Appcelerator Titanium

December 16, 2010

The Titanium Mobile SDK lets a developer create native mobile apps for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry using Titanium’s set of cross-platform JavaScript APIs. The code that the developer writes will run using a specialized JavaScript engine which accesses underlying features of the phone such as GPS and has a native UI.

Unlikely most platforms which are mobile-only, Titanium also provides a desktop SDK for development of apps that run in a PC browser and can process development languages such as Ruby, Python, and PHP.

While the code written in Titanium is based on standard web technologies, it will only run using the specialized Titanium javascript. While this javascript gives it the capability to look and function like a native app, it means that the code will not run in a standard browser.

Appcelerator, the company who produces Titanium, has released the core technology under open source. However, they have announced they will release optional cloud services which will cost money such as application packaging services, distribution services, ecommerce, advertising, etc.

Titanium Professional is $1,399 (including current discount of 40%) and includes access to support engineers, 2-day response times, access to a ticket tracking system, and 6 hours of video training.

Pros and Cons:
You will need to do your own coding using html/css/javascript.
You will need to distribute your own app through the app stores.
You’ll have to build a separate web version if you want to run it in a mobile browser.
It’s free.
It’s perhaps the easiest way to build a native app.

Developer Resources:
Documentation
Open source on GitHub
Training and premium support

Mobile App Examples:

Bud Light (iPhone Android)