Mobile App Feasibility

Hello Everyone :grinning:,

I tried Wappler few months ago find it hard and I made mobile app in Adalo. however there was always plan to move to wappler. I learned things about mobile app .
So, now I have few question to @mebeingken @PaulBS @brad @Max_Saravia @BruceX @Marek @Dave as you all guys were active in mobile app queries and answers.

  1. Is Wappler good enough for mobile app right now without writing coding?
  2. Bootstrap or FW?
  3. I am worried about mobile app frontend mainly. Your thoughts?
  4. whatā€™s the major features Wappler mobile app missing right now? so I would know in advance about that.
  5. Any advice?
  6. Were you able to complete your app or you abandoned or moved your project?
    my app is simple right now. Customer would enter detail via form and I will show that in intuitive & beautiful manner.

I am also attaching screenshot of my app as well. however, I want to create complex app in Wappler .


Please give answer in detail so this post can be guide for everyone who wants to use Wappler for mobile app.
Thank you very much,
AK

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Hi A_K

  1. That depends on what type of application you want to do. If you want it to read from a database and have forms and tables, it can be done without writing code. If you want for example to have access to the camera to read a QR code, then you will have to write code.

  2. It depends, if you want your web app to feel more like a store app, FW. If you donā€™t mind and you already have experience with bootstrap, it will be easier to use.

  3. I could not tell you, again, it depends on the project, if it is something complex you will probably have to write code.

  4. I could not tell you what is missing and what is not, it depends on the project, to do what you show below nothing is missing.

  5. You can do that quite easily with Wappler once you understand the basics of how its visual interface, server connection and appconnect work.

One piece of advice I can give you is the following, in this and in many communities it is not much use to ask general questions, because they will give you general answers. The more precise you are in your questions, the better answers you will get.

I hope you can carry out your project. :slightly_smiling_face:

2 Likes

Thanks, Max ā€¦I am not a programmer so I donā€™t know how to write code. Which programming language I need to learn for writing code? and I will be surely back with specific question once I start the real app buildingā€¦ :grinning:

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It is difficult to give you an answer because that depends on each person. But in my personal experience and to use with Wappler I would say: HTML, CSS and JavaScript are the basics today.

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Hi A_K,

I have created my first mobile app and have a couple more to do but I am not an expert, however, I can give you a beginners view of Wappler and Mobile Development.

First off, Wappler does so much more than just the mobile app and as such there is a learning curve that I have tackled by trial and error, a lot of Googling and when really stuck, asking on this forum.

There is no application builder which does everything without code, and in some cases, it is quicker to dive into the code, so donā€™t be afraid of it. Wappler can do a lot without having to code, but there will always be a need to dive in, especially with FW7.

And remember that by creating an app you are doing something that would ordinarily cost 10s of thousands of pounds, the trade-off is the effort you have to put in.

So to answer your questions:

  1. Wappler is good enough but as with every ā€œbuilderā€, if you want something to be displayed or work in a specific way, you will probably need to get into the code at some point.

  2. You can use either but FW7 is designed for mobile apps so will give you a better end result (better as in more like a ā€œnormalā€ app).

  3. You should be able to recreate your designs in FW7. You might need to work through the FW7 docs to get some of the bits you need but it is possible.

  4. There are some things in FW7 and Wappler that need a bit of thought (and code) but they are few and far between. As you come across them, Google is your friend and in my case, trial and error.

  5. Learn git so mistakes can be undone :slight_smile: Also learn to use something like Postman so you can test your back end API calls and confirm they work before adding them to the front end.
    Get to grips with the structure of building an app, separate projects for the back end and app, make sure your app project links to the live version of your back end.
    Understand a bit about docker and the way Wappler deals with database updates and changes.

There is more but donā€™t let this put you off. Be prepared to spend time learning the different technologies Wappler uses and how they fit together because once you get that, you can create almost anything.

Lastly, as you have done, ask questions, search the forum and read the Wappler and FW7 docs (or at least use them for reference).

2 Likes

Got itā€¦yesā€¦I was asking for Wappler purposeā€¦

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Thanks, Paulā€¦For your time and valuable inputā€¦ Surely I will work on docker, postman & FW docsā€¦ :+1: and letā€™s see what happensā€¦

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Hi A_K

I canā€™t add a lot more to the replies you have already had and in fact I think I have learnt something from them myself, but in case it helps here goes.

Before replying to some of your points let me put my use of Wappler into context. I donā€™t have a background in web app development and I am not an experienced programmer. I have dabbled in various areas of technology and been willing to try things out. I have various ideas for apps but until I discovered no-code / low code didnā€™t have the time to invest in learning how to implement them with coding tools. This is a hobby for me, for the moment at least. I have built one app and am in the process of working on my first mobile app.

  1. I believe Wappler is good enough for straightforward mobile apps. Although I can find my way round basic code (particularly using examples given on the forum) my approach is to either do without something that needs code or find a different way of doing it.

  2. Following advice from the team within the forum I opted for BS. The advice was that BS is perfectly adequate for mobile and it saved having to understand a different technology (first app was built with BS). As an non-public app the possibility that it might not look quite as good as in FW wasnā€™t a problem.

  3. I was worried about the front end too but once I had set up Android Studio (no iOS as yet) I found development to be no more difficult than for a web app.

  4. Iā€™m not in a position to comment here. I donā€™t intend to move to a different platform so I look for workarounds if I canā€™t do something in a particular way or just make do without.

  5. Just be persistent in searching the forum for answers. This can be time consuming so be prepared for that. The community is very generous with its time to help out but everyone is busy and questions can be missed by the person/people with the knowledge.

  6. My app is not complete yet. In fact I am currently building a much stripped down version of what I ultimately want in order to gain experience with the elements I expect to need in the full app. Perhaps I should have mentioned this in 5. as advice - experiment with something simple but functional before building the full thing.

Good luck

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Yes and no. Some Plugins will require manual configuration depending on your requirements. Obviously those not native to Wappler itself.

For us Bootstrap all the way, and with custom CSS you can create any look you want to achieve.

My focus would be responsiveness, responsiveness, responsiveness. Understand the basic principles of device aspects, resolution. Wappler allows you to select various sized device profiles, test, test, test.

Nothing is missing. It is simply down to the user and their abilities.

If you are new to Wappler and its concepts, work-flow, adjust for the learning curve. Start with the basics of creating a simple responsive page. How to build your page. Navigation and content areas. Spacing and, again, responsive design.

Donā€™t start what you canā€™t finish. Plan your application on paper, break it down in to stages/phases. Test, debug, test again. ALWAYS BACKUP!

Hope that helps? Basically if you are starting from the beginning try not to get frustrated. Take a break. Sit back. Walk donā€™t run. Ask questions here in the community.

We are all here to help if we can.

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Thank you Marekā€¦this was helpfulā€¦I would follow your adviseā€¦ :grinning:

Thank you @Dave for your time and advice. Most of the experts recommended BS rather than FWā€¦I would follow advise and will ask question once started project in the wapplerā€¦ :+1:

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