Developers are always interested in what’s new, cool and powerful enough to advance the capabilities of their apps. Understanding the design impact of choosing any particular technology requires understanding the tradeoffs involved. In the area of presentation technologies, developers have worked with technologies such as Adobe Flash, Adobe Flex, Windows Presentation Foundation, Silverlight and, more recently, Web Standard technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

In order to learn more about their experiences, and why some are choosing to move to Windows 8 development, we spoke with Avery Sawyer, a software engineer at Ratio Interactive. Sawyer recently worked on the development of Comic Director, a free Microsoft Windows 8 UI Touch app that helps users create interactive comics.

 

What’s clear is that HTML5 is here to stay and it will change the face of application development. Whether it reaches its full potential next month or two years from now, its evolution is continuing apace, bringing new capabilities and new kinds of developers into its sphere of influence. Intel continues to show a keen interest in optimizing the platform for its hardware, as both the power of available hardware and of the platform continue to grow.

One advantage of a true cross-platform technology like HTML5 is that developers no longer need to rely on native technologies to deploy their apps on specific hardware platforms. That means being able to potentially circumvent app stores that demand costly native development and take a portion of the profits. The downside is that often the support of these proprietary app stores can make the difference between sinking without a trace and being the featured app of the month and reaching an audience of millions. For developers that perhaps have less need for the support that app stores can offer, HTML5 offers a significant advantage over native development, particularly when combined with native code whenever it makes sense.

 

By John Tyrrell

Emotions have been running high in the HTML5 application development space in recent months. With the current worldwide explosion of mobile and web app use currently underway, many feel HMTL5 is the bright future of cross-platform development.

The vision is simple: one single, straightforward web programming language that allows the creation of anything from a basic service app to a complex game that works across any platform without the need for native development. In theory, HTML5 is a developer’s dream, reducing costs, leveling the playing field and, for app and game studios in particular, opening the floodgates to a wealth of new potential development talent. But in practice, as is often the case when disruptive new technologies enter the marketplace, the road ahead for HTML5 has some twists and turns.

But after initial exploratory efforts across the breadth of the cross-platform game development community, many reluctantly admit that HTML5 remains a promise for the future, not a current reality.

By Tim Kridel

It takes guts to quit a good job to launch a company, especially during the worst economy since the Great Depression. But that’s what George Christopher and Suresh Kumar did in late 2011, when they launched Blue Innovations, a Chennai, India-based developer of apps for Android, iOS, Windows and other platforms. Their experiences are worth pondering if you’re a developer considering striking out on your own.

Childhood friends, Christopher and Kumar were working at separate software companies in 2009 when they started to develop apps in their spare time under the name 5dollarapps. Soon they were winning competitions and awards such as Intel’s Black Belt, successes that helped convince them to rebrand their effort as Blue Innovations and turn it into a full-time company. We recently spoke with Christopher and Kumar about how they decided when to quit their day jobs and what they did to increase their odds of success.

 

 

By Tim Kridel

Sometime over the summer -- no one is sure exactly when -- Apple quietly launched a portal where developers and other entities can alert the company about possible app copyright infringements. “Once you have identified the app and described the alleged infringement on the following pages, we will respond via email with a reference number and will put you in direct contact with the provider of the disputed app,” says the portal’s main page.

Apple’s new process doesn’t change one thing: the need for developers to periodically check what else is available in their target markets. That’s also an opportunity to see if rival apps have added features that give them a competitive advantage.

By Tim Kridel

If the term “Cabir” rings a bell, it means you’ve been in mobile app development since at least 2004. That’s when Cabir, considered the first known mobile virus, showed up as a proof-of-concept effort.

Since then, mobile devices have become more sophisticated in terms of processing power and connectivity -- which in turn creates more opportunities for malware writers. Just as important, the plethora of real-time operating systems (RTOS) has given way to a handful of smartphone OSs, which make it easier to write once, hack many.

We recently spoke with Trey Wafer, McAfee senior product manager, about how mobile operators, enterprises and security companies are responding to the mobile malware threat.

By Tim Kridel

Android has a bigger market share than iOS, so a bigger pool of potential users should mean that Android apps drive more revenue, right? Not necessarily. For example, at the LeWeb conference earlier this year, Evernote CEO Phil Libin said that his app’s average revenue per user (ARPU) for Android is $1.06 versus $1.79 for the iPhone and $2.01 for BlackBerry. Its iPad ARPU, meanwhile, is $2.18.

Why such big differences by OS and form factor? To find out, we asked Ken Gullicksen, Evernote’s vice president of corporate development. One takeaway echoes our Q&A with FourBros Studios earlier this year regarding Windows Phone: When developers fixate on OS market shares, they risk overlooking nuances that point to revenue opportunities.

 

By John Moore

 Mobile emulators and simulators can help developers test their apps on different devices without having to actually have them on hand. The testing tools can make testing easier, particularly where there are lots of variations in device types, screen sizes and operating systems. But they also face some limitations.

By Tim Kridel

More than half of app users have uninstalled or decided to not install an app due to concerns about personal information, according to a recent Pew Internet Project survey. If that isn’t motivation enough to protect customer privacy, consider the growing number of federal and state laws penalizing breaches.

But how can developers determine which laws apply? And what about industry best practices such as those from the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and CTIA – The Wireless Association? We spoke with Alan Chapell, co-chair of the MMA’s privacy and advocacy committee, about what developers need to know to protect customer privacy -- and, in the process, their app’s market potential.

By Tim Kridel

Siri might be the best-known example of a voice-enabled UI, but it is certainly not the only one. Whether speech will eventually replace touch as the primary way that smartphone and tablet users interact with apps is debatable. But for now, one thing is clear: Developers should start considering whether and how to add speech control to their apps to stay competitive.

When looking to integrate voice controls to mobile apps, developers are faced with a growing and often bewildering array of implementation options. To help sort through the technology and design options, we recently spoke with Ben Lilienthal, co-founder and CEO of OneTok, a new company that aims to make it easier and cheaper for developers to speech-enable their apps.