Python Coding on Android with QPython

Would you like to write Python code on your android smart phone or tablet?

Well you can by using the free Google Play downloadable app QPython. In fact there are two variants of QPython. The basic one supports the older but better supported version 2.7, while QPython3 supports the newer version 3 of the language.

With QPython you can do mathematical calculations, perform decisions and branching, define loops, create lists, write functions and even develop your own Python modules.

QPython has both an interactive console mode for instant coding results, plus a built-in editor to create ‘.py’ files. These ‘.py’ files can be executed directly on the Android smartphone or tablet, or transferred to another device, such as the Raspberry Pi or anyWindows or Mac or Linux computer.

Try My Free Python Coding Tutorials

Samsung Tizen: Android Rival

In June 2014 Samsung announced its intention to reduce its reliance on Google's Android by introducing a rival operating system.

Named Tizen it's a Linux-based operating system offering high levels of system and app performance, tight software integration plus increased security levels.

Tizen has a complex genealogy. It takes influences from many other mobile-focussed predecessors, such as MeeGo, LiMi and Bada. With such a background it's no surprise to learn that Tizen Association participants include Intel, Huawei, Fujitsu, NEC, Panasonic, KT Corporation, Sprint Corporation, SK Telecom, Orange, Vodaphone and NTT DoCoMo.

But there's another, more commercial reason for the Tizen move. Although Samsung operates its own app store, currently most app purchases are made via Google Play. However, Tizen devices push consumers towards the Samsung app store.

Tizen App Potential

Launching a new operating system that competes directly with Apple iOS and Google Android is a bold move. Success isn't guaranteed. But Samsung already has 30% of the global smartphone marketplace (compared to Apple's 15%), plus an equally strong position in the tablet and wearable marketplaces.

For the app developer Tizen appears to be yet another lucrative marketplace. For instance, back in July 2013 Samsung announced a Tizen App challenge with $4 million in prizes.

Yet it's not just about money. Tizen's developer community can code apps using familiar web-development languages, tools and libraries. An attractive alternative to battling with Apple's proprietary languages and unfamiliar tools.

Available Now

In February 2014 Samsung unveiled its Gear 2 Tizen-powered wearables. This range includes the Gear Fit smart-bands for fitness fanatics and Gear Neo smartwatches, with customisable colours and themes.

In June Samsung launched its Z range of smartphones with the SM-Z910F model. And there's plans to put Tizen in cars and smart TVs.

Samsung Plays Smart

Tizen may well play a big part in Samsung's future. But it isn't about to place all its eggs into a single basket.

Although most of the Gear 2 wearable range is Tizen-based, the Gear 2 Live smart watches use the new Android Wear platform, as announced the Google I/O 2014 developer conference.

So, for the foreseeable future, Samsung will continue to work closely with Google to develop Android, Android Wear and Android Auto products. Meanwhile its keen to demonstrate commitment to open standards by participating in open source hardware and software working groups.

Read more Samsung analysis posts.

Start Coding: Mobile App Projects

Mobile app development is a particularly enticing area. Uploaded to a suitable app store your creation can be seen and downloaded by millions of users.

Novel app ideas, when combined with some focussed coding effort, can result in monetary return. In fact some app developers earn enough to fund a comfortable lifestyle.

Nevertheless, creating high quality apps isn't a trivial exercise. So don't expect to create an engaging, interactive game with quality graphics, multiple levels and so on in a couple of days.

Apple iOS

Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod development might seem an obvious choice. After all, the large Apple community regularly checks the Apple App Store for new apps. However, there are a few points to consider.

Firstly, you'll need an Apple Mac PC to install the Xcode development environment plus the iOS SDK. Secondly, native iOS apps are coded in the Objective-C language. And thirdly, you'll need to register with the iOS Developer Program to upload apps to the App Store, something that costs $99 per year.

Google Android

Google's Android development environment is just as comprehensive. But there are a couple of key differences.

Firstly, it uses the cross-platform Java language, which means you're free to use a Windows, Mac OSX or Linux PC for the development. And secondly, the Google Play app store registration has a single upfront cost of just $25.

Windows Mobile and Firefox Mobile OS

If you're already familiar with Microsoft technology you might want to consider creating Windows Mobile smartphone apps. The registration cost can be a low as $19. And as the Windows Mobile app store is much smaller the Apple App Store or Google Play there's far more chance of your app being noticed.

It's too early to say if the new Firefox Mobile OS will make a dent in the smartphone marketplace. However, there are a couple of interesting factors. One is this OS should be available on entry level smartphones. Another is that Firefox Mobile apps are developed using standard web languages, namely HTML, CSS and Javascript.

Mobile App Frameworks

A dedicated, platform-specific development environment isn't the only way to start mobile app coding. There's also a number of powerful third-party frameworks.

For example, the Appcelerator and PhoneGap solutions offer a complete set of app development tools and resources. Importantly you can code using the standard HTML, CSS and JavaScript languages. After testing the underlying framework builds a native app for the specified platform (iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Symbian or WebOS).

The big difference is that don't have to learn a different language or new set of tools for each platform. The only slight snag it that you'll still need to use an Apple Mac PC to create iOS apps.

Server-Side Web Projects ← Start Coding Series → Scripting Projects

Appcelerator Titanium: Mobile App Testing

The majority of your mobile app testing can be performed on your PC using Titanium's virtual device emulator window.

This tool offers a pretty good imitation of a real mobile device (iOS, Android, Blackberry, etc), including a complete graphical interface, complete with familiar features such as icons, menus and device unlocking.

However, it's not perfect.

Depending on the PC your using for development, you're probably missing out that all-important touch-interface experience.

And if your app interacts with the built-in camera, accelerometer, various other sensors or GPS positioning system can only be fully tested by using a real handset.

The steps necessary to deploy your app onto a real smartphone or tablet varies depending on the device brand and type.

For Android, with it's USB interface, it's a fairly straightforward procedure. But when it comes to Apple devices you'll discover connectivity restrictions make iOS app deployment a rather more complex process.

Appcelerator Titanium: API

This API is split into numerous modules, each with its own collection of classes, properties and methods. Functionality to cover all aspects of app development.

The modules include Android, App, Calendar, Cloud, Contacts, Database, Facebook, Filesystem, Geolocation, Map, Media, Network, Platform, UI, XML and Miscellaneous.

Some, like the UI module, contain a huge amount of functionality, while other have just a few classes. The full Titanium API documentation is posted online, along with plenty of code examples.

In addition to this documentation there's loads of tutorial material. This includes an impressive list of videos suitable for all levels, from beginner to expert.

Appcelerator Titanium: Mobile SDKs

As I mentioned previously there's a few additional installation steps for developing mobile apps.

Although Titanium enables you to create software for iOS, Android, Blackberry and ether mobile platforms, you'll also need the associated development environments to build native apps.

If it's Apple's iPhone and iPad devices you're interested in then you will need an Apple Mac. This is because Apple's Xcode development environment is used by the Titanium toolset to build native iOS apps.

Apps for Google's Android platform are built using the Java-based Android development kit, So, this needs to be installed on your PC first. However, this time it's a cross-platform SDK, meaning you can use a Windows, Linux or OS X.

In a similar way building Blackberry apps requires another SDK installation. Once again it's a cross-platform kit for Windows, Linux or OS X.

Titanium's tight bindings to these platform-specific SDKs extends to the selection of specific OS profiles (or versions). This is important as not all users of your app will have the latest and greatest iOS, Android or Blackberry OS version.

Appcelerator Titanium: The Platform

Appcelerator is a development company, previously known for their SDK - a hybrid of client-side JavaScript library based on a custom Web Expression Language - and server-side web services supporting numerous application frameworks: Ruby on Rails, Google App Engine, Spring, Merb, Grails, and Pylons.

Titanium from Appcelerator is an open source platform for building Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) with web technology. As a concept it's nothing new, there are numerous commercial and open source competitors, including Adobe's AIR product. But two important differences set Titanium apart from the crowd.

Firstly, it enables developers to create native look-and-feel desktop and mobile applications using only open standard web languages. This means web-savvy developers can start creating applications immediately - without having to learn additional languages such as Java and Objective C, along with their extensive language-specific libraries and APIs.

Other than basic web scripting skills, the only additional requirement is some familiarity with Titanium's JavaScript Desktop and Mobile APIs. Titanium tools transform the web source into native windows and controls appropriate to the target platform.

Secondly, Titanium can take a single development project and build executable packages for any supported desktop or mobile platform. Application package targets already include Windows, Mac OS X and Linux desktops, together with Android smartphones/tablets and Apple's iOS iPhone/iPad devices and Blackberry devices.

The flexibility of a cross-platform solution, where you write the code only once, then deploy it to multiple platforms is very attractive.

Monetizing The Mobile Web

How do you make money from the mobile web?

As the mobile Internet fast becomes the dominant way to access the web, previously successful advertising strategies clearly need to be evolved.

Google, Facebook and others don't appear to have the answer. So, who will find the key to mobile marketing?

Here are a few extracts:

As mobile device usage evolves, mobile advertising needs to evolve too.

We've already seen a shift from text and banner ads to more sophisticated efforts. And there's a growing need for alternatives to the pay-per-click scenario. With a click-to-call model the advertiser only pays when the user responds with a phone call. Another new tactic is posting an entry into the user's smartphone diary, say for a new film or music concert.

One of the most interesting gamification models comes from startup company Kiip (kiip.me). Although Kiip has only around 30 employees, they've already secured big-name clients such as Pepsi, Disney and Best Buy. What's different about Kiip?

...

Instead of avoiding popups and trailers, now users actively seek them out simply by playing the game. It's led to dramatic growth. Kiip is already inside 300 apps on over 30 million iOS and Android devices, and has rewarded over 50 million players.

As well as being declared the first 'social media games', the London Olympics also emphasised the popularity of the mobile web.

In the UK mobile access accounted for 46 percent of all Olympic online traffic. While across Europe around a third of all Olympics related searches originated from mobile devices.

Video figures are just as impressive. The BBC revealed 41 percent of video streams were watched by mobile device owners, and US broadcaster NBC delivered 45 percent of its online Olympic videos to smartphones and tablets.

Read more analysis posts.

Appcelerator Titanium Development (part 2)

Today Micro Mart magazine published part 2 of my Appcelerator Titanium Development article in issue 1138.

This four page how-to article focusses on using Appcelerator Titanium for smartphone development, and the mobile API. All my examples are for Google's Android operating system, but Apple iOS development is also supported. Once again you can create native look-and-feel mobile applications using only JavaScript code.

This is the Christmas period issue, covering two weeks, complete with end of year reports and plenty of other interesting articles - but still only £2.

Here's an extract from the article:

Today's smartphone marketplace is dominated by Apple iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices. But iPhone development revolves around Apple's Developer Tools and their Objective C language, while Android uses the Java-based Android development kit. Blackberry development is different again.

Wouldn't it be better to forget all this complexity and create your great idea using open standard web development languages? Wouldn't it be better to use a standard cross-platform API, so that the same source code, with the odd small tweak, is applicable to the major smartphone platforms?

Titanium can do just this. Anyone with basic JavaScript skills can create a native look-and-feel smartphone application. And create it using their existing PC, whether that be Windows, Mac OS X or Linux – although due to Apple restrictions iPhone development requires access to OS X at some point.

In fact, Titanium can do more. As there's generic support for the iOS and Android operating systems, your creations can also be deployed on other mobile devices, such as Apple's iPad and the upcoming raft of Android tablets. With Titanium, your ideas can be fast-tracked by rapid cross-platform prototyping, leading to substantial leaps in productivity.

I've posted a PDF of this article on my sample PDF page.

Appcelerator Titanium Development (part 1)

Today Micro Mart magazine published part 1 of my Appcelerator Titanium Development article in issue 1137 (see the Sample PDFs page).

This four page how-to article introduces the Appcelerator Titanium platform and demonstrates how to create cross-platform, native look-and-feel desktop applications using only HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

It's an interesting product that uses WebKit technology and special JavaScript APIs to build a native applications from open standard web languages. The article explained this WebKit-based approach strategy, the Titanium Developer tool, suitable editors, an overview of API functionality and how to start creating your own desktop applications.

Part 2 of the mini-series will focus on smartphone development, still with the Titanium platform, but with the mobile API. All my examples are for Google's Android operating system, but Apple iOS development is also supported. Once again you can create native look-and-feel mobile applications using only JavaScript code.

Here's an extract from the article:

Titanium achieves all this flexibility through a design rather similar to Adobe's AIR product, but with a standards-based open source pedigree. The key component is a platform-specific, WebKit derived runtime engine to render and execute the web pages and scripts as a native application.

WebKit technology is not only very popular – it's found in Adobe AIR's runtime and many browsers like Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari - but it ensure developers can use the latest HTML5 and CSS3 standards, plus the powerful functionality offered by Javascript frameworks such as JQuery, Prototype, Dojo and MooTools.

Importantly, JavaScript behaviour and HTML/CSS rendering is consistent across all platforms, while still exhibiting an OS-specific look-and-feel. This is critical to achieving the best possible user experience on each platform - an important factor in gaining a high rating in the various mobile App stores and marketplaces.

I've posted a PDF of this article on my sample PDF page.