Following the success of JFL42’s mobile application, GTI, formerly MultipleMedia, has added another string to its bow: mobile application development.
JFL42 is two full weeks of comedy in several Toronto venues. The mobile application, which has been downloaded more than 5,700 times, allows festival-goers to book performances with their credits. With users’ tickets available in their app, access to shows is simplified by scanning each barcode before entering the theatre thanks to a second mobile application also developed by our team. The mobile app also includes a real-time reward system and geolocation features.
Technological Choice
The technology selection has not been easy, especially for defining the approach between native development and use of a starting framework like Ionic or Cordova.
Ionic and Mobile Application Development
We preferred Ionic largely because development would come from a single source code. With native, developers would have needed to use Swift for IOS and Java, C ++, C # or another for Android – very different languages to learn and master!
Ionic is based on Angular 4 and works with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, all web components that our team is already knowledgeable about.
Ionic having the smallest learning curve is a big advantage. However, a starting framework also includes some challenges. Our code needs to be compatible with both iOS and Android.
RAD & WordPress
To manage the content of the application and the website in a single place, GTI has developed a Mobile Application Service Provider (MASP) based on the Rapid Application Development (RAD) process.
Thanks to the MASP and a connector, the application content is dynamically generated from the website. MASP transforms and filters the data provided by the website to display the mobile application content. It acts as the mobile application API.
In addition, the MASP facilitates user management between the website and the application and ensures a reliable and secure connection. Since the data is linked between the two platforms, it allows Facebook Connect, as well as a standard connection with the website users’ information. The mobile application reaches its full potential when users are connected. By doing so, they can book their performance, add them to their Wishlist and use their credits in real time.
Synchronization and Server Performance
Since data travels between the website, MASP, and mobile application, direct access to a database is out of the equation. Therefore, requests to the server need to be optimized as much as possible to remove any significant lag time.
We must rely on the frequency of refreshed static data. With over 5,000 users making requests to a server almost simultaneously, real time update is impossible. To maximize the server performance and limit the consumption of users’ mobile data, the content is automatically refreshed according to specific periods of time by activity. A specific action may therefore trigger the refresh of user data, such as a performance booking.
Moreover, the application can be used offline for informative purposes, by restricting access to online functionalities, such as reservations. This is a comparative advantage to websites, where offline access is almost non-existent.
Mobile Data Consumption
Busting their data is the fear of many users and a badly optimized mobile application can easily consume a lot of data quickly. For the JFL42 mobile application, data is not refreshed each time a page loads, so there is no redundant data to download.
Downloading Images and Videos
To limit data consumption, images are downloaded into the phone for a defined period. They are not loaded each time. The videos are hidden and loaded only if you access the video tab. They will be loaded at each opening, since we won’t download videos that could increase the application weight in addition to using a lot of mobile data.
In conclusion, the implementation of mobile applications has pushed us to overcome new challenges and deepen our expertise. With our commitment to offering the best user experience, each development has its own creative and technological features. Let’s push the boundaries of innovation together!
