If you didn’t already believe that WordPress can do almost anything, then you will now. The folks at AppPresser have released a video teaser, describing the WordPress-powered app builder they intend to release for iOS and Android. AppPresser will be the very first mobile app development framework for WordPress.
Essentially, AppPresser creates a bridge between WordPress and mobile apps, but it’s far more than just a skin or mobile theme. It gives you the ability to log into your WordPress admin and create a native mobile app that interfaces with mobile contacts, camera, geolocation and more. That means that you can use all the WordPress admin tools you’re familiar with in order to create your own custom mobile app. You can make your app available for download or sell it in the iOS App Store or Google Play. They’re building the framework in such a way that plugins and themes can integrate their functionality into the apps as well.
AppPresser is a collaboration between Brad Williams, Lisa Sabin-Wilson, Brian Messenlehner and Scott Bolinger. The core AppPresser plugin they’ve created will be open source and free to download, so you can modify it as needed. They also plan to extend it with commercial plugins and themes that will make WordPress look and behave like a native app. One of the first products they plan to release is an e-commerce bundle that allows you to easily create an e-commerce mobile app for displaying products.
AppPresser will put mobile app creation into the hands of your average WordPress user – no coding skills required. The video indicates that developers will be able to build just about any kind of app, such as a barcode scanner, store locator, push notifications and anything else you can imagine. We’ll be keeping our eyes on AppPresser – this one looks like a game changer.
This makes me salivate. Really looking forward to this one!