applin-ios VS flet

> Beyond Python and React ... Implementing frontends for other platforms like mobile ...

Shameless plug: I built a mobile version of this: https://www.applin.dev

I built a thing that makes it much simpler to make apps: https://www.applin.dev

You make a web server that returns JSON defining your UI. Then you make a native iOS app by copy/pasting the provided Main.swift file and adding the URL of your server. The app uses an iOS client library, fetches the JSON page definition, and builds/updates the page with native widgets. I'm planning to eventually build Android, web, and desktop clients.

Hi HN, I'm a backend engineer who made an app and didn’t like the tools. Then I made the thing I needed: a mobile app toolkit for backend engineers. I'm calling it Applin™. :)

https://www.applin.dev/

How it works: You make an HTTP server that returns JSON objects that define page content. Then you make a mobile app that calls the server and renders the pages using native widgets. Applin is the server and client libraries that make this easy.

Server libraries: Currently there's Rails https://rubygems.org/gems/applin-rails and https://github.com/leonhard-llc/applin-rails-demo . Which languages shall I add next?

Client libraries: Currently there's iOS https://github.com/leonhard-llc/applin-ios . Which platform shall I add next?

They say, if you're not embarrassed by the quality, then you're launching too late. Applin is usable and not yet pretty and not yet comprehensive. I need customer feedback on priority and requirements.

To try it out right away, use https://apps.apple.com/us/app/applin-tester/id6464230000 and tap the rails-demo link.

The hardest part of this project was making the client update the page without losing keyboard focus and scrolling to the top. To do that, the code must pick the correct existing widgets for each new version of the widget tree. The current (working) version performs five passes over the widget tree: first picking focused widgets and their ancestors, then focus-able widgets, then other stateful widgets, then widgets with matching attributes (label, URL, etc.), and finally former siblings of the correct type. Then it creates any new widgets. Now that it has widgets for the new tree, the code updates the widget tree without removing any sub-widget that will be added again. This prevents losing keyboard focus and prevents resetting scroll positions. Here's the code:

https://github.com/leonhard-llc/applin-ios/blob/main/Sources/ApplinIos/page/widget_cache.swift

Please try out Applin, use it at your company (buy a license), and let me know what features to build first! Post a comment here, add a GitHub issue, or email me at [email protected] .

To get updates, join https://groups.google.com/g/applin-announce .

Thanks for reading! :) --Michael

> When you run flet build command it ... Packages Python app using package command of serious_python package. -- https://flet.dev/docs/guides/python/packaging-app-for-distri...

It looks like Flet is for client-side code. It lets you write Flutter apps with Python instead of Dart.

> Simple Architecture - No more complex architecture with JavaScript frontend, REST API backend, database, cache, etc. With Flet you just write a monolith stateful app in Python only and get multi-user, realtime Single-Page Application (SPA). -- https://flet.dev

If I'm writing Python that runs on the mobile device, it must talk to a server to read & write data. Doesn't this still require an API backend, database, cache, etc?

I just learned of Flet (https://flet.dev) which seems interesting for Python. I may try this as well.

maybe check out https://flet.dev

When developing or selecting an MRZ (Machine Readable Zone) recognition SDK, the primary challenge lies in finding an appropriate dataset for testing. Acquiring genuine MRZ images is challenging, and due to privacy concerns, they aren't publicly accessible. Therefore, crafting MRZ images becomes a practical solution. Fortunately, there's an open-source Python MRZ generator project, available for download from pypi, eliminating the need to start from scratch. This article aims to illustrate how to integrate and run Python scripts within web applications. First, We will showcase how to employ the Python MRZ SDK and Flet to construct a cross-platform MRZ generator. Subsequently, we will reuse the Python script with Pyodide, HTML5, and the Dynamsoft JavaScript MRZ SDK, creating an advanced online MRZ tool that can handle both MRZ creation and MRZ detection.

"The fastest way to build Flutter apps in Python" is the title of Flet's web page. As someone coming from the Flutter world reading the line I draw an ideal picture of "swapping Dart language for Python and magically having the whole power of Flutter framework and the tips of your fingers".

Well I haven't seen anyone mention Flet, which is pleasant (if maybe not all that complete) if you have Dart/Flutter experience, so increment your counter at least one. :-)

https://flet.dev/