New PhoneGap 2.7 framework starter app.

I have finished my PhoneGap based Conference and Trade Show app. It is posted on binpress.com and built for iOS and Android.

What makes this different from other binpress.com projects? This project gives you a fully working basic app that allows you to preload a populated SQLite database for both Android and iOS. While the project is intended for use as a conference or trade show app, it could be used for any data driven application that requires preloaded data. It is a fully working app, it also has complete instructions on how to make modifications for other uses and it can be used as an instruction tool for someone just starting out in PhoneGap development.

The iOS project is located here: http://www.binpress.com/app/conference-core-ios-for-html5-phonegap/1483

The Android version is here: http://www.binpress.com/app/conference-core-android-for-html5-phonegap/1537

The Android version of the app is located on Google Play here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.barndoorapps.conferencecore

It is populated with some filler data, enough to see the functionality of the app and to instruct you on how to format your data to make it work for your requirements.

Why did I build this in PhoneGap instead of native? I am not a huge fan of PhoneGap, I prefer native development, however PhoneGap does have a place in the mobile development world and I wanted to test out some theories about how PhoneGap works.

The positives:

1.     PhoneGap has a fairly fast development time, usually, for relatively simple applications.

2.    Much of the UI (HTML5) code is cross platform, but not all of it, the best I can get to is about 85%.

3.    Anyone that can claim to be a web designer can build a reasonable approximation of a mobile app.

The negatives:

1.     PhoneGap changes its code base about every three weeks (not really but it seems that way) and usually is not backwards compatible.

2.    15% of the code is different, 100% of the native code.

3.    PhoneGap UI apps aren't as "smooth" as native.

Hopefully the BinPress.com project can save someone time or can be a useful tool in building their own project. What's next for me and Barn Door Apps? The native versions... someday... hopefully :)

Phil Sacchitella
Barn Door Apps LLC