We’ve cracked Bubble Mobile Apps Development — Introducing Aber, a realistic copycat built in days with Bubble
Mobile applications are an integral part of our daily lives. Uber, Instagram, Facebook, Netflix, WhatsApp… Mobile apps are expected to generate $190 billion in revenue in 2020.
The success of the Bubble.io platform is leading more and more people to question the capabilities of this stack in the particular case of mobile application development.
Our team has reproduced a simplified version of the famous Uber app with Bubble. Basically, this application is an installable web application (PWA), which can be deployed on application stores (hybrid app).
We have strived to replicate the native behavior of the Uber application closely enough to illustrate some mobile interactions that is possible to implement efficiently with a Bubble + Code approach.
No more suspense, here’s the link to access and try out the application:
https://uber-copycat.bubbleapps.io/app
To install the application on your smartphone (PWA), simply follow these instructions depending on whether you have an Apple or Android device:
Android devices: click on the install button on the popup that appears on the screen. Enter the name for the app then tap add. The PWA will show up on your home screen like a native Android app.
Apple devices: tap the “Share” button, scroll down and tap “Add to Home Screen”. Enter the name for the app then tap add. The PWA will show up on your home screen like a native iOS app.
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So, our Aber demo application is packed with many mobile native features. Take a tour to discover some striking features:
Progressive Web App
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) bring native app features through the web. PWAs behave almost entirely like a native application on your smartphone and have many benefits:
- PWAs are easily installable (1-click with Android devices), making it accessible from the home screen just like any other application.
This is extremely beneficial for start-ups or companies looking to save on the cost of developing a native mobile application for both Android and iOS. Additionally a membership for the Apple Developer Program will not be needed.
- Manual app updates and maintenance are a thing in the past with PWAs. Since the applications are served by a web browser, there is no need to update the application manually through an app store or to activate a setting to update the application automatically.
- PWAs are small in size compared to their native counterparts. PWAs allow users to seamlessly add them to their home screen, and since the size of the application is minimal, there is no waiting time for the user to start/continue using a PWA.
- PWAs are great for SEO and bring more independence from application stores (risk of ban, high commissions for in-app payments…).
Push Notifications
Android devices only
Push notifications are clickable pop-up messages that appear on your users’ screens. These notifications are crafted and sent with the aim of increasing customer engagement. They can be marketing or transactional.
Open the app, accept the permission and you will be kindly welcomed by a push notification.
Offline Support
Our demo app is offline-enabled and detects when your smartphone goes from offline to online and vice-versa. Some ressources are cached to avoid service interruptions that could lead to users frustations. Also, discrete toast popups alert the user when the application is unavailable and becomes available again. We could implement more logic to temporarily store data and synchronize it when the network is found.
Native Behaviour and Features (with custom code plugins)
The Aber demo app reproduces a large number of native behaviors (smooth transitions between pages, popups and menus…) and required the development of technological plugins (with custom code) to extend the possibilities offered by the Bubble platform. This was particularly necessary to create awesome interactions with the map (personalized positioning of markers, route tracing, dynamic pricing…).
Good to know, it is always possible to transform a PWA into a hybrid application, allowing it to be easily deployed to application stores (Android Play Store and Apple Store).
This is it! Hope you’ll enjoy the demo 🙏
Feel free to reach us if you need to have more details on how we’ve built the Aber app.
Also, we have recently introduced a dedicated service to convert any Bubble app into an installable and optimized Progressive Web App within 72 hours.
Check it out:
Best,
The Cube Team.
