Make HTTP Requests In A NativeScript Mobile Application

As I mentioned in some of my other posts, I’ve been exploring NativeScript by Telerik. So far it has proven to be a nifty platform and my attention is still invested. Previously when writing about similar technologies such as React Native and Ionic Framework, I explained how to make HTTP requests to third party web services. I demonstrated how to make HTTP requests in Ionic Framework as well as how to make HTTP requests in React Native. This time I figured it was time to do the same demonstration with NativeScript.

In this guide we’ll take a look at how to make requests against a RESTful API server in an Android and iOS app using Telerik NativeScript.

NativeScript vs Ionic Framework, Should You Switch?

It is no question that I am pretty familiar with Ionic Framework and Apache Cordova in general. I have a ton of blog articles, YouTube videos and even a beginner level course for Ionic Framework. However, lately I’ve been playing around with NativeScript by Telerik, a similar technology platform that has many advantages over the competitors. I also have blog articles and a beginner level course for NativeScript.

I’m going to do an in-depth comparison between the two hybrid development platforms so you can figure out which is best for you.

Using The Device Camera In Your NativeScript Mobile App

I’ve been doing a lot of NativeScript development lately because I’ve found it to be a pretty nifty platform. If you’re unfamiliar with NativeScript, it is similar to Ionic Framework and React Native in a sense that you can use JavaScript to build iOS and Android mobile applications. I previously wrote about using the native device camera in Ionic Framework as well as using the native device camera in React Native. This time I figured it would be appropriate to do the same, but with Telerik NativeScript.

In this guide we’re going to see what it takes to take pictures with the native device camera using NativeScript and display the pictures on the screen.

Upcoming Presentation: Android Developer Conference

Turns out I will be speaking at the Android Developer Conference (AnDevCon) in Santa Clara, California on December 1st, 2015 to December 3rd, 2015.

If you’re unfamiliar with AnDevCon, it is a big deal. It is probably one of the better, if not the best, development conferences focusing on everything Android.

Per the AnDevCon website:

AnDevCon is the technical conference for professional software developers and engineers building Android apps. Offering mobile app development training, embedded Android secrets, and Android app development tutorials and classes, AnDevCon is the biggest, most info-packed, most practical Android conference in the world.

Top 5 Hybrid App Bloggers To Follow 2015

There are a lot of blogs out there on the internet and many on the topic of hybrid mobile app development. By hybrid mobile app development I am talking about technologies like Apache Cordova, Phonegap, Ionic Framework, and React Native. Basically all the technologies for building applications using web technologies. However, when it comes to blogs, not all are created equal.

This article is more of a personal opinion than anything, but I’m going to list off five blogs / bloggers that I feel deserve a shout out based on the quality of their material.

Saving Data In Your NativeScript Mobile Application

Recently I started fiddling with NativeScript from Telerik because I’ve been hearing a lot about it when I attend various developer conferences. If you’re unfamiliar with NativeScript, it is a cross platform mobile development framework similar to Ionic Framework and React Native. The difference being that NativeScript claims to map your UX to native layouts and give you full access to all device APIs.

Starting out, the thing I had some of the most trouble with was persisting data since it was poorly documented. Here we’re going to look at building a simple application that saves data to be accessed in the future, rather than only during the application session.

Launch The Web Browser In A NativeScript Mobile App

With my Telerik NativeScript adventures pressing on, I ran into an obstacle that took me quite some time to figure out. I wanted to launch a URL from within my application in the iOS and Android system web browser. It wasn’t obvious in the documentation at the time of writing this, but after a lot of trial and error, I figured it out.

In this guide we’re going to look at launching URLs in a web browser from our NativeScript application.