Widget tutorial

Getting started on first widget

[GoNC]

I just want to build something that my mobile users can install on their phone, to alert them when they have a new Private Message. I really just want it to be an icon where a number pops up when they get a message.

Question 1: am I correct that this requires them to install a widget?

Question 2: if so, can you guys point me in the right direction of building a widget like this? I need it to be compatible with both iPhone and Android, of course.

Question 3: this will obviously require the user to be logged in to the site, which would require either a persistent cookie, or something unique on their phone to verify their identity. Since I'm new to this, I don't know... is that an issue for mobile widgets? If so, how do I get around it?

[GoNC]

Update: I found a somewhat older article that made this seem like a fairly simple task:

[blog.teamtreehouse.com...]

But the last step was to zip the HTML and XML file together, change the extension to .wgt, and a phone would run it and install it as a widget.

I've created the HTML file and it's testing just fine in my browser (Android), but I can't get the .wgt file to download as it's (apparently) not a supported extension.

Assuming that the rest of the tutorial is still accurate, how would I now get it to download and install?

[not2easy]

Try using a browser from Opera - though I can't say if current Opera would support the .wgt file either. For the functionality you ask about, an app would be the common way to offer it.

[GoNC]

If it only works in Opera, it's no good to me, anyway. The wide majority of my mobile traffic is Safari and Android, followed closely by Chrome. Then Silk, then Opera. Opera is a mere 0.12% of my traffic.

I was of the understanding that the only way to update the icon on the home screen would be through a widget. If that's not the case, can you point me towards any type of tutorial on creating an app like this?

[not2easy]

Google's Chrome Developer Tools is not a tutorial, but it has everything you would need to know to create an App for Android and Chrome users: [developer.chrome.com...]

For iOS devices, you can find resources here: [developer.apple.com...]

[Leosghost]

Phonegap..cross-platform..

PhoneGap is a free and open source framework that allows you to create mobile apps using standardized web APIs

[phonegap.com...]

[not2easy]

Thanks, Leosghost, that looks like it might be better in this case. It's still an app, but it looks like a do-it-yourself free framework.