April 2018 Summaries

Anton Ivanov, founder and CEO of DealCheck, transformed his experience as a real estate investor and junior front-end developer into a successful property analysis platform through the innovative use of Ionic, a hybrid mobile development framework. Initially frustrated with traditional Excel-based financial analysis methods for rental property investments, Ivanov identified the need for a more efficient solution and embarked on creating DealCheck in 2015, despite having no prior mobile app development experience. He chose Ionic for its reusable UI components, single code base for iOS and Android apps, and integration with Cordova plugins, allowing him to develop a functional MVP within four months. Following positive feedback from initial users, Ivanov continued refining the app, adding features like cloud storage and property data import, while also launching a web-based version using Angular. Over the years, DealCheck has grown to serve over 50,000 users worldwide, establishing itself as a leading tool in the real estate industry, and Ivanov attributes much of this success to the advantages provided by Ionic, which he plans to continue using as the platform expands.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) have gained significant attention since their introduction in 2015 due to their ability to leverage web standards and APIs like Service Workers and Web App Manifests, offering notable advantages over traditional mobile apps. The Ionic team, fully invested in the PWA trend, has developed a comprehensive resource called "The Architect’s Guide to Progressive Web Apps" to assist developers and digital architects in understanding and implementing PWAs effectively. This guide provides practical advice on deploying PWAs as part of a broader app strategy, highlighting key resources needed for development. With predictions from firms like Gartner suggesting that by 2020 half of all mobile apps could be PWAs, and major brands like Twitter and Pinterest investing heavily in them, the guide aims to furnish a solid foundational understanding for those new to the technology. The document promises to evolve with advancements in PWA techniques and invites feedback to ensure it remains a relevant and useful resource.

In April 2018, Ionic View for iOS was removed from the Apple App Store due to violations of the App Store's Terms of Service, specifically regarding rules about apps being self-contained and not executing external code. Despite removing a QR code feature and resubmitting the app, it was rejected again for loading web content in a manner that Apple deemed non-compliant, sparking concerns among cross-platform tool developers about a potential policy shift targeting developer testing apps. Ionic reassured its community that this issue is specific to testing apps and does not reflect broader rejections of hybrid or JavaScript apps while working with Apple to address the compliance issues and developing alternative solutions to support developers.

Mike Hartington, Director of Developer Relations at Ionic, shares his experience attending the first VueConf in the US, highlighting the strong community ownership and collaborative spirit of the Vue ecosystem, which is led by Evan You but increasingly run by community members. Hartington emphasizes the community-driven development of tools like Vetur, which enhances Vue single file component development in VSCode and introduces 'Proun' for real-time updates. During the conference, he delivered a lightning talk about integrating Ionic's web components with Vue, noting the potential for improved framework compatibility and expressing excitement over the adoption of web components by popular frameworks like Vue and Angular. He praises the conference's diverse speakers and organization, and looks forward to further collaboration between Ionic and the Vue community.