Short of going native, a software developer might choose to build their own app using proprietary app-building tools, most of them HTML5 packages, targeted to developers whose technical and programming skills are basic or nonexistent.
But now one, Appcelerator, wants to make the app-building process even faster.
According to reports, Appcelerator has offered up some interesting updates to its cross-platform mobile-optimized development solution. Users will now have access to analytics options in addition to API access in the mobile view.
Appcelerator moved quickly on this opportunity, just as Amazon Web Services entered the market with its own improved mobile development offerings. They brought real-time mobile analytics to the table, to respond to their customer's demand for insightful data. Also, and this is key, the platform will offer that analytical function across the user's whole gallery of apps.
Apps are becoming a major software commodity for publishers, retailers and pretty much everyone these days. Analysts believe businesses will move from having a few apps to a dozen, to hundreds, maybe even thousands. Publishers are a prime example.
One report with catchphrase terminology made use of a term called "post-web." In this so-called post-web world, users will move from websites to apps and from desktops to tablets. As the report continues to detail, users are quickly adopting apps as a way to work, play, communicate and make purchase decisions. Businesses are looking for more ways to engage with their customers and employees.
The Appcelerator platform will reportedly make things more intuitive for those businesses, but more important, it will be able to offer the ability to build apps quickly and at scale. The more data piling up in the hands of business managers, boards, directors and department heads, the more that last part seems to matter. Businesses want a great way to respond intelligently to all of that data and they want to be able to do it as quickly as possible to stay competitive.
Another report noted the importance of quickly building APIs that work across iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone and how Appcelerator CEO Jeff Haynie is working to remove much of the code-intensive work involved in processes that run behind the scenes.
"80 percent of custom coding goes away," Haynie says.
The platform's advanced analytics allow users to track a number of variables including app usage, engagement, retention, conversion, and quality.
An Appcelerator SDK is also available that allows developers track the usage of any native app you build on any platform. It doesn't matter if it was developed on the Appcelerator platform. The company is planning to support development of private and on-premises clouds in the future. That would allow developers to build, test, and deploy apps with tools hosted on their own local infrastructure.
