About NthLib …
If you work with web content clients who would like to distribute their online content in a native mobile app format but who haven’t found a way to justify the expense then please read more …
The next few paragraphs will tell you about a mobile app subscription service for online content providers. If you are in the web design and development business, then NthLib by LucoTrav might fit your client needs and provide your business a source of new revenue and profit. NthLib is a software library tool that is used to quickly deploy native iOS apps to the Apple App Store or for In-House Enterprise use. The library was designed from the ground up around the idea of rapid design and deployment of mobile apps that are affordable to the client and that are simply and quickly configurable by technical or non-technical users.
Web developers who have online content clients make ideal users of the NthLib configuration editing feature. At the heart of the library is a simple editing tool that allows a user to create and edit an app configuration. The edit tool is only visible to users who have been granted edit permission by the owner of the app and its content. An app created and deployed using NthLib can have many configurations accessible to its users each one unique and easily customizable for end user individuals or groups. These configurations can then be edited and distributed in real time without any need to redistribute the app. Edited configurations are easily redistributed independently of the app. New configurations can be added to the app and existing ones can be removed at any time. Existing installed configurations that have been edited and uploaded to a server by the content owner will automatically be updated on end user devices the next time the app is activated.
The configuration files themselves are very small and portable and contain no content. They are organized around objects that each carry a unique server address of an individual content item that has been defined in the configuration. The configuration content items then can be almost any type that could be displayed in a mobile browser. Content is downloaded transparently to the end user, cached for off-line access, and then displayed in native mobile structures such as tables, image views, contact forms, and web views. Secure transport of content is required using the HTTPS protocol. NthLib validates all URLs it encounters and will ignore any address that is not formatted with the HTTPS scheme. All cached content is securely stored on the device anytime the app is not currently active and the content cannot be accessed by any entity other than the NthLib app that originally downloaded the content.
The user experience advantage NthLib provides over a browser is a native intuitive mobile app interface that is readily familiar to the user and needs no learning time in order to navigate. The user can quickly and seamlessly switch between configurations that the content owner has provided. Different end users can be given access to different sets of configurations depending on the experience the content owner intends to provide. Beyond ease of end use, NthLib configurations allow the owner of the content to quickly reconfigure the app layout on-the-fly. Reconfigurations require only permission of the owner and access to content server addresses of the content to be edited in the configuration. Additionally app configurations can be edited right on an iPad by anyone with basic editing skills. No developer or technical skills are required to create and edit a configuration, only permission and these basic skills and a minimum understanding of the way server-based content is addressed.
The reason web developers are ideal for adoption of NthLib is their access to existing content owners who in many cases have set aside plans to deploy a native mobile app because of the complexity and expense. NthLib solves both of these problems. Because most tasks related to distribution of content using NthLib can be done by a web developer, this service provides additional sources of income to the developer while still keeping an eye on the importance of affordability and simplicity. Because of the popularity of iPad and iPhone devices, in many cases most of the target content audience will have access to the iOS devices that NthLib serves.
The NthLib service employs an affordable app subscription that can be tailored in various ways to meet client branding, content distribution, and cost requirements. Client content owners subscribe to the use of an app that is either tied specifically to their unique brand or not. A branded app is presented to the user either from the App Store or as an in-house enterprise deployment. These apps display the client’s icon and name and are only capable of importing configurations that are tailored and intended for that branded app. A more affordable option to the client would be a generally branded App Store app that may be configured for multiple content owners who may or may not have any connection to each other. Non-branded apps are organized and configured in such a way that end users could potentially be given the opportunity to import configurations from multiple content owners but end users would never have access to configurations that were intended for other users. The destination device for any configuration is always in the hands of the content owner.
Readying an NthLib app for distribution to end users is a simple process of working with a macOS NthBuilder utility application provided by LucoTrav to compile a short list of requirements such as app name and app icon image. The app distribution process has been made as fast and simple as possible.
Follow this link to download the free app NthApp from the App Store. All of the features of the app are enabled for purposes of teaching the user to display their own content and will provide a quick and more complete explanation of the things NthLib is able to do.
In addition, feel free to Contact LucoTrav any time with questions and comments about NthLib or NthApp.