Ionic 1.2: Making the Mobile App Developers Life Easier

It seems that Santa has brought good news for us sooner this year! The QA team and the Hybrid App Development team of Planet Web Solutions are quite happy with the new version release of Ionic Framework. Nowadays, you could knock them down with a feather and why not, there is a valid reason behind their happiness. The Hybrid App Development Team is in the process of creating an application that allows users to subscribe themselves as trainees to join the different type of events. The Team decided to use Ionic SDK to develop the application and at that point of time, the ionic team did not release the latest version of framework, i.e. Ionic 1.2

While creating the App and at multiple stages, our Hybrid App Development team faced a lot of problems. The hindrances and the obstructions led our Mobile App Development team and the QA team a dance. I will get into the details of these hindrances later in the post but before, for those, who are not aware of Ionic Framework, here is a quick overview:

What is Ionic?

Ionic is an HTML 5 Software Development Kit that helps developers in creating native feeling Mobile Applications using Web Technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.  Ionic is focused mainly on the look & feel and the UI Interaction of the application. Ionic simply fits in well with the projects in order to simplify one big part of your app which is the front end.

Challenges Encountered by the Mobile App Development Team:

Before the 1.2 Version of the Framework, the development team faced several problems during the development phase of the application. The QA Team also left no stone unturned in finding bugs and glitches in the application. Some of the major challenges and bugs identified by the QA Team in the Application are as follows:

• Problem in Scrolling Feature
• Complication in Slide Box
• Compatibility issues in Windows 10
• Troubles in Form Inputs
• Radio and Checkboxes
• Platform Ready and Lower Level Device Ready Event Firing Problems in the App.
• Missing Features in Ionic View

Ionic 1.2 Comes into Action: Life Saver for the Mobile App Developers

Initially, when we come to know about the Release of Ionic 1.2, we thought that the Ionic Team released this update only for us. When we read about that and re-implemented all the things using the latest update, we were on the Sky Seven. All the issues we were encountered with were accurately resolved by the ionic update. How this latest release helped us in resolving these issues, have a look.

• Problem in Scrolling Feature: Before the release of Ionic 1.2, the Native Scrolling Feature worked good on iOS but was quite rough on Android. The Ionic team utilized a JS Scrolling Technique to have full control over Scroll View. Ionic team, you must be blessed!
• Complication in Slide Box: With this release, Ionic 1.2 has a new slide box based on fascinating Swiper Widget. According to Ionic, This is, by far, the most feature rich and widely used slider component out there, and it’s no surprise that many Ionic users requested us to support it officially. However, the old slider is still supported with 1.2 but it is going to be removed in the future release of the framework.
• Compatibility issues in Windows 10: Ionic 1.2 supports Windows 10 and Edge, which runs on the new Windows Phone 10 platform. Ionic said that “this is a functional release that ensures existing Ionic apps run on Windows 10, and later releases will see formal design updates done to match the platform.”
• Troubles in Form Inputs: Ionic will no longer support using <label> tags anywhere in the applications as it triggers complex and buggy behavior in most of the web browsers with native scrolling. The introduction of <ion-input> directive ensures that your application behaves as you are expecting it to be.
• Radio and Checkboxes: With this release, Ionic is dropping support for the Raw HTML and CSS versions of Radio and Checkbox. In order to ensure maximum support with Ionic and to reduce errors in implementing the complex wrapping, the use of specific directives helped us in solving the problem.
• Platform Ready and Lower Level Device Ready Event Firing Problems in the App: Ionic suggested removing the plugins using cordova plugin rm and adding them back which worked for us.

Read the complete Ionic Blog Post about the Update

Upcoming Ionic Updates:

As Ionic announced that the alpha and the beta version of Ionic 2 will be releasing soon, we will be looking forward to it desperately. In 2016, the fully functional version of Ionic 2 will be released and we are sure that it will bring new happiness in the lives of the App Developers.

Planet Web Solutions & Team owes a big Thank You to Ionic for giving us a helping hand. Our App is still in the development phase and it will be released in early 2016 for Downloads on App and Play Store.

About the Author: CEO of Planet Web Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Nilesh Kothari is a veteran of Web Development Industry & an avid Internet Marketer, since Year 2000. Over the past one & half decade, he has devoted his extensive skills & experience to the service & online growth of businesses of all sizes. Time & again, he has extended his contributions to the maturing Digital Marketing Industry with his innovative Ideas & Solutions crafted for Businesses.