A Universal WebView Android App

 If you need to create an Android app that can access a web page but the app is so complex you don't feel you can build it on your own, Robo Templates may be your answer. The website codecanyon.net markets ready-to-use app templates, including a "Universal Android WebView App" from Robo Templates that's available at: https://codecanyon.net/item/universal-android-webview-app/8431507

OK, first things first. So what is a "WebView" app? Developer.android.com explains it this way:

If you want to deliver a web application (or just a web page) as a part of a client application, you can do it using WebView. The WebView class is an extension of Android's View class that allows you to display web pages as a part of your activity layout. It does not include any features of a fully developed web browser, such as navigation controls or an address bar. All that WebView does, by default, is show a web page.

Alright, but what can you do with this "universal app"? Quite a bit actually. The features available in the app include:

• Support for KitKat (Android 4.4) and newer
• WebView supports HTML5, JavaScript, Cookies, CSS, images, videos and other standard web tools and technologies
• AdMob (adaptive banner and interstitial ad)
• Firebase Cloud Messaging (push notifications)
• Firebase Analytics
• OneSignal push notifications
• Targeting push notification messages on specific users
• GDPR compliant (European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation)
• Support for opening links in external browser (customizable rules)
• Intents for opening external apps (e-mail, sms, phone call, map, store, social networks)
• Local pages (available in offline)
• JavaScript API for controlling the mobile app from web
• HTML5 videos, YouTube, Vimeo, JW Player
• Fullscreen video
• Download manager
• File picker for uploading files
• Upload photo from camera
• Geolocation (optional)
• Location settings prompt
• Splash screen (launch screen)
• Navigation drawer menu with optional categories (easily customizable)
• Pull-to-Refresh (optional)
• Share dialog (optional)
• Confirmation dialog when user tries to exit the app (optional)
• Highly customizable app (features can be easily enabled/disabled)
• Customization of features (enable/disable action bar, navigation drawer menu, pull-to-refresh etc.)
• Ten color themes (blue, brown, gray, green, lime, orange, purple, red, teal, violet)
• Responsive design (portrait, landscape, handling orientation change)
• Multi-language support
• Free support

But what if you need to customize parts of the app? The free support provided by robotemplates can help you make changes by modifying or adding code, but apparently you can do a lot of customization simply by editing the app's config file. Technically, that makes it a "no-code" product. 

You can buy a "regular" license for $29 to create a single Android app for yourself or for a single client, which the end user isn't charged for. There's also an "extended" license available for $129, which allows you to create a single app for yourself or a single client and charge the end user for the product.

For more details on licensing go to: https://codecanyon.net/licenses/faq#item-end-product-a 

New Book on Learning Bubble

 If you've tried Bubble or would like to, I've published a new book "Learning Visual (No-Code) Programming Step-By-Step With Bubble" that could help you get more familiar with Bubble's capabilities. The book's just been published on Amazon for anyone who wants to take a look. It's arranged as a set of exercises for the reader to try, along with my notes and screenshots explaining how I went about solving those exercises.

If you sign up for a free account with Bubble you'll find a set of lessons available on your home page and the final one guides you through creating a "to-do" app. Bubble used to suggest a number of possible enhancements to that app and a while back I tried working my way through making those changes. The modifications involve making use of features like repeating groups, search boxes, popup windows, auto-binding, highlighting, notifications, option sets, filtering constraints and user authorization (including signup and login forms).

If you're interested, please take a look and send any questions, criticisms, suggestions or comments to info@mastering-nocode.com. 

Bubble: Using Containers to Make Style Changes Easier

 A quick tip when building an app using Bubble. Place a container (Group element) on each page in the app and put all the other elements for the page inside that container. That way any style changes you make on the page will automatically apply to all elements on the page.

A Quick Tip on Using Bubble (Highlighting)

Imagine you have a repeating group filled with "to-do" records that include a due date along with a "Finished" field and you want to highlight those records that are still incomplete and past their due date. Here's how to do that:

• To change the font color of the due date field in the list of to-dos, double-click the “Due date” element in the first row of the to-do list repeating group to display the element's property editor.
• Click on the “Conditional” tab in the properties box, go to the "When" field  and build the expression “Current cell's Todo's Due Date < Current date/time and Current cell's Todo's Finished is 'no'”.
• In the “Select a property to change when true” dropdown, pick “Font color”. Then select to change the font color of the due date to red when the condition is true.

An Interesting Bubble Article on Medium.com

I just came across a really detailed article on medium.com about one person's experience deciding whether or not Bubble could build his business startup application (Could I Build My Product on Bubble.io?, Will Ericksson, Dec. 2020). It's strictly Will Ericksson's opinion, but the article covers a lot of questions in depth about what you can or can't do with Bubble.

While the author ended up building his application with Bubble (and now teaches a course on Bubble), he does try to provide a balanced discussion of the pros and cons of using Bubble for a relatively complex software project. The topics he covers include scalability, integrations, security, and flexibility. You can find the full article at: https://medium.com/swlh/could-i-build-my-product-on-bubble-io-75923a41b9b6 

UK Providing Free No-Code Training with Bubble

In case you missed it, Bubble's posted an article by Vivienne Chen back in March, discussing how the UK is funding no-code learning. Here's an excerpt from the article (https://bubble.io/blog/uk-no-code-bubble/):

"Many local and national governments invest in funding to help people develop professional skills that can grow local business and improve their residents' lives. But the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom has become the first region in the world to turn to no-code technology like Bubble as an affordable, scalable solution to drive economic growth and innovation.

This year, a cross-sector partnership called Supertech, funded by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) launched a free program teaching business professionals how to build web apps without code, using Bubble's no-code web app builder. What started out as a pilot program of 30 people is now expanding to a hundred more opportunities, including a potential university student cohort from the area."

I thought this was an interesting example of how much importance is being attached to the future of no-code programming, not just by private companies but by governmental organizations.

Can Plugins Affect Your App's Performance?

Can plugins affect your no-code app's performance? The short answer is yes, they can. Plugins are a great asset to have available to implement features that your app platform doesn't include, but too many plugins can definitely affect load times and general performance. Every plugin you use adds more code to your app, so as you make changes to your application, keep an eye on which plugins you really need.

There's a huge "need for speed" in today's apps and better performance can mean better sales. Many years ago the company I worked for sold a computer system to the manager of the local Coca-Cola bottling plant because we could sort 2500 items in less than 2 hours. Things have changed dramatically since then, but the point is still valid. If your app is faster than your competitors (or at least on the same level), that's important.

Plugins can be great - but you can have too much of a good thing.