Comments on: How to build mobile widgets

By: Nail Arts Designer

Nail Arts Designer — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:05:00 +0000

Great post, really help me alot. Thanks. Cheers uprightvacuumsshops.co.cc , funny halloween costumes

By: Pankit Dutta

Pankit Dutta — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 05:25:00 +0000

hi ryan,
i am panku i am developer. i cant make mobile widget. my site url is http://www.realjatt.in and my site RSS feed url is http://realjatt.in/rss.xml
he ryan use this rss feeds and make mobile widget. pls pls pls
my email is pankit.dutta@yahoo.com please ryan pls m really thnkful to you plz ryan god bless u always plz help me bro….

By: Indinm0ny

Indinm0ny — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 03:41:00 +0000

hi ryan,
i am chet i am developer. i cant make mobile widget. my site url is http://www.yesjar.com and my site RSS feed url is http://yesjar.com/rss.xml
he ryan use this rss feeds and make mobile widget. pls pls pls
my email is indinm0ny@gmail.com

By: Jenz Johnson

Jenz Johnson — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 15:51:42 +0000

There’s an interesting set of tools from phonegap. It’s open sourced, so a good way to go. I think things are moving more toward a mobile culture, ie. going mobo. So building apps is going to be the way to go (iPhone, Droid, Blackberry, you name it). I should mention thought that having the right mobile etiquette (see http://www.goingmobo.com/category/etiquette for more) and mobile techniques can make all the difference. (BTW I think there’s a big difference between yakkers and mobos.)

Also: laptops being replaced by mobile devices like the iPad. We may have desktops, but the rest of the technology is truly going mobo. Good dev stuff. -JJ

By: Igb

Igb — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:13:17 +0000

nice one,
Since I saw this tutorial in .net magazine, I have been thinking of designing a widget esp for my iphone, and this tutorial has gone a long way to simplify some things for me.
you are awesome, thankx

By: Lucky

Lucky — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:02:46 +0000

Thanks for the post, it will surely help not only me but others also.. Phone System

By: Адриана

Адриана — Sat, 16 May 2009 06:44:09 +0000

This information for me very useful! Thanks to you!

By: fReEVoiPCaLl

fReEVoiPCaLl — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:53:54 +0000

Very Good article!!
http://www.linqk.com.au

By: fReEVoiPCaLl

fReEVoiPCaLl — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:53:00 +0000

Very Good article!!
http://www.linqk.com.au” target=”_blank”>http://www.linqk.com.au

By: WebHosting Guide

WebHosting Guide — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:12:23 +0000

This information surely nice. I can make my website viewable from my phone browser

By: Developing a mobile blogclient with Breeze | futtta's blog

Developing a mobile blogclient with Breeze | futtta's blog — Sat, 02 May 2009 01:51:52 +0000

[...] Actually there are more companies betting on html+css+js-stack as mobile application development platform; the mobile version of Google Gears allows you to download web-applications to run locally (which is a slightly different approach, but with approximately the same result). And another giant, Nokia, has its Web Runtime for S60 5th edition devices, which seems to follow the W3C widget-specs to some extend (they can be tested as Opera widgets). [...]

By: Nail Fungus

Nail Fungus — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:37:07 +0000

Wow, am also a freelance web designer but I don't have any idea about this using on the phone, I will try this to my phone if it will works. Thanks for this amazing information.

By: Nail Fungus

Nail Fungus — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:37:00 +0000

Wow, am also a freelance web designer but I don't have any idea about this using on the phone, I will try this to my phone if it will works. Thanks for this amazing information.

By: JC Cameron

JC Cameron — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:09:38 +0000

Great introduction to mobile widget development. Am curious where this fractured market is going to go and whether or not the consumer will care for widgets versus dedicated apps on mobile platforms. Likely to depend upon how good the mobile widget platform is and how good the majority of widgets are.

Again, great job on the article.

http://jccameron.com

By: JC Cameron

JC Cameron — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:09:00 +0000

Great introduction to mobile widget development. Am curious where this fractured market is going to go and whether or not the consumer will care for widgets versus dedicated apps on mobile platforms. Likely to depend upon how good the mobile widget platform is and how good the majority of widgets are. Again, great job on the article.http://jccameron.com

By: Tezza

Tezza — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:52:07 +0000

Love the Twiggy font you've used in the heading – what font is that? Yes you can tell I'm biased towards the design of this, rather than the development side of making widgets.

By: Tezza

Tezza — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:52:00 +0000

Love the Twiggy font you've used in the heading – what font is that? Yes you can tell I'm biased towards the design of this, rather than the development side of making widgets.

By: john p

john p — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 06:44:08 +0000

You know at first I thought this was going to be complicated but you really made sense with this. I easily understood your examples and instructions. Thanks!

By: rizrat123

rizrat123 — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:15:52 +0000

Great article. I love the way you walked through every step. I had been trying to find a detailed layout of how to do it. Again, solid article. Thanks.

By: ryancarson

ryancarson — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:40:48 +0000

Hi James,

Great points - and I appreciate you making them. To answer your questions:

1) Widgets are eventually going to have access to system-level functionality like location, contacts and more. This is because they're more trusted than a web app because the user said it was OK to install them.

2) The Widget Manager will check for updates and ask if it's oK to install them - much in the same way that iTunes lets you know about updates to iPhone apps

By: ryancarson

ryancarson — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:40:00 +0000

Hi James,Great points – and I appreciate you making them. To answer your questions:1) Widgets are eventually going to have access to system-level functionality like location, contacts and more. This is because they're more trusted than a web app because the user said it was OK to install them.2) The Widget Manager will check for updates and ask if it's oK to install them – much in the same way that iTunes lets you know about updates to iPhone apps

By: Simon

Simon — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:40:35 +0000

What an amazing article.
Thanks alot for all of this insightful information. you really made me consider mobile wdgets

By: Simon

Simon — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:40:00 +0000

What an amazing article.Thanks alot for all of this insightful information. you really made me consider mobile wdgets

By: Sam Mlambo

Sam Mlambo — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 21:26:13 +0000

wow this is very nice of you to share this code. This is the first time for me to be here and I'm amazed to see this much knowledged shared in one post.

I agree with Adam that transparency is a really strong value in business. The more real you are the more people will trust you. And of course it's known that people rather do business with others they trust rather than a complete stranger!

By: Sam Mlambo

Sam Mlambo — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 21:26:00 +0000

wow this is very nice of you to share this code. This is the first time for me to be here and I'm amazed to see this much knowledged shared in one post. I agree with Adam that transparency is a really strong value in business. The more real you are the more people will trust you. And of course it's known that people rather do business with others they trust rather than a complete stranger!

By: jamesgpearce

jamesgpearce — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:09:12 +0000

Firstly, this is a comprehensive article, and very informative. The process of building this - and even more so the accompanying web site - has been great.

But secondly, *my* disclaimer: I'm the world's most persistent mobile widget naysayer :-)

I'm still lost on two points in particular:

1) Why is it better to make a widget than just to do this in the browser? In most cases the same browser engine is used for the widget, so the compatibility (or lack of it!) does not change magically because of the choice of container.

2) How do you update it? Are you going to ask your users to install another version of a funny little ZIP file every time?

As a web designer, and if I was making an impartial decision (sorry, Dan ;-) ), I would have to think very carefully about going down the widget route. I don't want your readers to come away with the thought that this is the only way to get modern interactivity to a mobile device.

To me, it makes far more sense to use the same code to create a mobile web site with exactly the same functionality. (After all, this widget requires a connection to work anyway.)

Not only would it be just as compatible (in fact, possibly more so, because I can adapt the site in realtime to the requesting device more easily than a packaged widget can), but I would also be able to update it or fix bugs on the server without having to ask any of my users to reinstall it again.

Further, by building it as a web app:

- it's just as easy for the user to launch (via the magic of, erm, bookmarks)
- you'll get to see usage statistics
- it's easier to monetize through open-market ads
- you'll get the same client-side capabilities as widgets via BONDI

I notice you ended up doing this anyway: http://www.elliottkember.com/twiggy - and in fact by escaping the widget container, you *did* make it work on the iPhone! Ahem... :-)

Finally, I'm no conspiracy theorist, but it's worth realising that widgets are a web app container that certain parts of the mobile ecosystem have greater control over than they do regular off-deck sites.

By: jamesgpearce

jamesgpearce — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:09:00 +0000

Firstly, this is a comprehensive article, and very informative. The process of building this – and even more so the accompanying web site – has been great.But secondly, *my* disclaimer: I'm the world's most persistent mobile widget naysayer :-)I'm still lost on two points in particular:1) Why is it better to make a widget than just to do this in the browser? In most cases the same browser engine is used for the widget, so the compatibility (or lack of it!) does not change magically because of the choice of container.2) How do you update it? Are you going to ask your users to install another version of a funny little ZIP file every time?As a web designer, and if I was making an impartial decision (sorry, Dan ;-) ), I would have to think very carefully about going down the widget route. I don't want your readers to come away with the thought that this is the only way to get modern interactivity to a mobile device.To me, it makes far more sense to use the same code to create a mobile web site with exactly the same functionality. (After all, this widget requires a connection to work anyway.)Not only would it be just as compatible (in fact, possibly more so, because I can adapt the site in realtime to the requesting device more easily than a packaged widget can), but I would also be able to update it or fix bugs on the server without having to ask any of my users to reinstall it again.Further, by building it as a web app: – it's just as easy for the user to launch (via the magic of, erm, bookmarks) – you'll get to see usage statistics – it's easier to monetize through open-market ads – you'll get the same client-side capabilities as widgets via BONDII notice you ended up doing this anyway: http://www.elliottkember.com/twiggy – and in fact by escaping the widget container, you *did* make it work on the iPhone! Ahem… :-)Finally, I'm no conspiracy theorist, but it's worth realising that widgets are a web app container that certain parts of the mobile ecosystem have greater control over than they do regular off-deck sites.

By: Adam

Adam — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:41:18 +0000

Cool piece.
Sharing code is so much more helpful than just talking about it.

Ryan was talking about transparency lately as an important value for businesses. It seems like the Crasonified brand values are not limited to business only. Love it!

By: Adam

Adam — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:41:00 +0000

Cool piece. Sharing code is so much more helpful than just talking about it.Ryan was talking about transparency lately as an important value for businesses. It seems like the Crasonified brand values are not limited to business only. Love it!