Mobile App Final
19. Discuss single sign-on as a service, touching on both OAUTH2 and Netbadge. How do these systems work? What can they provide? What advantages and disadvantages come from using these services?
As a webservice, it can implement both authorization and authentication, but it's difficult on mobile. Single sign-on relinquishes the responsibility to have good passwords for the user, but provides a better user experience
10. Describe the process of designing the user interface for a mobile app, from concept idea through production. What is a wireframe and what is its purpose in the process? What are some specific advantages with doing a wireframe with a mobile app? How do you engage the customer in this process?
Figure out screen relationships and app flow. Draw it up. Wireframing is figuring out what the app will look like and the transitions. Engage the user by testing prototypes.
15. Describe benefits that the Android and iOS design guidelines provide to developers. What are the advantages to following the guidelines? Are there reasons not to follow the guidelines?
Unifies the app with other apps on the store. Easier to use if the app looks like an app from the platform Confusing if they don't follow the guidelines.
9. Why would you or would you not want to consider a cross-platform toolset for mobile app development? Discuss specific advantages and tradeoffs, highlighting and defending what you consider to be the main points both for and against usage.
Want to: it drastically speeds up the dev process Not: not fully optimized code. Tools may be easier to use, but it doesn't kinda makes it trash
18. Describe and discuss the concept of using core data structures on both iOS and Android (For iOS, this is CoreData; for Android, this is using SQLite.). Touch on the similarities and differences between the platforms, specifically highlighting the advantages on each.
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13. Discuss the core components of an Android app (specifically activities, intents, and services) and how they are put together to create a full-featured app.
Activity - each screen, front end views, controller and loads the layout Service - background things that happen Content provider - the database stuff Intent - press a button to do something, between activities Layout - what it looks like
6. Discuss the concepts of authorization, authentication, integrity, and non-repudiation with regards to web service security. Describe ways of implementing each.
Authentication - verify identity, username and password, ssn, only one person knows, signed certificate Authorization - says what user is allowed to do, role-based security, broadly granting permissions Integrity - encrypted messages, digital signature to make sure it isn't tampered with Non-repudiation - prove that someone made the requests, track activity, digitally signed logs
16. Discuss augmented and virtual reality technology for mobile devices, specifically touching on how mobile devices are at the cutting edge. What do you need for AR/VR to "work"? What advantages does mobile bring to AR/VR?
For AR, you need: A screen for both eyes, head rotation and angle detection. Not necessarily able to fully walk and move around. For VR, you need: same stuff for AR, but also you need to be able to block out the real world. The point of it is to transport you to a new place. It's harder to do that with a mobile device. It's quick, easy, and doesn't require much set up, unlike the Vive or Rift. Can be used for 3D objects, training, panoramas, etc. Since mobile devices are more about working out and about, AR is more feasible than VR. Now, AR is built in for both platforms
2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of building a native mobile app (i.e. in Swift or Java) versus a mobile-friendly web app that will run in a browser. Make sure to identify the key circumstances in which a company would choose to release a product with one but not the other.
Mobile app allows for more sensors, better accessibility, better use of hardware (full power of cpu), offline access. Web-app for users that don't want to download the app.
5. Compare and contrast two different mobile app store monetization strategies. Make sure to touch on what types of apps and which platforms you would use with each.
Paid apps - users pay upfront and updates are free - better for apple? Ad supportive - apps for free but have ads play - better for android bc android users don't buy apps Free to play - free to download but users can buy things during the app (the whales) - games In-app purchases - free app but addons that can create a custom experience - something you buy once and stays
11. Describe and discuss things we can do as developers to make our apps more accessible to people who cannot use a mobile device the standard way. Discuss one aspect in each of the four high-level categories we evaluated in class.
Perceivable - user should be able to see it. Contrast, screen size, magnification Operable - user should be able to interact with the device. Keyboard controls, touch target size and spacing, gestures, button locations, many ways to do something. Understandable - users should be able to understand and use the things despite design and orientation. Orientation support, consistent design, keep relevant controls together, indication of actionable items and what you can do. Robustness - resistant to incorrect information and input. Auto open keypad, easy data entry.
14. Discuss ethical concerns with gathering data through sensors and analytics methods, specifically touching on privacy, security, equity, and social forgetting. How does a privacy policy affect how you address and mitigate these concerns?
Privacy - control over personal information sharing Consent - permission to gather data Equity - fairness in how individuals are treated Social forgetting - purposeful discarding of information to enable forgiveness and a clean slate to prevent future bias, PPI - tells people what data is being taken, where it's being stored, how it's being stored, the users options of what is take and how it's stored and how the user can access that gathered data.
8. Discuss three major usability challenges with mobile development, explaining why each is a challenge and how you can overcome it. You must directly reference the rules presented in class.
Pudgy ass fingers, dumb users, small screen limited screen real estate, a unique input system, and a device that's nearly constantly in motion Visibility of Status - System should always keep users informed with feedback System = Real World - Should match the system to the real world - show data in logical manner The "uh-oh" button - Have an undo button or a redo button Consistency and Standards - Users shouldn't have to wonder what words, situations, or actions mean Error Prevention - Aid user with input Recognition rather than Recall - Don't make user try to recognize what something does, keep actions consistent Flexibility - Ex. shortcuts that speed up the app for a professional user, but don't bother a novice user Minimalist Design - Make activities do one thing well, limit buttons Error Explanation - Error messages in plain languages Help! - Have a help menu, for example, shaking to offer assistance
4. Compare and contrast native mobile app UX design versus standard desktop app UX design. What are some major considerations for choosing one over the other? Discuss main advantages and disadvantages.
Smaller screen, harder to press buttons and tiny urls, sensors, touch screen, dumb users, simpler and less scope. On the go, sensors, broader user base for mobile More powerful, typically more precise control, can have more features bc larger screen, performance isn't a constraint for desktop
3. Describe some major design and implementation challenges for wearables. How can you overcome them? Finally, what are the major opportunities that you see for the platform?
Smaller screen, harder to press buttons, harder use case, fewer people have wearables. Fewer features, swipes instead of buttons Wireless payment, exercising, alarms, time-telling, notifications.
1. Describe the five concepts of REST with respect to specifically how they relate to working with a mobile app interfacing with a web service. In your discussion, identify which one 'matters the most' for a successful mobile app + web service system.
Statelessness: Nothing in the server's memory, matters the most Well-defined operations: get, put, post, delete Addressable Resources: Parameters in URLs Idempotency: Same thing if you go to the same place Structured Data: JSON, XML
7. Discuss the general algorithm for signing a mobile application. What does signing an app actually give the developer, the platform holder, and the user?
Take app, hash it, encrypt the hash with the dev's private key, put it at the end of the app as the signature When it gets downloaded, uses public key to verify the hash. Apple signs all of their stuff with their own signature.
17. Describe the main advantages and disadvantages between connecting to a web service using RESTful JSON calls versus using a provided API library. Why would a company provide one as opposed to the other?
Using restful JSON makes it such that the user has to know what commands they need to use to get the JSON you want. API, no need for user to figure out a url or JSON. "Heavy lifting happens on the other end"
12. Discuss the MVC architecture pattern as it specifically relates to iOS app design. What comprises each part of the pattern? Why is the MVC pattern so important to app design in general?
View Controller - Controller - logic Segues - controller - logic Background mode Core data - Model - for the data Storyboard - View - how it looks Generally, MVC lends itself to modularity and thus ease of development
20. Describe what it means for an app to run 'in a sandbox' and how that affects how that app runs on the device, including advantages and disadvantages.
When an app runs in a sandbox, it's harder to see how the sensors would work. It's helpful because you don't have to have a device and you can generate different virtual devices, but it's limiting.
