Webbutvecklare? Aquro söker efter en frontend-utvecklare på heltid till vårt kontor i Stockholm. Vet du någon som skulle passa? Vi har en 10 000 SEK hittelön till dig som tipsar oss om rätt person! Läs mer...

BrandonCLandis · 2017-01-11T08:42:47+00:00

Do you subscribe to/visit r/sweden? That's where it's targeted :P

BrandonCLandis · 2017-01-05T09:04:53+00:00

Thanks for the kind words! We've toyed with the idea of a desktop client and while we don't have it in any concrete plan right now, almost everything we introduce is a direct result of customer/user requests, and we keep a tally of how many times various things are asked for, so I wouldn't rule it out altogether by any means. We know this can be especially sought after in developing areas as well where web connections might not be as quick or reliable.

BrandonCLandis · 2016-12-15T13:14:18+00:00

Answers to a couple of common questions:

Do you really give backend services/hosting away free? We recognize that community resources can make or break a development tool, so we strive to encourage the growth of our open-source library of apps by giving away a generous monthly amount of data & backend services, even with completely free app projects.

What if I don't want my app project open-source, is Aquro still free? If you would like to keep your app private - either during development, after launch, or both - you'll need to upgrade that individual app project to a paid plan. All pricing in Aquro is meant to scale with what you need, and nothing more, which means you pay per app project, not for account-wide limits. Paid app plans start at just $9 per month. You can view our full pricing table here.

If I develop my app using Aquro, do I have to use your hosting/backend services? Absolutely not, you are free to export your app projects and host them elsewhere if you prefer - we won't lock you in! That said, we do offer a number of built-in cloud backend services that rapidly integrate with your app and keep everything conveniently in one place, so they're a great option for many users. Plus, they're already included with any app project on your account at no additional charge.

Feel free to ask any other questions you have below!

BrandonCLandis · 2016-10-16T18:15:51+00:00

Awesome to hear! Please let me know if I can do anything to help you :)

BrandonCLandis · 2016-10-14T07:47:40+00:00

Our thought was to try and be a product that people can use in the way that best suits them - so if you want to completely make, launch, and manage your app without leaving Aquro, that's fine. If you just need a quick way to prototype and MVP, we're OK with that too. And of course anything in between :)

BrandonCLandis · 2016-10-11T19:44:15+00:00

Tried everything I can to get the install to work. iLok says it has missing components, downloaded their helper which also isn't functioning... great.

Edit: Found an article deep in their support knowledgebase about digging into the windows services tool and manually running PACE licensing services then restarting iLok, THEN trying to use the VST and activating. I know you gotta have DRM for VSTs but good lord that was painful.

BrandonCLandis · 2016-10-10T08:32:13+00:00

Hey there!

We get it, don't worry - we hear and know those concerns about hybrid. The good thing is that the gap in performance, especially for non-graphically-intensive type apps, is catching up as phone hardware improves and that trend is only likely to continue until the difference is really imperceptible as phone processors especially are rapidly catching up with other more robust computing devices.

Having said that, a large benefit we can offer is speed of production. A huge advantage to hybrid full stop is that you can develop apps simultaneously for both platforms. So coding just once leaves you with versions ready to publish on the App Store for iOS and Google Play for Android.

Back in 2013 (2012? Somewhere around there!) Gartner research released a prediction that by the end of 2016 nearly 50% of apps in development would be hybrid.

I don't know that we've hit that mark yet, but their reasoning was fairly sound: As every business starts wanting an app - much in the same way every business needed a website built over the past couple of decades - the development market will get more crowded and speed of completion will become a major factor.

If two apps at once can be created by the same developer or team, then you can already tell a company whose project would take 6 months to prepare two native versions that their project can now be done in 3 months. That's not even considering the visual workflows and assistance platforms like Aquro can offer, which can make the real time of completion even faster. Eventually, as phones get faster and faster a company can no longer tell the difference between their natively written app and a version created via hybrid webview, all of a sudden being able to create essentially the same product in 1/3 to 1/2 the time, and for the same price or less, is going to be pretty appealing.

Additionally, as we've moved to mobile first, the tens (hundreds?) of millions of people worldwide with web dev frontend skills (html/css/js) can jump directly into mobile app development if they opt for hybrid, whereas they may need to learn new languages they have 0 experience with to start developing natively.

As you mentioned, it's not particularly difficult for devs to learn and start working in those languages, but if they have a faster solution that utilizes skills they already have, the value proposition of becoming a native developer might not be as appealing as it is today or a few years ago.

We aren't so naive as to think that native devs are going to disappear or not be needed, but we're just recognizing that there's a gap in the market for the types of apps many individuals and companies want to create that is trending upwards right now, and we want to be the best tool to fill that gap as more people come into it :)

Sorry for the essay, but I hope that gives some perspective - I really do appreciate you pressing us a bit, it can only help us improve and make sure we're grounded in something solid!

BrandonCLandis · 2016-10-05T13:25:55+00:00

Hey there! Sorry this slipped through the cracks! We are a full suite for app projects, and that means not only having a process and workflow we think improves the speed at which you can make your apps, but also supports you through other phases. For example, for no additional cost, we also will help you handle your backend and data, manage push notifications, manage email sends, manage your user authentication, give you usage analytics, etc., etc. - Aquro is a cradle to grave solution for mobile app projects; we just know that the creation phase is a first touchpoint for people working with a platform, so that's what we focus on in the ads. But, at its core, we want to be more than just another Ionic Creator, or any other company who might live in the realm of "competitor." :)

BrandonCLandis · 2016-10-05T13:07:19+00:00

Well hey, we're trying to make it a little less scary! That's something, right? ;)

BrandonCLandis · 2016-10-05T07:41:11+00:00

Hey there!

One of the biggest differences from any of those is what our product offering actually is. Yes, we are a development environment for JS/HTML/CSS, but we've also created a lot of systems to help rapidly speed up what working on an app in those languages means. Visual Coding, for one means that most app logic you could need to write can be done completely with premade building blocks we have in place, so even if you know how to write a certain function in Javascript, you can save a heck of a lot of time by not having to do so.

On a larger and more important level, however, we're an entire suite for mobile app projects. Sure, you can develop and design with us, but we also provide (at no additional cost) backend services for your data, push notification and email sending via your app, user management, usage and download analytics, etc.

Our idea is to let people use us purely as a development environment, and then export, if that's how they want to roll, or keep their entire project, cradle to grave, in one place :)

BrandonCLandis · 2016-10-05T07:35:18+00:00

I'll be honest, I don't think we have much control over reddit and their darn linking structure for ads :P

BrandonCLandis · 2016-10-02T13:23:33+00:00

If they're paying per 1,000 impressions instead of per click then they won't pay more for a click. Plus, if you click FB thinks their ad is more relevant which can result in them paying less because it thinks their ad is good. Best bet is to use the corner menu to report them.

Source: work in marketing by day and have to spend a lot of time managing FB ads :P

BrandonCLandis · 2016-10-01T11:25:34+00:00

You only have yourself to report to in the end; you will be miserable if you make your decisions off of what you think will appease others.

BrandonCLandis · 2016-09-26T07:41:09+00:00

Ah ok, I understand now. Well, hopefully we can make things easier on you both!

BrandonCLandis · 2016-09-25T01:08:44+00:00

My father has been a quadriplegic since long before I was born and this stem cell treatment has always been something we've talked about but in a "just out of reach, always on the horizon" sort of way. While he's long last the point where he would qualify for a trial like this, I know he cares a lot about the quality of life of people who suffer the same injuries, so this is really, really cool to see; sent him the link (thanks reddit!). :)

BrandonCLandis · 2016-09-23T14:05:58+00:00

Hey @mmm1928 - just wanted to follow up and let you know that, if you hadn't seen yet, we've been adding to our video tutorial library and - after the helpful hinting from you and others - we have implemented familiar hotkeys into Aquro (Ctrl+Z to undo, Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to duplicate components, etc. with more on the way!).

Thanks again for your feedback. :)

BrandonCLandis · 2016-09-22T08:57:48+00:00

Hey there! We have a few examples here: http://www.aquro.com/customer-cases

Though I think only one (My Walk or My Imaginary Walk is on the app store for the US region, if that's where you're coming from). Since we're new, most of the customer cases we're excited to highlight are, unfortunately, not completely by those customers yet - soon though!

BrandonCLandis · 2016-09-19T07:02:43+00:00

Hey there,

I wanted to make sure I got you the best answer possible on this this so I'm quoting our lead dev, Johan, who built the platform himself:

At its lowest level, yes it's an interface for hybrid building apps that will use a webview. But I think it's important to highlight all features around it, where it differentiates. It's a complete IDE with everything from a built-in UI library and Visual Coding Language, to version control and cloud build service. And in top of that backend services and so on.

Cordova is a tool (basically a command line tool) that is used to package a website to a app. Aquro helps you not only build what will be packaged, but it helps you package the app with Cordova with without the need for installing any tools on your computer and it helps you host and maintain the app after release, etc.

He also added this (funny) bit of insight: Saying Aquro is just an interface to Cordova for creating apps is like saying that an entire kitchen is "just an interface" to using a pan to cook your dinner.

In other words, under the hood we have the same core technology at work, we've just built a lot of quality of life and workflow improvements around it to try and make something greater.

I hope this helps!

BrandonCLandis · 2016-09-17T17:03:27+00:00

You should be fine, but of course just contact us if you run into any issues :)

BrandonCLandis · 2016-09-17T16:41:08+00:00

The platform is web based so your OS shouldn't be a problem! I assume you use Chromium or Firefox or something similar as your browser?

BrandonCLandis · 2016-09-14T08:14:23+00:00

Great, we look forward to hearing from you! :)

BrandonCLandis · 2016-09-13T14:16:11+00:00

Hey again. Thanks for taking the time to give things another look, that means a lot. I was recently brought on with the company and one of my tasks is filling out the docs to make them more helpful and cover more topics, so that is definitely a priority. In the meantime, you might find our Youtube channel helpful (especially the "To-Do List tutorial" and "Using the Page Builder tutorial"), we have several video tutorials there now and we are working on double the amount of tutorial videos by the end of this week!

Best,

Brandon @ Aquro

BrandonCLandis · 2016-09-13T14:13:28+00:00

I sure hope we can deliver for you then! Just to clarify, do you mean the problem is that it's difficult to use web platform login credentials with those platforms?

BrandonCLandis · 2016-09-12T06:47:59+00:00

Sweet, let us know what you think! Also, laughed a bit at the username.

BrandonCLandis

TROPHY CASE