013: Rails World Edition - Turbo Native with the Turbo Native Guy, Joe Masilotti
Oct 12, 2023
auto_awesome
Joe Masilotti, speaker at Rails World, discusses the pros and cons of Turbo Native and the concept of zero maintenance for hybrid applications. They also explore rendering server side HTML in a native application with Turbo Native and discuss the hybrid application ratio and native features.
Turbo Native allows Rails developers to write native iOS and Android apps using their existing skills.
Turbo Native provides a seamless integration between web and native elements, and allows access to platform-specific features and integrations.
Deep dives
The Benefits and Special Features of Turbo Native
Turbo Native is an exciting development in mobile hybrid app development, allowing developers to write native iOS and Android apps using their existing Rails skills. With Turbo Native, Rails developers can leverage their knowledge of Ruby and Rails to create powerful and efficient mobile apps. One of the key advantages of Turbo Native is its ability to render server-side HTML in a native app, providing a seamless integration between web and native elements. Additionally, Turbo Native allows access to platform-specific features and integrations, such as device hardware and native APIs. While there may be a small learning curve to work with Swift or Kotlin for certain native elements, Turbo Native provides a flexible and efficient way to create hybrid apps.
Performance and Maintenance Considerations
The performance of a Turbo Native app is largely determined by the performance of the Rails server that powers it. The faster and more efficient the web content rendering, the smoother the Turbo Native app will perform. One notable drawback is the potential for the spinner to appear during screen transitions, which can make the app feel less native. However, developers can optimize their web app to minimize spinner occurrences and improve performance. Another advantage of Turbo Native is its low maintenance nature. Once the app is in the app store, there is little to no maintenance required for the native code, allowing developers to focus on adding new web screens and features. This combination of performance and low maintenance makes Turbo Native an attractive option for mobile app development.
The Future of Turbo Native and Strata
Looking ahead, Turbo Native continues to evolve with new features and improvements on the horizon. The upcoming release of Turbo Morph promises to enhance the native feel of Turbo Native apps even further. Turbo Morph allows developers to seamlessly transition between web and native elements, providing a smoother and more immersive user experience. Additionally, efforts are being made to address offline access and caching, an area where Turbo Native currently poses some challenges. The focus is on finding reliable solutions to ensure users have access to app content even without a stable internet connection. Overall, Turbo Native and Strata are designed for longevity and adaptability, staying up-to-date with emerging technologies and platforms by leveraging the full potential of their underlying native SDKs.
Resources and Support for Turbo Native Development
Various resources and support are available to aid developers in working with Turbo Native. The official Turbo iOS and Turbo Android repositories on GitHub provide documentation, implementation examples, and demo apps for developers to explore. Additionally, the Turbo Navigator package, created by Joe Maslotti, streamlines the process of Turbo Native integration, reducing the required boilerplate code. For those seeking in-depth guidance, Joe's YouTube channel and blog, maslotti.com, offer tutorials, articles, and updates on Turbo Native and related topics. Furthermore, Joe is currently working on a comprehensive book specifically catering to Ruby and Rails developers who want to dive into Turbo Native development. With these resources and support available, developers can confidently navigate the world of Turbo Native and create highly functional and responsive mobile apps.
This special episode was recorded live at Rails World, the ambient crowd noise gives that fact out. Rails World was a huge success! In this episode, I got to sit face-to-face with Joe Masilotti. Joe's talk at Rails World was terrific! We got to discuss the pros and cons of Turbo Native and a whole lot more.
