August 2015 Summaries

In August 2015, the Ionic Platform team announced significant enhancements to their Push notification service, showcasing a remarkable growth to over a million notifications sent, a 200% monthly increase. The improvements aimed to simplify and enhance the service's usability for developers by introducing features such as the ability to send notifications from the dashboard to all app users, schedule notifications for future delivery, and target users across multiple devices using Ionic User IDs instead of device tokens. The team credited their alpha testers for valuable feedback and outlined plans for future advancements, including a modernized plugin and an updated JavaScript API for the Ionic User service, with more updates promised in their Ionic Bonds series. Users were encouraged to explore the new features through updated documentation and subscribe for further updates.

On August 25, 2015, Appery.io announced the integration of the Ionic framework into its platform, providing developers with enhanced capabilities to build mobile applications. This integration aims to empower a wider range of developers by simplifying the process of creating cross-platform enterprise apps, especially for those who are new to working with databases. Appery.io offers a visual IDE that allows developers to connect their apps' backend with databases without requiring code, enabling both visual data bindings and direct source code editing. Tutorials are available to guide users through building apps using Angular and Ionic, catering to both novice developers and business users.

Ionic's first Hack Day encouraged team members to spend a dedicated day working on projects of interest, whether related to Ionic or not, fostering creativity and innovation. Some participants focused on existing priorities, while others embarked on new ventures, resulting in several notable developments: Adam created an Ionicons preview tool for managing SVG files, Josh and Mike enhanced the Ionic CLI's functionality for Atom, Matt developed a tool for real-time collaboration on Ionic projects, and Brandy released platform customization documentation. Additionally, Dan refactored an upload component, and Rudy improved the functionality of the internal dashboard. The event was deemed successful, with plans to share more about these projects upon their completion and to involve the community in future Hack Days via social media updates and live-tweeting.

Ionic, a framework designed to empower developers by providing essential UI components for building hybrid mobile apps, introduced the Ionic Market to facilitate the exchange and sale of community-created add-ons like starters, plugins, and themes. This initiative emerged from the need to offer developers a platform where they can purchase or sell custom functionalities that extend beyond the core Ionic offerings, thus enhancing productivity without the burden of developing UI components from scratch. The Ionic Market is organized into categories and allows developers to link to external marketplaces, promoting a vibrant ecosystem without taking a cut from sales, as transactions are processed through Stripe. The goal is to create a central repository where developers can save time, earn money, and showcase the potential of hybrid mobile apps.

Ionic's CEO Max Lynch discusses the company's mission to empower web developers to create mobile apps without changing careers, realizing that the real opportunity lies in leveraging web developers' existing skills rather than converting native developers to the web stack. Ionic's platform has enabled many web developers to enter the mobile development space, contributing to the growth of the "App Economy" by providing them with the tools to build compelling mobile applications. Lynch emphasizes the versatility and enduring relevance of the web development stack, predicting that web developers will continue to be in high demand across various industries due to their ability to work with widely applicable technologies like HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS. He advocates for the importance of these skills, suggesting that learning them ensures long-term career stability and diversity, as companies increasingly turn to web technologies to address the challenges of native mobile app development.

Ionic Lab, announced in August 2015, is a new GUI tool designed to simplify the workflow for developers building Ionic apps, providing an accessible alternative to the popular command-line interface (CLI). This tool allows users to start, build, run, emulate, and share Ionic apps seamlessly, integrating with the Ionic Platform and offering a preview feature to toggle between iOS and Android views. Built using Electron, the same technology behind the Atom text editor, Ionic Lab aims to cater to developers who prefer a graphical interface while retaining the robust functionality of the CLI. Future plans for Ionic Lab include enhanced customization settings, integrated Cordova plugin searching, additional preview options, and platform-specific configurations, with a focus on stabilizing the tool for both Mac OSX and Windows users. Feedback is encouraged during its beta phase to further refine and enhance its capabilities.

Ionic Platform Services has introduced new features and updates to enhance the development experience for app creators using its platform. Over a short period, services like Ionic Deploy, Ionic Push, and Ionic Analytics have seen significant usage, prompting improvements based on user feedback. The platform has simplified its CLI to facilitate easier setup and integration of services, with automatic configuration for API keys and app IDs, and streamlined processes for adding features like push notifications. Ionic Deploy now allows for more efficient app updates without the need for app store approval, offering features like multiple deploy channels and CLI-based deployment management. These enhancements aim to make app development more seamless by ensuring that local changes remain unaffected by updates and by providing comprehensive documentation to support new users.