Hot Use Case: Mobile App Integration

 

Hot Use Case:

Mobile App Integration

Merit Service Solutions

Merit Service Solutions needed a mobile app to help direct snow removal providers to the parking lots that needed clearing. Clients like Walmart, Target and other major retailers needed fast deployment and "proof of delivery."

Merit Service Solutions used Magic xpi and Magic xpa to deploy a fully integrated mobile app. “We manage approximately 2000 customer sites and wanted a way to take advantage of today’s digital and mobile capabilities to streamline processes, and provide the best experience to our customers and our service providers. I am happy to report that Magic’s unique solution, combining both mobile and back-end integration under one technology stack, not only provided all the capabilities we demanded, it has also passed the test of an epic blizzard, enabling us to provide our customers with the timely services they expect, even under the most demanding circumstances.”

The app created included ability to find the lot to be serviced, log time, and record snow levels before and after service. This approach removed the guesswork in customer invoices and virtually eliminated  disputed invoices. 

Deploying Magic xpa Applications on Android

I've enjoyed the recent series of videos on mobile development for Magic xpa Application Platform. As readers of this blog know, Magic Software's Magic xpa Application Platform allows you to build and deploy applications including mobile apps. Deploying those apps on Android emulators and Android smartphones is straightforward enough. Deployment on the emulator is presented in a recent video in the Developing for Mobile Series: "Running a Magic xpa Application on the Android Emulator." 

When it comes time to deploy your ANdroid apps, you can choose from four basic deployment methods:

The Run Method. One way to deploy an application is to run the APK file on your Android. This is usually done when you receive the file as an email attachment. All you have to do is click on the attachment. 

Over the Air Method. As you might guess from the name, the Over the Air method of deployment for Android allows you to use your Internet browser to browse to a URL on an Internet server where the .apk file is located and then click to download. For this to work, you need to put the APK file on an exposed folder on the web server. If the application does not run, configure the web server to support download of the APK file as follows: Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) manager, navigate to the Default Web Sites, open the Mime Types and add a new one as follows:

• Extension=.apk
• MIME type=application/vnd.android.package-archive
  
  Using the Android Market. 
  You can also upload your application to the Android market.To do this, you use the ADB command line utility – when installing on a simulator or on a device using a cable. You can install the APK by using the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) utility, which is located in the platform-tools folder in your SDK folder, usually at: C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools.Finally, to install your APK, run the following command: adb install –r my.apk.

Enjoy the video!