What is the role of phonegap build in phonegap app development

Question

Being a newbie to phonegap development I have question for which i have not been able to find the answer yet. I have developed an using Xcode and phonegap. I used the IOS simulator and my iphone as a test device. After getting the development certificate, I could install the app using Xcode on my phone to test the app. I also submitted the app to the app store via Xcode.

I obviously want to deploy my app on other platforms like the android and windows. I know I can submit the app to phonegap build and it returns me all the executable files for different platforms.

But, instead of developing the app for IOS, if I had developed the app for android, I assume that phonegap build will give me a .ipa file.

How can I submit the app developed for android using phonegap submitted to the apple store for distribution.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Answer 1

Great question. I think the heart of this question lies at the differences between PhoneGap and Cordova. Cordova is sometimes thought of as the Open Source version of PhoneGap, but in reality, Cordova is the Open Source core of PhoneGap.

What does this have to do with PhoneGap Build? I'm getting there. When Adobe wanted to Open Source PhoneGap, they wanted to keep the branding for a few value added features that they could monetize. The Apache foundation had them rebrand the open source version, which is now known as Cordova, and Adobe retained the rights to use PhoneGap for their value added features, one of which is PhoneGap build. The PhoneGap Build FAQ might be useful info.

But, instead of developing the app for IOS, if I had developed the app for android, I assume that phonegap build will give me a .ipa file.

Actually, no. When you're developing with XCode for iOS, XCode itself produces the .ipa based on the Cordova (PhoneGap) template project. If you were to build for Android for instance, you would produce a .apk, which is, more or less, the Android equivalent of a .ipa. If you were to develop for Windows phone, you would produce a .xap file. The one problem with you doing this yourself is that you would need to have a template project for each of the different ecosystems that you then set the configuration, and add your resources to the www folder (or equivalent). This could be tedious, and a little time consuming. To make this process a little easier for developers, in comes PhoneGap Build, designed to take care of this step for you. You give them your universal PhoneGap app, based on your HTML, CSS and JavaScript (and possibly a little money, depending on your price plan), and they return you the signed apps, ready to be submitted. Awesome!

So in reality, there is nothing in PhoneGap Build that you couldn't do yourself (given enough time and effort), but they just make it easier for you to focus on the important thing, solving your original problems, and not spending time dealing with builds.

So to answer your final question, you have two choices: Use PhoneGap build to have it generate (pretty much) everything you need for both Android and iOS (As well as others), or set up new Template Projects for each, and drop in your resources in the associated www folder, and build it yourself. Check out the PhoneGap Download and the projects for the different platforms.

If you have any questions, comment on this answer, and I'll try to update as needed.

Update 1

Yes, PhoneGap Build provides app-store ready builds (See second advantage).

Get app-store ready apps without the headache of maintaining native SDKs. We do the work for you in the cloud and your app will always be built with the most up-to-date SDK for the platform you are targeting.