The global market for mobile applications is continually increasing and at the same time there exist no best-practice to tackle the application fragmentation issue. Application users, developers, content providers and distributors, network operators and device manufacturers are all affected by fragmentation.

Device functionalities are converging while at the same time device categories and operating systems are diverging. This leads to the situation that there is an increasing number of devices and commercial opportunities for applications, but at the same time requiring higher development costs to develop applications that are available for all the different software and hardware combinations. This used to be known as the ‘three screens’ problem, covering the domains PC, mobile and TV, although with the arrival of tablets and smart in-car devices, the problem space has increased since then. This tutorial will highlight the underlying technical issues and address app development strategies for multiple devices.

Cross-Platform Landscape

In this tutorial, participants will be briefed on the extremely fragmented landscape of operating systems and app ecosystem. Differences in hardware and operating systems will be explored, and we will survey the tools and techniques available to cope for cross-platform differences as well as techniques for leveraging platform-specific functionality for a high class app experience. Based on this survey, the tutorial will discuss best-practices for developing cross-platform applications for the domains PC, mobile and TV.

Application Design Concepts

We will also explore how to design your cross-platform application. Participants will learn how to distribute application components among servers and terminals by usage of distributed resources and services via abstract APIs. Another common need for applications is to leverage security and privacy models. We will tackle deficits in the web runtime security model with a prospect to the WAC security architecture by presenting additional security mechanisms.

User Interface Principles

User interfaces are fundamental for an awfully app experience, participants will be trained on the basic principles of user interface development for three screens. App structures (tabs versus windows), the view hierarchy, positioning techniques, components styling, and event handling will be explored.

Marketing Concepts

When building applications, it is usually necessary to develop marketing concept by publishing your application in underlying marketplaces. The variety of differences in the marketplace landscape will be explored, and we will propose business strategies to publish your applications in the right marketplace. Additional we will discuss the new concept of web-based marketplaces and their future prospects.

Prerequisites

All prerequisites are preferable: experiences in development of mobile applications, familiarity with JavaScript programming language, competences in HTML, CSS and W3C widget concept

Intended Audience

Anyone interested in learning about the changing landscape in developing applications and the potentials of cross-platform development for three screens PC, mobile and TV based on future web technologies, including researchers, scientists and developers.