Build your own "app"

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Anyone have any experience creating their own app and/or have a program or site they would recommend for such a purpose? I need to make one for a client of mine and I've never done that before. They're a restaurant, so I'd need to integrate food delivery tracking and the like.

Yes, I know there are already existing services, but want to go down the diy research route first.

Merci!

 

[Loren Pechtel]

What languages do you know?

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

What languages do you know?

No coding language, unfortunately. I know html, but I doubt that's helpful. I'd need a wysiwyg "apps for dummies" kind of drag and drop platform.

 

[rousseau]

If you don't know how to code you probably need to hire someone to build something, or use a pre-existing service.

 

[phands]

Look at React Native. It works on all platforms, is responsive and you only need 1 codebase for iOS and Android. It's based on JavaScript, so you stand a chance of picking it up if you only know HTML....but it is NOT HTML.

Honestly, if you don't know coding, you should get someone who is. Especially if it involves anything to do with payments, like in-app ordering.

 

[rousseau]

Look at React Native. It works on all platforms, is responsive and you only need 1 codebase for iOS and Android. It's based on JavaScript, so you stand a chance of picking it up if you only know HTML....but it is NOT HTML.

Honestly, if you don't know coding, you should get someone who is. Especially if it involves anything to do with payments, like in-app ordering.

Asking someone with no programming experience to quickly pick up and use React is like throwing a guy who knows how to bake Chicken properly into the kitchen of a 5 star restaurant.

I've been programming for 7 years including a lot of Javascript and the learning curve for React was steep even for me. Can't imagine it making any sense at all for someone who's never touched JS, let alone any server-side languages.

But if he did want to give building the app a shot he'd probably be looking at some type of PHP framework like Laravel on the LAMP stack. I've never used PHP much, but it seems to be the de facto choice for web apps that aren't of industrial scale. But for someone who's only ever touched HTML, that'd still be a painful process.

I have no idea how Javascript integrates with PHP apps, but if the OP wanted to find out they could probably pull some sample apps off of Github (which they wouldn't be looking to replicate, but rather just looking at the general structure). And if they wanted to use a JS framework it'd likely be jQuery, which is powerful but a lot simpler conceptually than some of the beefier stuff like React, Vue, or Angular.

 

[phands]

I took "app" to mean a mobile (iOS or Android) app, downloadable from the App Stores. If it's a web site/page, then that's a lot easier.....something like Squarespace will be easy to start with.

Using React at least cuts down on having to learn the differences between iOS and Android and maintaining two code streams.

PHP is OK - I don't like it much, but I use it to customize VBulletin. PHP IDEs are a bit clunky.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

What languages do you know?

No coding language, unfortunately. I know html, but I doubt that's helpful. I'd need a wysiwyg "apps for dummies" kind of drag and drop platform.

Then you're not going to make a decent app.

Apps are a harder environment to work in than traditional desktop work--and even there the drag-and-drop type systems aren't adequate. The analogy I like to use to describe the situation:

In the old days you had an ocean sitting there, but with a very gradually sloping beach. While it wasn't easy going you could wade out into it as far as you were comfortable with. Along came the various visual development tools--big, shiny piers extending far out into the ocean. What people didn't realize is that the pier comes to an end somewhere--and generally dumps you in deep water when that happens.

I program with one of those visual tools--and while it saves me a lot of time that would otherwise be spent building routine structure it does nothing to make the harder parts of the job any easier. The system will write well over 90% of the display, it will write very little of what goes behind the display to actually make it work.

 

[rousseau]

I took "app" to mean a mobile (iOS or Android) app, downloadable from the App Stores. If it's a web site/page, then that's a lot easier.....something like Squarespace will be easy to start with.

Using React at least cuts down on having to learn the differences between iOS and Android and maintaining two code streams.

PHP is OK - I don't like it much, but I use it to customize VBulletin. PHP IDEs are a bit clunky.

I heard restaurant and assumed a web app, especially if it's a one off restaurant, but I suppose it would depend on the use case.

Either way it's a wash because if he/she doesn't know how to code he/she's probably dead in the water.

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Yes, mobile app (for iPhone/Android/etc). Sorry, should have made that clear. So, consensus is pay someone. Any idea of the industry rate (I live in New York)? Yes, I know, it varies, but ballpark? Ideally it would be tied to the website (which is square space), so maybe we’ll go with a third party like Chowhound, but I would prefer it to be unique to the brand (if economically feasible; it’s a small startup, so I’m talking hundreds, not thousands).

 

[phands]

Yeah...Mobile is way more complex than web. One reason I recommended React is that it at least removes some of the need to know the intricacies of Android and iOS. Fortunately, there is no "etc" any more...no one develops for windoze phone (not even M$) or blackberry.

While still recommending you get a third-party, https://medium.com/front-end-hacking/react-native-for-dummies-b02c4a603687 will give an idea of what you'd be getting into.

Here in New York, a full-time junior mobile designer is costing me around $100k/year. Many are freelancers, and charge reasonable hourly rates for projects.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Yes, mobile app (for iPhone/Android/etc). Sorry, should have made that clear. So, consensus is pay someone. Any idea of the industry rate (I live in New York)? Yes, I know, it varies, but ballpark? Ideally it would be tied to the website (which is square space), so maybe we’ll go with a third party like Chowhound, but I would prefer it to be unique to the brand (if economically feasible; it’s a small startup, so I’m talking hundreds, not thousands).

The screen size has absolutely nothing to do with the cost of writing it.

 

[J842P]

Yes, mobile app (for iPhone/Android/etc). Sorry, should have made that clear. So, consensus is pay someone. Any idea of the industry rate (I live in New York)? Yes, I know, it varies, but ballpark? Ideally it would be tied to the website (which is square space), so maybe we’ll go with a third party like Chowhound, but I would prefer it to be unique to the brand (if economically feasible; it’s a small startup, so I’m talking hundreds, not thousands).

The screen size has absolutely nothing to do with the cost of writing it.

I think Koy meant squarespace, a sort of WYSIWYG website builder that lets people make rather polished looking websites.

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Yes. Squarespace. Autocorrect evidently doesn’t like that.

 

[phands]

My company uses Squarespace for now, because it's cheap, and it does support ecommerce.

That still has zero to do with a Mobile App, though.

 

[Underseer]

What languages do you know?

No coding language, unfortunately. I know html, but I doubt that's helpful. I'd need a wysiwyg "apps for dummies" kind of drag and drop platform.

If you don't want to learn a programming language and want to automate things on an Android device, there are a few apps that will let you do that without having to learn proper programming.

For example, I use If This Then That to have my phone automatically send text messages to family members when I arrive at or leave certain places. I also use it to make certain adjustments to the smart thermostat and some smarthome features automatically whenever I arrive home.

 

[steve_bank]

I know nothing about mobil apps and monil OS. What I do know is the times I tied to do something outside my experince and ended up wishing I got somebody else to do it.