A fast-evolving
app ecosystem
Ubuntu is the world’s favourite Linux distribution. In fact, thousands of web and mobile developers already use it every day, so it’s natural to expect those apps to make their way to Ubuntu.
As well as providing a fast, uncluttered experience on the phone, a great Ubuntu app – whether web or native – can support the traditional PC desktop right alongside the handset.
Adapt your web apps or go native
Web apps are first class citizens on Ubuntu, with APIs that provide deep integration into the interface. HTML5 apps written for other platforms can be adapted to Ubuntu with ease and we’re targeting standard cross-platform web app development frameworks like PhoneGap to make Ubuntu ‘just work’ for apps that use them.
Our unique web app system lets you quickly adapt any web property for installation as an app on the phone, running independently of the browser, with its own icon and access to system services. This means that all the big names will be available to Ubuntu phone users at launch.
But Ubuntu isn’t limited to HTML5. For rich applications with gorgeous movement and transitions, and graphics-heavy games, Ubuntu provides an amazing native developer environment. It uses QML to give you a really slick, easy development experience for native apps with engines in C or C++, and JavaScript for UI glue that isn’t performance critical. We also give you full native OpenGL, which the top games companies are using to make incredible games. That’s why developers like EA, Valve Software and Unity Technologies are committing to Ubuntu right now.
The QML toolkit and sample application are available for download today, so there’s no better time to get started.
Write apps for all Ubuntu devices
Ubuntu Software Centre has been a part of Ubuntu for years, and we’ll extend it to deliver phone apps too.
Already established as the most popular way to find new software on the Ubuntu desktop, it enables Ubuntu users to download and install applications in seconds. And here’s the really amazing thing. With the arrival of the Ubuntu SDK, apps can be written to work on all Ubuntu form-factors: it’s the same Ubuntu OS on the desktop and on the phone, so a single native application can work on both. Which means you re-use most of the app when you add support for a new form-factor.
Our cloud is your cloud
The Ubuntu One personal cloud service provides every Ubuntu user with free storage space and the option to buy more for music and photos. But for developers, Ubuntu One offers much more. The U1DB cloud-syncing database provides APIs to sync any kind of data to the cloud.
If you’re a mobile operator and you’d like a fast way to develop cloud-based services for your users, Ubuntu One enables you to develop integrated, differentiating services, without the need to maintain your own infrastructure. Among its features is an integrated identity management service, enabling you to manage identity, payments and service activation securely.
Build your app now
If you are writing apps for Ubuntu today, it’s time to go mobile. So why not download the QML toolkit and get started today?