Create your own iPhone app quickly and easily

Posted in on 4 January 2010 | Comments

The growth of the iPhone app store and market has been phenomenal in recent years. Many websites and blogs have developed their own iPhone applications as a way of promoting their brand. One recent example of this was the Guardian newspaper in the UK with its own Guardian iPhone app. Quite a smart way of leveraging the newspaper’s online content I think.

Up to now, you needed to have some development experience and you had to navigate your way through the Apple app development process before creating and (possibly) selling your app. However, AppMakr is a new website that promises to make iPhone app development easy, fast, and inexpensive. If you have website content and an RSS feed, AppMakr makes it straightforward to create an iPhone app for a low price (from $199). I viewed their demo movie and it all looks very easy!

This is one of those (rare) websites that has really made me sit up and say Wow!

Related: Want to optimise your website for iPhones using the traditional CSS route? Try iPhone CSS—tips for building iPhone websites

Advent calendar websites for web developers

Posted in on 7 December 2009 | Comments

This is the time of year when online advent ‘calendars’ spring to life. As a web designer/developer, I don’t mean those nice pictorial calendars that we give to children but instead websites that publish an article a day for the first 24 days of December. Here are three that are aimed at geeks, developers, or web designers.

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Tooltips and slider JavaScript effects based on jQuery

Posted in on 13 October 2009 | Comments [1]

Used wisely, JavaScript effects can provide that extra Wow! factor to your website. I have been looking at a couple of different scripts recently because they seemed to be just what I wanted for a couple of websites. Both these are based on the jQuery library.

Info: JavaScript adds an extra level of interaction or behaviour to your website and it might be tempting to use scripts like these excessively. However, you should also consider what happens if your web visitors have JavaScript turned off. Is the content still visible? Does the website still provide a useful experience without these effects? See Unobtrusive JavaScript for more information on best practice.

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My favourite software at the moment

Posted in on 6 October 2009 | Comments

Most software works great and does the job it was intended for. However, every once in a while I come across a programme that just seems to be perfectly thought out and that is a joy to use. Invariable the programme or software make me more efficient but, most of the time, it’s the way the programme works that elevates it above its rivals. Anyway, here’s a few programmes that I am liking a lot at the moment.

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Tips to help make your website more mobile-friendly

Posted in on 15 September 2009 | Comments [2]

This is not a comprehensive article about developing a mobile device strategy for your website. It’s simply some tips that are based on a couple of things that I have implemented recently so that this blog is more easily viewable on mobile or cell phones. In my case, I am assessing each of my personal websites in order to determine whether I want to make them more mobile-friendly. If Yes, my plan is that I will not be creating separate mobile websites but will be optimising the existing websites.

Info: There are several mobile device website strategies that you may consider [including the option of doing nothing]. Cameron Moll’s Mobile Web Book is a good place to start if you want to know more.

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