Month: April 2018

Prashanth M Nair | Posted on | 2 min Read

pCloudy Plugin for Cordova

Cordova

 

Cordova is an open source mobile app development framework which helps build cross-platform mobile applications that are highly scalable and agile. The use of common scripting languages such as CSS, HTML and JavaScript assists in developing a simple and organized Cordova framework, which makes it a popular framework among app developers.

 

Cordova Archtecture

 

Advantages

 

Let’s have a look at some of the advantages of creating apps on Cordova :

 

  • It is a hybrid script framework which uses standard web API’s for all well known operating platforms.
  • The Cordova application developers only need to know web development using HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript.Cordova takes over the rest of the work to be done.
  • Using Cordova, a developer can create applications for operating systems like iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone. The Cordova developer need not be an expert of either of the above mentioned operating system.
  • Cordova has edge over the others simply due to the coverage of the framework.

 

The Cordova project consists of three main things—a command line tool, access to hardware features, and the ability to support future features.

 

Need for Cordova plugin in pCloudy

 

pCloudy being a unified mobile app testing platform is used both by developers and testers. pCloudy offers DeviceTunnel feature for developers to connect to a real device on cloud and use the device as if it’s connected to their local USB. Currently the DeviceTunnel is possible through Android Studio/Eclipse and XCode plugins. Although developers could create builds perfectly using any of the IDEs on the platform, Cordova developers looked for a seamless way of creating apps on a command line tool.

 

As mentioned earlier, Cordova is a popular open source app development framework among developers and there was a need of command line DeviceTunnel Interface to pCloudy so that developers could build their Android or iOS apps and put it to test on a real device on pCloudy. Now, pCloudy real devices on cloud can be accessed by running few commands on the command line interface.

 

Let’s see how this works with Cordova.

 

Note: pCloudy command Line DeviceTunnel Interface is only available for Android devices on Public cloud. It is available for both Android and iOS on private and on-premise cloud.

 

Pre-requisites

 

  • JDK 8 and above.
  • android-sdk latest version.

 

Jar download path

 

http://pcloudy-content-distribution.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html?prefix=Android%20Device%20Tunnel/

 

This will be a one-time activity and need not be repeated again.

 

Steps to Run the Jar

 

Step 1: Run the DeviceTunnel jar by passing the cloud url, user name and api key

 

Example: java –jar pCloudy_DeviceTunnel.jar https://device.pcloudy.com test@pcloudy.com skdflj4tlko46lsa

 

Note: Mention the device tunnel jar path where you store the downloaded pCloudyDeviceTunnel.jar

 

Example: Here, the jar is saved in desktop so the path would be like

 

java –jar /Desktop/pCloudy_DeviceTunnel.jar https://device.pcloudy.com test@pcloudy.com skdflj4tlko46lsa

 

Cordova Plugins

 

Step 2: It will display a list of available devices in that cloud. Select any one device by mentioning the device number and press enter.

 

selct-any-device-press-enter

 

samsung grand quattro

 

Step 3: Enter the duration (in minutes) for which you want to book the device, then press enter.

 

enter id

 

Step 4: Selected device gets connected to your system.

 

get connected to your system

 

Step 5: Open another terminal and check if the device is connected or not

 

open another terminal

 

If the device list shows as unauthorized then copy the url displayed by the jar and paste it in the browser.

 

Device List

 

connect to a device

 

Step 6: Click on ok option on the device and check device list again in terminal.

 

Ok Option

 

Ok Option

 

Now device is connected to your system. You can use this device like a local device.

 

Now use the connected device in Cordova app Debugging. Build the cordova app for android.

 

run cordova android

 

Step 7: Cordova build process

 

cordova build process

 

Deploying to device

 

Step 8: After the successful build, check if the app gets installed on pcloudy device which you had connected to your system.

 

After Successful Build

 

Cordova app is installed on pcloudy device.

 

Step 9: You can debug this through chrome debugger.

 

Chrome Debugger

 

DevTools

 

pcloudy-devtools

 

Note: If you want to exit from the device tunnel jar, please type ‘EXIT/exit’.

 

exit

 

Conclusion

No matter if you are a developer or a tester, just sign up on pCloudy to make the most of your app testing.

Shivani Sinha | Posted on | 2 min Read

Future trends getting bigger for mobile apps in e-commerce industry

Future Trends

 

Living in a technological era has forced entrepreneurs to adapt to current market and technology trends. Mobile is one such driving force that is propelling enterprises to another level.

 

E-commerce industry is so vast that it needs a proper channel or platform to reach a wider spread of audience. Android and iPhones both have turned to be largely used platforms used by people across the globe.

 

Consumers of ecommerce industry today use their mobile devices in numerous contexts like – making a purchase anytime, anywhere, browse and get details about a product while shopping in store. A mobile app serves as a bridge connecting all channels and touch points between a retailer and a customer which they together leverage to get a great and seamless shopping experience. Let us have a look at the trends that tend to set the future of mobile apps in e-commerce industry.

 

A Rising Influx of Mobile Shoppers

Just as smartphone usage and sales continue to tick upward, mobile shopping is likewise expected to rise. Mobile devices currently account for 19% of all ecommerce sales in the United States; however, the figure is projected to rise to 27% by the end of 2018, according to an Invesp report. This influx of mobile shoppers also presents new challenges to merchants, though. Though desktop driven ecommerce sales may be plateauing, but data from Comscore shows that online sales are booming as a whole. Sales from mobile devices are now leading the charge with an annual growth rate of 59% that eclipses desktop 17%.

 

Mobile App Testing Trends
Source: Invesp report

 

More Prevalent Storefront Apps

In a response to the aforementioned challenge of appealing to mobile buyers, expect to see a new wave of mobile “storefront apps” to reach buyers on-the-go. This trend goes hand in hand with the need for merchants to have omni-channel presence, as well. Given that mobile users spend 86% of their time within apps versus mobile sites, perhaps branded native smartphone shopping apps are the key to converting those once-fickle customers.

 

emarketer

 

After all, if a customer is willing to go through the effort of downloading a mobile app, chances are they’re loyal and trusting enough to make ongoing purchases. “App commerce” platform Poq recently found that storefront apps outperform mobile web conversion rates by 40%, support longer browsing sessions than even desktop web browsers and are twice as likely to drive repeat visits. This all makes sense given the game-changing functionalities that storefront apps offer, which include superior content personalization opportunities, push notifications and geo location-integrated brick-and-mortar shopping recommendations.

 

report
Source: Poqcommerce.com

 

Poq’s compelling solution, for one, offers a centralized content management system that merchants and marketers can use as a unified data hub that uses an API to automatically sync with analytics platforms, payment gateways, customer review platforms and more.

 

Boom of app adoption in Indian market

Over 80% of buyers surveyed in India now prefer using apps over mobile browsers to shop on phones, compared to the global average of around 70%, according to a report published by payments technology firm Worldpay. At an average download of 10 mobile apps per day, India has been far ahead and is a thriving market beating its rival U.S and U.K. where the average downloads are 7, the report added. Indians downloaded 12.1 billion apps last year, dethroning the US’s app economy (11.3 billion).

 

India's App Market is Booming

 

Getting the app experience right can yield handsome rewards for e-tailers. After all, according to the Worldpay report, one in three Indians spent more than Rs4,000 ($62) on their last purchase. Tapping the right market will be the key to their success for e-tailers.

 

Conclusion

 

Nobody can truly predict the future in regard to ecommerce. However, these current trends will continue to heavily influence the space for the time being. One thing that is inevitable for the evolving e-commerce industry is that they should maintain the highest quality apps with fastest time to market. The best strategy would be to test the apps on multiple real devices with different OS versions and on different parameters on a cloud based platform that can deliver better quality apps faster. pCloudy is the ideal full lifecycle digital testing cloud based platform to test all the mobile and IOT apps.

 

Manual, automated and crowd testing can be done on both iOS and Android devices. These tests can be run on a public cloud, on premise or a dedicated private cloud as per the need. Both Selenium and Appium tests can be run on pCloudy. One of the biggest advantage of it is that it can be integrated with Continuous Integration systems.

 

Sign up on pCloudy and test your apps to believe what we say.