Hybrid Mobile App Development with PhoneGap

About Me

Lead Developer at Social Design House.

Adjunct Professor at Winthrop University

Instructor for Charlotte's Girl Develop It! Chapter

Types of Mobile Apps

Native

Written in Objective-C (iOS) or Java (Android)
Generally have the best performance
Can utilize all device functionality
Can be distributed via iTunes App Store and Google Play

HTML5

Written in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Saved to phone by user from website
Cannot be distributed via iTunes App Store or Google Play
Generally the easiest to make
Limited device functionality (gestures, orientation change, camera, geolocation, etc.)

Hybrid

Written in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Can be distributed via iTunes App Store and Google Play
Slightly better access to device functionality than HTML5 Apps (this varies by framework)
Generally slower than native apps

Hybrid Approach Drawbacks

Performance

Lack of Native UI Elements

Lack of Native Gestures

Complications with Version Changes

So why would use it?

Speed

Multi-platform

Low Barrier to Entry

Let's Build Something

Weather Forecast

We'll be using the device's geolocation API and the forecast.io API to get the current weather conditions and a 7-day forecast for the user's current* location.

* Because we'll be doing this in the iOS simulator, the location will be registered in San Francisco instead of pulling in our current location.

Questions?