Did you hear that the mobile app option is being removed from Visual Builder in 2024? That’s right, but this doesn’t have to pose a problem. In fact, it’s going to streamline and simplify your app development and management going forward. Let’s explore why…and what you need to do to prepare.
When Oracle Visual Builder was first rolled out, mobile apps were developed in the Visual Builder mobile app framework to support a good native user experience on mobile devices. This mobile framework was distinct from the Visual Builder web app framework because not all the components in Oracle’s extensive library were likely to work well in native mobile apps.
So, Oracle had a more limited number of components that were offered in their mobile app development library. This approach was designed to ensure that mobile apps worked properly as native apps. However, it was also somewhat restrictive in terms of what could be built.
Today, there doesn’t need to be a distinction between web and mobile apps since the maturation of technology with Progressive Web Apps (PWAS) has made that a non-issue. Unlike legacy web apps, PWAs deliver an excellent, user-friendly experience that feels like a native app-without the complexity of developing and maintaining different apps for different platforms.
Read more about progressive web apps (mobile web apps) here.
Now, Oracle is instructing development teams to migrate all their mobile apps to the web app framework, where they will be deployed as Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). Being able to package web applications as PWAs has been a function in Visual Builder for some time, making it simple to distribute web apps to mobile endpoints. This will become the standard way to distribute ALL apps to all device types.
In the new 2310 release of Visual Builder, only customers who have developed a mobile app in the past will even see that option in the IDE. In 2024, it will be removed for good. Converting your mobile apps to web apps and enabling the PWA option is the quick and simple way to prepare for this change.
Visit Oracle’s blog for more information about the mobile apps migration.
Because the shift is simply opening up the utilization of additional components, the migration process is relatively simple. Everything that has already been built into mobile apps should still work. As always, Oracle is continuing to provide long-term support for its community even when it’s time to phase out legacy frameworks.
If you do run into questions about mobile migration to Visual Builder Studio, reach out to our team!