Building Cordova apps for Firefox OS

https://hacks.mozilla.org/2014/02/building-cordova-apps-for-firefox-os/

by jweathersby • 12 years ago

143 30 12 years ago

hacks.mozilla.org

suyash• 12 years ago

What is the advantage of creating Firefox OS using Cordova (if you're only creating firefox os apps)?

If you all you need for firefox os apps are: html, css, js then why do I need to add additional cordova library? The big plus of Cordova is you can use HTML5 and write apps that run on other platforms where HTML5 is not natively supported but Firefox OS claims to be HTML5 first.

Cordova seems useless for FireFox OS apps..specially if I'm not using Cordova for any other platform, since performance wise it's not as fast as native on Android/iOS.

batmansbelt• 12 years ago

Cordova is good because you can make the app in HTML and then publish it to be multi-platform (i.e. android and ios). This is just adding a platform to that process.

The fact that the platform they are adding already running apps in the same framework you've written your mockup in is secondary. Wrapping an HTML app into a firefoxOS app is fairly simple, but this will now handle that process for you.

jlongster• 12 years ago

There is no advantage of using Cordova if you're only creating Firefox OS apps.

The advantage is if you are already using Cordova to write cross-platform HTML apps, you can simply run `cordova platform add firefoxos` and it'll run on Firefox OS now (barring any issues with the API shims).

Eventually, the Web APIs supported in Firefox OS will hopefully become the standard APIs for hardware access, and Cordova will change their APIs to match it, and in the end you will just need to write apps against the Web APIs and we can get it to run everywhere. But we are not there yet.

fwenzel• 12 years ago

I think you are on the right path: If you're making an app exclusively for Firefox OS, wrapping it in Cordova is not the path I would take.

However, if you're also planning on submitting it to the iOS app store, then making a Cordova app is useful.

Similarly, if you already have a Cordova app that you submitted to iOS and Android's stores, then you are now able to turn it also into a Firefox OS app fairly easily without having to fork your entire project.

fooqux• 12 years ago

What is the advantage of creating Firefox OS using Cordova (if you're only creating firefox os apps)?

I suppose the advantage would be the ability to have your app run on the current biggest app stores, and a possible up-and-coming popular app store.

I'm assuming Mozilla is aware that most developers don't want to create apps that only run on Firefox OS, since it has such a small install base. But if they show how easy it is to write cross-platform apps they can get some traction.

jonesetc• 12 years ago

It seems to me you answered your own question.

What is the advantage of creating Firefox OS using Cordova (if you're only creating firefox os apps)?

The post doesn't seem to say anything about that. I figure this would just be one step for your Cordova app. You would also use it to target Android or iOS (I don't know enough about Cordova to know if iOS is a target).

hub_• 12 years ago

The advantage is of Cordova is leverage the web as a framework to build cross-platform mobile apps. FirefoxOS just became another supported platform.

That's all the point.

T-A• 12 years ago

The ability to also build the app for Android, iOS etc. with no or minor code tweaks?

_random_• 12 years ago

It simplifies your life if you don't need quality (tailored platform experience). Makes it simpler to tick the mark that you have a version of app you don't really care about on every platform.

nathanathan• 12 years ago

Phonegap Build has some useful features for packaging, debugging and distribution that could eventually become available to Firefox OS Cordova apps.

thebokehwokeh22• 12 years ago

Cordova is wonderful if you know how to use it. It allows for cross platform apps with a single codebase.

The problem lies in how it is used. Our project tried to incorporate a ton of native UI/UX conventions that screwed us over royally. CSS transitions, layered divs, swipe gestures, all of these were far too complicated for a little phone to handle. Stay away from these, and do simple hides and shows. Or go the hybrid method of having barebones native wrappers and web-views inside of those views.

The web (i.e. HTML/CSS/JS) promises a lot but mobile browsers are nowhere near where they should be in terms of pure processing power. As of right now, native is still the way to go.

zalun2• 12 years ago

That really depends on the type of the app and the target device. BTW "the web" is native on Firefox OS.

camus2• 12 years ago

you mean javascript is native on Firefox OS. Firefox OS api =/= web standards.

Pacabel• 12 years ago

I really don't buy the "web is native on Firefox OS" argument that you and others make.

Architecturally, it's really no different than a PhoneGap or web app running on Android, iOS or BlackBerry OS. They all involve an "app" typically written with HTML+JavaScript, executed in a web browser (often full-screen and without chrome), which in turn runs on an operating system of some sort.

If it's "native" on Firefox OS, then why isn't it just as "native" on Android, or iOS, or BlackBerry OS, or other mobile OSes?

What I think we really see is Firefox OS totally lacking any sort of real native software development support. This creates the illusion that web apps are somehow "native", when this is just a result of there being no other viable option.

lmorchard3• 12 years ago

Yeah, I would say that the problem is the "little phone" hardware moreso than the web tech. I wouldn't be surprised if a "native" (ie. Dalvik) Android app had similar issues on the same hardware.

Mikeb852• 12 years ago

If you have Android Chrome, open this. Super smooth on Nexus 5 and Chrome... http://helloracer.com/racer-s/

Jare• 12 years ago

There's very little processing power needed for that demo, outside access to the GPU via WebGL for rendering. It's a completely different model from HTML/CSS. And WebGL will not be available for Android WebViews (or iOS ones for that matter) for quite a while yet.

pjmlp• 12 years ago

Sure, because everyone has a Nexus 5.

chebum• 12 years ago

Have you released your Cordova app? Can we take a look?

thebokehwokeh22• 12 years ago

Not just yet. It'll be on the app store April 1st, assuming it passes Apple's tests.

jchrisa• 12 years ago

I second that. For mobile the key is to focus on responsiveness not glitz. People open your app for a reason, and hopefully the reason isn't your CSS animations.

nrc• 12 years ago

I think you underestimate what can be done with bad hardware if the motivation is there - FirefoxOS phones are really bottom end hardware and the UI (app opening, or changing screens, for example) is built using CSS transitions etc. They are just as smooth as native transitions on much more powerful hardware. With a good implementation and a good understanding of exactly when you hit the fast path optimisations you can do wonders.

The problem is not with web technology, but with the implementation and use of web technology. Of course, since this is mostly out of the hands of app developers, this doesn't help much. But I think it is important to be blaming the right culprits.

(Hopefully we are not too far off bringing these optimisations to Firefox on Android at least, for now they exist only for Firefox OS).

romanovcode• 12 years ago

I second that. We had to build pretty simple application for iOS and Android and all the swipes and buttons that were animated via css were horribly laggy.

Not to mention you have so little control over device itself, only thing you can do is rely on Cordova plugins (which are horrible to begin with).

Never again.

Building Cordova apps for Firefox OS

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