Mobile Application Development

Mobile Application Development is the process of creating software intended to run on a mobile device and optimized to take advantage of mobile unique features and hardware. The application is typically designed to utilize a network to connect with remote servers to store and process information. The development process requires bundles which are installed and reside on the mobile device to connect with backend services which access database resources, through an API, on remote servers. Additionally, the process includes testing the app on various target devices. There are two major device platforms which are usually targeted, the iOS platform from Apple Inc. and the Android platform from Google. Depending on which platform the application is required to operate on different software development kits (SDKs) and development toolchains are applied. Native Applications are those apps that the user downloads from the app store and which run directly on the operating system of the device. As an alternative, standard web technologies such as JavaScript, CSS and HTML5 can be modified to include responsive web design elements. Responsive web design makes a traditional web page look good on all different device sizes. This option would be ideal when converting existing web pages to work on a mobile web browser. At IDEAMATICS we have experience developing both types of mobile applications.

Implementing a mobile solution requires development tools for frontend development, backend development and a development platform. The tools we employ for frontend development include, Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), JavaScript and WebAssembly. When developing the frontend there are two major areas of consideration accessibility and performance. When it comes to accessibility, the goal is to develop an app that looks and works on devices of all seizes and resolution. Regarding performance, the goal is to lower the loading time which can be done through HTML, CSS, and JavaScript manipulation. The backend development is responsible for data storage, security, and business logic. These backend tools include web servers, database management systems, microservice platforms, local development environments, collaboration services, and website performance testers. A mobile app development platform (MADP) provides the ability to create, test and launch mobile apps in an efficient way. Leveraging third-party MADPs has the benefit of features such as Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS), tools for frontend development and management tools for APIs. At IDEAMATICS we utilize a combination of these tools when building our mobile applications.