Seriously! You’re open sourcing your mobile app code. Are you mad?
This was the reaction from someone we highly respect. Someone who could use the code we are open sourcing, but her instinct was to protect us and make sure we were looking after ourselves. We feel blessed to have such people looking out for us.
Let us start by saying in our humble opinion the code we are open sourcing is pretty awesome. It allows you to create iPhone and Android apps from JSON files filled with HTML5 and without coding. It uses the Facebook open source project React-Native which gives incredibly fast performance whilst also allowing us to integrate all the best bits (responsive table and layouts) from HTML5.
Why would we want to do this?
Firstly why would we want an app driven pretty much purely from HTML and JSON. The answer is that one of the biggest markets for our apps are people distributing information. Guidelines, safety manuals, global reports or any information that to date has been distributed primarily on paper.
Why an app not just a website or PDF? Some of the places we are trying to reach with this information are in the developing world where mobile data can be a challenge. Having a complete set of medical guidelines in an app can literally be a life saver.
Perhaps most importantly, by cutting out the need to code, we can make it a lot more cost effective to get this vital information out and into the world.
Secondly, why would we open source something we have spent four years developing?
The answer is that “it is the right thing to do”.
We are taking a gamble that we can still draw in business, but are confident that our ability to design, create and deliver makes us an attractive partner. We know we are also making a commitment to support an open source project when we do not have the pockets of Microsoft or Facebook. So we are also taking a gamble we might attract the attention of a donor like the Gates Foundation to help grow this…
Our code is based on open source, and it is a movement we are proud to be part of. The code we are Open Sourcing is here:
https://github.com/adappt/adappt-studio
We’re proud of our work and some examples of the apps that use our base can be seen here:
World Malaria Report:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.adappt.adapptlabs.who.malaria
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/world-malaria-report/id1300199731?ls=1&mt=8
World HIV Testing Services (HTS):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whohtsinfo
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/who-hts-info/id1359010276?ls=1&mt=8
World Global Road Safety:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.adappt.whoroadsafety
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/who-grs-info/id1435285264?ls=1&mt=8
If you have feedback or are at all interested in contributing, please pm us directly on linkedin:
Thanks for reading! Jon Anthony CEO adappt & David Larner CBO adappt
