We are excited to announce the availability of the DreamFactory Mobile Application (DMA) for iOS, Android, and Windows 8. The DMA allows JavaScript developers to write a single application on the DreamFactory Services Platform (DSP) and then quickly deploy their work to end users on any mobile device. The DSP is an open source platform that provides all of the backend services you need for sophisticated data driven or collaborative applications. And now, with the DMA, enterprise developers can securely deliver these applications to any group users, customers, partners, or employees.
Here is an example usage scenario for the DMA. An enterprise developer could build a front end HTML5 application that uses the DSP for backend hosting and RESTful services. Then, the employees of his company would download the DMA for iOS, Android, or Windows 8. They would need to enter a one-time connection URL for their company. After that, any collaborative application written by the development team would automatically be available to employees based on their user role. Multiple applications can be deployed that all use the same backend services and data. All application updates are dynamically available to end users.
The DMA was built with Apache Cordova, also known as PhoneGap. This enables the application to have extremely powerful "native" access to phone and tablet features such as the address book, contacts, storage, camera, accelerometer, compass, and geolocation. So on the one hand, the DMA provides dynamic access to new applications and services without a trip to the app store, and on the other hand, these applications have a powerful API that leverages native phone and tablet capabilities. It's the best of both worlds! Meanwhile, the DSP is providing an entire palette of backend services for application hosting, user management, enterprise security, database access, and document storage.
The DMA is an open source project under the Apache License, and we have provided documentation on how developers can build their own version of the DMA for iOS, Android, and Windows 8. The developer can change the name of the application and include new logos and other information as needed. In this manner, an enterprise could use the DMA to deploy their own application for employees complete with corporate branding. End users would not have to enter a connection URL, that would be part of the custom application.
Here is a more advanced usage scenario for the DMA. An enterprise developer could rebuild the DMA for their company. Employees would need to download this application once on a given mobile device. After that, all of the mobile applications written by the development team would automatically show up based on user role. These applications would have access to an extremely powerful palette of backend services through the DSP. At the client, the applications would also be able to use all of the PhoneGap API's for native mobile device access.
So there you have it. Please sign up for our "free hosting" option, or download the open source server software package at our website. You can connect your DSP to existing databases or cloud services and start building HTML5 applications with Sencha, jQuery, or AngularJS. Then download the DMA to test your work on any mobile device. Simply search for "DreamFactory" in any major app store to find the DMA. You can use our version of the DMA or make your own with corporate branding. Let's get started!
Quick Links
DMA Source Code: https://github.com/dreamfactorysoftware/mobile-dreamfactory-app
DMA Build Instructions: Available soon, or email support@dreamfactory.com
DSP Sign up for Free Hosting: https://www.dreamfactory.com/user/register
DSP Download Free Software Package: https://bitnami.com/stack/dreamfactory