introduction to mobile application development

1. Introduction
Mobile Application Development

2. Agenda
Web Apps vs. Mobile Apps
Mobile Application
Phases in Mobile App Development Platform
Languages Supporting Mobile App Development
What is a Smart Phone
Introduction to Different Smart Phones and its Features
Introduction to Different Smart Phone Application Development
Environments
What's different in developing Applications for Smart Devices
(Smart Phones & Tablets)

3. Advantages of Web Apps
 • Universal access
 – Browsers are everywhere
 – Any device on the network can access content
 PCs, Macs, Linux, Android, iPhone, Blackberry, etc.
 • Automatic “updates”
 – Content comes from server, so is never out of date
 • Well-established tools and methodologies
 – In multiple languages
 Java, PHP, .NET, Ruby/Rails, CGI, etc.

4. Disadvantages of Web Apps
 • Few and weak GUI controls
 – Textfield, text area, button, checkbox, radio, list box, combo box. That’s it!
No direct drawing (except for HTML5 Canvas)
 • Cannot interact with local resources
 – Cannot read files, call programs, or access devices on the user’s machine
 • Inefficient communication
 – HTTP is weak protocol
 • Hard to write
 – Requires knowledge of many technologies
 Java, HTML, HTTP, CSS, JavaScript, XML
 • Designed for large displays with mouse
 – So harder to use on small phone displays with touch screen

5. Advantages of Mobile Apps
 • Many GUI controls
 – Textfield, text area, button, checkbox, radio, list box, combo
box, clock, calendar, date picker, dialog box, image gallery, etc.
 • Comparable to options in desktop programming
 – Supports direct drawing
 • So animated games ala Angry Birds possible
 • Can interact with local resources
 – Can read files (e.g., contacts list), have local database, access
GPS, initiate phone calls, get input from microphone, create voice
output, read screen orientation, etc.

6. Advantages of Mobile Apps (Continued)
 • Efficient communication
 – Can use any networking protocols you want
 • Easier (?) to write
 – Requires knowledge of one language only
 • Java for Android
 • Objective C for iPhone
 • Designed for small displays with touch screen
 – So, many apps and GUI controls are optimized for this
environment

7. Disadvantages of Mobile Apps
 • No universal access
 – Apps must be installed one at a time on each phone
 – An Android app cannot run on
iPhone, Blackberry, PC, Mac, or Linux box
 • Difficult to manage updates
 – User must intervene to get latest versions
 • Newer (esp. Android)
 – So, fewer established tools and methodologies
 • On the other hand, Android programming is similar to
desktop Java programming, and there are plenty of
established approaches there

8. What is Mobile OS
 A mobile operating system (mobile OS) is the operating system that controls a
smart phone, tablet, PDA, or other mobile device.
 Modern mobile operating systems combine the features of a personal computer
operating system with
Touch screen
Cellular
Bluetooth
WiFi
GPS mobile
navigation
Camera,
Video camera
Speech recognition
Voice recorder
Music player
Near field
communication
personal digital
assistant (PDA)
Other features.

9. Mobile OS Challenges
 Limited resources
 Memory / Processing
Power / Screen / Display
width
 Connectivity Constraints
 Bad Net work connectivity /
Roaming scenarios
 Usability constraints
 User interfaces
 User input /Data output
 Security
 Scalability
 Wide verity of devices
Different carrier Constraints
Power management
Data safety in case of power loss
is an issue
Compact
Not much room for UI and the
application itself
Reuse of common components
important
Reliability
“Always on”

10. Difference in Mobile and Desktop resources applications
Screen Size
• The screen size of mobile devices these days typically ranges between 2-4.5 inches as
compared to that of a desktop which is normally 15-17 inches.
• Due to this dramatic change in the screen sizes the mobile web application design is quite
challenging.
Graphics
• In addition to this the graphical display on mobile too varies from that of the desktop.
• Very few graphics are present on mobile sites in comparison to many graphics on desktop
owing to the small screen size making place for only crucial information and necessary
links to be present on it .
• However the traditional websites mainly accessed through desktops include a wide variety
of content.
• Hence mobile site design focuses on the prioritization of content which the user is most
likely to use while accessing through mobile phones.
Layout
• The layout of the mobile site also becomes vertical in contrast to the horizontal layout of
desktop websites.
• Vertical layout leads to guided approach, one step at a time.
• Even the use of hypertext is also minimal on mobile sites.
• These are instead replaced by buttons and bars which are quite easy to tap and access
through fingers on mobiles.
• So the design of website has to be user friendly and in accordance with the size and color
scheme of the mobile screen to avoid its distortion.

11. Difference in Mobile and Desktop based applications
Navigational limitation:
• There are two types of navigations possible on websites i.e. Global navigation and
contextual navigation.
• Navigation on the desktop is quite complex and multi- layered contrast to the flat structure
of mobile devices.
• While a desktop makes use of both types of navigations, mobile is limited to just global
navigation with almost total absence of contextual navigation.
• Global navigation remains consistent across a site while contextual navigation shows the
changes depending on where a user is on a site.
• So absence of contextual navigation makes the user unaware of its whereabouts on the site.
• Thus the navigation on mobile sites is kept simple and uncomplicated.
• The content on mobile sites has to be placed such that user need not dig deep to get its
work done.
Usability Environment:
• As a mobile device is used on the go while travelling, shopping etc. whereas desktops
usually sit at a place so applications have to be developed in such a way that they do not
restrict the mobility of a person when accessing them.

12. Difference in Mobile and Desktop based applications
Processor and Memory capabilities:
• The processor of a desktop is quite different than that of a mobile.
• The size of RAM on a mobile far less than that of desktops. Even after up gradation of RAM on Mobile phones its size on
desktops cant be matched.
• Moreover the user would want faster response and quicker access to services with least processing time.
• Mobiles and desktops also differ in the amount of audio and video stuff which they support.
• A desktop site can contain multiple video files, heavy images and Flash animations.
• But all this cannot be supported on mobile sites because of browser and bandwidth limitations.
• Hence heavy applications cannot work smoothly on mobile phones.
• With this limited available memory and processing capabilities implementation of many technologies like Flash and
JavaScript gets limited.
• Mobile sites have to be developed in a way that it uses minimum resources on phones.
Different Expectations of users:
• Mobile phones are basically communicating devices which nowadays is equipped with more enhanced features like
camera, music player, games etc.
• As compared to its desktop brethren the demands and expectations of a mobile user might be different and expect that too
much of resources are not used up by it thus hampering performance of other applications on phones.
• One unique feature of mobile devices includes geo-location services and support.
• Mobile phones make use of GPS to pinpoint locations, get to know there current location through local searches.
• This feature of personalized search is totally missing on a desktop.
• Now a days even mobile websites are increasingly using this GPS feature to render various kinds of services to the mobile
users.
• User expects to make use of this mobile feature in order to find out nearest available services like getting the best restaurant
or other products.
• The expectation of a user has to be taken under consideration.

13. Design Considerations of mobile apps
• In comparison to desktop Web sites, which usually contain a wide range of content and information, mobile
sites usually include only the most crucial and time- and location-specific functions and features.Content Prioritization
• On desktop Web sites, horizontal navigation at the top of a page is a widely accepted way of structuring and
presenting a site’s content. However, vertical navigation replaces horizontal navigation on more than 90% of
the mobile sites we analyzed.
Vertical Instead of Horizontal
Navigation
• Hypertext is the signature component of the Internet and the Web. However, on mobile sites, there are few
or no hypertexts on pages.Bars, Tabs, and Hypertext
• On desktop Web sites, designers use graphics for many different purposes, including
promoting, marketing, and navigating. Mobile sites avoid using promotional and marketing graphics and use
minimal graphics for navigation.
Text and Graphics
• Various types of navigation are available on desktop Web sites. Some are global, so are consistent across a
site, while others are contextual and change depending on where users are on a site. In contrast, while most
mobile sites have global navigation, contextual navigation is rare on mobile sites.
Contextual and Global Navigation
• On desktop Web sites, footers typically provide either links to content users might expect to see on a site’s
home page or quick links that are available across a site to provide access to content users often need.
Mobile sites employ a minimal form of the first type of footer, but they do not use footers containing quick
links.
Footers
• On desktop Web sites, breadcrumbs reassure users that they are on the right page and let them backtrack on
their navigational path. Breadcrumbs are rare on mobiles sites and really aren’t necessary, because of the
relatively flat structure of mobile sites.
Breadcrumbs
• Process funnels on desktop Web sites frequently use a progress indicator at the top of each page to guide
users through the process. Such progress indicators do not appear on mobile sites.Progress Indicator
• Mobile sites offer better integration with phone functions—and present marketing opportunities such as
facilitating direct orders by phone or sending promotional text messages.Integration with Phone Functions
• Mobile sites can take advantage of technology that automatically detects where users are to present local
search results. When users set up their preferences or profile, personalized search results become even more
relevant and valuable to them
Localized & Personalized Search

14. Mobile Application Types
Thick Client
• Both processing and
Presentation logic
resides on the Mobile
clients
• Fact due to local
processing
• Heavy on the mobile
Think Client
• Both processing and
Presentation logic
resides on the Server
• Only presentation
engine resides on the
client
• Heavily dependent on
the wireless network
conditions
• Slow due to dependency
on the server for all
transactions
Smart client
• A mix of thin and thick
client
• processing resides on
the Server while
Presentation logic and
presentation engine
resides on the client
• User store and forward
method to avoid
dependability on the
wireless network

15. Mobile Development Phases
Market
Analysis
Gatheri
ng info
for
client
require
ments
Analyzi
ng and
Plannin
g
Concept
Sketchin
g
Researc
h &
Strategi
es
Wire-
framing
User
Interfac
e Design
Develop
ment
Testing

16. Feature Android Windows mobile BlackBerry
company Google Microsoft RIM
OS family Linux Windows Mobile OS
Languages Java Visual C++ C++
SDK Platform Multiplatform dependent dependent
Face book Yes Yes Yes
Multitasking Yes limited limited
Differences between Smart Phones

17. Some of the Platfrom Developments
• Java but portions of code can be in C, C++Android
• JavaBlackBerry
• C; the APIs are provided in C with a C++ style interfaceBREW
• Objective-CiOS SDK
• JavaJava ME
• C, C++, PascalPalm OS
• C++Symbian
• JavaScript, CSS, HTML, C and C++ through the PDKwebOS
• C#, Visual Basic,C,C++Windows Phone
• Action Script, HTML, CSS, JavaScriptAdobe AIR

18. Various Platforms
• http://developer.android.com/Android from Google
• http://us.blackberry.com/developers/BlackBerry OS from RIM
• http://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/iOS from Apple
• http://symbian.org/Symbian OS from the Symbian Foundation
• http://developer.palm.com/WebOS from HP
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsmobile/Windows Phone 7 from Microsoft

19. Mobile OS comparison

20. Different Kinds of Mobile OS Market share
Source: wikipedia

21. World-Wide Smartphone Sales
Source: wikipedia
World-Wide Smartphone Sales
Quarter Android iOS Symbian RIM Microsoft Bada Other
2011 Q4 [5] 50.9% 23.9% 11.7% 8.8% 1.9% 2.1% 0.8%
2011 Q3 [4] 52.5% 15.0% 16.9% 11.0% 1.5% 2.2% 0.9%
2011 Q2 [6] 43.4% 18.2% 22.1% 11.7% 1.6% 1.9% 1.0%
2011 Q1 [7] 36.0% 16.8% 27.4% 12.9% 3.6% 1.7% 1.6%
2010 Q4 [8] 31.1% 16.1% 32.9% 13.1% 3.4% 1.3% 2.2%
2010 Q3 [4][9] 25.3% 16.6% 36.3% 15.4% 2.8% 1.1% 2.5%
2010 Q2 [6][10] 17.2% 14.2% 41.2% 18.2% 5.0% 0.9% 3.3%
2010 Q1 [7][11] 9.6% 15.3% 44.2% 19.7% 6.8% 4.4%
2009 Q4 [8][12] 7.6% 16.2% 44.7% 19.7% 7.9% 4.0%
2009 Q3 [9][13] 3.4% 17.0% 44.2% 20.5% 7.9% 7.0%
2009 Q2 [10][14] 1.8% 13.0% 51.0% 19.0% 9.3% 5.9%
2009 Q1 [11][15] 1.6% 10.5% 48.8% 20.6% 10.2% 8.2%
2008 Q4 [12][16] 1.1% 10.6% 46.5% 19.3% 12.2% 9.1%
2008 Q3 [13][17] 0.6% 13.1% 50.3% 16.1% 11.2% 9.8%
2008 Q2 [14][18] 2.8% 57.5% 17.5% 12.1% 10.8%
2008 Q1 [19] 4.6% 49.5% 11.6% 10.4% 11.6%
2007 Q4 [20] 5.2% 62.3% 10.9% 11.9% 9.6%
2007 Q3 [21] 3.4% 63.1% 9.7% 12.8% 11.5%
2007 Q2 [22] 1.0% 65.6% 8.9% 11.5% 13.0%
2007 Q1 [23] 61.2% 8.7% 13.4% 16.8%

22. Smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more
advanced computing ability and connectivity than a feature phone.
The first smartphones mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant
(PDA) and a mobile phone or camera phone.
Today's models also serve to combine the functions of portable media players, low-end
compact digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation units.

23. Key Smartphone Features
•In general, a smartphone will be based on an operating system that allows it to run applications. Apple's iPhone
runs the iOS, and BlackBerry smartphones run the BlackBerry OS. Other devices run Google's Android OS, HP's
webOS, and Microsoft's Windows Phone.
Operating
System
•While almost all cell phones include some sort of software (even the most basic models these days include an
address book or some sort of contact manager, for example), a smartphone will have the ability to do more. It may
allow you to create and edit Microsoft Office documents--or at least view the files. It may allow you to download
apps, such as personal and business finance managers, handy personal assistants, or, well, almost anything. Or it
may allow you to edit photos, get ]driving directions via GPS, and create a playlist of digital tunes.
Apps
•More smartphones can access the Web at higher speeds, thanks to the growth of 4G and 3G data networks, as well
as the addition of Wi-Fi support to many handsets. Still, while not all smartphones offer high-speed Web access,
they all offer some sort of access. You can use your smartphone to browse your favorite sites.
Web Access
•By our definition, a smartphone includes a QWERTY keyboard. This means that the keys are laid out in the same
manner they would be on your computer keyboard--not in alphabetical order on top of a numeric keypad, where
you have to tap the number 1 to enter an A, B, or C. The keyboard can be hardware (physical keys that you type
on) or software (on a touch screen, like you'll find on the iPhone).
QWERTY
Keyboard
•All cell phones can send and receive text messages, but what sets a smartphone apart is its handling of e-mail. A
smartphone can sync with your personal and, most likely, your professional e-mail account. Some smartphones
can support multiple e-mail accounts. Others include access to the popular instant messaging services, like AOL's
AIM and Yahoo! Messenger.Messaging

24. Development Options of mobile
 Sony Ericsson
 Java ME
 Symbian OS/UIQ
 Browser based
 Motorola
 Android
 Windows Mobile
 Mobile Linux
 Java ME
 Web Widgets
LG
Java ME
Web Widgets
Samsung
Symbian
Windows Mobile
Java ME

25. Questions?