Cordova Integration with OS' share menu and etc - apache

Sorry if this looks like a lazy question or inappropriate to the website's quality standards , but I searched in many forums and the Cordova API and couldn't find an answer to that. This is a legitimate question.
I am studying the possibility to use Apache Cordova to implement a series of applications for mobile OSs. One of my requisites is that it is able to integrate with specific features of the OS (as obvious as it seems as this is the point of this framework).
To give a few examples of features I am talking about:
Share menu on Android: If you take a picture and then click on the
share menu, it will open a list with all the available apps that
supports sharing (ie. Facebook, Viber, WhatApp, Gmail...) [this is the most important];
Open file types: If you click on a PDF file in any file explorer in
Android, the system will give you a list of apps installed which
support reading this file type.
Be an "Account" source.
I can only give examples for Android as it's the only platform I have enough knowledge to enumerate such features, but I am sure other platforms support features equivalent to those as well.
Are Cordova apps able to "register" themselves in the platform, to tell it that they are able to perform these features?

Related

Will the Add-ons disappear and be useless for Google apps on 2017-2018?

I was trying to publish a new version of an Add-on that was already created, but when I tried to publish it, in the Developer Dashboard and on the top of the page a warning message was shown:
As of November 21st, 2016, all newly published packaged or hosted apps are restricted to Chrome OS, and are not available to users on Windows, Mac or Linux. Existing apps will continue to be available on all major platforms and will continue to receive updates. - More Info
Note: This change does not apply to Google Drive Apps or Add-Ons for Google Apps.
So if you click on the "More Info" button you will see more additional information.
So all of this should be a problem to me because I have important applications that I need everyday, so I wonder if there is any other alternative way to keep working with add-ons.
Thank you!
AFAIK, this change (if Google decides to proceed with it) would only apply to Chrome Apps (see my answer here).
In the Chromium Blogpost (also the link for More Info in your post), it mentioned:
In the second half of 2017, the Chrome Web Store will no longer show Chrome apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux, but will continue to surface extensions and themes.
Add-ons weren't specifically mentioned, but as already included in your post, Add-ons that are for Google Drive Apps or any Google Apps in general (e.g. Docs, Sheets, etc.) are the exception.
If you're add-on is associated with a non-Google App, it is possible that you will be affected with the change. Seeing as the Chrome App will be removed, the associated Add-ons would follow.
You probably already know the differences between a Chrome App, an Extension, and an Add-on, but for future readers that are not familiar, might as well post this link to a YouTube video that explains Apps vs Extensions vs Add-ons.

draw.io plugins in chrome app

In an online version of draw.io you can enable extra plugins using their url like this https://www.draw.io/?p=svgdata (svgdata is the plugin id)
Is there a way to enable a plugin using Chrome app?
No.
In online version, the Plugins is listed under extras.
In offline as well as in Chrome App, you can't see such an Option
Which means you can't add plugins in the offline version.
Remaining functionalities that you will miss in the offline version
You can’t access or store diagrams using cloud services like Dropbox, GitHub, etc.
Save diagrams to your device or browser instead.
Online help is not available
You can’t insert PlantUML text data.
Math typesetting is not available.
Templates are not available for creating new diagrams.
You can’t export to PDF, but you can print as PDF.
The interface is only available in English.
source : draw.io
Then why?
May be because of issues with caching. If you add many plugins, each of them contains many files. Caching large number of files for offline usage will make the app worst and also consume more memory.
Anyway, you can submit a feature request here

iOS App Settings/Preferences in Worklight

I am working on a Hybrid Application, targeting (for the moment) iOS. Does Worklight have a utility to handle application settings/preferences for iOS? I know how to write the native code to do this, but do not yet know how to gain access to the application settings from the JavaScript. Can anyone point me in the right direction or provide a working example?
In application-descriptor.xml, there is a worklightSettings flag you can set, however the settings page it creates is not user facing. That is, it is meant only for development time, or internal usage, and not production. It allows control of the server address that athe client connects to and change the web resources it will fetch.
So the answer is, no.
The mentioned settings page has set items in it that cannot be altered much (settings.bundle which does not allow much room for play. Maybe you could change it a bit, but doing so would void giving support to you if problems arise). I would recommend against doing so.
So this leaves you the option of creating this on your own. Maybe there is an existing Cordova plug-in that does something similar. Review these training modules of how to incorporate Cordova plug-ins to your application. Cordova bridges between JavaScript to native code, so it could be what you're looking for.

My Windows 8 app doesn't appear in other stores

I developed a windows 8 game, and I can't find it on the other Stores.
Even If I changed the preference of the Windows store application ... no result for my application, I already checked all countries for my application on Dev Center - Windows Store apps.
How can I add a French description and screenshots for my app?
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this kind of question.
The ability to add French metadata (like a description and screenshots for your app) won't be available until after you upload your app package which specifies French language support. (Here's a source verifying this.)
For how to properly implement localization support in your app, see this post which explains the basics and provides localization resources compiled in one place.
Here is a solution for Multilanguage Support
How to use the Multilingual App Toolkit (Windows):
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/jj569303.aspx

Desktop Application upon Gecko/Mozilla or WebKit

How can I develop an installable desktop application on top of the Mozilla Engine or the Webkit engine.
We want to have best of both worlds, ease of development with DOM+Javascript+RenderingEngine+ContinuedImprovements in a Browser and user's control as in a desktop app
I looked at using C++ XPCOM for Mozilla but it seems to be quite complicated, Is there any other way to code like a WebApp using Javascript but burn it into the browser and dress it to give a feel of a desktop app. Also I require that javascript is compiled into native so that one cannot sneak into the source code
Are there any examples of desktop applications done this way ?
Web apps are fine but there are concerns of piracy, privacy, security and version control. The moot point is that in a web app the control lies with the software vendor, moreover the data is also with the vendor. Not only these, any changes to the application may also necessitate another around of training. What we want is that once the customer buys a version he is sure of what he owns and that he is in total control of it and we as software developer do not exposed our source code.
The issue is we have expertise in Web App development and we want to utilize that to develop a Desktop App
Your last point is that :
The issue is we have expertise in Web App development and we want to utilize that to develop a Desktop App
Well then BowLine can be an option though it requires Ruby, so you need to consider that. You can also take a look at WebKitDotNet if you are with .net Background.
Use XUL for the user interface and code your functions using JavaScript. You problably only need C++ to expose native functionality not yet available in Gecko. Examples of software that works this way: Komodo IDE, Songbird, Firefox and Thunderbird.