you lost me

[Tim R]

I was stepping through the tutorial on the icenium AppBulider.  

https://platform.telerik.com/#workspace/0e6b1151-ec01-4874-bc7c-3d885d02047c/appbuilder/69bf10d7-a122-463b-848d-d9027d6a77d3/nav/%2Fwebclient%2F%23%2Fsolution%2FPhoto%20Album%20Code%3FaccountId%3Dcec0df48-c6cf-4542-bf13-09630cbe1fea

Steps 1 and 2 went fine. At Step 3c, you lost me at "choose AppBuilder companion app".

c. In the browser, select Run --> Build,
select your device's platform (iOS/Android/Windows Phone),
choose "AppBuilder companion app",    
and click Next.

I assume by "the browser" we're talking about my desktop browser, on which I have been working my way through the tutorial.  

When I choose the Run menu-item, there's a dropdown from which I choose the desired target device.  When I select the desired target device, the Device Simulator opens up. I don't see "AppBuilder companion app" anywhere as a choice. Nor is there a Next button.

[Tina Stancheva]

Hi Tim,

Indeed by "the browser" we refer to the in-browser AppBuilder client in which you are developing the tutorial application. Inside the client, the Run menu gives you a couple of options - running the app in the device simulator or building an application package.

When you choose Run and then directly select a mobile platform, the app will run in the device simulator. However, the tutorial aims to demonstrate how to run the app in the AppBuilder companion app. For that purpose through the Run menu you have to select Build.

Once you open up the Build wizard you can choose whether to build an application package that can:

• be deployed directly on a mobile device
• be deployed only in the companion app on a mobile device - this is actually the option the tutorial tries to demonstrate.

I hope this information clarifies the process a bit. In any case, please don't hesitate to get back to me with any additional questions. I will gladly assist you move forward with your mobile development inside Telerik Platform.

Regards,
Tina Stancheva
Telerik

 

 

[Tim R]

Thank you for the clarification, Tina.

Do I understand correctly that the run-in-companion-app method requires the mobile user to "prepare" their device to use apps that are created with the Telerik AppBuilder tools, by first downloading and installing the companion-app runtime?

Does the direct-run method simply bundle the companion-app with the app itself into a single downloadable installation package? Or does it involve cross-compilation that produces native binaries?  I am not sure what Telerik means by "native".

[Tina Stancheva]

Hi Tim,

The run-in-companion-app method requires an installation of the AppBuilder companion app on the device. Its main advantage lies in the fact that you get to quickly test your project on multiple and different devices as long as they all have the companion app installed. Still, you also need to consider the companion app limitations which mostly come from the fact that it acts as a container for your application.

The direct-run method, on the other hand, prepares an application package that can be installed directly on a device. It does not use the companion app at all. Instead, what AppBuilder does, in the case of this tutorial, is package your project files and build them on our servers utilizing Cordova. Since every mobile platform build environment is different (for instance you need Mac for iOS and Windows for WindowsPhone builds), the advantage of using AppBuilder is that it builds your application in the cloud in a pre-configured environment that is chosen based on the targeted mobile platform. Once the build successfully completes, you are presented with an application package:

• .apk for Android,
• .ipa for iOS,
• .xap for WindowsPhone.

You can then manually install the package on your devices as long as each platform requirements for code signing are fulfilled. In that case you don't need any other AppBuilder installations on your devices.

You can have a look at the app distribution section in our documentation for additional information on distributing an AppBuilder application.

Regards,
Tina Stancheva
Telerik