Making An App

My husband is looking up how to program an app for both android and iphone. Do you guys have any suggestions? He was trained in C+ C++ and C Sharp. I used to know java (what you don't use, you lose).

What we want to design is a simple load tool. Kind of like a flipbook that has all your load information written down but one that you can use on your phone or tablet. We plan on putting some features in there that will track number of miles driven, notes about shippers and whatnot and compiling the data so that when you get a load you get the information that you put in and that other drivers put in. Such as special instructions for finding the yard that's int he middle of a corn field. (there is a walmart dc in the middle of a cornfield, there isn't even really an address for that place).

We want to start as just a way to keep our load information organized but we want to expand it out later into something that compiles driver data. Maybe something that will record those who are slow to pay.

My husband is looking up how to program an app for both android and iphone. Do you guys have any suggestions? He was trained in C+ C++ and C Sharp. I used to know java (what you don't use, you lose).

What we want to design is a simple load tool. Kind of like a flipbook that has all your load information written down but one that you can use on your phone or tablet. We plan on putting some features in there that will track number of miles driven, notes about shippers and whatnot and compiling the data so that when you get a load you get the information that you put in and that other drivers put in. Such as special instructions for finding the yard that's int he middle of a corn field. (there is a walmart dc in the middle of a cornfield, there isn't even really an address for that place).

We want to start as just a way to keep our load information organized but we want to expand it out later into something that compiles driver data. Maybe something that will record those who are slow to pay.

I think there are a few out there already but for the droid side,

Eclipse is widely used for app creation. I made an app long ago for keeping track of my miles and that's what I used.. as for Apple, I think you need a developer accent with Apple to make apps.. not positive on that though...

There are a trillion apps out there like that already. And what you're talking about doing doesn't really need a special app. You could probably just as easily use other existing software like Microsoft Office or LibreOffice or a million existing web-based tools. So first of all, unless you're h*ll bent on building something - and I'm that way sometimes so I wouldn't blame you - I wouldn't build it at all. I'd use one of a million existing solutions.

That being said, if you do insist on building one, I would build it into a web app instead of a native app for the app stores. Web apps are 1000 times simpler to work with and far more flexible to use and modify. Native apps are a nightmare.

That being said, if you do insist on building a native app instead of a web app, use the phonegap system by Adobe:

http://phonegap.com/

That way you can write one code base in html, css, and javascript and it will work on iOS and Android. You can also put it in the app stores.

You don't want to get into native programming using Java for Android and Objective-C for iOS. The Web is going to be the platform that will dominate for many years to come so learning to use web technologies like HTML, CSS, and Javascript will be something you'll be able to use for any purpose imaginable to build things that will work any device.

...and because you're going to want to store this data and retrieve it later, you're going to have to build a back end with a database. For that you'll either need to pay for someone else's service or build your own using PHP and MySQL (most likely). If you're going to have your own back end, you might as well put together a website and build a web app as I had mentioned before and then you'll have both the front end and back end infrastructure you'll need.

Finally, a web app can be used from anywhere on any device. With native apps you're locking yourself in to a subset of devices and platforms and gaining nothing for that in return.

So to sum it up, I would:

A) Not build it at all. Use existing solutions

B) Build a web app, not a native app

C) Use Phonegap if I did insist on building a native app instead of a web app

I have one app on the Android store using Phonegap and right now I don't intend on building any more. Our training program, forum, photo gallery, pre-trip slideshow, TT Tracker, and several other things on this site are all web apps that I could have made a native equivalent for but the heck with that. The web is the best platform.

Finally, just in case there are delusions of grandeur about putting apps in the app store and making good money with them someday - it's nearly impossible anymore. The competition has super-saturated the app stores. It will soon approach a level where there are more apps than there are people on Earth - literally. If you ever did want to make a living with apps, you would need a solid website behind it that can draw traffic from the search engines. It's easier to promote an app from a website than it is to just throw an app in the app store and hope people find it. So if you're hoping for some residual income from the web somehow, a website would be the way to go, not apps. And that's yet another reason why I would consider building a web app instead of a native one.