What is Beyond the browser?

The web is experienced largely by users with web browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, etc. We've been applying mature web technologies beyond just the browser. Web technologies like Javascript and HTML are immensely popular and can now be reliably applied in new areas. For desktop applications we have used Adobe AIR to create native applications on Windows, Mac and other operating systems. On the mobile front, applications can be created with either HTML5 or native applications (Using phonegap, etc). As more smart phones appear in the market, we expect many more users engaging with the business with tools other than the browser

Featured Mobile powered work

Click on one of our projects below to view a detailed case study

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  Cross platform mobile app

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  Home security system

iPhone and iPad applications

With a vast library of hundreds of thousands of applications, the iOS devices boast a vast variety of applications. While there are a lot of games and utilities on the application library, we focus on applications that allow users to integrate with the existing web application (via APIs) to provide quicker access to data. A good example of this is an application built by a mobile service provider. The application shows the number of air time minutes used in the billing period, the number of text messages (SMS) sent during the period and information on previous bills. All this is accessed via the web API with secure login based authentication. These are the kinds of applications that we look to build. Applications that make it easier for users to access data held within websites without the browser.

Android applications

Android is the operating system by Google that looks like it is set to dominate the smartphone market in the coming years. Android applications are easier to build compared to iOS applications but they have to be carefully developed to ensure that multiple devices render the application correctly. There are several tools like phonegap which technically allows developers to write the application once and reuse on devices like the Blackberry, windows mobile phones, etc.

Windows/Mac/Linux desktop applications

Our tool of choice in building applications that run as Windows/Mac/Linux desktop applications is Adobe AIR. With AIR runtime, the same application written using HTML and Javascript can run on multiple devices. Again, we integrate these desktop applications closely with the web application. Browsers are limited for security reasons and hence have limited access to file system and cannot be used to run other desktop applications. We have successfully managed to use AIR applications to solve two kinds of problems. The first was to show native alerts on the desktop when an action occurs on the web application (like an order being placed on an e-commerce website) and the second application was to integrate with photoshop to provide advanced image editing capability not possible within a browser while not losing the web experience by switching between the browser and photoshop seamlessly.

API & Web services (SOAP & REST)

Over the years we have worked with APIs provided by the HMRC (UK Tax department), DVLA (UK Driving agency) and several other APIs. All these APIs and web services once integrated offer great flexibility and functionality. These APIs facilitate server to server communication bypassing the need for users to visit websites and fill out information held in other systems. Besides consuming information from APIs, web applications can also provide API access for other systems to integrate with it. Once an API is created correctly and published it can be used by mobile applications or desktop applications.

Firefox and Chrome extension

Although Firefox and Chrome are browsers, they allow users to write extensions and extend the functionality of the browser. While most of the browsers extensions we have built are experimental, we have published and open sourced a Chrome extension which is available on the Google Chrome store. The Chrome extension lets users share the websites they like with other users onto Google's Buzz social networking platform.

About Webdigi & Services

We are a web development company in London. We specialise in developing bespoke web applications & unique web platforms. Over the years we have helped clients build great web applications. From time to time we publish open source tools, projects and articles like this to raise awareness and contribute back to the open source community that we rely on so much!