November 2015 Summaries

Bitcoin has emerged as a popular decentralized cryptocurrency, and developers are leveraging Ionic to create apps that facilitate its use. BitPay's Bitcoin Checkout app, designed with Ionic, allows businesses to accept bitcoin payments easily on both iOS and Android devices, featuring multi-language support and NFC technology for seamless transactions. Another app, Lawnmower, also built with Ionic, provides users the ability to invest their spare change in bitcoin passively, offering a user-friendly experience for newcomers to cryptocurrency. Lawnmower automates the investment process and offers customization options, benefiting from Ionic's versatile navigation and service components. Both apps demonstrate the efficiency and adaptability of Ionic in developing cross-platform applications, allowing rapid deployment and easy maintenance with a single code base.

Since its initial launch in July 2014, Ionic Creator has seen significant use by over 80,000 developers for rapid app prototyping, prompting the team to enhance its features based on user feedback. The newly improved Ionic Creator now includes a comprehensive library of drag-and-drop components for easier app creation, real-time interaction on mobile devices via the Creator Mobile App, and a refined code export functionality that aligns with developer standards. The platform also offers a new sharing and collaboration feature, allowing teams to work together on projects, and the ability to export projects as native app files. The updated features are immediately available, with promotional offers for Pro plans, encouraging users to explore and provide feedback to guide future developments.

Ionic and the Angular team at Google launched the Angular Cardboard Hack-a-thon, inviting the Ionic, Angular, and VR communities to develop a Cardboard app using Ionic and Angular, with the opportunity to win a free ticket to the next ngConf in Salt Lake City. Participants can enter the contest by visiting angular.io/cardboard/ and signing up, with submissions due by December 31, 2015. To facilitate the creation of VR experiences, an Ionic Cardboard Starter has been provided, which can be used to initiate a project with the Ionic CLI. The announcement encourages developers to participate and explore the full details on the hack-a-thon website, while also inviting them to join the newsletter for updates.