HTML 5 App vs. iOS/Android App

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TheOtherBob
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HTML 5 App vs. iOS/Android App

Post by TheOtherBob » Mon Apr 04, 2022 9:26 am

Hello,

I'm new to LiveCode. I'm designing an app and trying to decide which LC licenses to purchase. My target audience will be using mobile devices. I'm considering using a web app, and trying to determine whether LC HTML 5 is a practical choice for implementing this app.

I've spent some time looking through this forum and I have doubts whether LC HTML 5 is going to be suitable.

I'm also having difficulty finding examples of web apps that were developed with LC HTML 5. Could anyone offer links to such examples?

My app needs to store local data... is this even possible using LC HTML 5?

I was hoping that using LC HTML 5 I'd be able to take advantage of a less complicated deployment, but I'm getting the impression that it would actually be more complicated than deploying to iOS or Android.

I would appreciate all thoughts and comments!
~Bob (one of the many)

stam
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Re: HTML 5 App vs. iOS/Android App

Post by stam » Mon Apr 04, 2022 5:53 pm

It may be possible to host a nice WASM app with the new web app compiler (and yes, you can store some local data) -- but you wouldn't really be 'deploying apps' as it were, you'd need to host this on a server etc. Possibly you may be better off creating native apps.

If you want a simpler route you may want to have a look at Appli from the liveCloud team - they are currently in beta for low-code/no-code IDE based on LiveCode and the idea is that you run these apps through a 'player' that will be available on the app stores, meaning that it's hassle free to deploy on all devices that can run the player, but at a cost of course. You'll have to have an active liveCode account and a liveCloud/appli account.

See here for brief introduction of Appli from Mark Talluto and some discussion: viewtopic.php?f=49&t=36787&p=214189&hilit=appli#p214150

Or check out their 'stealth' website: https://appli.io

I've tried some of the beta and it's a work in progress but developing well...

jacque
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Re: HTML 5 App vs. iOS/Android App

Post by jacque » Mon Apr 04, 2022 6:20 pm

For now I'd go with mobile apps. HTML5 is still in its early stages and has some limitations which is why you didn't find many examples. It will be more feasible in LC 10 but you can always change your license when that's final if you still want to.

Saving data unique to the user is pretty simple in mobile apps but I suspect there'd be a lot more coding in HTML5 in order to keep each user's data separate.
Jacqueline Landman Gay | jacque at hyperactivesw dot com
HyperActive Software | http://www.hyperactivesw.com

bobcole
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Re: HTML 5 App vs. iOS/Android App

Post by bobcole » Tue Apr 05, 2022 12:57 am

I created a web app to help we with the Wordle game.
My app is a helper tool to be used in conjunction with the Wordle game.
It is on a server at LiveCode Hosting.
Feel free to take a look:
http://morrevbon.com/wordhelper.html
Let me know if you have any questions,
BobC

TheOtherBob
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Re: HTML 5 App vs. iOS/Android App

Post by TheOtherBob » Tue Apr 05, 2022 10:14 am

bobcole wrote:
Tue Apr 05, 2022 12:57 am
I created a web app to help we with the Wordle game.
My app is a helper tool to be used in conjunction with the Wordle game.
It is on a server at LiveCode Hosting.
Feel free to take a look:
http://morrevbon.com/wordhelper.html
Let me know if you have any questions,
BobC
Hey BobC, thanks for sharing your app. It gives me a pretty good idea of such things as loading time and performance.

I think there are more than 150,000 English words that are 5 letters in length. From the performance of your app, I guess that you're including the entire word list in the app itself, i.e., not performing any references to an online database while the app is running. On my mobile phone the initial download took a while, but on my PC it was quicker than many websites I've visited.

The relative complexity of your app seems pretty similar to mine, so perhaps I should give HTML 5 a closer look.

Personally, I enjoy the mental challenge and don't use any reference materials while playing Wordle, relying entirely on my brain, but your app presents a clean design that certainly would help one to succeed at Wordle. Your use of regular expression elegantly provides the necessary logic.

Nice job!
~Bob (one of the many)

bobcole
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Re: HTML 5 App vs. iOS/Android App

Post by bobcole » Tue Apr 05, 2022 6:18 pm

I was inspired to write an app after reading about the Wordle game in January from this web article (see the "Riddler Classic" section):
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/wh ... et-wordle/
The app contains over 12,900 words that can be guessed and approximately 2,300 of them can be a "magic" word for a day.
That is a much smaller universe of words than your estimate of 150,000 words!
Since the publication of the article, the game was acquired by the New York Times which, as I understand, has changed the list somewhat.
I enjoy watching the remaining number of words decline as I enter words and change the colors of the letters.
I rarely use the "Show Words" button but, when I get stuck, I will "cheat" by peeking at the list.
With LiveCode 10 we can now designate the "web" as a standalone destination which makes it so much easier than creating binaries for the App Store.
Still much to learn about LiveCode 10...
BobC

TheOtherBob
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Re: HTML 5 App vs. iOS/Android App

Post by TheOtherBob » Sat Apr 09, 2022 5:50 pm

Hey BobC,

I just wanted to add that the user interface design of your Wordle-related app is very intuitive. I was able to use it effectively in a very short time, without reading any directions. All of the functionality was straightforward to figure out. This, for me, is a hallmark of good user interface design.

It's refreshing to experience!
~Bob (one of the many)

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Re: HTML 5 App vs. iOS/Android App

Post by bobcole » Sat Apr 09, 2022 5:55 pm

Just. moments ago, I updated the version to Beta 8.0. The details are hidden by default making the layout even simpler.
Is that what you see? If not, refresh your browser (you may have to clear your browser cache).
morrevbon.com/wordhelper.html
Your feedback is much appreciated.
Thanks,
Bob C

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