Building Mobile Experiences by Bentley Frank;Barrett Edward; & Edward Barrett

Author:Bentley, Frank;Barrett, Edward; & Edward Barrett [Bentley, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 3339504
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

When users are on slow connections, however, excess data transfer can be noticed. It is often a good idea to compress the data stream that is being returned to the client, especially when sending large textual content. This can be accomplished by using less verbose representations of data such as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) instead of Extensible Markup Language (XML) or by compressing the response through Zip or other standards, especially when the return data is large in size. These simple changes can make a mobile application much more responsive and let your users focus on their experience and their environment instead of waiting for excess data to download.

Finally, since users are often without a connection when they need access to information, caching becomes increasingly critical with mobile applications. Saving data and periodically updating caches makes sure that the freshest data is always available for a user, even if they need access to it while in a subway, on an airplane, or in an elevator. Applications like TripIt for Android and iPhone do a great job of this by storing all trip data between sessions and allowing full use of the application even when no data connection is present. In Serendipitous Family Stories (Bentley, Basapur, and Chowdhury 2011), we cache all story metadata on the device so that users can be notified of stories even if they do not have a reliable data connection. They can see the title and icon of stories even if they do not have sufficient bandwidth or signal strength to view the video. In this case, they can still unlock the story and can view the video later on when they enter an area with better reception.

Ensuring that data is available for users in a variety of conditions is an important aspect of mobile application development. Testing these conditions can be difficult, but is critical in ensuring a good experience. Developers should test applications by moving to areas with no signal while interacting with each feature of their application to ensure graceful handling of connection problems. Also, testing on a variety of networks helps to understand how the service performs in non-ideal situations. While 3G and 4G networks are starting to become pervasive, most phones still spend a considerable amount of time on older 2G and 2.5G networks. Applications should still be usable in these conditions. Users in many rural areas may rarely see a 3G connection on many networks. By appropriately pre-caching content or providing lower-bitrate files, systems can adapt to these slower networks.

Bluetooth

Mobile interactions need not occur just on the mobile device itself. With Bluetooth, companion devices can connect to the phone to move functionality onto the body or nearby environment. It is easier than ever to connect mobile devices to accessories with toolkits such as Kaufmann’s (2010) Amarino, which enables Android Operating System (OS)–based mobile phones to connect to devices built with the Arduino hardware prototyping toolkit. Bluetooth modules are now fairly inexpensive and can be integrated into almost any device or article of clothing.

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