With Retriever App Platform, Write Once, Deploy to Android, iOS and Windows

By Jessica Binns, Contributing Editor
Retriever Communications, a global provider of mobile field force automation, launched RADE3, an advanced and proven Retriever Application Development Environment (RADE). RADE3 allows businesses to create and deploy device-agnostic native applications to iOS, Android and Windows Mobile directly from the development platform, without having to adjust or write code outside the application.

Traditionally, developers have faced a difficult choice: spend time building separate native applications with a rich and intuitive user experience for each device or design web applications that run on any mobile browser. Solving this dilemma, RADE3 writes to an abstraction layer above the OS-specific API that enablesapplication developers to build a native app once and deploy it to all mobile devices and tablets running Windows, iOS or Android.

RADE3 also allows developers to integrate device-specific capabilities, such as GPS, barcode readers, built-in cameras and RFID scanners into the application, allowing field service crews to take full advantage of their handset capabilities.

Retriever's Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP) has a unique write once, deploy natively approach. It avoids the weaknesses of HTML5, which is intuitive and a good fit for B2C apps, but lacks app functionality and security in a complex field force environment, particularly when moving in and out of coverage areas. This means users cannot work when they are offline.

By contrast, Retriever can easily be tailored by a business to enable true mobile field collaboration within vertical markets. A local Graphical User Interface (GUI) delivers a rich experience, even when working offline. By moving field force automation tasks from the IT department to the field itself, Retriever empowers the mobile worker to do more in less time.