Microsoft wants to help Android, iOS and Windows apps run offline as well as online, offering a way to improve app responsiveness and functionality when network coverage is bad or non-existent.
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In an age of always-connected smartphones, it might seem there is no need for apps with offline access -- but they still have several advantages, including better responsiveness and the ability to limit data charges by caching data on the device, according to Microsoft. The caching also lets applications continue to work when there is little or no network connectivity, the company said in a blog post on Thursday.
To help developers add offline access to their Android, iOS and Windows apps, Microsoft has announced the general availability of its cloud-based SDK for offline synchronization, which is part of the company's Azure Mobile Services back-end.
For now, the SDK works with Windows and apps developed using Xamarin's cross platform tools, which are used to develop native apps for Android, iOS, Mac OS and Windows. The SDK's support for platforms other than Windows will soon be expanded with dedicated versions for Apple's and Google's mobile OSes, Microsoft said.
This year has seen Microsoft become even more focused on supporting other OSes, including the release of Office for Apple's iPads and iPhones. Last month, the company also released a preview version for Android-based tablets.
When an app that uses Microsoft's SDK is in offline mode, users can still create and modify data, which will be saved locally. When the app is back online, it can synchronize local changes with the Mobile Services backend. There are also mechanisms in place to handle conflicts when two devices modify the same record without synching.
To help developers get started Microsoft has published a video explaining how the SDK works, and what it can be used for.
Microsoft's Azure Mobile Services can also be used to store data in the cloud, authenticate users, and send push notifications to an application. Developers can choose between three versions: Free, Basic and Standard. Basic costs from $14.99 for 1.5 million API calls per month, while Standard costs from $139.99 for 15 million API calls per month, according to Microsoft's pricelist.
Azure Mobile Services is far from the only option developers have. Competing offerings include Google's Play Services and the Mobile SDKs from Amazon Web Services. Send news tips and comments to mikael_ricknas@idg.com
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The growing popularity of smartphones has put pressure on IT departments to make enterprise systems available on mobile devices. What Xamarin lets them do is take advantage of C# know-how to build native applications for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows, and reuse code between them.
Developers can use Xamarin's own IDE or Visual Studio to build the apps, thanks to a partnership with Microsoft. IBM has a new SDK that lets developers integrate apps with any back-end system directly from either IDE.
"This is the first time IBM has partnered with another mobile development platform company, so that's a big deal for us," said Nat Friedman, CEO and co-founder of Xamarin.
The integration uses IBM's Worklight Server, which works as a gateway between the mobile applications and the back-end system. It handles synchronization, provides data access and converts the response to a mobile-friendly format. Large file sizes aren't a problem when working on a desktop and a LAN, but can cause problems on a much slower mobile network.
"With a lot of back-end ERP systems when you make a query, you get an object back that's 2MB. So Worklight makes sure you don't get sent 2MB for every query," Friedman said.
The two companies are already working on apps with about a dozen customers, according to Friedman.
For those who don't want to use C#, IBM's Worklight portfolio also includes Studio, a development platform that can be used to create HTML5 and native applications, or a mixture of the two.
The last six months has seen IBM step up its mobile push another notch. In July, the company announced a partnership with Apple, which means IBM will develop iOS apps that integrate with its big data and analytics services and promote iPhones and iPads.
IBM and Xamarin announced the collaboration on Wednesday at Xamarin's user conference Evolve in Atlanta. At the conference, Xamarin also announced a number of new and improved tools.
Xamarin's Test Cloud -- a service that lets developers test apps on real devices -- has been upgraded with video capture and the ability to shorten tests by running them on multiple duplicate devices simultaneously. Both features are available immediately.
With Xamarin Android Player the goal is to create an hardware-accelerated emulator that outperforms what's currently available to developers.
"Our users have consistently told us the emulator that comes with Android is the most painful part of building an app. So it wasn't our fault but it was our problem," Friedman said.
Android Player is available for Mac OS X and Windows, and works with the touchscreen on devices like the Surface 3 from Microsoft. It has also been integrated with Xamarin Studio and Visual Studio. For now it's only a preview, but the tool is stable and developers can control GPS location and battery settings. An upgrade that adds the ability to simulate the back- and front-facing cameras is coming soon.
With Xamarin Insights, the company is also adding app analytics to its mobile app development platform. The initial focus is to provide an insight into application stability. It tracks all kinds of crashes and exceptions, and helps developers know in real-time what is happening with app users.
Just like Android Player, Insights is still under development and available in a preview version.
Business driven Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics represent a shift in the enterprise that is Learn More
The growing popularity of smartphones has put pressure on IT departments to make enterprise systems available on mobile devices. What Xamarin lets them do is take advantage of C# know-how to build native applications for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows, and reuse code between them.
Developers can use Xamarin's own IDE or Visual Studio to build the apps, thanks to a partnership with Microsoft. IBM has a new SDK that lets developers integrate apps with any back-end system directly from either IDE.
"This is the first time IBM has partnered with another mobile development platform company, so that's a big deal for us," said Nat Friedman, CEO and co-founder of Xamarin.
The integration uses IBM's Worklight Server, which works as a gateway between the mobile applications and the back-end system. It handles synchronization, provides data access and converts the response to a mobile-friendly format. Large file sizes aren't a problem when working on a desktop and a LAN, but can cause problems on a much slower mobile network.
"With a lot of back-end ERP systems when you make a query, you get an object back that's 2MB. So Worklight makes sure you don't get sent 2MB for every query," Friedman said.
The two companies are already working on apps with about a dozen customers, according to Friedman.
For those who don't want to use C#, IBM's Worklight portfolio also includes Studio, a development platform that can be used to create HTML5 and native applications, or a mixture of the two.
The last six months has seen IBM step up its mobile push another notch. In July, the company announced a partnership with Apple, which means IBM will develop iOS apps that integrate with its big data and analytics services and promote iPhones and iPads.
IBM and Xamarin announced the collaboration on Wednesday at Xamarin's user conference Evolve in Atlanta. At the conference, Xamarin also announced a number of new and improved tools.
Xamarin's Test Cloud -- a service that lets developers test apps on real devices -- has been upgraded with video capture and the ability to shorten tests by running them on multiple duplicate devices simultaneously. Both features are available immediately.
With Xamarin Android Player the goal is to create an hardware-accelerated emulator that outperforms what's currently available to developers.
"Our users have consistently told us the emulator that comes with Android is the most painful part of building an app. So it wasn't our fault but it was our problem," Friedman said.
Android Player is available for Mac OS X and Windows, and works with the touchscreen on devices like the Surface 3 from Microsoft. It has also been integrated with Xamarin Studio and Visual Studio. For now it's only a preview, but the tool is stable and developers can control GPS location and battery settings. An upgrade that adds the ability to simulate the back- and front-facing cameras is coming soon.
With Xamarin Insights, the company is also adding app analytics to its mobile app development platform. The initial focus is to provide an insight into application stability. It tracks all kinds of crashes and exceptions, and helps developers know in real-time what is happening with app users.
Just like Android Player, Insights is still under development and available in a preview version.
