What is the right way to design the page structure of a WebWorks app? I'm using jQuery-mobile as well.
A: Should all the pages be in a single HTML, each page being a:
<div data-role="page">...</div>
B: Should pages be separated in different HTML files linking to each other?
I am currently using approach A, but the app is a slow when transitioning from a page to another. I suspect one of the reasons is the size of the single HTML that includes all pages.
Also another issue I'm having is that pressing the physical "back" button on the phone exits the app which is another reason I'm doubting my approach in having all pages in one HTML.
A very opinionated answer: You're using the wrong framework. jQuery Mobile is extremely bloated and I've seen it perform poorly even on recent iOS devices, not to mention BlackBerry's not exactly very performant OS.
If you continue to go down the jQuery Mobile route, I would still recommend you have all your pages in a single HTML file, not least because the user experience on WebWorks is a bit sub-par when moving between separate HTML pages. For example, you'll get very noticeable "white flashes" when you follow a link to a different HTML file, especially on older/less powerful devices (although you can mitigate that a bit by setting a background colour for your rim:loadingScreen element in the config.xml). It's up to you to decide whether that is better or worse than the slow transitions in jQuery Mobile.
As for the back button, you can override the default behaviour by attaching an event handler to the back key like so (don't forget to have the blackberry.system.event feature enabled in your config.xml):
blackberry.system.event.onHardwareKey(blackberry.system.event.KEY_BACK, function() {
// Back key pressed, go back to previous screen
}
If you're still open to an alternative solution though, I highly recommend you give bbUI.js a try (https://github.com/tneil/bbUI.js) - it's a semi-official framework that looks a lot more at home on the BB than jQuery Mobile and is better optimised for the platform (e.g. allowing you to only load scripts that you need for the particular page you're showing at that very moment, working around some WebWorks/BB-specific issues, etc.) - combine it with Zepto (http://zeptojs.com/) which is a blazingly fast jQuery replacement and you'll end up with an app that is significantly less sluggish than a jQuery Mobile based one.
You can use which ever way suits your project best. For a large app, it's probably worth having a single "index.html" which then links off to several other pages. Can make editing your code easier as well.
This is a question and an answer :-)
For a long time now I tried using JQM with Hebrew. Getting the Hebrew letter is easy (utf-8 encoding...) , but the thing that didn't work was the alignment..
I mean switching the direction of the elements, the text alignment, positioning etc.
I found many questions about this, but few answers (and the ones I found didn't do a complete job).
Then I found this excellent article:
http://rtl-this.com/tutorial/rtling-hello-world-webpage-rtling
And I implemented it on the css file (more precisely on the one here: http://code.jquery.com/mobile/1.0/jquery.mobile-1.0.css ).
That worked :-)
And if I'll figure out how to upload a file, I'll share :-)
I hope this will be useful.
You have to make changes to the JavaScript file as well to make sliders and flip switches work properly. Here is the full version of jQuery Mobile RTL I made.
I've recently tried to use jQuery mobile to develop an Arabic iOS application with RTL layout, and while jQuery Mobile doesn't support RTL yet, it wasn't too hard to hack the CSS to make it look and act like a proper RTL application.
But I ended up abandoning jQM altogether because, at least as of 1.0.1, the performance was simply unacceptable.
I tried a few hacks like removing all gradients (which helped a little) and disabling animation (which didn't), but it still took a good half a second for the UI to respond to user input.
I'm sure things will improve with the time, but for now at least jQuery Mobile is not an option for me. Its a shame too because it's declarative programming model is so deliciously easy to use.
Designing a web application with ASP.NET MVC I asked myself how can I also please those people using a smart phone, ipad, etc.. (everything thats touchable...) and not only a desktop/notebook with a browser.
How can I develop a better user experience.
I would be pleased to hear about technical advises concerning the asp.net mvc framework so I can later implement your suggestions concretely.
There are a few levels of friendlyness. You can start with the basic "does this site render well enough to be usable in a mobile browser?" This really should not be a problem for anything new that is using modern web standards but older sites could have problems. Corallary to this is "is my site a bandwidth hog that takes forever to render over 3g because each page is 14mb of animated GIFs and spaghetti HTML?" Or "does my site make mobile devices melt due to aggresive scripts?" Luckily this set is pretty easy to deal with -- modern websites tend to handle this pretty well by default.
The second level is "does this site do anything maddening from a touch perspective." The big thing that can clip you here is hover based menus -- there is no hover on a touch UI. The other common issue is using small links or buttons that one can't hit at least without zooming in to crazy levels. The solution here is testing -- some issues are obvious to all but you won't see some things until you are interacting without a mouse.
The final level is using a touch UI for fun and profit. If you make it this far, you are doing better than many web publishers in this day and age. What is involved here is using touch-friendly UI tools, such as jquery mobile, to handle swipe events and other touch features to make things work more like one expects with a touch UI. An easy example would be making an image carousel swipe-able rather than having to wait for the buttons.
Make the interface chunky - big icons are easy to click, text is very difficult to touch accurately. Set a minimum size for every element, at the very least as big as the individual keys on an iPhone/android's virtual keyboard and preferably much larger.
Ensure that the most relevant options are near the top, and after that the aim is simply to make it intuitive. Fewer menus are generally better.
Go through my tutorial ASP.NET MVC 4 Mobile Features
create mobile-specific views.
-use the HTML5 viewport attribute and adaptive rendering to improve display on mobile devices.
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I wonder if I were to develop a mobile Web app (now, in two weeks, or in a month), which one should I go for? Which one would you mobile Web developers go for?
If jQM 1.0 were officially released today, I would most likely embrace it (as long as it actually delivers what it promises). Now that it is in alpha, I wonder whether it is worth to jump into it yet for a commercial grade project? Would Sencha Touch be a better alternative?
Sencha Touch is an application framework (you create your interface programmatically through Javascript) while jQuery Mobile is more of a mobile enhancement library (you write regular HTML for your content, then add jQuery mobile for transitions/animations). jQuery Mobile has an easier learning curve, but Sencha Touch can better simulate "native" apps.
The first question you need to ask yourself is what is the purpose of the application. If you want to release an application for sales on one of the retail outlets (iTunes, Andoid App store), or you need access to device specific functions that are not accessible via local APIs yet (accelerometer, camera, contacts, etc) then you should be thinking Native or one of the hybrid solutions (Appcelerator, PhoneGap, etc.).
If your audience is going to be more in the "mobile web" space, such as a mobile version of a corporate web desktop site, or intranet web application port, then you should be looking at Sencha Touch and jQuery Mobile. The decision between those two is really going to be based on you development experience and and what you feel more comfortable with. Sencha Touch is a VERY robust platform that has a Desktop (ExtJS) and mobile (Sencha Touch) that mirror each other so knowing one pretty much allows you to get up and running with the other. Also, Sencha has moved to an MVC model on the client which really helps to organize client side code and make it much more congruent with server-side development platforms.
The post above is actually incorrect, using the MVC pattern on the client combined with the historyUrl on your dispatch commands gives you the ability to use the browser back and forward buttons of the browser, so that is not exclusive to jQuery Mobile. Also, the Sencha Team's suite of products includes a Designer application that provides Designer which is a WYSIWYG editor that allows for the drag and drog creation of UIs. This company's roadmap has them in the process of updating the Designer app to allow for the drag and drop design of Touch mobile screens and application that will function with the MVC pattern. They are also getting ready to release a new version of the Sencha Command tool that will automatically generate entire MVC application structures for you in a matter of minutes, which you can then add the necessary custom code to round out your application. Lastly, the new SASS theming capabilities allow designers to use CSS3 and SASS config files along with variables and Mixins to generate cross-browser CSS style sheets for your application.
So, the decision of which way to go for the mobile web development question comes down to how comfortable you are with object oriented javascript. If you are very comfortable with it, then Sencha Touch is the way to go as it very extensible class system built into the core engine that can be customized to your hearts content...but if you have minimal experience with JS and you want the server to deliver your UI and don't mind seeing the Address bar drop down to move between pages (less web 2.0 looking), then jQueryMobile is the way to go.
It's pretty obvious that I am biased to Sencha Touch due to its well thought out class structure, extensibility, very active user community, web/mobile continuity, and constant improvement to the core framework and new tools that simplify development efforts. And not to mention that the Touch platform is more mature as jQM has not reached production mode yet.
I've been using jQuery mobile for a while now. It works well under Blackberry 6, iPhone, and Android.
I wrote an article about it here: jQuery mobile alpha
Though it's alpha, they are showing good progress. I've been looking into their development in github, seems like there's going to be cool stuff by early 2011.
UPDATE 2011-12-01 jQuery Mobile relased version 1.0, finally out of alpha. Read more about it here: http://jquerymobile.com/blog/2011/11/16/announcing-jquery-mobile-1-0/
If you're going to make a mobile version of a website, I am going to use jQuery Mobile. If you're going to make a “native” mobile application, I will be more likely use Sencha Touch.
http://tysonlloydcadenhead.com/blog/jquery-mobile-vs-sencha-touch
Sencha touch has lived longer than jquerymobile but I found that jquerymobile handles device back button much better than SenchaTouch.
I always consider back/history button handling is important in my apps, so I prefer jquerymobile.
I always consider myself a JavaScript programmer, but I like the fact that I rarely need to to type any JavaScript code when I use jquerymobile.
jquerymobile design is brilliant IMHO.
I am also in favor of sencha, JQM is really slow and failed to give an impression of an native app.
Praveen
why limit yourself...
Look into PhoneGap and Titanium Appcelerator
the make the comparison based on what you are trying to accomplish. I know Sencha Touch has a licensing fee and like you said jQM is not officially released yet.
This is a great time to be in the mobile space because there are so many viable options
I think jQuery mobile is easier to learn and seems to be very promising. Version 1.0 is not yet available, but its going to be a good product. I find it very attractive because it is based on jQuery - simplicity is the motto
Don't forget that there is also Dojo Toolkit Mobile. It looks nice, at least at first look and it is built on top of the proven and solid Dojo Toolkit core. http://dojotoolkit.org/features/mobile.
The Dojo Toolkit don't get too much audience recently but it looks like they made a lot of progress from the times it was a bit heavy, I think it is worth looking at it.
I've been trying out the sencha architect and to be honest ithas been a nightmare to get running.
My background is DotNet, html, javascript, VB, java and have been using eclipse etc for a while so am not a huge newbie with figuring out dependencys etc.
Here is what I have struck:
I went to the Sench site, downloaded Architect.
It then got me to download toolkit and sencha touch. I downlaoded exactly what was recommend / instructed by the help files / site.
I have Sencha Architect V2.1.0 Build 584., sencha-touch-2.0.1.1-commercial.zip, SenchaSDKTools-2.0.0-beta3-windows.exe
I also downloaded and installed a new java sdk / run time etc. The install has been done on a dead clean XP box (vmware). Web server is xampp.
Sencha does not recognise the SenchaSDKTools-2.0.0-beta3. You have to hack it using hard to find instructions. Even after hacking it the architect fails to use the proper SDK and gives error messages on deployment.
There have also been numerous errors to figure out along the way and issues where data just wont load even having followed instructions to the letter.
I have spent 11 hours getting to the point where the application will run properly without whinging but it wont deploy. It is bad enough learning a new tool / framework etc without the ide causing grief and the "instructional demos" leading you up the path.
There are lots of people getting the same errors all over.
After 15 hours of effort I am giving it up as a bad job and am returning to IBM XPages / PHP and Blueprint CSS with old fashioned, hand coded html5 / CSS3 and jquery / Ajax / JSon apps.
My reason for doing this: Application Architect keeps pushing you back to the command line. I love the command line, give me a bash shell and vi and I'm good to go. However for complex, multi file deplyoments such as mobile apps a good IDE is worth its weight in gold. Architect is not there yet. I keep needing to lift the hood and hack to get things working.
I originally looked at Sencha for a 12 year old who is interested in mobile apps and is looking for an ide to use. I tried it out - it is not suitable - even getting a hello world type app running is going to be too much for a newbie and the first app in the help files doesnt explain itself but has you copying code for pulling data from a web site you have to sign up for. (ccitybars app).
A big improvement for sencha will be when Architect works out of the box (possibly an installer with sdk, tools , touch and architect all in one) and the fisrt app -walk through is a simple hello world that then builds to entering data, saving data and then displaying data before going multi form.
I was faced with the same choice about half a year ago, then went for jQTouch instead of Sencha Touch, which I found to be extremely Javascript centered. I'm currently working on a port of that same project to jQuery Mobile and I think the transition will be much smoother than it would have been with a Sencha Touch project.
If you know basic PHP I strongly suggest jqmphp.com. Up and running in less than 3 days a whole online mobile based site to order food!
MoSync team has recently done an interesting comparison:
Which Mobile JavaScript framework is the best: jQuery Mobile, Sencha Touch, jQtouch, or Kendo UI?
http://www.codefessions.com/2012/04/mobile-javascript-frameworks-evaluation.html
http://www.codefessions.com/2012/04/which-mobile-javascript-framework-is.html
http://www.codefessions.com/2012/05/which-mobile-javascript-framework-is.html
jQueryMobile wins but huge boost in arm is because of licensing. I prefer jQueryMobile because I don't want someone(thing) else to write my markup, that way hacking becoming difficult (at least for me), however, I do have couple of HTML5 apps under my belt now, one each in jQM and Sencha Touch. Sencha Touch makes it smoother, very hard to learn though while jQM gets you started in a day, there are bug but you usually get around them because of amazing web community around this framework.
I've built a nice production app in a few days using Sencha Touch 2.0 and it's delivering as documented. And, it's FAST. There might be some bugs, but, when I've run into one (which, is rarely), there seemed to be many ways to approach a solution so that it's really not that relevant.
Sencha Touch looks great but it is difficult to use. The Sencha support forums offer minimal support. Sencha Touch 2.x is still in alpha is quite buggy
Sencha touch will be the best option is you are just starting because it is well documented and it has a community support. Also, with phonegap, you spend more time on the development and less on things about other mobile platforms. Phonegap will build the application for you , once you upload it to the builder .
Comparing the two is like comparing apples and grapes...though you want to develop mobile apps with both, the level of comfort with either depends entirely on you.
This chart might be helpful if you want to compare the features : http://www.markus-falk.com/mobile-frameworks-comparison-chart/
Sencha Touch based apps can only work on WebKit based browsers. JQueryMobile based apps can work on all mobile web browsers.
I think you can go ahead with JQueryMobile for next 2 to 3 years. I am expecting in 2-3 years all mobile browsers will be based on WebKit engine. Once all mobile browsers start supporting WebKit, move to the Sench Touch mainly because of very good quality user interface.
I suggest KendoUI
It is unbeatable and fast performance in a training of couple of days. Not to mention the fast update and new features and support for server side wrappers (asp.net, php, jsp). It is unique!
I have used both and they each have conditions where one is better suited then the other.
In my opinion you would use JQueryMobile when
1. You need a quick and light weight mobile implementation of an web application.
2. You have time constraints (definitely faster to learn and implement then Sencha Touch).
3. Native look and feel is not a requirement.
When making an extension to an existing web application where relatively simple functionalities have to be extended to extended to mobile (really fast and easy) I found JQM to be extremely useful and straight forward.
In my opinion you would use sencha when
1. You want a native look and feel
2. You want a higher degree of functionality on the mobile side (possible access to native api's through phone gap)
3. Targeting the latest smartphones (performance is impressive)
I'm looking to revamp our mobile site with something simple for phones below the ambiguous smart phone category and something a little more interesting for the phones above this category. I'm not interested in WAP/WML for this project. I'm building a ASP.Net 4 MCV 2 app and using MBDF
What I'd like to know is how best to define this differentiation when using MBDF? Screen size, Javascript, SpportsTouchScreen etc. are all in MBDF along with others but I'm not sure where to draw the line and where the data is most accurate for the broad number of devices.
What do those of you out there developing for this spread of hardware & software split on?
Thanks,
Denis
P.S. I've done my research on xHTML MP1.0 - 1.2 and the best practises for implementation to ensure broad coverage but I don't want to restrict the newer phones out there to what the base line can see.
I personally use simple mobile browser dedection script and limit max screen width to 240px. I also use simple AJAX and JavaScript calls too.
Above setup works fine for 90% of my visitors but my sites aren't business critical sites.
You can try http://wurfl.sourceforge.net/ but .net api is not as good as PHP one
So after a bit of testing myself I think I'm going to stick with testing if they support JavaScript and Touch using the MBDF. This line in the sand isn't perfect but it seems like the best out there to me.
Here is a neat little tutorial on Browser Detection using JavaScript
Browser Detection