the rest: http://www.taxono.my/ http://www.taxono.my/ I think it's come out as very close to a native experience- it's just a case of putting the time in to make it so.
  - funkyavocado 15y ago
    That's a great looking app. Can I ask what framework you used?
    - untog 15y ago
      I had to use Appcelerator because I need background processing as part of the app- none of the HTML5-only frameworks offer that (AFAIK). If you don't need background processing, I wouldn't recommend it- I'm looking for ways to move away from it.
  - MatthewPhillips 15y ago
    Very nice looking app. Are you using Leaflet for your maps?
    - untog 15y ago
      Yep. I was very, very impressed. Coming from the Google Maps API I never expected that a web map view could perform as well as a native one, but it does.
      - MatthewPhillips 15y ago
        Indeed, I maintain my own Leaflet fork for a project I am (occasionally) working on and I am won over as well. Are you using the Mapquest open data? Your maps are beautiful by the way.
tluyben2 15y ago
Downloading this now! It looks great so far, cannot wait to try it. I have tried many of these tools coming out; most are browser based and horrible to work with (besides being slow, they basically don't work usually :). So very curious; will give you feedback.
- dthevenin 15y ago
  You are welcome to give feedback :-) We try to develop some thing like xCode for HTML5 apps so I hope VSD fits developers needs. d.
ryanackley 15y ago
Some constructive feedback for the website. There are three thumbnails along the bottom of the screen. I immediately assumed I could click these and a larger image would appear. When I see a new product linked on HN, I want to quickly look at screenshots. I couldn't find any screenshots of the product on your website besides those thumbnails that look like any other IDE at that resolution. I did eventually find the movie but I would've preferred some screenshots.
- dthevenin 15y ago
  Thank for the feedback. I've fixed the home page and will add additional screenshots. d.
spacy 15y ago
Judging by your comments, I think you should take a look at MoSync 3.0, iPhone/Android/WP7 and supports NativeUI/OGL and everything phonegap/titaniun does plus much more, it comes in two flavors, a JavaScript SDK called 'Reload' and a Hybrid SDK (JavaScript and native C/C++), beats the others hands down. But don't take my word for it, see for yourselves.

42 points by dthevenin 15y ago

Has anyone here tried Titanium Appcelerator? You can build native cross-platform apps in javascript. I've been using it to build my app: http://getswaggur.com http://getswaggur.com and it's been pretty good so far.

tannerburson 15y ago
I wrote a post on my blog about that a little less than a year ago. I'm sure some things have improved, but in general, I've moved on. http://tannerburson.com/2011/04/03/Thoughts-on-Appcelerator-Titanium.html http://tannerburson.com/2011/04/03/Thoughts-on-Appcelerator-...
- spacy 15y ago
  me too!
andreadallera 15y ago
Beware. Titanium looks good on the surface but as soon as you push it to its limits ugly things start to happen. There's a still ongoing discussion about Titanium on my blog, here -> http://usingimho.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/why-you-should-stay-away-from-appcelerators-titanium/ http://usingimho.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/why-you-should-sta... , it's up to you to decide if Titanium fits your needs or not. If you're building only small and simple applications it might be fine.

Yarnage 15y ago

Sometimes I feel like the only person who is NOT a PhoneGap fan. It just has so many oddities (white flash on Android for one) and the apps never seem to work as well as anything native. Am I missing something? Serious question, not trying to troll.

untog 15y ago
I haven't used it extensively, but it's one of few ways to make a truly functional app using just JS+HTML5- allowing you to skip past Java, Objective-C, etc. Of course, there are huge prices to pay for that- particularly on the UI front. But if your mobile app is a very small part of your business (as opposed to the primary offering, which it is for many) then it can make sense. I've actually ended up making an app that's a hybrid of native (for top bar navigation) and one big webview for the rest: http://www.taxono.my/ http://www.taxono.my/ I think it's come out as very close to a native experience- it's just a case of putting the time in to make it so.
- funkyavocado 15y ago
  That's a great looking app. Can I ask what framework you used?
  - untog 15y ago
    I had to use Appcelerator because I need background processing as part of the app- none of the HTML5-only frameworks offer that (AFAIK). If you don't need background processing, I wouldn't recommend it- I'm looking for ways to move away from it.
- MatthewPhillips 15y ago
  Very nice looking app. Are you using Leaflet for your maps?
  - untog 15y ago
    Yep. I was very, very impressed. Coming from the Google Maps API I never expected that a web map view could perform as well as a native one, but it does.
    - MatthewPhillips 15y ago
      Indeed, I maintain my own Leaflet fork for a project I am (occasionally) working on and I am won over as well. Are you using the Mapquest open data? Your maps are beautiful by the way.

tluyben2 15y ago

Downloading this now! It looks great so far, cannot wait to try it. I have tried many of these tools coming out; most are browser based and horrible to work with (besides being slow, they basically don't work usually :). So very curious; will give you feedback.

dthevenin 15y ago
You are welcome to give feedback :-) We try to develop some thing like xCode for HTML5 apps so I hope VSD fits developers needs. d.

ryanackley 15y ago

Some constructive feedback for the website. There are three thumbnails along the bottom of the screen. I immediately assumed I could click these and a larger image would appear. When I see a new product linked on HN, I want to quickly look at screenshots. I couldn't find any screenshots of the product on your website besides those thumbnails that look like any other IDE at that resolution. I did eventually find the movie but I would've preferred some screenshots.

dthevenin 15y ago
Thank for the feedback. I've fixed the home page and will add additional screenshots. d.

spacy 15y ago

Judging by your comments, I think you should take a look at MoSync 3.0, iPhone/Android/WP7 and supports NativeUI/OGL and everything phonegap/titaniun does plus much more, it comes in two flavors, a JavaScript SDK called 'Reload' and a Hybrid SDK (JavaScript and native C/C++), beats the others hands down. But don't take my word for it, see for yourselves.