Mobile App Development Minitrack

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Applications for mobile devices (apps) have facilitated the success of smartphones and tablet PCs. By using apps, the multi-purpose hardware of modern devices can be utilized to the full extent. Due to the proliferation of mobile devices as a tool for consumers, businesses increasingly embrace the topic. However, actually improving business processes or even finding a mobile strategy is not straightforward. Neither is the usage of so called business apps. In many cases, development of business apps is prone to problems and companies face technology choices they have little information for.

Developing business apps is much harder than general app development. Quality standards should be met, apps need to be secure and robust, and requirements need to be carefully engineering (and then met). Testing of apps has been found to be very cumbersome. Whether (and to what extent) methods of classical software engineering can be applied still is matter of discussion. Moreover, new challenges such as development for multiple platforms, device fragmentation, context-sensitivity, performance issues, mobility-depended security issues and energy conservation arise. Therefore, new threads of research are needed to tackle these issues and pave the way for better business producibility.

The minitrack is devoted to (business) apps development and the technological background of mobile computing for corporate or other domain-specific non-consumer usage. Topics of interests include (but are not limited to):

  • App development within a domain context
  • Business models for apps
  • Economic and/or social impact of mobile computing
  • Engineering of apps for business processes
  • Requirements engineering for apps
  • Development methods for apps including the applicability of existing methods to app development
  • User interface (UI) design research for apps and the bridge to Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI) research
  • Internet of things (IoT) and apps
  • Testing of apps
  • Cross-platform app development
  • Webapps vs. native apps vs. hybrid apps
  • Responsiveness of apps for different device types (smartphone, tablet, desktop, wearables, etc.)
  • Business app security
  • Legal aspects of app development, distribution, and usage
  • Energy efficient computing on mobile devices
  • Enterprise distribution of apps and Mobile device management (MDM)
  • Sensor-usage for business apps

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Tim A. Majchrzak (Primary Contact)
University of Agder, Norway
Email: tim.a.majchrzak@uia.no

Tor-Morten Grønli
Westerdals – Oslo School of Arts, Communication and Technology, Norway
Email: tmg@westerdals.no

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Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Towards a Mobile Learning Environment using Reference Architectures
    ( 2017-01-04) Fioravanti, Maria Lydia ; Freitas Duarte Filho, Nemésio ; Bortolini Fronza, Lucas ; Francine Barbosa, Ellen
    Mobile learning environments have emerged as a way to support the m-learning initiatives, providing benefits to learners, teachers and tutors. However, despite their relevance, the development of mobile learning environments present problems and challenges that must be investigated, especially with respect to the definition and adoption of architectural patterns. Motivated by this scenario, in this paper we discuss the development of a mobile learning environment, called ICMC MLE, following the precepts of a specific reference architecture for mobile learning. ICMC MLE was also evaluated through an experiment; the results showed a high level of satisfaction and convenience in relation to the use of ICMC MLE in real learning scenarios.
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    Exploitation and Detection of a Malicious Mobile Application
    ( 2017-01-04) Nguyen, Thanh ; McDonald, Jeffrey Todd ; Glisson, William Bradley
    Mobile devices are increasingly being embraced by both organizations and individuals in today’s society. Specifically, Android devices have been the prominent mobile device OS for several years. This continued amalgamation creates an environment that is an attractive attack target. The heightened integration of these devices prompts an investigation into the viability of maintaining non-compromised devices. Hence, this research presents a preliminary investigation into the effectiveness of current commercial anti-virus, static code analysis and dynamic code analysis engines in detecting unknown repackaged malware piggybacking on popular applications with excessive permissions. The contribution of this paper is two-fold. First, it provides an initial assessment of the effectiveness of anti-virus and analysis tools in detecting malicious applications and behavior in Android devices. Secondly, it provides process for inserting code injection attacks to stimulate a zero-day repackaged malware that can be used in future research efforts.
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    Enriching Augmented Reality with Text Data Mining: An Automated Content Management System to Develop Hybrid Media Applications
    ( 2017-01-04) Raso, Rocco ; Werth, Dirk ; Loos, Peter
    Augmented Reality (AR) tools offer novel typologies of contents to generate Augmented Print (AP) systems. Compared with traditional print media, the development of AP applications requires additional efforts to identify thematic contents, which are suitable to be enhanced by AR systems. The generation of virtual contents represents a potential obstacle for developing AP applications. Motivated by the necessity to provide hybrid media applications with more efficient tools, in this paper we present a novel paradigm, which employs an automated framework to face the issue of content creation and content management. We propose a model for the automatic detection of specific textual contents in traditional print media. Using techniques from text data mining, we identify virtual contents which match the editorial contents. This aids in the process of content creation and management and, as a result, simplifies AR content delivery and shapes new perspectives for hybrid media applications.
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    Comprehensive Analysis of Innovative Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks
    ( 2017-01-04) Majchrzak, Tim ; Grønli, Tor-Morten
    Mobile apps are increasingly realized by using a cross-platform development framework. Using such frameworks, code is written once but the app can be deployed to multiple platforms. Despite progress in research on cross-platform techniques, results (i.e. apps) are not always satisfactory. They are subject to tedious tailoring and the development effort tends to be notable. In these cases, either pure web apps (realized through web browsers) or native apps (realized for each platform separately) are chosen. Recent activities have led to new approaches. In this paper, we have a closer look at three of these, namely React Native, the Ionic Framework, and Fuse. We present a comprehensive analysis of the three approaches. Our work is based on a real-world use case, which allows us to provide generalizable advice. Our findings suggest that there is no clear winner; the frameworks incorporate notable ideas and general progress in the field can be asserted.
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    Introduction to Mobile App Development Minitrack
    ( 2017-01-04) Majchrzak, Tim A. ; Biørn-Hansen, Andreas ; Grønli, Tor-Morten