I really like the option of using the DevApp to simplify javascript development. However, my app also has some custom plugins that are not currently in IonicNative (although I might petition to have them added!).
I understand that I will not be able to use the DevApp app in the stores, but even building the native code only once locally and then making a bunch of javascript changes that Automatically Work would be a huge improvement to the development process.
Ionic deploy basically brings Ionic View functionality to all apps. Is there a way to similarly get DevApp functionality to all apps?
DevApp is IonicPro functionality that allows you to develop apps that rely on native functionality by updating through ionic serve.
Basically, you install the DevApp, an ionic created app with a standard set of plugins, on your phone, start ionic serve and choose the app you want to develop from the phone. Then, as you make changes to the javascript, you don’t need to re-build and re-deploy - the changes are automatically pulled.
But this only works if you use the set of plugins in Ionic’s DevApp. I want to use the DevApp functionality, which speeds development, with my own set of plugins. I’m looking for instructions on how to do that.
There is precedent for doing this - ionic view is an ionic-created app that can be updated on the fly with a new UI. But using Ionic Deploy, you can make your own app with a custom set of plugins, also updatable on the fly with a new UI.
I want to know what the equivalent of Ionic Deploy for the DevApp is
Yes, I can build my app myself and deploy it to my test devices. And I have done so multiple times in the past on the way to releasing my app in the stores. And while one single build does not take too long, rebuilding everything for every single javascript change adds non-trivial delay to the development cycle, which I would like to eliminate if I can.
I understand that the DevApp itself is closed source, similar to the View app itself being closed source. As I said in my question, I’m looking for something that will allow me to build my own DevApp, similar to Ionic Deploy that allows Ionic View functionality in non-Ionic apps.
Ah! I will experiment with the --livereload flag, which will already help a lot. But my app development has a separation of concerns.
I do pretty much all native code development, and I have a team of undergrads (I am a grad student) who work on the UIs. Historically, it has been a giant hassle for them to set up a local dev environment, resolve versioning issues, build, etc, specially because there have always been TAs in their classes to get their setup down to a science.
It would be much easier for me to say - install this apk on your android phone and then tweak the UI. I understand that might not happen, and livereload will already get me most of the way there, but just checking to see if it is possible…
I think your strategy here is somewhat questionable.
A good separation of concerns would mean you can actually develop the UI WITHOUT a tightly coupled dependency on these native plugins.
I don’t know what your plugins do, but if you could mock the results out into a provider layer and make use of that then your students could develop their application with nothing more than an IDE, command line, and a web browser.
It’s not crazy hard to achieve by any means. A textbook implementation of this can be seen here…
@Judgewest2000 I am aware of mocking out plugin functionality (angular mock FTW!) to make it easier to develop, but I don’t have the time to prioritize it among along the other things that I have to do.
When I saw the DevApp, I hoped to find a turnkey solution that would, with ~ 1 day of effort from me, shorten the build-deploy-test cycle. Any mocking solution would take multiple days, and would need to be maintained as the underlying plugin implementation changed. I cannot commit the time to do that long-term.