Possibly getting my feet wet...

[kreut]

Hello!

I just finished my first website and I've really got the "bug". So, why not try to write a mobile APP, I ask myself? Being a stranger in a foreign land, I don't even know what language Apps are written in. So, two questions:

1) If I create an interactive webpage using html, javascript, and jquery, do I need to do anything special to transform it into an app? In other words, do apps use the same programming languages as web pages?
2) What would be the first 2 or 3 things that I should do if I want to dive into making an iphone App?

Thanks so much,

Eric

[ralph.m]

Most Apps are created with fully-fledged programming languages like C++, which take a while to learn. But there is a small but growing trend to build apps with HTML, CSS and JS, and this will probably grow. So yes, you can use standard web code to create an app. The advantage is that it is likely to be usable on a range of devices. An iPhone app done in the normal way will only work on iPhone.

The normal way to develop an iPhone app is to download the Apple dev tools, but you need a Mac to use them:

http://developer.apple.com/technologies/tools/

But there are some nice JS frameworks coming out that make it easier to develop HTML / CSS / JS apps. They include Sencha Touch and jQuery Mobile.

[kreut]

Thank you for getting me started.

-Eric

[Ilse888]

listen, i think i can help. i'm not a designer so i basically have some set backs helping my clients. i give them an overall solution to their SEO needs in all sorts of ways. any way, i found a program which is an automated generator that produces sites. thy're not the best inventions after the wheel, they still have many bugs since i understand it's a start up, BUT their sites are 3 in 1. they're totally compatible for face book and mobile automatically! with no code implementations or adaptations. the site "knows and recognizes" when it is opened on a smartphone (only) and the site is adjusted automatically.

[oddz]

Do you want to write a device native app or a a website that provides the same "look and feel" and experience as a native app? Depending on your goals the third alternative is create a responsive website, which is nothing more than modifying your existing site to have a mobile optimized design used the same structure but changing CSS, images and perhaps the main page wrapper to be "mobile friendly". To get a good idea of what responsive design entails contrast BostonGlobe site on desktop, tablet and phones. That said, my personal opinion on the matter is to create a site that provides the same experience as a native app when there is much user interaction required. However, when the site does not require a a lot of user interaction such as; a basic static site that only provides information, w/ maybe a contact form responsive is the way to go.

[kreut]

Thank you for your thoughts. I think that I'd like to develop a native app; partly because I think that it will be more marketable in that form (though quite frankly I don't plan on making much money from this particular concept!), but more so because it would something new and challenging.

-Eric

[NightStalker-DNS]

Well, a native iPhone app is written in Objective-c. So you will need to download the tools to a mac. But you need to pay $99 per year for a development account in order to develop for the platform and distribute your app. Android is written in java. You pay $25 once off to join, but that is only if you want to distribute your apps on the android market. It is written using eclipse with Android plugins. So it is up to you on which platform you would like to target

[ralph.m]

I think that I'd like to develop a native app; partly because I think that it will be more marketable in that form

It's worth listing to Jahn Allsopp on the topic of the future of apps. He suggests that HTML/CSS/JS apps will become more popular soon.

http://www.sitepoint.com/podcast-116...-john-allsopp/

[kreut]

Thanks for the additional info. I'll definitely check out the podcast since I don't know C.