The Chrome Web Store welcomed a brand new arrival today, and it goes by the name of appMobi XDK. While the addition is focused squarely at developers, it’s entirely free and packs quite a doozy — cross-platform HTML5 software development from inside the web browser. As you possibly can expect, the tool is ideal for making applications to run within Google Chrome, but get this… it is also able to creating native apps for submission to Apple’s App Store and the Android Market . Like every competent development environment, it incorporates a full set of debugging tools, at the side of the power to check your apps via on-screen emulation and directly out of your target device. Hardware integration is accomplished with JavaScript hardware abstraction, which enables access to the camera, GPS, accelerometer and so on. Further, the platform boasts full compatibility with PhoneGap , which means that you may easily transition if you could have a project within the works. If you are already hooked, make sure to look at the PR after the break, which describes such goodies as in-app purchasing and secure user authentication, that are made possible with appMobi’s cloud services.
Use a single HTML5 code base to create Web apps for Chrome App Store, in addition to native apps for Android Market or Apple App Store
LANCASTER, Penn. – MobilityWire® – August 3, 2011
appMobi® (www.appmobi.com) today announced the immediate availability within the Google Chrome App Store of its “XDK” cross platform app development tool. For app developers, the XDK replaces numerous platform-specific development tools with a single HTML5-optimized development interface.
appMobi’s XDK combats “fragmentation” within the mobile development space by presenting users with a single, HTML5-based emulation, debugging and cross platform build environment for mobile apps. By making the XDK available at the Chrome App Store, appMobi expects to further its dominance of cross platform HTML5-based app development.
“Most developers desire to create apps which may easily be deployed to different platforms with at least rewriting,” said appMobi CTO, Sam Abadir. “We designed the appMobi XDK to make it really easy for a developer to examine how their app will feel and appear on diverse hardware platforms.”
The appMobi XDK debugging tools allow testing with on-screen emulation, local on-device and remotely anywhere on this planet without requiring ad-hoc builds or security certificates.
XDK apps can obviously be deployed to websites or the Chrome App Store. Where the XDK delivers a further treat is the power to construct an analogous exact HTML5 code base into native apps for placement within the Apple App Store or the Android Market.
“It’s clear that HTML5 has become the unifying technology for the mobile space,” Abadir continued. “However, creating great HTML5 apps requires great HTML5 tools and that is the reason exactly what the XDK is. As a ‘Web app’ itself, the XDK will also be used to create the hot breed of ‘hybrid’ Web apps that perform exactly like ‘native’ apps, but don’t require the approval or financial revenue share of the App Stores.”
appMobi offers a variety of cloud services that supply functions which are common in smartphone ecosystems, but aren’t portion of HTML5. These services include user authentication, in-app payments, rich media push messaging, user analytics and live app updates. The XDK is fully compatible with the PhoneGap HTML5 cross platform development project, providing many features which can be missing from the open source project. The XDK runs on either Mac or PC platforms. There isn’t a charge for the XDK development tool, and it’s available today within the Google Chrome Store (http://www.appmobi.com/XDKChrome).
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