Types of applications in Outsystems

In OutSystems we can create several types of applications that are used for different purposes. so in this post, we are going to look at an overview of all the types of applications that we can build using OutSystems so you can choose the right type for your application.

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1. Reactive Web App
2. Tablet App
3. Phone App
4. External Web Portal
5. Traditional Web
6. Service

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A reactive web app/application is an app that comes with a responsive interface and mostly runs in the browser of the user. but the user experience for this type of application is excellent and unique across all types of screen sizes and devices. we can develop components with a single code and can use them in different apps.

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we can also use and code HTML and Javascript and can interact with the hardware and make logic for them. it provides a unified experience while developing the application.

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we can also provide usability over the other apps and integrate with another external database. we always have one paradigm for web and mobile while developing and this suits more to the developers more in that they don’t need to work on different screens for different sizes of screens.

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Apps are always run on modern stacks means the real development will always work without no conditions. it also provides a responsive UX and can build apps using the client-side runtime. These types of applications always need an internet connection to run and also no installation is needed to run the application.

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Note – Using the Reactive Web App template we can easily create a Reactive web application.

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The reactive app can have a common logic for all devices and screen sizes. also, it depends on us whether we want to change the code for different screens. also by default, it provides a responsive layout for all sizes and types of screens.

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We can also control the performance of the design using the mechanisms and also optimize the data transfer from one layer to another layer. and it works with the browser refresh means new updates are automatically visible when a page got refreshed.

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Tablet apps are apps that have a native experience that is mostly useful for tablets and can also be published over the app stores of different companies. these types of apps are only suitable for the range of sizes of screens. these types of apps come under the mobile apps and provide a fixed type of scenario to the users. these apps are very lightweight and can be shared as a progressive web app from any source and users can keep the app on their phones and use it anywhere and anytime.

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Note – using the Tablet App we can easily create a Tablet App.

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In OutSystems Mobiles are developed using the Outsystems visual language using Apache Cordova. these types of apps are compiled with native mobile Android/ios apps. These types of apps are built to give the best user experience over mobile devices. using the logic in the code side using the plugins we can also access the device hardware, such as the power system, camera, storage, and sensors.

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Using the same code at the same time we can develop an app for IOS and Android because the code that OutSystems generate for the mobile app is cross-platform. both Phone App and Tablet App templates are used in this scenario. In the OutSystems, we have two scenarios for the mobile app one is the Native app package and the second is the Progressive web app (PWA).

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Native app package is a dedicated OutSystems cloud service that generates native mobile builds for you. using these build bundles you can easily distribute your application into the different app stores or can also use it internally for a purpose.

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Progressive web apps are lightweight apps that are the same look and feel as native mobile apps. these types of apps are quick to install and distribute directly from any source. because they are not made for the app stores and cannot be published over any app stores.

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One of the major points is that these apps can work offline without any inconsistency in the status of the code. and have a common logic for all the supported mobiles. PWAs apps run on any device and only need a supported browser and Native apps can run on any working android/ios device.

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Mobile apps have a dedicated mobile UI pattern that gives a better user experience in all screen sizes. for offline working, we can use the local storage for the native mobile apps and browser storage for the progressive web apps. in terms of changes, one needs to install a new/updated version of the app to see the new changes and PWAs apps automatically update when the app detects the new version.

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This template provides a great experience overall with web screens for all sizes and browsers for an external web portal.

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A traditional web app template is an old and earlier type of template used for the web and mobile responsive experience. that many focus on server-side development.

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Service templates are used when we need a centralize and isolate reusable logic and data that we need to share across several applications. using the service app we can create an application that can take inputs and do some processing depending upon the conditions and gives the desired outputs.