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Building Large Mobile Apps
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- 4. • Adam Magaña •Lead Mobile Engineer • 7 years at Drund • YSU - computer science grad • Interested in random things - baking bread, riding bikes, backpack enthusiast Me
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- 6. Drund is awhite-label communication and audience-building platform for enterprise brands. Allow me to explain…
- 7. We provide custombranded apps, a custom branded website, a full admin panel, and a metric boatload of features to our customers.
- 8. Some of OurCustomers • Austintown schools • Boardman schools • YSU Athletics • The Cleveland Cavaliers • And a few others getting ready to sail
- 9. We’ve been atthis for a while.
- 10. A Quick DrundHistory
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- 13. • Single sign-on •Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube integrations • Netflix and Hulu integrations • A customizable news reader • File storage • Calendar integration • A quick and simple website publisher
- 14. It was prettycool but…
- 15. We scrapped mostof it.
- 16. The product neededto be better. We began revamping our entire project and started expanding upon our social tools.
- 17. Then one fatefulday…
- 18. “I need youto start working on a mobile app for us.”
- 19. Okay, let’s doit. But…
- 20. A Few ImmediateChallenges • No previous experience writing iOS or Android apps • Very small team • Need to build many features • Need a working prototype very soon
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- 22. Titanium • Compiles tonative iOS and Android • JavaScript-based API • Open source • Native module support • Better performance than webview-based competitors
- 23. One person withno prior mobile experience could start creating apps for both iOS and Android.
- 24. No brainer. Let’s useTitanium.
- 25. Mobile Development Starts Thisis where the fun begins.
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- 27. iOS App Storelaunch on October 2012 Google Play Store launch March 2013
- 28. Initial Launch Features •Posts • Broadcasts • Private messaging • Profiles
- 29. Our Feature ListToday • Live video streaming • Check-ins • Pages • Groups • Custom user permissions • Account import tools • Community statistics • Member statistics • Facebook and Twitter integration • File storage • Branded apps • Announcements • Polls • Store • Auctions • Events • Hashtags • Mentions • Post/announcement scheduling • Private messaging Just to name a few…
- 30. Current Mobile Status •4 full-time mobile team members. • 22 custom branded apps on Play Store and App Store • 3 branded video streaming apps • Ongoing transition to fully native apps
- 31. Needless to saywe’ve had to overcome a lot of hurdles. What helped us get to where we are today?
- 32. Three Challenges And HowWe Tackle Them
- 33. 1. Creating and ManagingBranded Apps
- 34. “We need tobe able to completely customize the existing app. Colors, icons, splash screens… everything.”
- 35. Even after wefigure out how to do it technically how do we do it feasibly?
- 36. We need tobe able to… • Edit brand-specific JSON files en masse • Generate/render template files • Render brand-specific icons • Create whole new sets of assets with relative ease • Validate existing assets
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- 38. Grunt • JavaScript-based taskrunner • Hundreds, if not thousands, of plugins • Large developer community • Easy learning curve • Robust enough for our needs
- 39. $ grunt simulate:cavs—platform=ios $ grunt clean $ grunt production —platform=android $ grunt add-brand $ grunt add-property Automated most of our workflow with relative ease.
- 40. 2. Maintaining Good CodeQuality
- 41. Large, high priorityfeature roadmap + Regular maintenance and bug fixes = Limited time for cleanup
- 42. Use a codelinter - ESLint Code review everything
- 43. Still doesn’t completelysolve the code quality problem. Need to develop good habits.
- 44. Hit and RunApproach
- 45. Android boot fileiOS boot file • Add JS prototype functions • Check for credentials • Open login window if needed • Automatically log user in if needed • Etc. Problem: • Need to add extra logic to boot up process • Boot up files need cleaned up • Add JS prototype functions • Check for credentials • Open login window if needed • Automatically log user in if needed • Etc.
- 46. Universal boot file IdealSolution: • Add JS prototype functions • Check for credentials • Open login window if needed • Automatically log user in if needed • Etc.
- 47. Android boot fileiOS boot file • Check for credentials • Open login window if needed • Automatically log user in if needed • Etc. • Check for credentials • Open login window if needed • Automatically log user in if needed • Etc. Prototype utility file • Add JS prototype functions Compromise:
- 48. Sometimes you can’tdo all the clean up you want to do but you can and should do something. Easy to forget that when on a time crunch.
- 49. 3. Code BaseBloat
- 50. Large code basewith multiple developers + Non-stop additions = Bloat, yo
- 51. Make simple toolsand teach your peers how to use them. Avoid accidentally making the same thing twice.
- 52. Overlay Tutorials • Clientwants to show a one time overlay tutorial to new users. • How can we break this down into simple and reusable parts? • Expand toolbox • Avoid writing code that can only be used for one thing.
- 53. OneTimeAction.registerOrCallAction({ actionId: 'feed_overlay', callback: function() { // This function gets called only one time. } }); One Time Action Module
- 54. TutorialOverlay.showTutorialOverlay({ mode: TutorialOverlay.modes.MESSAGE, permissions: { canCreateMessages:self.canSendMessage } }); Tutorial Overlay Module Extends Base Overlay Module
- 55. OneTimeAction.registerAction({ actionId: 'messages', callback: function() { TutorialOverlay.showTutorialOverlay({ mode: TutorialOverlay.modes.MESSAGE, permissions: { canCreateMessages: self.canSendMessage } }); } }); Combined Usage
- 56. This is byno means groundbreaking. But when you’re building and maintaining a lot of code with others it’s easy to forget to make and share tools. Avoid re-making something you or someone else made.
- 57. These recommendations arein their simplest form. Lots of other takeaways we could talk about. Don’t get discouraged if you find yourself wrangling with a large codebase.
- 58. We’re looking togrow our crew!
- 59. • Backend/DevOps • Frontend •Mobile • Communications • Design
- 60. Our next meetup and talk will be April 27th. “Up And Running With Docker” by Mark Beacom “Building and Refining Features For Android and iOS” by Aaron Womer and Mike Donahue
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