First impression: make iPad apps with Layer Gloss - Bright

Layer Gloss up making iPad apps about as if making paper journals.

We tried again a few weeks the Dutch service AppMachine, it seemed easy to make apps for iPhone and Android make. The Dutch also Layer Gloss focuses on roughly the same audience that programming has eaten. No cheese Big difference with AppMachine is that you probably have at Layer Gloss much more to any knowledge of design.

Where you at AppMachine namely based on standard templates that you can then customize, get in Layer Gloss more free play. AppMachine is say the Tumblr where the Layer Gloss WordPress is already running that metaphor actually spoke a little. Either way, the services are too far from each other to a directly comparable. Moreover you can make with Layer Gloss apps for the iPad. Apps for iPhone and Android in the future probably possible.

apps that you’re making with Layer Gloss are therefore only for the iPad and use. only in horizontal mode In Layer Gloss you use templates, all who serve here more as a guide. You use Layer Gloss from the browser. Create a new app, which you can fill with blank template pages. There are no placeholders, you really do get free reign to fill.

the blank templates themselves

The templates are divided into eight categories, based on what you want to do. the relevant page of the app So there are pages specifically for video, audio and animation. There are also pages for photo galleries and pages that scroll actions are possible.

src=”https://www.bright.nl/./files/201042/130626-layergrloss-1.jpg”
One of the templates: images are green, gray buttons

You go to each page, so getting out of the kind of content that you want to give to the page. Then select the template from the category that best fits your content. You’ll see more clearly where you stand: a text box, indicate the parts containing the page, an image shows how the layout is roughly

.

The different sections of the page give you content and function by dragging images in there. So you can design all by yourself buttons, then dragging them. In a button component Then you link such a button instance to a video page. This applies to very Layer Gloss: you have a skeleton that you can be as creative as you want to fill in yourself. Buttons can also be transparent, you can give a background image an interactive feel that way.

It is regrettable that you can use. no selectable text in Layer Gloss Want to add text, you’ll need an image of it. Therefore is not directly searchable text and the app is ultimately greater than is strictly necessary. This has partly solved Layer Gloss: pages are loaded each so you can still right on reading despite the size. Adding text as text would be possible in the future yet.

src=”https://www.bright.nl/./files/201042/130626-layergrloss-2.jpg”
The various components have different properties

While you make an app, you can always check the progress with its iPad app. This app also makes you especially in the beginning a lot faster by any action which have effect. Do you get the hang of it, you can easily put together page after page, to them afterwards through buttons to connect.

together

Using Layer Gloss costs money. You are a tenner a month spent on the design phase of your project. You can then up to five people to the app works, more users will cost more money. Do you want to publish your app in the App Store you have some choices. Once published without the possibility of updating costs thousand euros for a year. Do you want to access to updates, for example, push messages and multiple editions, you take the Flex App or App Editions plan. That cost three hundred and four hundred euros per month.

respectively

who like an example of an app created with Layer Gloss wants to see, look at Dots Magazine. That Dutch iPad magazine was made with Layer Gloss. Also look especially to the rest of the showcase of Layer Gloss. These apps provide a good picture of the kind of results you can expect and what options you have.

Layer Gloss is probably just one step less accessible than AppMachine. Layer Gloss seems therefore to focus on people who know exactly what they want and there, the shaping skills, but can not program. The preparation of apps in Layer Gloss feels namely a bit like the format of a magazine.