Dennis hoppe droidcon_2014_slide_deck_screen

Using Android as a mobile business platform Developer experiences & best practice

Dennis Hoppe Android Developer / Senior Software Architect

Brunata Wärmemesser GmbH & Co KG

droidcon 2014, May 8th

BACKGROUND

06.05.2014 Dennis Hoppe . droidcon . BRUNATA München 2

USING ANDROID AS A MOBILE BUSINESS PLATFORM

In 2011 Brunata Wärmemesser GmbH & Co KG decided to build the new counter

measuring application on an Android platform.

Why Android?

Flexibility & Customizability

Hardware availability

Open Source (B)YOD

Smart phone users are familiar with the handling

Growing acceptance in the market

It works!

In July 2012 the new counter measuring application was put into production.

BACKGROUND





Why Android?



Open Source (B)YOD



It works!


BACKGROUND





Why Android?



Open Source (B)YOD



It works!


BACKGROUND





Why Android?



Open Source (B)YOD



It works!


BACKGROUND





Why Android?



Open Source (B)YOD



It works!


BACKGROUND





Why Android?



Open Source (B)YOD



It works!


BACKGROUND





Why Android?



Open Source (B)YOD



It works!


BACKGROUND





Why Android?



Open Source (B)YOD



It works!


BACKGROUND





Why Android?



Open Source (B)YOD



It works!


BRUNATA MOBILE COUNTER METERING


A SUCCESS STORY

Large scale offline application with

an SAP backend and SAP

NetWeaver 7.3 Mobile as

Middleware

1,000 mobile devices in operation

in the field

Berkeley-DB-driven persistence

layer

No data loss even after two years

of productive use

Synchronizing 200,000 to 500,000

records per day


Dennis Hoppe . droidcon . BRUNATA München 3

A SUCCESS STORY




Middleware


in the field


layer


of productive use


records per day

05.05.2014



A SUCCESS STORY




Middleware


in the field


layer


of productive use


records per day

05.05.2014



A SUCCESS STORY




Middleware


in the field


layer


of productive use


records per day

05.05.2014



A SUCCESS STORY




Middleware


in the field


layer


of productive use


records per day

05.05.2014



A SUCCESS STORY




Middleware


in the field


layer


of productive use


records per day

05.05.2014



A SUCCESS STORY

NetWeaver 7.3 Mobile with no need of Sybase or Syclo

INTRODUCTION



What should be considered using Android as a business platform?

Hardware selection

Data Storage & Databases

App Deployment

Performance & User Experience

Monitoring & Troubleshooting

Gaps in the Android Framework

INTRODUCTION




Hardware selection


App Deployment




INTRODUCTION




Hardware selection


App Deployment




INTRODUCTION




Hardware selection


App Deployment




INTRODUCTION




Hardware selection


App Deployment




INTRODUCTION




Hardware selection


App Deployment




INTRODUCTION




Hardware selection


App Deployment




DEVICE SELECTION CRITERIA


HARDWARE SELECTION

Business only

+ Consistence of the Android versions + Security (e.g. Kiosk mode) + External MDM software not compulsive -- Higher asset cost -- Device availability

BYOD

+ Lower asset cost + Flexibility -- Multiple screen resolutions -- multiple Android versions -- Security (MDM highly recommended)

Consumer or ruggedized

Environment (dust, heat, etc. …) Special features (barcode scanner) Pricing

Bigger is not always better

Does the user really need a 12 inch device to work with?



HARDWARE SELECTION

Business only


BYOD








HARDWARE SELECTION

Business only


BYOD








HARDWARE SELECTION

Business only


BYOD








HARDWARE SELECTION

Business only


BYOD






DATA STORAGE


DATA STORAGE & DATABASES

Online Scenario

Shared preferences

Property files

Offline scenario

DBMS required

Data security

Internal storage

The data on the internal storage will be deleted if the app is uninstalled

External storage

The external storage is world readable what may cause security problems

DATA STORAGE



Online Scenario

Shared preferences

Property files

Offline scenario

DBMS required

Data security

Internal storage


External storage


DATA STORAGE



Online Scenario

Shared preferences

Property files

Offline scenario

DBMS required

Data security

Internal storage


External storage


DATA STORAGE



Online Scenario

Shared preferences

Property files

Offline scenario

DBMS required

Data security

Internal storage


External storage


DATA STORAGE



Online Scenario

Shared preferences

Property files

Offline scenario

DBMS required

Data security

Internal storage


External storage


DATABASES



Ready to use databases for Android

Built in SQLite

+ Ready to use + Part of the system -- No built-in encryption

SQLite (JDBC)

+ Customizability -- Future availability not ensured

Berkeley DB (JDBC)

+ System db independent + Performance & stability + Built in encryption -- Licensing for market applications

Berkeley DB (Java Edition)

+ No JNI bottleneck (native JAVA) + Performance (NoSQL)

DATABASES




Built in SQLite


SQLite (JDBC)


Berkeley DB (JDBC)




DATABASES




Built in SQLite


SQLite (JDBC)


Berkeley DB (JDBC)




DATABASES




Built in SQLite


SQLite (JDBC)


Berkeley DB (JDBC)




DATABASES




Built in SQLite


SQLite (JDBC)


Berkeley DB (JDBC)




SQLITE



Attention when using the Android SQLiteDatabase API

The default behavior of Android to deal with corrupted databases is to delete them.

SQLITE





SQLITE





SQLITE



SQLITE




APP DEPLOYMENT

Google Apps for Business

+ Trusted app source -- Inflexible compared to MDM solutions -- Pricing

Android PackageManager API

+ Customizability + Easy to implement -- Activation of unknown sources

MDM Solution

+ Comes with additional features -- Licensing & pricing -- Particular device dependent

WHAT IS MISSING

A certificate-based Enterprise app store architecture


APP DEPLOYMENT





MDM Solution


WHAT IS MISSING



APP DEPLOYMENT





MDM Solution


WHAT IS MISSING



APP DEPLOYMENT





MDM Solution


WHAT IS MISSING



APP DEPLOYMENT





MDM Solution


WHAT IS MISSING



PERFORMANCE & USER EXPERIENCE

Your memory is limited

Android has a very strict memory usage policy Dalvik recycles processes automatically Use services for long running background operations

Users expect a certain behavior from a smartphone app

Don‘t overload the user with to much information Adapt your workflows to a mobile scenario Follow the common design guidelines

Provide a smooth UI flow

Use caching to minimize loading gaps Run expensive tasks asynchronously Avoid flow interruptions like popup dialogs

ANDROID IS A SYSTEM FOR MOBILE DEVICES

Don‘t try to port existing desktop applications 1:1 to Android!










































MONITORING & TROUBLESHOOTING

Implement your own UncaughtExceptionHandler

Make use of the system-provided screenshot capabilities

Capture the LogCat output when saving logs

WHAT IS MISSING

There is currently no way to capture the screen programmatically (with or without user interaction)






WHAT IS MISSING







WHAT IS MISSING







WHAT IS MISSING







WHAT IS MISSING


WHAT IS MISSING


GAPS IN THE ANDROID FRAMEWORK

API to manage APN settings

Possibility to add trusted NTP servers

Screen capture API

Closed enterprise app store

Enterprise app certificates

WHAT IS MISSING





Screen capture API



WHAT IS MISSING





Screen capture API



WHAT IS MISSING





Screen capture API



WHAT IS MISSING





Screen capture API



WHAT IS MISSING





Screen capture API



CONCLUSION



Android is eligible as a mobile business platform

Large scale SAP-based Apps are running stable

Limitations are little

Users are happy

PUSH THE ISSUES

Help pushing the issues for gaps in the Android framework at Googles bugtracker.

MORE ENTERPRISE CAPABILITIES & PRIVILEGS

Users, companies and developers identify with the Android platform on a high level. Please recognize them and provide an advanced enterprise framework!

CONCLUSION






Users are happy

PUSH THE ISSUES




CONCLUSION






Users are happy

PUSH THE ISSUES




CONCLUSION






Users are happy

PUSH THE ISSUES




CONCLUSION






Users are happy

PUSH THE ISSUES




CONCLUSION






Users are happy

PUSH THE ISSUES




CONCLUSION






Users are happy

PUSH THE ISSUES




Q & A



Thank You!

[email protected]

Technology

Dennis hoppe droidcon_2014_slide_deck_screen