Using Polymer With Apache Cordova

July 7, 2014 Nic Raboy

Making great mobile applications used to require a certain type of skill, but with the latest technologies you don’t need much more than basic web design knowledge. With the aid of Apache Cordova, developers can make native API calls directly from JavaScript functions. Pair this with a front-end framework like Adobe PhoneGap or my current favorite, Ionic Framework, and you can create stunning mobile applications with no more than CSS and HTML skills.

However, I recently discovered Polymer, a project by Google, and it looks pretty slick. The best part is you can easily use Polymer with Apache Cordova to create a native mobile application.

Snapper for Digital Ocean Released

July 3, 2014 Nic Raboy

Snapper for Digital Ocean has just been released in the Google Play and iTunes app stores. Snapper makes use of the Digital Ocean public API version 2 which features a true RESTful design and improved authentication.

This mobile app, like Admate for Chartboost, was created using AngularJS and the Ionic Framework.

Using Google Analytics With Ionic Framework

June 30, 2014 Nic Raboy

Apple and Google don’t offer much in terms of analytics after an app has been downloaded. Google will take it a step further than Apple and show how many devices have the app installed rather than just downloads, but nothing in terms of usage. To use Google Analytics with Ionic Framework, not much is required.

There is a convenient plugin created for Apache Cordova by Dan Wilson called simply Google Analytics Plugin. With a bit of adjusting we can easily use it with AngularJS.

Using Admob With Ionic Framework

June 29, 2014 Nic Raboy

Having your mobile application generate some kind of revenue is usually critical. Not many people want to spend endless hours slaving over an app without some kind of profit. Luckily, using Ionic Framework with Apache Cordova device APIs in addition to a nifty and easy to use Admob plugin, you can take full advantage of Google Admob in your cross platform application.

To use Admob with Ionic Framework we will be using the floatinghotpot Cordova plugin.

If you’re using Ionic 2, you should visit the revised tutorial I wrote to accommodate the Angular differences. Otherwise, continue for Ionic Framework 1 and AngularJS.

Using Volley To Make Android HTTP Requests

June 28, 2014 Nic Raboy

Threads and asynchronous tasks have never been pleasant in Android. It is a nightmare to handle screen orientation changes or update the UI from a common thread. However, the guys at Google came up with Volley and it is an excellent way to make Android HTTP requests.

Out of the box you have the ability to make a request that will return a JSONArray or JSONObject which is pretty slick because most APIs use those as a standard.

Creating An Android Java Plugin For Unity3D

June 14, 2014 Nic Raboy

Unity3D offers a ton of great features for Android projects, but often there are gaps that must be filled with plugins.

Let’s take the example of Toast popups for Android. In your game you might like to show a popup message that explains an error, or states that you are signed in to a server.

Saving Data With Ionic Framework

June 13, 2014 Nic Raboy

Coming from native Android and SQLite, the concept of universal data storage on local devices has been different. Apache Cordova and Ionic Framework, being as awesome as they are, support HTML5 local storage calls. This allows us to store and retrieve data without the use or knowledge of SQL and on any platform we plan to use.