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The iPad app we've been working on is currently using a very useful plugin that can only be found in the Appcelerator ecosystem. I shall be ripping

by jawngee 14y ago

The iPad app we've been working on is currently using a very useful plugin that can only be found in the Appcelerator ecosystem. I shall be ripping that out and finding some other solution to the problem. There are plenty of competitors in this space. If you were writing a native app you wouldn't have to rip anything out or have to find it elsewhere. Just sayin'. I have a fairly aggressive lack of sympathy for phonegap/titanium/"cheap shortcut" users in general and this whole incident is just sort of confirmation to part of the reason why.

bergie 14y ago
Phonegap has no such issues as it is now becoming an Apache project (see Apache Cordova). Before Apache I would have steered clear as well, for exactly the reasons you're mentioning. Of course, a well-made native application will perform better, but PhoneGap can be quite smooth too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4467826 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4467826 As a bonus, you'll get to utilize your existing web development skills. Besides, quite a lot of the "native" apps I've seen utilize some webviews anyway.
debacle 14y ago
> I have a fairly aggressive lack of sympathy for phonegap/titanium/"cheap shortcut" users in general They're fulfilling a need that is the same as someone who customizes WordPress or builds on top of Drupal - people who want custom software, but can't afford it. If the tools didn't work, then they wouldn't be used as much as they are, and if there was no demand for cheap mobile development with compromises, then the tools wouldn't exist.
- gurkendoktor 14y ago
  > If the tools didn't work, then they wouldn't be used as much as they are The people who make the decision are not necessarily the ones who know what works and what doesn't. "It has to be HTML5" might just as well be the next "it must be object-oriented".
masukomi 14y ago
meh, I don't think this has really got anything to do with "cheap shortcut" methods. this is about broken morals. But, with that said, my impression is that while there are a lot of downsides to using HTML5 for your app, there's a LOT of amazing things you can do with the UI that are much harder in Objective C, and it's a hell of a lot more affordable to contract HTML devs than it is Obj C devs. ;) And when you're bootstrapping an app that is a big deal.
- jonny_eh 14y ago
  Titanium isn't an HTML5 based app framework like Phonegap. It's a Javascript framework for building apps that use the native UI widgets.
  - pfisch 14y ago
    My experience with titanium was really poor. Lots of silent fails with no real error output. Also I found it very limited, more limited than just opening a webview and using html5 really and hooking into it with code for the native functionality.
    - gte910h 14y ago
      And horrible doc. Don't forget that!
      - prpatel 14y ago
        The docs are pretty good, and the wiki is a wealth of information. where exactly are you looking?
    - prpatel 14y ago
      You must be joking. I've built several projects, for pay, using Titanium and find it to be very powerful and fast for building even complex mobile apps. The customers have been thrilled that I'm able to deliver tons of features in shorter time frames and hence lower cost. As for error output - you just need to look at the logs in detail (and turn them up to trace) to get details for hard crashed.
jakejake 14y ago
A lack of sympathy would be appropriate if the developer was having problems with the app quality, reliability, performance, etc. then I think we might all be with you that you don't deserve sympathy for your app sucking because you took technical shortcuts. But for a the vendor of development tools to start contacting my clients without my permission? That's ridiculous for them to even communicate with my clients, let alone try to get money.

by jawngee 14y ago

bergie 14y ago

Phonegap has no such issues as it is now becoming an Apache project (see Apache Cordova). Before Apache I would have steered clear as well, for exactly the reasons you're mentioning. Of course, a well-made native application will perform better, but PhoneGap can be quite smooth too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4467826 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4467826 As a bonus, you'll get to utilize your existing web development skills. Besides, quite a lot of the "native" apps I've seen utilize some webviews anyway.

debacle 14y ago

> I have a fairly aggressive lack of sympathy for phonegap/titanium/"cheap shortcut" users in general They're fulfilling a need that is the same as someone who customizes WordPress or builds on top of Drupal - people who want custom software, but can't afford it. If the tools didn't work, then they wouldn't be used as much as they are, and if there was no demand for cheap mobile development with compromises, then the tools wouldn't exist.

gurkendoktor 14y ago
> If the tools didn't work, then they wouldn't be used as much as they are The people who make the decision are not necessarily the ones who know what works and what doesn't. "It has to be HTML5" might just as well be the next "it must be object-oriented".

masukomi 14y ago

meh, I don't think this has really got anything to do with "cheap shortcut" methods. this is about broken morals. But, with that said, my impression is that while there are a lot of downsides to using HTML5 for your app, there's a LOT of amazing things you can do with the UI that are much harder in Objective C, and it's a hell of a lot more affordable to contract HTML devs than it is Obj C devs. ;) And when you're bootstrapping an app that is a big deal.

jonny_eh 14y ago
Titanium isn't an HTML5 based app framework like Phonegap. It's a Javascript framework for building apps that use the native UI widgets.
- pfisch 14y ago
  My experience with titanium was really poor. Lots of silent fails with no real error output. Also I found it very limited, more limited than just opening a webview and using html5 really and hooking into it with code for the native functionality.
  - gte910h 14y ago
    And horrible doc. Don't forget that!
    - prpatel 14y ago
      The docs are pretty good, and the wiki is a wealth of information. where exactly are you looking?
  - prpatel 14y ago
    You must be joking. I've built several projects, for pay, using Titanium and find it to be very powerful and fast for building even complex mobile apps. The customers have been thrilled that I'm able to deliver tons of features in shorter time frames and hence lower cost. As for error output - you just need to look at the logs in detail (and turn them up to trace) to get details for hard crashed.

jakejake 14y ago

A lack of sympathy would be appropriate if the developer was having problems with the app quality, reliability, performance, etc. then I think we might all be with you that you don't deserve sympathy for your app sucking because you took technical shortcuts. But for a the vendor of development tools to start contacting my clients without my permission? That's ridiculous for them to even communicate with my clients, let alone try to get money.