Since the beginning, Drupal has remained an exceptional web development tool that essentially caters to the flourishing demand for mobile content support. The significance of mobile presence is more of a need today for businesses.
Therefore, before choosing the ideal platform, it is great to streamline the requirements and then choose an awarding option.
Among all other mobile app development resources, choosing DrupalGap benefits as it serves as a noteworthy connection between Drupal-based websites and mobile apps. DrupalGap is an open-source application development kit that is utilized for developing mobile as well as web apps for Drupal-powered websites.
With this powerful app development kit, you can easily write the set of codes for mobile applications and then deploy the same for a range of platforms including Android, iOS, Windows, BlackBerry, etc.
The choice of developing mobile apps comes in three categories that include:
Mobile Web App
The web applications that are easy to be accessed from smartphones or other internet-enabled devices are mobile web apps. These apps can be downloaded from the internet.
Native Apps
Natives apps are developed for targeting specific mobile devices. In these kinds of applications, it is extremely easy to integrate the internal functions of mobile devices.
Hybrid App
Hybrid apps have the attributes of native apps and also include web functionalities. Hence, these apps have the features of both the aforementioned types.
In the race of choosing a mobile application that may implement Drupal as a content store, the native application comes as the most appropriate choice. Native applications come as a viable choice as they may be downloaded and installed on the device easily. Moreover, it also helps in resolving performance bottlenecks for the developed apps.
The Components Of DrupalGap
DrupalGap includes three major parts, namely;
- Drupal Module: Drupal Module has the responsibility of establishing reliable communication between the website and the mobile app.
- Mobile Application Development Kit: Mobile application development kit is most commonly used to develop custom mobile applications that can run on any of the platforms.
- Web Application Development Kit: For creating outstanding web applications, a web app development kit can be used.
Creating Mobile Applications via DrupalGap
Here are the various step of creating a mobile app through DrupalGap:
- Configuring Drupal Website: For creating a mobile app through DrupalGap, it is important to have a Drupal-powered website running on the latest version of this CMS.
- Setting the DupalGap Module: Enabling the DrupalGap module will ensure effortless communication of the Drupal-powered website and the app.
- Configuration of the Environment for Mobile App Development: It is important to create a mobile app development environment so that the DrupalGap execution can be supported.
- Saving .JS files copy: Before saving the JS file copy, the former step is to keep Drupal mobile application development kit files in the “www directory” of PhoneGap. It helps in accessing the features with ease.
- Setting The Testing Environment: It is important to set up the development environment of a PhoneGap mobile app for Drupal before developing and testing the app.
After the development kit has been installed successfully, the next step lies in adding a custom page with the use of DrupalGap. By keeping in mind the points explained here, it is extremely easy to use DrupalGap for mobile app development. These points exceptionally play their role to make your mobile app ready for execution.
Author Bio: Being an experienced developer at Sparx IT Solutions – a Mobile App Development Company, Tom Hardy is passionate about researching new technologies in both mobile and web that could enhance websites and mobile functionalities. He keeps an eye on the latest happenings in the web & mobile world to remain updated with the current market trends. Follow him on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter.
