Coders4Africa Ethiopia Developers & Technopreneurs Conference 2014: Building Mobile Smartphone Apps
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The document outlines the experiences and technical expertise of John Opiyo Adams, emphasizing mobile app development challenges in Africa. It discusses essential considerations for developers, including user preferences, market conditions, and platform-specific design patterns. Additionally, the document highlights resources and tools relevant to building effective apps tailored to local needs and connectivity issues.
Coders4Africa Ethiopia Developers & Technopreneurs Conference 2014: Building Mobile Smartphone Apps
- 1. 2014 Coders4Africa Ethiopia Coding & Tech Conference Building Mobile Smartphone App (Android) Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 1
- 2. About Me 1. Name: John Opiyo Adams 2. Education: Business & IT, Strathmore University (2013) 3. 1st App: Built in VB6, (My high school project,2008) 4. Technical : Java*,PHP*,C#, JavaScript,Android*,WP 5. Speak: Swahili, English, Japanese (Basic),+2 6. Volunteer (Mentor high school kids), Reader 7. Technical Lead, Coders4Africa Kenya (Since 2011) 8. Co-founder : Buymore (http://buymore.co.ke) 9. Twitter: @JohnAdamsy 10. LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/johnadamsy Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 2
- 3. The Mobile Environment Until smartphone’s arrived, everything (from the PC) was “rationed” Processing power is NOT a problem now But: Battery life, impatient-and- multitasking user, Connectivity, Network reliability, small screen The developer has to think in those dimensions as an App has to be great with the limited resources Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 3
- 4. The Market Share (Consumers) Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 4
- 5. The Market Share (Developers) Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 5
- 6. Developer Spread by Continent Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 6
- 7. Platform Priority Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 7
- 8. Mobile Developers’ Manual You won’t find one that answers all questions Each platform adheres to the common design patterns and principles Implementation is not homogenous in all cases So don’t “force the issue”; consumers can tell. Treat each platform uniquely Always RTM (read the manual) before firing up code Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 8
- 9. Mobile Developer Choices Native vs Hybrid BaaS vs Own Backend Enterprise vs Consumer Freemium vs Premium Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 9
- 10. “Smart” Mobile Developer o Do market research (consumer apps) Work with your client(s) (enterprise) Sketch it out before you fire up the IDE Get a really good designer Consult an expert on unfamiliar grounds Use latest design patterns (wins users) Share with your peers to critic and test it Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 10
- 11. What can Android Do? Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 11
- 12. What can Android Do? Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 12
- 13. Developing for Android Don’t mimic UI elements Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 13
- 14. Developing for Android • No bottom bars in Android Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 14
- 15. Android Design Patterns Dealing with data (display,sort,search) Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 15
- 16. Android Design Patterns Getting Input Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 16
- 17. Android Design Patterns Navigation Not so long ago-- Now Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 17
- 18. Android Design Patterns Notifications or Feedback Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 18
- 19. Android Design Principles Remember user preferences Keep it brief, oh and pictures speak louder Always let the user know where they are Never loose user’s data, what’s the cloud for? Give clear guidelines and instructions More details at: http://developer.android.com/design/get- started/principles.html Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 19
- 20. Developing Apps for Africa Connectivity, platform, content storage Cost of data (for data intensive apps) The trends (Mobile access), local social problems (health,agriculture,security,governance,servic e provision) Scalability and re-use (Build in Ethiopia, deploy to the rest of 51 states in Africa) Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 20
- 23. …Ethiopia Mobile Penetration: 30% (30M) Internet Reach: 1.5% (1.35M) Users needs apps, and apps need a creator Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 23
- 24. East Africa Mobile World 2013 Build solutions to real problems Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 24
- 25. Demo Apps C4A Conference App: A hack from Parse Developer Day app. Uses the Parse BaaS. MyWorld2015 UNDP MDG survey app: Offline data collection BuymoreCard BuymoreDiscount BuymoreRegister Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 25
- 26. References and Resources Backends as a Service compared http://flexr.wordpress.com/2013/01/02/backends-as-a-service- appcelerator-acs-vs-parse-vs-applicasa-vs-stackmob/ Vision Mobile Developer Economics Report http://www.developereconomics.com/reports/q1-2014/ Pure Android Design Patterns http://developer.android.com/design/patterns/pure- android.html http://www.androiduipatterns.com Android Design Principles http://developer.android.com/design/get-started/principles.html Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 26
- 27. References and Resources iHub Research on Mobile Stats in East Africa 2013 http://www.ihub.co.ke/blog/wp- content/uploads/2013/07/Mobile-use-infographic- edited1.png African Infographics 2013-2014 http://www.pinterest.com/oafrica/african-infographics/ Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 27
- 28. አመሰግናለሁ ☺ ameseghinallehu ☺ Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 28
- 29. Contacts 1. Twitter: @JohnAdamsy 2. LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/johnadamsy Copyright Coders4Africa 2014 www.coders4africa.org 29