The Fiori mobile service developer experience has arrived!

[BWomelsdorf]

These are exciting times for enterprises looking to create or extend Fiori apps for mobile users.  In May, SAP announced SAP HCP, mobile service for SAP Fiori, a new HCP service designed to simplify the process for optimizing Fiori apps on mobile devices. The goal of this mobile service for SAP Fiori is to provide an integrated, end to end solution to address all phases of a hybrid Fiori app on a mobile device, with emphasis on three specific personas - the developer, the system admin and the end user.  The Fiori mobile service utilizes existing SAP mobile services and adds new features uniquely focused on simplifying the entire process.

Let's be honest, though, shall we?  The first couple releases of the Fiori mobile service were pretty squarely focused on the admin and end user personas.  The initial thought was that creating a customized, secure hybrid SAP Fiori application shouldn't always require a developer, and that app should be easily discoverable and consumable for an end user.  Check.

But we all know that it's developers who are REALLY important!  So what's in it for them?

Starting with the October release (on or about October 9^th), things start to get interesting, with the incorporation of the Hybrid Application Toolkit into the Fiori mobile service.  But it’s way more than that.  With the October release SAP will integrate Fiori mobile experience into Web IDE, with the goal of providing  simple, cloud only solution for delivering an optimized mobile experience for Fiori apps.

Let’s talk details.  Here are some of the key features.  Some of the features will be familiar for those that have already been using the local HAT build, other parts are brand new:

1. Access to the Cloud Build Service. Prior to this release, if you wanted to build a Fiori/Kapsel hybrid application, you needed to install a variety of on-premise artifacts, have a Mac (if you wanted to support iOS), and keep the on-premise stuff harmonized with cloud releases.  A lot has been done to make this process simpler, but some customers still find it difficult.  After this release, there will be no on-premise installation required.  EVERYTHING will be cloud based.  When the build is done, a QR code will appear on the screen, and the developer will be able to download the app from SAP Mobile Place directly to his device.  He’ll also get an email in case he doesn’t want to wait for the build to finish.  Speaking of Mobile Place….

Console Log View

QR Code

2. Seamless Mobile Place integration. The Fiori mobile service provides an enterprise app store called SAP Mobile Place for app discovery and distribution.  It integrates with SAP HCP, mobile service for app and device management automatically once the subscription for that product is added, allowing for the managed (MDM) delivery of SAP Fiori apps.  Prior to this release, once the app was built, it had to be transported to the SAP Mobile Place admin, and he’d have to upload it into the app store to make it available.  Now, the app store entry is created automatically.  This allows for completely transparency of the app.  There is no question for the admin as to what is included in this app, he can look at the Mobile Place app entry to tell.  The app then follows three basic steps for lifecycle management (there are actually more, but let’s focus on these)
   
   
   
   1. New – This is the result when the build is finished building. In Mobile Place it is visible only to the developer.
   
   
   2. Trial – This is a limited distribution – only certain individuals can download.
   
   
   3. Production – Widest distribution, product is general available.
   
   
   
   

Web IDE Build Screen Mapping to SAP Mobile Place app store

3. Plugin Management – By combining the developer and admin experience, Fiori mobile provides a unified interface for plugin management. Fiori mobile service allows admins to upload plugins, and to mark plugins, both public and custom, as recommended.  An app developer can then include those plugins through the same UX into their Fiori apps.

Managing App Plugins

How to enable HAT and use the Fiori Mobile build service
Enabling HAT remains unchanged.  Simply navigate to Web IDE preferences, click on the Plugins menu item and enable the Hybrid Application Toolkit plugin:

This will enable "Fiori Mobile" in the Web IDE menu system.  To enable the Fiori Mobile cloud build service, the Fiori Mobile service must be enabled in the HCP service cockpit.  To do so, open HCP, navigate to Services, and enable Fiori Mobile:

Enable Fiori Mobile

If you already have Fiori Mobile enabled, one additional step is reqired - a fiorimobileapi destination must be configured.  This process is described in the release documentation here: https://help.hana.ondemand.com/webide_hat/frameset.htm?aa8715ac0a914f12b90fbb8865612c71.html.

How to continue with the local build
It is still possible to use the local (on-premise) HAT build if you prefer.  However, the default will be to use the cloud build.  To continue to use the local HAT build, simply click on the Preferences icon, then enable the "Enable Local Add-On features" checkbox:

Enable local build

Limitations
For Developer/Trial customers, there are a couple very important limitations that you need to be aware of.
- There is a limit of 5 cloud builds per day permitted.
- There is a limit of 2 Fiori mobile applications permitted at any one time.  If you reach the limit, you'll have to remove one of the apps before being able to create a new one.  Please note that this is applicable for Fiori Mobile as well as SAP HCP mobile service for Development & Operations.

SAP is very excited about the release of these new capabilities.  Our vision is to continue to add integrated features in support of an optimal mobile experience, enabling enterprises looking to run Fiori apps on mobile devices to do so quickly and easily!