Vertailu mobiilisovelluskehityksen työkaluista teollisuuskäyttöön tarkoitetuissa monialustaisissa sovelluksissa
Ottka, Sanna · Aaltodoc (Aalto University) · 2015
The mobile device base is strongly divided between different mobile platforms, most importantly Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Applications developed for one platform with traditional development methods only work on that platform, and supporting multiple platforms requires developing the application separately for each of the platforms. Different cross-platform methods have been introduced as a solution to this problem. They allow deploying the application for multiple platforms from a single code base. This thesis studies when a cross-platform solution is a viable alternative to developing the application separately for each target platform. The focus is on industrial applications that communicate wirelessly with electric drives. Three main development methods are identified as native, web and hybrid applications. Native applications are developed for a single platform with the platform's standard development tools and conventions. Web applications are developed with web technologies and hosted as web sites. Hybrid applications utilize web technologies but are installed on the device like native applications and are developed with specialized cross-platform tools such as PhoneGap. Each method is evaluated by various criteria. The evaluations show that on average the methods are almost equal, and their suitability depends on the target application. A matrix is generated that calculates the best fitting method for a given application with the help of application-specific weight values. The weight values represent how important each individual criterion is for that application. The matrix is then used to select the best method for three study cases. The results show that a cross-platform solution can sometimes be a viable option, based on the needs of the application.