Android Development

a guide to mobilizing your apps
Best Practices for enterPrise android™ develoPers

developer.motorola.com/enterprise

MOBILIZE YOUR APPS Best Practices for enterPrise android™ develoPers

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introduction
enterprise mobility continues to gain momentum as it engages employees, boosts productivity, and encourages cloud collaboration. a recent idc report1 found that more than 50 percent ofit departments plan to spend at least 10 percent of their annual budgets on mobility. and more than 15 percent are planning to spend at least a third of their funds — representing the bulk of their innovation resources. if your company has made the commitment to enterprise mobility, you may be wondering how designing and developing for mobile differs from desktop development, what in-houseexperience and knowledge can be transferred, and what skills will need to be supplemented. in this guide, you’ll find best practices for developing mobile apps for the android platform — from planning to development and deployment. We’ll show you how mobile apps and their development are different from desktop apps and what you can do to close the gap between the many skills you already have and the newones you’ll need.

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table of contents
4 An OvERvIEw Of EntERPRISE MOBILE APP dEvELOPMEnt● securing corporate information ● ● ● integrating mobile software with enterprise systems Building for different mobile devices Getting the right resources — money, time and skill 14 dEPLOYIng ● ● ●

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recreate the user environment account for device features validate across devices

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decide the best way to serve up your app Be nosy — use analytics rule your domain with mobile device management

6 PLAnnIng ● ● ● ●

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start out by keeping it simple Meet a need or solve a problem recognize that the user is king scale down

16 MOtOdEv fOR EntERPRISE IS hERE tOhELP

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USER ExPERIEncE

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Get mobile and think beyond the desktop navigate in new ways identify a user experience lead and solicit user feedback

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Make the most of what you know now apply that to embedded systems add in tools specific to mobile app development

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an overview of enterprise mobile app development
Mobility brings unique opportunities to enterprises along with some unique challenges for in-house developers. there are top-line considerations in mobile app development that you’ll want to keep in mind when creating your first enterprise app for android.
SEcURIng cORPORAtE InfORMAtIOn

enterprise mobility raises key data security issuesfor cios, such as how to enable mobile devices to securely and privately access resources behind the company firewall and how to authenticate and authorize mobile users. Most enterprises enable remote computers to access corporate data stored behind the firewall using virtual private network (vPn) software which is also supported by most mobile platforms, including android. the drawback with vPnon a mobile device is that all iP network traffic gets routed through the vPn server. so, even that funny online video — when viewed from a mobile device — will demand encryption and transmission resources that may result in device battery drain. it is therefore important to consider vPn alternatives, such as a web-front-end to corporate data, or a remote terminal view into the corporate network(as in citrix products), either of which can enable access to corporate data through controlled port access and tunneling. When developing in-house mobile apps, you may even want to consider a hybrid of direct access and web-front-end access to corporate data. enterprise developers should also be aware that devices such as smartphones can be easily misplaced and/or stolen. it is vital that any...