Writing apps for Firefox OS phones
Life on Planet Firefox
Cooking up an app for the Firefox OS is in no way difficult. All you need is a good measure of HTML and a dash of CSS. A few drops of JavaScript will bring it all to life.
Although the smartphone software market seems polarized between iOS and Android these days, other contenders are filling out or creating their own niches. Mozilla, for example is aiming at the modest part of the market share: the very low end phones. That doesn't mean that Firefox OS phones are bad. Quite the contrary. The few models I've seen so far are perfectly adequate considering their price tag. Additionally, they are real smartphones, with a great potential market in developing countries or for those who think that spending more than 100 bucks on a phone is a waste, which, let's face it, is most people.
Firefox OS can do most, if not all, of what you can do in Android and iOS, and it's easy to make apps for it. If you can write HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript to create web apps, you've already mastered 90% of what you need to know. Even if you are bit rusty with your web technologies, I'll try to show you in this article how to get from idea to marketplace quickly and easily.
The Hardware
Having a real device on which to test your software definitely helps. The good news is that Firefox OS handsets are cheap, and you can pick up a ZTE Open for less than US$ 80 (or as little as EUR 39 if you live in Spain). Even if you don't have a physical device, however, you can run, test, and debug your app using the Firefox OS Simulator.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Digital Autonomy
• The Answer Was Already on the Shelf
• Changing the Chip Industry: How Public Investment Has Grown Open Silicon
• United Nations Open Source Portal Goes Live
• EU Open Source Strategy Plays Key Role in Tech Sovereignty Package
• France Says “Au Revoir” to Microsoft
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Surpasses Double-Digit Market Share
According to two sources, the Linux operating system has hit a major milestone in market share that naysayers thought would never happen.
-
AI Helped Develop a Linux Exploit
A use-after-free race exploit was discovered and exploited on CentOS Stream 9.
-
Yet Another Linux Kernel Vulnerability Discovered
Affecting millions of systems, a kernel flaw discovered by Qualys could allow users to gain root privileges.
-
Ubuntu 26.10 to Include Ubuntu Certified Hardware Check
If you've ever wondered if your laptop or PC is officially certified to run Ubuntu, that curiosity will soon be met.
-
Substantial Update to IPFire Now Available
The lastest version of IPFire features a fundamental change to how the system handles DNS.
-
Gnome Working on Test Center App to Make Testing Easier
It's now possible to test experimental features on the Gnome desktop without worrying that you'll break things.
-
New Vulnerability Discovered in Linux Kernel
Hiding out for nearly 15 years, the Ghostlock vulnerability allows a standard logged-in user to gain root privileges.
-
New Linux Flaw Lets Attackers Escape VMs
A 16-year-old vulnerability allows an attacker to escape a virtual machine, gain access to the host, and execute malicious code.
-
Hannah Montana Linux Is Back!
Developer Noah Cagle decided the world needed the once obscure but beloved Linux distribution and gave it a decidedly pink refresh.
-
System76 Refreshes the Lemur Laptop
If you're looking for a laptop with tons of power and battery, look no further than the latest iteration of the System76 Lemur Pro.