Stichting 10 Second Move presented their app built with Appsemble live on stage during the Nederlandse Dansdagen – Dutch dance festival. The process of creating this app pushed the ability of the low-code app builder into new territory. As an intentional side effect it provided many new open sourced blocks and functionalities.

The App has several purposes. One is connecting dancers around the world. The other is closer at home: Hogeschool Fontys uses the app to let students record their own dance, as a reaction on the previous 10 seconds of dance from another student.

New functionality in Appsemble

• Video capture
• Video playback
• Thumbnails generated by custom backend processing video.
• Bottom menu with icons instead of the default side menu.

• Tabbed interface
• Allow customization of themes in detail.

• Improved form styling
• Input field validation (as shown)
• Form labels inputs are now aligned vertically making it more responsive.
• Bottom menu with icons instead of the default side menu.
• Flow capability indicating there’ll be a next form.

It doesn’t end here. Also the low-code app editor received additional features:

• Attach your app to a domain of your choosing. We’ll take care of the required SSL certificates.
• Improved validation of the app-recipe.
• Support deleting apps.
• Toggle between setting your app private/public.

On behalf of the team, I’d like to thank Stichting 10 Second Move, Fontys and several other project sponsors to make this happen. I’m especially happy that a next version of the app is already being planned. Stay tuned for more exiting features.

The post New app leads to ton of new Appsemble functionality first appeared on Appsemble.

Get started using templates

Don’t be afraid of our low code editor. It’s very easy to get started. Promised.

• Just register for free at https://appsemble.app, create a new app based upon one of our templates. It even comes with sample data. You don’t have to stare at a blank screen, just start making edits and take it from there.

… Ok, let’s be fair. Not everything is super-easy yet. If you get stuck, please ask us for help and we’ll be glad to help out (and Linda will improve the UX/UI along with it, so the next person won’t get stuck)

How to join and/or contribute?

• Build an app yourself, it’s free and we’ll be happy to help you along. We get valuable feedback from you in return.
• The easiest way is to let us build your app if you need one. We provide consultancy to build you a great app while your money will be spent on improving the open ecosystem. No vendor lock-in here!
• If you already have a software partner, ask if they can build an app for you based on the open source Appsemble low-code platform.
  
  In both cases, our advise would be to keep your app recipe private if you’d like to prevent clones of your app, but open source general framework improvements and resulting new building blocks. Everybody benefits.

We’re planning to internationalize the platform and are looking for native speakers of languages other than nl and en who’d like to help on translating strings and documentation. Some technical background will be needed.

What’s coming up next?

In November 2019, we expect to release:

• Push notifications.
• XML/RSS feed ingest.
• Improved authentication of users within your app.

Here’s a changelog summary of what has been cooking in the code department last month.
You can look at code that’s almost ready to be released and you can look at what’s planned to work on in the next sprint of 2 weeks.

The post Upcoming features and how to contribute. first appeared on Appsemble.

When the 2 workshop sessions ‘build your own app’ within the municipality of Amsterdam opened up for registration, it was fully booked within 2 days. 50 civil servants got out of the session with their own app. An incredible result, since we don’t have a friendly drag & drop editor yet.

Would you like to host a workshop in your organisation too? We’re happy to help!

Field testing the “Waarnemingen” app 2.0

This app allows civil servants to report trash or other issues in the public domain before civilians will notice. It started with the reporting feature in 1.0. The internal communication for handling the reported issues by city teams was added in version 2.0. We got away from our keyboards and field tested the app. Read more.

Try out the app yourself: https://appsemble.app/waarneming-demo

Upcoming app “10 second dance”

Appsemble isn’t just built for filling in digital forms and markers on maps. You’re also able to dance with it. Music, video capturing and playback, it’s all in there.
This app is built for the Fontys Academy of Dance Education. The app will debut during the National Dance Festival in October.

While it re-uses several existing building blocks, it also stretches our visual theming abilities and provides new functionality that may also be used in your next app, like screens to explain your app on first start.

Take a look in our kitchen

As in any modern restaurant, you can see what’s cooking in the kitchen.
Here’s a changelog summary of what has been cooking in the code department last month.
You can look at code that’s almost ready to be released and you can look at what’s planned to work on in the next 2 weeks.

The post News wrap-up – August first appeared on Appsemble.

About thirty municipalities and government agencies attended the meeting. Kurt Isik (Advisor innovations at VNG realization) gave the introduction. VNG wants to support municipalities in innovations.

Mark van der Net (CTO Innovation) has explained how the municipality of Amsterdam has simply built a notification public space app with OpenApps and how this is used in practice. There were many positive reactions from the audience and we saw local authorities coming together to see how OpenApps could be used for them. read it full report.

Missed the meeting? look at the presentation and watch our video.

Observation app 2.0

The observation app has had an update this month. In addition to the reporting function, the teams on the street are now also working together to resolve the reports. It is possible for them to perform an action for each observation placed, by pressing on “catch observation”. Read more.

Do you want to try the app 2.0 perception? Open the link below on mobile or desktop:

Observation app 2.0: https://appsemble.app/waarneming-demo

First preview low-code editor available

Vanaf deze week staat onze low-code editor live (let op voor mogelijke bugs, het is een alpha versie). Het is nu mogelijk om zelf een applicatie te bouwen door middel van deze editor. Start vanuit een voorbeeld app en pas deze naar eigen wens aan. We hebben een kort, Nederlandstalig lesprogramma gemaakt.

Voor de doorgewinterde techneuten hebben we een diepgaande Engelstalige documentatie.

Jouw mening telt

Om stappen vooruit te zetten als OpenApps consortium zijn wij op zoek naar jouw mening. Van welke applicaties zou je gebruik willen maken? Welke functies missen nog?

The post Last news – June first appeared on Appsemble.

The perception app (what is it again?) received an update this month. From now on it is possible to perform an action for each observation placed, by pressing on “catch observation”. If the reported observation has been resolved, it can be reported as completed by pressing a button. An observation can then be sent back to the right team within the municipality.

Filters added

By adding a filter, all observations in the app become clearer. It is possible to filter on the date, status, location and channel (district or team) of the observations. Set your own filters to see only the observations that are relevant to you.

De filter instellingen worden per gebruiker bewaard.

Targeted communication with chat function

Efficient communication is an important point of attention within the municipality of Amsterdam. Whatsapp was previously used, which turned out to be a pragmatic solution, but because only messages are added to one long list, this is often not effective. A report (observation) must be solved properly and as quickly as possible. Our new chat feature ensures that communication remains separate per observation. In addition, the chat is only shown if relevant to you. A message contains a title, message, sender name and date of the message posted.

Does the application not fully meet the wishes of your municipality? Then use the building blocks as a basis and create your own application.

By taking this observation app as a basis you can easily redirect the app to adjacent apps:

• You can use the “Buiten Beter” or “Improve the Neighborhood” app in your municipality, but what if you want it a little bit different? e.g. also report nuisance in your street?
• Communication about a subject (whatever it may be: a case, project, etc ..) is more effective than a large chat box.
• Using Whatsapp means no control over your data or knowing who is reading along. Create your own team communication tool. If only you would do it for the app logo that you can set yourself.

The post New update observation app 2.0 first appeared on Appsemble.

Appsemble now offers a standard style based on the bulk CSS framework. Although this is fully functional for end users, developers may be interested in customizing elements such as their house style and brand name.

Appsemble supports custom styling because developers can upload a hierarchical model in CSS, which is then implemented. Style sheets can be uploaded at three different levels and can be implemented in the applications at three different points.

An application can be styled at server level, organization level and app specific.

You can find more information on our documentation page. Here you will find examples and more explanation about the use of CSS in our editor.

New list building block

With the new list building block, it is possible to make a well-arranged list of an existing API. You can adjust fields yourself based on the data that you are going to import. In a building block it is possible to make the rules ‘clickable’, so you can refer to an internal app page.

Here a small example of the list building block, on the left the entered code and on the right the result. 

Do you want to know more about the new building block? Then view our list block documentation.

Stay informed of updates
Every day our developers are working on improvements to the code. We make new building blocks and we develop entirely new applications. Want to stay up to date with the latest news about the Appsemble Open Source platform? Then register now for our newsletter.

The post Update: Add your own style and a new block to your app. first appeared on Appsemble.