Today, software developer mrc announces the release of HTML5-driven offline application capabilities within m-Power. m-Power is software that rapidly creates web applications such as report-writing, Business Intelligence, executive dashboards, e-commerce, customer portals, and mobile applications to name a few.
This new enhancement addresses one of the biggest limitations of mobile web apps: the inability to function without an internet connection. For many companies, this feature is an absolute necessity. For example:
• A delivery person may sometimes venture into rural areas with spotty coverage. An offline app means they can still lookup customer information and log deliveries regardless of a data connection.
• Salespeople can’t predict where they’ll travel, or whether or not they’ll have access to the web. An offline app lets them lookup customer info and log new orders regardless, and could make the difference between the success or failure of a sales call.
• Field technicians need to access and update their assigned jobs from their mobile devices while out in the field. An offline app ensures that they can complete their jobs, even if they venture out of their coverage area.
In each of these cases, access to a mobile application is crucial, yet companies cannot rely on a 100% available data connection. When deciding between building native mobile apps or mobile web apps, this often forces these companies towards the native approach–the more expensive and time-consuming option.
With this new offline enhancement, mrc provides a better option–further blurring the line between native and mobile web apps. Using the HTML5 offline storage feature, mrc converted m-Power’s templates into offline-ready templates. Now, m-Power applications will automatically:
• Check the app for offline capabilities
m-Power apps will automatically check to see if the user has configured the app for offline access. If so, m-Power will store the application and specified files on the device for offline usage.
• Revert to the offline version when a connection is lost
Once a user loses a data connection on their device, the m-Power app will automatically revert to the offline version. This change is seamless, and occurs without any input from the user.
• Sync data with the database when a connection is restored
Once a user regains a data connection, the m-Power application will automatically sync changes made in the offline app with the database. The entire process is automated, and occurs without any user input.
“This new enhancement further closes the gap between native and mobile web app capabilities,” says Tyler Wassell, mrc’s Manager of Software Development. “Now, m-Power users can create powerful mobile web apps that function regardless of a web connection.”
