Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2020

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hpl123
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by hpl123 »

ACDC wrote:does it not make sense to develop a standalone generic PWA application on some other platform. This application would be specifically designed and dedicated to interacting with an AIM based application. The PWA would be a standalone PWA serving as mini framework to run the web-based AIM application with all the local features of PWA and connecting to the AwareIM server via REST. The user would install the app locally and get full functionality once they set up their AIM credentials.

If this does make sense and is possible, then any AIM developer could make use of the application by branding it and licensing/purchasing it from the developer
I have also thought about this and even thought about doing a PWA standalone outside of Aware myself and selling it branded to fellow Aware developers and/but we cannot do all things in Aware so is most likely limited how good the stand alone external app would be. I would rather have it in Aware but is just me. If PWA really is the future (any tech savy, future analysts out there? :) ), getting this in Aware is a no brainer.
Henrik (V8 Developer Ed. - Windows)
ACDC
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by ACDC »

Sidenote. I realise I might come off as a PWA evangelist haha.


well here's is a start, just came across this it seems interesting (founded by Microsoft to foster adoption)

https://preview.pwabuilder.com/
hpl123
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by hpl123 »

ACDC wrote:
Sidenote. I realise I might come off as a PWA evangelist haha.


well here's is a start, just came across this it seems interesting (founded by Microsoft to foster adoption)

https://preview.pwabuilder.com/
Yeah, I look/tested that and a couple of other basic generators and basically only does the manifest file which is one small part of a PWA. There are several other components it doesn´t do and there exists no complete PWA builder that does everything yet (or at least I haven´t found any yet). I also think generators like these are for websites only, integrating a real webapp like Aware is another story and some internal changes need to be made in Aware for this to work.
Henrik (V8 Developer Ed. - Windows)
yahya
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by yahya »

Adobe PhoneGap Build and WKWebView
On build.phonegap.com, you simply add the following to the config.xml file:

<feature name="CDVWKWebViewEngine">
<param name="ios-package" value="CDVWKWebViewEngine" />
</feature>

<preference name="CordovaWebViewEngine" value="CDVWKWebViewEngine" />
AwareIM Developer edition. Version 8.5 (Build 2827) running on Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard
yahya
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by yahya »

A very nice HTML5 and CSS template that you can utilise is https://preview.themeforest.net/item/go ... w/24650194
AwareIM Developer edition. Version 8.5 (Build 2827) running on Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard
hpl123
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by hpl123 »

Last evangelical statement lol. It seems it´s even possible to publish PWA´s to appstores (with Apple being a bit slow but most likely getting there fully in the foreseeable future):
https://www.simicart.com/blog/pwa-app-stores/

If we get all of the aforementioned advantages of a PWA + the ability to publish it to appstores (Android/IOS) and Apple catches up with the PWA things e.g installer, push notifications, appstore publishing (and if not having offline isn´t a major dealbreaker for most Aware developers), what else do we need?
Henrik (V8 Developer Ed. - Windows)
aware_support
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by aware_support »

Thanks, everyone for your thoughts. I don't understand why people are saying that we don't want to be a player in the mobile field. We do. This is high on our priority list and we will be investigating issues with mobile and native for the next release (although the native technology is very messy and hard to test - if anyone can suggest a simulator for testing native, it would be appreciated).

Having said that, there is a lot of talk of Aware IM not being good enough for native mobile, but how many of you have actually attempted to create a native mobile app in Aware IM? One of our clients (a council in Sydney) have just released a native application which is working really well for the council's customers. Yes, they had to fiddle with the configuration file, but in the end their app has been accepted for the Android and iOS stores and has been very well received by the customers.

Not trying to be defensive here, but it would really help if you send us a VERY SPECIFIC descriptions(like Jaymer says) of the deficiencies in the Aware IM mobile, rather than say generic things that it's not good enough.
Aware IM Support Team
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by Jaymer »

I don´t really think offline capabilities is that important (that and the fact that in todays connected world, being connected is norm).
no connectivity inside buildings, like hospitals, or basements.
still poor connectivity in South Africa.
Is very important issue for my clients.
fyi, jaymer...
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karelh
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by karelh »

aware_support wrote:Thanks, everyone for your thoughts. I don't understand why people are saying that we don't want to be a player in the mobile field. We do. This is high on our priority list and we will be investigating issues with mobile and native for the next release (although the native technology is very messy and hard to test - if anyone can suggest a simulator for testing native, it would be appreciated).

Having said that, there is a lot of talk of Aware IM not being good enough for native mobile, but how many of you have actually attempted to create a native mobile app in Aware IM? One of our clients (a council in Sydney) have just released a native application that is working really well for the council's customers. Yes, they had to fiddle with the configuration file, but in the end their app has been accepted for the Android and iOS stores and has been very well received by the customers.

Not trying to be defensive here, but it would really help if you send us a VERY SPECIFIC descriptions(like Jaymer says) of the deficiencies in the Aware IM mobile, rather than say generic things that it's not good enough.
Hey support

As per my post, building a successful AIM native mobile app is possible and I have quite a few consumers and business users making use of it. Yes, it does require some additional config and time but it works and delivers at the end of the day. My biggest concern is the fact that PhoneGap Build is no longer maintained which means we cannot use the WKWebview component, thus preventing apps being published to Apple after April

I do agree with Jaymer that offline capabilities are still important and I think the authentication via biometrics is something consumers are used but that is nice to have. I cannot say I really looked at all the options out there but Monaca does provide a simulator so you upload the zip and then run it on your phone through their mobile app to simulate and test before releasing it to their store. I am sure Ionic has a similar tool and I think their components look good.

Also, the fact that you can run a mobile app OR login in through a mobile browser and have the same interface is a win with AIM. We have some users that don't have smartphones so they access it via a browser on their phones.

Thank you for looking at this and for listing.
Karel
karelh
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by karelh »

yahya wrote:Adobe PhoneGap Build and WKWebView
On build.phonegap.com, you simply add the following to the config.xml file:

<feature name="CDVWKWebViewEngine">
<param name="ios-package" value="CDVWKWebViewEngine" />
</feature>

<preference name="CordovaWebViewEngine" value="CDVWKWebViewEngine" />
Hi

Thanks for this. Did you actually got this to work and published without getting the warning from Apple? So what you posted above is correct BUT you need to make use of Cordova IOS version 5.1.0 which was released end of last year. So the Cordova/PhoneGap CLI version 9.0.0 is still current but the underlying IOS version needs to be on 5.1.0.

So yes you can add the lines above but PhoneGap Build has not been updated to use IOS 5.1.0 so it still fails. If I am missing something then please let me know but I have tried the above. So the articles I posted in my first post was specifically around the fact that PhoneGap is not being updated and the rumour is that it won't be.

This is why I looked at Monaca. They support PhoneGap files and they are using IOS 5.1.0 BUT the folder structure AIM creates in the ZIP is not correct.

Kind Regards,
Karel
hpl123
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by hpl123 »

aware_support wrote:Thanks, everyone for your thoughts. I don't understand why people are saying that we don't want to be a player in the mobile field. We do. This is high on our priority list and we will be investigating issues with mobile and native for the next release (although the native technology is very messy and hard to test - if anyone can suggest a simulator for testing native, it would be appreciated).

Having said that, there is a lot of talk of Aware IM not being good enough for native mobile, but how many of you have actually attempted to create a native mobile app in Aware IM? One of our clients (a council in Sydney) have just released a native application which is working really well for the council's customers. Yes, they had to fiddle with the configuration file, but in the end their app has been accepted for the Android and iOS stores and has been very well received by the customers.

Not trying to be defensive here, but it would really help if you send us a VERY SPECIFIC descriptions(like Jaymer says) of the deficiencies in the Aware IM mobile, rather than say generic things that it's not good enough.
Thanks for the update support and looking forward to see what you in the end do with mobile. I myself am one of the developers that has not used native so for me, it´s mostly loose thoughts about this in general with thoughts on my PERCEPTION of native Aware and not meaning to trash it (also why it´s a bit hard for me to give informed, concrete feedback about missing things). To risk being a bit corny, "it´s because I care" :) and want Aware to become better in this area.
Henrik (V8 Developer Ed. - Windows)
Jaymer
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by Jaymer »

Since KarelH really wanted to focus on Phonegap Build issues, Vlad has asked for feedback on another subdiscussion here...that of shortcomings in Aware's mobile offering that need to be fixed. Please contribute to the new discussion thread for Mobile. thx
Click Here to see a collection of my tips & hacks on this forum. Or search for "JaymerTip" in the search bar at the top.

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karelh
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by karelh »

Hey support,

I hope you are all doing well and staying safe in these strange times. :-)

Apple has now officially stopped accepting Apps with UIWebview in them and after a lot of time trying to find the correct person at Adobe, it seems they are not going to update PhoneGap build to support the new version of Cordova IOS 5.1.0. This means no more apps can be published to the Apple store via PhoneGap build.

Is there a current workaround or perhaps another way to get this done? I was playing with Monaca but the folder structure is not correct.

Thanks.
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by aware_support »

There is no workaround that we are aware of. We do hope that PhoneGap build will support this sooner or later.

If you manage to get Monaca to work please let us know (if it is just a matter of re-arranging the folder structure it is probably doable).
Aware IM Support Team
karelh
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Re: Adobe PhoneGap Future / AwareIM Strategy / Apple April 2

Post by karelh »

Hey Support

Thank you for the response. Unfortunately from the replies, I received today it seems that PhoneGap Build will no longer be maintained by Adobe although nobody wants to communicate it as the official response.

The good news is that I got my App published via Monaca and I got no errors from Apple(Just need to change the folder structure a bit. Nothing major. I Will send it in a separate post.....so that is a win and some good progress.

In their dev environment, the app works as expected but when I publish it to the store and then install it I get the following error when logging in: "Connection failure: Status: error".

After some digging through my firewall logs and the Tomcat access logs I discovered that in fact, it does make a connection to the server so at least we know traffic is hitting the server. Below is a snippet from my access logs. PLEASE can you try and see why it will fail to login?

3 tries and all of them failed:
192.14.226.143 - - [06/Apr/2020:17:09:19 +0200] "POST /App/request.awmn HTTP/1.1" 200 85
192.14.226.143 - - [06/Apr/2020:17:09:26 +0200] "POST /App/request.awmn HTTP/1.1" 200 85
192.14.226.143 - - [06/Apr/2020:17:09:37 +0200] "POST /App/request.awmn HTTP/1.1" 200 85

From the dev instance where it works:
41.13.11.23 - - [06/Apr/2020:17:15:22 +0200] "POST /App/webif.awr HTTP/1.1" 200 1251
41.13.11.23 - - [06/Apr/2020:17:15:22 +0200] "GET /App/urlRequest.aw?actionType=run_query_action&query_string=FIND
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