How to create an app

This article will show you how the Eazi-Apps platform works and will take you through the entire process of creating an application. 

Firstly, you'll need to log into the platform - CMS

Enter your email address and password then click on;

You can now create your first application:

Enter an Application Name (we will use 'My Awesome App') and click on;

You will then reach this page:

Here you can choose a default template to begin customising. Before publishing your application you must upload a homepage background.

Once you have chosen a background you will reach this page:

On the left side of this page, you will find 'The Editor', is has five tabs in the menu.  On the right, you have a phone simulator, this is referred to as 'The Preview'. It doesn't simulate a real phone, so some features are disabled, but you will be able to see and test your changes.

In the middle of this page, you can see the following five tabs:

We'll now go through each one of them in detail.

Design

Templates

I will choose the Red&Co template. It will change the background of the app, the colours scheme, the homepage images and fill the app with some features. If you want to fully customise your app, do not select a template.

Layout

The layout reflects the way that the menu will behave. For example, if you want your features displayed in a “grid” with round icons, then choose the Layout 4. For this tutorial, we will use the Layout 6.

Layout Options

This section enables you to view the customisation options for the layout, so it will be different depending on the layout you chose. That’s it for the “Your Design” section.

Below, you will have the “Choose your homepage image” section. If you would like to use a custom homepage image, then you will have to upload it in six different sizes (measured in pixels) this will allow the homepage image to resize dynamically. 

Then, you have three options;

  • “Use the homepage image as background in all features“: Self-explanatory
  • “Hide iOS status bar“: Check this if you want to hide the status bar at the top of the device when using the app
  • “Hide Android Status bar“: Check this if you want to hide the status bar at the top of the device when using the app

You will have to choose your currency:

And a default Font Family for your App.

You can select your Font from the readily available Google Fonts set, or if you don’t find one that suits your needs, you can use any Google Font available just enter the full name of the font.

Colours

The Colours section is where you will customize every colour in your app. There is also a custom SCSS fields to modify the CSS in your app.

This menu is pretty straightforward, you simply click on the colour to customise it, the scale at the bottom is the opacity (0 = transparent). The best advice here is to have a go, you can see your changes live in the preview and go from there.

Features

Here is the biggest part of the Editor, that’s where you will add/remove features on your app:

You have two sections, “Your pages” and “Add pages“:

  • “Your pages” is where you will manage your features. You can modify the order, you can delete the features, or you can edit them.
  • “Add pages” is where you will add features to your app by simply clicking on the feature you want.

Application

Here you have three sections: “Dashboard Icon“, “Android Push” and “Startup Image“:

Dashboard Icon is the icon displayed on the home of your device.

Android Push:

For the purposes of this guide, we're using a custom icon. I found a gift icon here and uploaded it in both sizes (128 & 512), and changed the background colour to red. On the right, you have a live preview of your new push icon.

“Startup image” is where you will upload a custom startup image. You will be able to see it when you click on the app icon in the home of your device. It’s a loading screen.

Publication

Finally, you have the Publication section, where everything related to publication is displayed. The screen content will differ depending on your permissions. Here is the Publication section when the user has access to the source codes: 

You can choose to use Admob by checking the box “Monetize my app using AdMob?“. To generate the sources, click on “Generate source“. 

Here is the publication section;

In the “General Information” tab, you have to fill in the following five fields:

  • “Application name“: It’s filled automatically, it’s the app name.
  • “Description“: Give a description of your app, the clearer the better.
  • “Keywords“: Think of it like hashtags, if your app is a jewellery shop, type “shop, jewellery”.
  • “Main category“: Select the main category of your app.
  • “Secondary category“: It’s optional, you can select a secondary category