HP webOS Developer Blog

The HP TouchPad with webOS 3.0 and the Enyo application programming framework bring significant opportunities for developers to leverage web standards for building great mobile applications and services.  The growing availability of the TouchPad in countries outside North America means that developers like you will be able to bring their content to an expanding global audience.  For the greatest opportunity to reach the widest consumer audience possible, it’s thus beneficial to ensure that your applications are available in the native languages of your target market countries.

The Enyo application programming framework makes it very easy to localize your applications.

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For developers that are just getting started with webOS 3.0 and familiarizing themselves with our Enyo framework, the concept of encapsulation – a way to break your app down into smaller, self-contained parts – can make your code easier to understand and maintain.

Once an Enyo app is broken down into self-contained components, they need to be able to interact with each other to perform actions or expose and change properties they contain. In this blog post we will explore encapsulation using Enyo components and the methods that can be used to interact with them.

A simple example

Here is a simple Enyo application without encapsulation. The app will be modified to encapsulate some of its functionality later. The app is a timer that will show a progress bar increasing in value from 0% to 100% over the course of 10, 30 or 60 seconds. It also has radio buttons that determine the duration of the timer and a button to start the timer.
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The HP TouchPad has arrived, and now developers everywhere can access the webOS 3.0 SDK, available for public download. When you take a step back, you realize that it hasn’t been that long since we released webOS 3.0 SDK into Early Access. Since then, the response has been tremendous and it’s very rewarding to see developers create some great stuff in such a short period of time.

There is a tremendous amount of opportunities for developers with webOS 3.0. From taking advantage of webOS 3.0’s amazing new capabilities, new ways to monetize apps with in-app purchase, the game-changing way we’re showcasing apps in HP webOS Pivot, to HP’s commitment around expanding the webOS ecosystem, the time for developers is now.

We’re just getting started. Now that we’re making the webOS 3.0 SDK to everyone, we can’t wait to see what you can do with it.

When we announced the addition of in-app purchase to webOS 3.0, we gave developers a new avenue for monetizing apps, as well as providing more compelling experiences for users. With our latest update, developers have additional flexibility to manage in-app purchase items.

Now, you can make an item available for a limited time only, or suspend and reactivate an item whenever you’d like. You can also disable auto-publishing for in-app items you’ve submitted for review, giving you control over when you’d like to release a given item.

You also have more control over the stub apps you use to start creating your in-app purchases. You can update the version, name, and package ID as needed to support your development efforts.

To get the complete details on using in-app purchase, check out our help article.

Are you currently developing an HP TouchPad app with webOS 3.0? Could you use a little extra help from the webOS team and some time to test your app on TouchPad hardware?

We invite you to register for a webOS workshop, which we’ll be hosting at HP’s Palm campus in Sunnyvale, California on the following dates:

- July 21, Sunnyvale, CA
- August 5, Sunnyvale, CA

Led by members of the webOS development team, these workshops are designed to help you:

- Get expert guidance on webOS 3.0 development tools and UI/UX
- Test and optimize your apps with TouchPad hardware
- Work on apps and get direct help from the webOS team

We have a limited number of spots for each workshop, so register now to reserve your spot.

We recently introduced in-app purchases for webOS 3.0, giving developers an easy way to provide premium content to customers and new ways to monetize their apps.  In the first phase of our rollout, developers have been able to start creating and managing in-app purchase items, including item types, language settings and pricing.

For developers that have been busily creating in-app items – and adding a whole new dimension to their apps in the process – we’ve got great news. Now, developers can start submitting their in-app items for review, just in time for TouchPad’s big launch. For more information on in-app purchases, check out our help article.

So if you haven’t yet, get started on the webOS 3.0 SDK. It’s going to be fun to see what developers can do with webOS 3.0, the TouchPad and providing a new set of experiences for customers in their apps. Get to it!

When we introduced the HP TouchPad earlier this year, we wanted everyone to “think big.” Today, we’ve got some big updates to share.

Start submitting your TouchPad apps today
Ever since we released the webOS 3.0 SDK in our Early Access program, we’ve had a tremendous response from developers who have eagerly started creating apps for the first webOS tablet. Starting now, we’re opening the doors, so to speak, allowing developers to submit their TouchPad apps to the HP webOS App Catalog.

When you log in to your account, the My Apps tab now allows you to specify that your app is compatible with the TouchPad and select webOS 3.0 as the minimum OS required. Check out our help article for more details, as well as our recommendations for naming your app.

In-app purchase debuts
We’re also incredibly excited to announce that in-app purchases are coming to webOS 3.0, and developers can get started with it today. This is a big addition to the webOS platform, giving developers the ability to:

- Provide customers with in-app access to premium features and compelling content
- Leverage new opportunities to monetize their apps
- Receive payments for user-purchased content easily and securely

We’re rolling out in-app purchase in a few stages. Today, if you have a registered Developer Account, you can log in and start creating items. The next Early Access release of the SDK will include documentation on adding in-app purchase code to your apps. Then, in a couple of weeks, we plan on allowing developers to formally submit in-app items for review.  You can reference our help article for additional details.

We can’t wait – along with customers – to see what developers can do with in-app purchases.

Note about current Mojo-based and PDK apps on TouchPad
Besides all the great apps specifically made for TouchPad, we’re making it easy for TouchPad users to enjoy thousands of existing webOS apps. First, we’ll automatically promote all Mojo apps to be available to TouchPad users in the App Catalog. These apps will run in “Mojo compatibility mode,” a window sized for the app’s original resolution, which provides a software keyboard and onscreen gesture area. We recommend testing your Mojo apps to make sure they work well in compatibility mode.

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Are you currently developing a TouchPad app and looking for that extra boost to get it done? Would you like to test your app on TouchPad hardware, or get your questions answered by the HP webOS team? Then it’s time to sign up for a webOS workshop:

These one-day workshops are specifically geared for developers that are actively working on a TouchPad app, who could benefit from in-depth sessions on using webOS 3.0:

- Get expert guidance on webOS 3.0 development tools and UI/UX
- Test and optimize your apps with TouchPad hardware
- Work on apps and get direct help from the webOS team

We’ve set dates for upcoming webOS workshops at HP’s Palm campus in Sunnyvale, California:

- Thursday, June 9
- Thursday, June 16

Our registration page has information on the structure of these workshops and other helpful details. We have limited space at these workshops, so sign up for a webOS workshop now.

There comes a time in a Linux-loving geek’s life when he or she needs a new challenge. Making desktop apps isn’t hacking it anymore and building yet-another-website seems passe.  If you want to jump into the world of mobile, here are a few reasons why HP webOS is the platform for you.

#1: It’s free.

There’s no cost to become a developer.  You don’t have to pay any sort of fee to download the SDK or submit apps. The webOS emulator is free and our tools support development on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. We also have discount programs to help developers to get their hands on real devices.

#2: We give you full access to your device.

You don’t have to jailbreak or root your device.What other platforms call jailbreaking or rooting, we call entering developer mode.  We don’t make you jump through hoops, purchase device certificates.  or use questionable tools; instead, we provide simple shortcuts from our launcher and phone apps.  Just tap on the “Just Type” search bar and enter “upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart” (the classic NES Konami code!); an icon appears that lets you toggle this mode on and off. In developer mode, you can get full access to the device over your USB cable.

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It hasn’t been that long since we made the webOS 3.0 SDK available in Early Access, but webOS developers everywhere are already hard at work creating apps for the HP TouchPad.

We want to give developers all the support they need to get great apps ready in time for TouchPad’s big summer launch. So, as we speak, we’re kicking off the first in a series of developer sessions that provide in-depth, hands-on experience developing for webOS 3.0 and TouchPad hardware.

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