I am looking to create a mobile app that will compliment my existing website that runs on mySQL and PHP. My app needs to be able to execute SELECT and UPDATE queries on a remote database. I took a look at the plugins and began wondering if buzzTouch is the right solution for me. Do I need to hire someone to make a plugin for me? Also, after watching some of the demo videos on YouTube, I noticed a small popup that said, "loading" when the demonstrator went into the map screen, and elsewhere. This is something that you never see in apps designed in xCode. Is this just what can be expected when making HTML5 web apps? Thanks!!

Hi @nestsman, Welcome to Buzztouch! What you want to do can easily be done using the HTML Plugin, when you just program the HTML page the same way you would normally, and reference the remote PHP scripts. You can't use a PHP file in the app itself, because of the client-server nature of PHP, but you can easily reference external scripts. You can also use the Custom URL plugin to point to a PHP script that dynamically creates the page you want...it all works in Buzztouch. Keep in mind that Buzztouch is native Objective C and Java code for iOS and Android, respectively. There is no HTML5 trickery here, and these are not web apps. They are native coded apps. The loading popup may or may not occur depending on how long it takes to load the requested resource. If it's content native to the app, you probably won't see if. If it's accessing remove media, then you might. Apps all over the world display this sort of notification to let people know something is happening. Hope this helps. I think you're at the right place. Let us know if you have any other questions! Mark

Yep - Mark's on target here. You'll want to store your PHP script on your server and have a plugin that talks to that script. There's quite a few plugins that can do this sort of thing. It all depends on what the result of running the script is. When you say execute "SELECT and UPDATE" queries, that makes me believe that you're collecting user data and submitting it to your MySQL database. If so, the Webform Generator plugin might be a good solution, as you can customize the fields and specify the URL for the script. If you're more concerned about displaying data from your database in a menu-type screen, then almost any of the menu plugins will do just fine. You'll want to create a PHP script that queries (using "SELECT" statements) your database and outputs it into proper JSON according to the readme of that plugin. As for the loading issue, not sure what demo video you were watching. But loading a map usually means grabbing external data from a server (such as the Google Map server). You'd be hard pressed not to have some loading time for that. Even loading the native maps app on my iPhone (as in the app made by Apple) requires a bit of a wait.

Ok, I'm going to purse this some more then because it sounds like I might be able to pull this off. Another question for you guys....in the webinar I saw on youTube there was a refresh button in the top left corner of the app that the demonstrator was building. Is that button there just for testing changes that he was making? Or will my app need to have that button as well? Thanks!

That button is there by default, but you can programmatically remove it as well. Mark

Between the Server and the App, the data stream consists of JSON and POST data. The Server sends JSON data to the App. The App sends the User's form data via POST updates. Since you sound savvy with PHP programming, you'll be using BT rather quickly to suit your needs. A tip ... look at loadScreenObject techniques by searching for it via Google search by typing this into their search box: site:buzztouch.com/forum loadScreenObject