Today it's practically impossible to enumerate all the product items sold and bought over the Internet with the help of palm-friendly devices. Due to the increased use of the Internet and smartphones, a growing number of mobile users mobile app development company prefer to do shopping while on the go, as it is convenient and time-saving. No wonder, online shopping has gained immense popularity all over the globe. Let's make a brief overview of the main advantages the mobile era brings to an average customer:
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- There is no more need to waste time and burn fuel for a trip to the nearest store as it is already at your fingertips. Everything you should do is to make a few taps on your mobile device, and you will be able to order the desired purchase that will be delivered to your doorsteps.
- Thanks to the extensive choice of mobile applications for Android devices, multiple options are available for a mobile customer, including both online catalogues and price checking guides. Thus, mobile-commerce provides a simplified comparison of prices and features for goods of the same quality and guarantees freedom of choice.
- These days online retailers strive to attract new clients offering alluring discounts, free coupons and product samples. And people, who count their income and expenses, take advantage of these offerings and save their money with pleasure. Consequently, online business owners raise the awareness of their product and make profit engaging new loyal customers.
As you may notice, there are solid reasons for average customers to make use of technological progress and place an online order using their mobile devices. But the question is why should an online retailer take advantage of Android market and have its own mobile application for Android devices? The best way to answer this question is to appeal to the latest research statistics that helps big businesses implement groundbreaking strategies and expand their online and mobile presence:
- The number of available mobile applications on Google Play exceeds 600,000;
700,000 Android phones are activated every single day according to a Twitter message posted by the co-founder of Android Inc. and Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital Content at Google - Andy Rubin;
In July 2012, at the annual developer conference Google I/O the search giant announced that the total cumulative number of Android devices activated so far has reached over 400 million units.
What is more important is to analyze all possible advantages an Android application may bring to your business. Among the most popular and advantageous plug-ins that Android app developers can incorporate and adapt to your mobile application for Android devices are the following:
- Product catalogue with high-quality images that can allow your customers see on their small screens clear product images. "Enlivening" catalogue offerings through Android apps, retailers give their customers the possibility to make orders at any time and place.
- Search by price, size, model, brand or popularity. For a mobile user it's really important to save time and make must-have purchases quickly. That's why it's strategically important to provide your customers with the opportunity to find things they want immediately.
- QR code or mobile bar-code readers for Android phones allow to get product details. By scanning such codes you can make detailed information about services or products available to your customers on their mobile devices.
- Shopping wish list is a useful tool to help your customers organize and manage the list of items needed to buy. A person can share his or her wish list with friends or family members via social networks or email. Wish lists are convenient instruments for buyers to keep track of products they would like to purchase in future.
- An Android app can be transformed into a special service channel for announcing stock liquidations, coupons, discounts, or any other promotions that your clients should be informed about.
- Augmented reality is another thing that can be implemented in mobile apps for retailers. Having the possibility to use augmented reality in your Android app retailers will be able to allow their customers to try clothes on themselves virtually using the phone's camera.
It's obvious that the mobile market has billions of customers, as modern society relies more and more on wireless devices dealing with activities of daily living. As a result, mobile Internet is becoming the favorite shopping experience for the great majority of modern customers worldwide. And those retailers who expect to stay afloat in this tech-savvy world should be ready to reach their clients and potential customers through mobile applications.
As the name indicates, jQuery Mobile is a touch-optimized framework developed based on jQuery library. It enables programmers to create mobile web applications for major mobile platforms like Android, iOS, Windows Phone and Blackberry. The developers can further use the framework to create mobile apps using commonly used standards like HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and AJAX. At the same time, jQuery Mobile is designed with features to help developers to create mobile web apps without writing longer lines of code. However, each programmer still needs to evaluate the pros and cons of jQuery Mobile, along with knowing its alternatives.
Pros
JQuery Mobile supports many mobile platforms and devices. At noted earlier, it supports several popular mobile platforms including Android, iOS, Windows Phone and Blackberry. Likewise, it also supports several mobile devices with varying screen sizes and resolutions. So the framework makes it easier for programmers to create cross-platform mobile app without writing code for specific devices and operating systems. They are also not required to make changes to code according to the screen size and resolution of individual devices.
While creating native mobile app, programmers have to use a specific programming language. For instance, they have to use Swift or Objective-C for developing apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. JQuery enables developers to create mobile web applications using open and commonly-used standards like HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and AJAX. The widely used web technologies make it easier for developers to create a wide variety of apps without putting extra time and effort.
Nowadays developers have to create custom themes to make the mobile app look different and attractive. JQuery Mobile makes it easier for developers to create custom themes using the ThemeRoller. In addition to allowing user to download custom themes, ThemeRoller further allows them to change their look simply by dragging and dropping colours. They can further deliver polished visuals by availing the box-shadow and text-shadow properties of CSS3.
JQuery Mobile further helps programmers to customize form controls, page layouts, page panels, headers and footers. So they can manipulate various elements of a page according to the requirements of the client. Likewise, they can also apply the CSS-based transition effects included in the framework to customize form submission and page links through AJAX.
While planning mobile apps, enterprises have to consider the process of getting approval from various app stores. Many businesses find it challenging to get their apps included in Apple App Store. But jQuery includes the virtues of individual environments. As the framework contains the virtue of Apple App Store, the developers can easily obtain approval from Apple. Thus, jQuery Mobile makes it easier for businesses to launch and promote their apps. At the same time, it enables developers to focus on the application's functionality and performance without worrying about the approval process.
Cons
The performance of mobile web applications developed using jQuery differs across web browsers and devices. Many programmers have highlighted the apps perform slower on Android operating system and Chrome. But the same apps run faster on iOS devices. Also, the jQuery applications cannot outperform native mobile applications in the category of speed.
Many users feel that the applications developed using jQuery look almost identical. Some users even feel that the design of the jQuery applications is not optimized for tablets and other devices with larger screen. So many businesses have to deploy seasoned UI designers to make the mobile web applications different and appealing.
Despite supporting several mobile platforms and devices, jQuery is basically a JavaScript library. So it cannot access all features of the mobile device like other cross-platform mobile app development tools. The inability to access a device's native features makes native apps perform better than jQuery applications.
Nowadays HTML5 is used widely for developing both mobile web apps and games. So developers look for frameworks that come with specialized features to speed up mobile game development. JQuery Mobile does not provide any specific features for developing game apps. So it can be used only for creating simple data-driven mobile web apps.
Alternatives
The cross-browser compatibility and too many features make JQuery Mobile bulky. So many developers prefer developing mobile web applications using lightweight frameworks like Snack.js, Zepto.js, xui.js, 140medley, $dom, PhoneJS, Junior, Jo and Davinci SDK. However, a specific framework may to complement the specific needs of each project. So the programmers need to keep in mind the nature and needs of the mobile app development project while comparing jQuery and its alternatives.