Are you running a business and want to improve workplace efficiency?
Chances are that you are considering a new mobile application, which may be the only medium to help your employees, partners and customers actively connect and collaborate.
While planning for mobile app development there are various steps to go through to have a successful mobile app. One of the more important steps is finalizing the development cost and time. PhoneGap technology allows building a mobile app with less effort and in a quick manner. Availability across platforms, access to native APIs, performance and quasi-native UI look & feel are some of the other benefits. PhoneGap will enable you to gain maximum efficiency while developing applications for multiple OS platforms.
Try our checklists for developing an Enterprise Mobile App and for Cross Platform Development to figure out how prepared you are for embarking on your enterprise mobile application development initiative.
In order to develop an app using PhoneGap, the following checklist will help you avoid redundancy and wastage of resources. Use it to evaluate your needs and situation, and get steered in the right direction.
Business Considerations |
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| 1. | Do you think there would be a need to launch the app on different mobile operating systems later? | |
| 2. | Is there a need to have the same app flow and design on different platforms? | |
| 3. | What form factors are you considering for building your application? | |
| 4. | Does the application need advanced graphics? | |
| 5. | Is a companion website needed for branding and promotion of your app? | |
Technological Considerations |
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| 6. | Is the application processor-intensive? | |
| 7. | Can using the app affect device performance adversely? | |
| 8. | Do you have heavy data processing requirements? | |
| 9. | Can the complexity of business logic be handled by server side implementation? | |
| 10. | Have you checked if there are any OS specific constraints that can limit the usage of the app? | |
| 11. | Is there a need for offline support? | |
Security Considerations |
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| 12. | Have you decided the security features of the application? | |
| 13. | Does the development platform provide the required security features? | |
| 14. | Does your application need identity management? | |
Multitasking Considerations |
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| 15. | Does the application have any background processing requirements? | |
| 16. | If multitasking is needed, are there restrictions applied on OS platforms for your requirements? | |
| 17. | Have you identified the rules and behaviors that your application must conform to when another application/ service comes to the foreground? | |
Additional Features and Interfacing |
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| 18. | Would you need the built-in features of a mobile device such as Storage, Network, Media, Geolocation, Camera, Compass, Gyroscope, Rear-facing camera, Front-facing camera? | |
| 19. | Would you need to implement services such as Payment gateway, Ad banners or others? | |
| 20. | Do you know which plug-ins would be needed (existing or custom) and that they are available on the platforms and versions you will be supporting? | |
| 21. | Have you checked if it is possible to implement the features required on the devices under consideration on PhoneGap itself, rather than writing native code for it? You can search through all existing plugins using the Cordova/PhoneGap Plugin Registry. | |
Backend Considerations |
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| 22. | Is planning for sufficient memory capacity a consideration? | |
| 23. | Is a backend server required? | |
| 24. | Do you know what kind of server is required for the app? | |
Capability of Resources |
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| 25. | Are your Developers expert in HTML 5, JavaScript and CSS? | |
| 26. | Have you thought of leveraging any particular JS Library for implementation, example being Ionic, Sencha etc.? | |
| 27. | Can your Developers provide the support required for version upgrade, maintenance and regular upkeep? | |
| 28. | Debugging Cordova applications can sometimes be a challenge, but if Developers are familiar with Chrome and Safari Dev Tools it is much easier. Are your developers technically skilled? | |
Maintenance Considerations |
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| 29. | Considering the proliferation of device types, is the app being developed such that working on it in future is easy? | |
| 30. | Can the app be repurposed to meet the enhanced requirements? | |
