Monthly Archives: April 2015

Tools to develop cross-platform mobile application

Now I’m doing some research to start developing mobile applications.

There are several tools came out when I was doing the search.

  1. kodular.io (previously makeroid.io). free
  2. mit appinventor – almost similar to kodular and thunkable. free
  3. thunkable.com – tested and ok. complete video tutorial. free for public project. usd200/yr for private (promo at usd100/yr)
  4. flutter.io by google
  5. kikApp – develop with PHP
  6. phonegap – develop with HTML, CSS and Javascript. Pay to build?
  7. monaca – build online, use onsen ui
  8. Appcelerator – use Javascript. Free to join and develop. Pay only when go live. Minimum USD39/mo
  9. Xamarin – with free package with limited app size
  10. Corona SDK – with free package
  11. Meteor – open source, javascript
  12. AppsMoment – online GUI tool
  13. buildup.io – app prototyping

Drag and drop tools

  1. appinstitute.com

Website to APK conversion tools

  1. appstrand – free tool. no ad
  2. web2apk – free with donation. claim with no ads
  3. websitetoapk – start with free and no ad, premium with more features like push notification etc

Registration to place app on market

  1. Apple app store – USD99 (per year)
  2. Google play – USD25 (one-time)

Other related tools

  1. android app launch icon generator
  2. onsen.io – html5 hybrid template
  3. framework7 – html framework for html5
  4. one signal – for push notification
  5. firebase – can also use for push notification
  6. progressive web app – web apps but fast, responsive

Other tools (need to filter all the ads etc)

  1. freeweb2app.com – convert your website to app in 3 easy steps. – name your app, enter url, add icon – charge per conversion is USD9 (one time) for android app and usd249 for ios
  2. instappy.com
  3. buildfire.com
  4. appypie.com
  5. kinetise.com
  6. appsgeyser.com
  7. free app building with revenue sharing from ad
  8. onsen.io

html5 mobile app

  1. appmakr.com – free 30-day trial for all package
  2. mobiroller.com
  3. free native app with ad supported, 5 push notification
  4. mobincube.com – free native app with ad supported.

Problem with Chromecast connecting to D-link 615 Router

This has been a long-dragging problem for me. As for record, here I list all possible solutions suggested by people from various sources

  1. change wireless settings to
    1. single mode N only,
    2. WPA2 only,
    3. AES (instead of TKIP) only
  2. flash rom with DDWRT (haven’t tried, please be careful with this)
    1. anyway, a comment from a forum: Flashing DDWRT isn’t too hard, just download a file and upload via the web interface. Just make sure you get the right file and read the instructions a few times all the way through before you attempt it
    2. extra reading DDWRT on lifehacker
    3. comment from forum also: is it pretty much: hard reset, upload factory firmware, hard reset, upload current firmware? That’s pretty much it. It’s actually only 15mins work
    4. list of routers that can install DDWRT. Seems that  mine can’t – D-Link G2
  3. purchase a new router that is proven compatible with chromecast (especially in your country/area). For example Asus RT-AC68U, TP-LINK TL-WR1043ND
    1. unifi router list
    2. unifi router list 2

Wireless settings can be found at

  1. Setup (top bar) > wireless setup (left bar) > manual wireless connection set up
  2. Advanced (top bar) > advanced wireless (left bar)
  3. IP for router normally http://192.168.0.1 (or http://192.168.1.1)
  4. Username: admin. Password: (just leave empty)

Other sources

  1. Chromecast compatible router list (D-link 615 firmware version 5.1 listed there. My version is G2 firmeware version 7.19)
  2. Forum 1
  3. Forum 2 – DDWRT solution

Update: My solution as at 2015-12-21:

Purchased a HDMI cable extension M and F ends 1.5 meters. Make the chromecast device out from back of the TV to get stronger wireless signal. Solved.

 

Cloud hosting

There are more cloud hosting offered by big boys. Normally they themselves use a lot of resources just to host their own applications. And we can also ride on latest and fastest technology they have to host ours as well.

  1. Google – free USD300 for first 6 months on trial
  2. Amazon
  3. Microsoft Azure  – free USD200 for 1 month trial
  4. Alibabacloud – free USD300 for trial

Cheaper alternatives for cloud VPS

  1. Vultr.com – starts from USD2.50/mo
  2. Digitalocean – starts from USD5/mo
  3. Linode – starts with USD5/mo
  4. Heroku (PaaS)

Form filler (Chrome extension)

As a programmer, I deal a lot with forms. Build the form, test the form, debug the form, test again, test test and test again.

It is still ok to fill up only 2 to 3 fields forms but it eats up your time if you have to fill up more than 10 fields everytime you want to test a form.

Further more if the form fields are all mandatory!

With the following tools you can just fill up the forms with dummy data or some pre-set data. It maybe useful for other purpose as well. Don’t know.

1. Form Filler

2. JunkFill

Atom text editor – my settings and packages used

Atom is a text editor by github.

Some important shortcut to use

  • command+P = to open new file in new tab
  • Cmd+F  = search in active file
  • Cmd+Shift+F = search in project
  • Cmd+Shift+W = close tab
  • Cmd+Shift+W = close window
  • Cmd+/ = to comment code line (just place cursor anywhere on the line)
  • Cmd+Shift+D = duplicate line
  • Cmd+, = open settings
  • Cmd+O = open folder as project
  • Cmd+R = go to function or symbol in active file

Full shortcut reference

Important things you should know

  • Open settings (Cmd+O)
    • go to install to install a new package
    • go to package – to disable, change settings for installed package

Some of settings for my Atom editor

UI

  • use default. seems it is very acceptable now.

Packages

  • linter
  • linter-php
  • autoclose-html – to automatically add close tag
  • project-quick-open – just enter ctrl-atl-P to open folder list in htdocs (must first set path in core settings)
  • docblockr (document tools) – easy for commenting (esp for function comment)
  • symbols-tree-view – to view functions, variables (or both) in a list. Can sort by alphabetical order
  • autocomplete-php – to get suggestions on php functions plus parameters to pass
  • goto-definition – able to go to function definition when press cmd+alt+enter
  • goto-declaration – to be able to use, need to create ctags by using

How to change default screenshot for Mac OS X from png to jpg

By default when you use the cmd+shift+4 to screenshot on Mac, it will produce image with .png format. I found that this format is larger in term of file size compared to .jpg.

To change .png format to .jpg, copy paste the following commands (one by one) in terminal

1. defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg

2. killall SystemUIServer

 

2 simple tips to success

Go this from my recent reading and thing this is helpful in many ways.

1. Stick to what you do – don’t always change mind, stick to what you do, believe in it and go for it

2. Be different – be outstanding, be different. In term of design, the way you do things, the way you communicate, be transparent, don’t hide, be honest etc etc.

Image manipulation in PHP

To manipulate image (e.g. resize, rotate, flip etc) could be hard since it is not done everyday. It is required sometimes on certain project.

I found this library really easy and helpful. Just one file and can ease your life. Take a look.

zebra image

Update: Another one (open source) that looks easy to use. WideImage