The document summarizes the webOS mobile operating system and app development environment. It discusses what webOS is, the Mojo framework, the SDK, and walks through the structure and features of the Sorting Thoughts app as an example. It also covers the app submission process and distribution through the app catalog.

1. webOS App by
Example
Hendrik Ebel - Dec. 2009
Sorting Thoughts™

2. Agenda
What is webOS?
Mojo™ Framework
Software Developer Kit
Close inspection of Sorting Thoughts™ App
App Catalog
Conclusion

3. What is webOS?
Palm© webOS™ is Palm's next generation operating
system. Designed around an incredibly fast and
beautiful user experience and optimized for the
multi-tasking user, webOS integrates the power of a
window-based operating system with the simplicity
of a browser. Applications are built using standard
web technologies and languages, but have access to
device-based services and data. [1]

4. Application Model
„The webOS application model combines the ease of development
and maintenance of a web application with the deep integration
available to native applications, significantly advancing the mobile
user experience while keeping application develop- ment simple.“ [1]

5. webOS Architecture
Applications
Source [1]

6. It looks like a Card
Background Foreground
Notification Icons
Banner Notification Dashboard

7. Stages & Scenes
Stage represent a browser tab
Apps have one or more stages
Scenes are views within a stage
Each scene has a JS assistant and a HTML view
Scenes are managed like a stack

8. Mojo Framework
Mojo includes:
Application level functions
UI widgets
Access to local storage
System Services
bundled with Prototyp Javascript Framework

9. Software Developer Kit
no 64 Bit WinXP
Mojo™ SDK for Windows, Linux and
Mac OS X
Ubuntu
(special 64 Bit Issues)
Inspector for DOM analysis
Command Line Tools (Debugger, Logger, ...)
Mojo Framework and Examples
Sun VirtualBox
Sup port
Eclipse Plugin n o 3.5
Download from http://developer.palm.com/

10. Sorting Thoughts ™
A simple app to collect notes and
thoughts.
Source code is available on http://code.google.com/p/sorting-thoughts/

11. App Structure
Controller MVC
Model Patt
ern
View
Configuration Information
I18N Resources
Source Catalog
CSS styles

12. Controller & Assistant
AppController AppAssistant
StageController StageAssistant
SceneController SceneAssistant
Assistant: setup, activate, deactivate, cleanup
Scene Stack: pushScene, popScene, ...

13. Data Storage
Cookies (for preferences, max 4kB)
Depot (simple, no schema design)
HTML 5 database (SQLite)
use „ext:“ prefix to avoid 1MB limit

14. L10N & I18N
Use format functions like
Mojo.Format.formatNumber()
$L(„Text“) reads translated text from
strings.json
„Prelude“ font supports no Japanese or
Chinese

15. App Catalog
Read Checklists before submission
P. & L. (min 99¢ per App and 99$ per year)
OpenSource Apps in Catalog?
Global Store?
Vanished Apps after 1.3.1 Update in German
Catalog :-(

16. App Submission

17. App in Catalog
With hopefully many happy users...

18. Conclusion
webOS make it pretty simple to build an app
but the apps are also simple - maybe too simple?
JavaScript is not Java™
SDK is okay but Ares[4] make it much simpler
App Catalog is currently a little bit confuse
p le
s im
It “s

19. Thanks!
Any Questions?

20. Sources
[1] „Palm webOS“ by Mitch Allen
ISBN: 0596155255
[2] „TealPoint & Normsoft on webOS: It's Great, But We Want C“
http://by.ly/hkhx5zagzv
[3] Sorting Thoughts
http://www.sortingthoughts.com
[4] „Palm Shows Ares WebOS Development Tool“
http://by.ly/8nhaxdqs5i
webOS, Mojo and Palm are among the trademarks or registered trademarks
owned by or licensed to Palm, Inc.
Sorting Thoughts is trademark by Hendrik Ebel