There are literally thousands of different REST API’s available today, new API’s are being created and exposed daily. There are API aggregator sites such as apigee.com and programmableweb.com that collect APIs from various sites. apigee.com makes available a very nice API console where a REST service can be tested.

Testing a REST service is cool but what if you wanted to build a mobile app using it? Tiggzi, the cloud-based mobile app builder comes with a REST API console and makes it super easy to connect to any REST API. Check it out:

1. Enter any REST service URL. In this example I use Cocoafish Location API. Now, this is the most awesome part. You can use any REST URL here. You can of course do get, post, delete and push.

2. Define REST request parameters:

3. Test the service, just like the apigee.con console:

4. Create service response by clicking Populate Response Structure button (in above screen shot):

4 steps and you are done! All it takes is a few minutes to connect to any REST service.

Lastly, you just map the service to jQuery Mobile UI:

Pretty cool?

A few weeks ago I promised to publish a tutorial on how to build a mobile app and connect it to Parse backend.

You can get the full tutorial here.

You really have to try it yourself building a mobile app in Tiggzi app builder and connecting it to Parse mobile backend is amazingly easy. You can literally build a real mobile app in about 30 minutes. Creating the actual backend is fast as well, takes about 2 minutes. Any backend object is instantly available via REST API and then used in the mobile app.

Here is a general outline of the tutorial:

1. Sign up for Parse and create the mobile backend. The mobile backend object (class) is a list of text messages
2. Build the mobile UI with jQuery Mobile and HTML5 (see screen shot below)
3. Create and use REST service to load text messages (REST: https://api.parse.com/1/classes/Words, GET request)
4. Create and use REST service to create a new texg message, (REST: https://api.parse.com/1/classes/Words, POST request)
5. Update the mobile UI to include a Delete button (REST: https://api.parse.com/1/classes/Words/objectId, DELETE request)
6. Create and use REST service to delete a text message
7. At any step in the tutorial, you can test the actual app in Web browser
8. Optionally, update the look and feel of the app

The final app looks like this:

In mid January we have released an update to Tiggzi mobile app builder and now every app (new or old) is based on jQuery Mobile version 1.0.

Now that there is a Free plan, nothing should stop you from building your mobile app.

Last week we have we have renamed our cloud-based mobile app builder to Tiggzi (from Tiggr). Tiggzi is the most powerful and easy to use cloud-based mobile app builder.

Free Plan!

But, even more interesting news (for you) is that now we have a Free plan. No credit card nothing, just sign up and start building your mobile app.

All the gotiggr.com links work and will continue working and we will be updating all the social media links. For now, use the links below to get help.

Email
Forum
Docs and Getting Started
Blog
Twitter
Facebook

My reply to this Cross-Platform Mobile Visual Development – a Tool Comparison. I tried posting this in the comments but that didn’t work. Tiggzi: the cloud-based mobile app builder should definitely be there.

Home page: http://tiggzi.com
Genesis: The cloud-based HTML5 and hybrid mobile app builder.
Version: Cloud (and white label)
Licensing: Free and premium — http://tiggzi.com/pricing
Download: Nothing to download, cloud-based
Documentation: http://help.gotiggr.com/videos
Sample application: http://tiggzi.com/common/showcase/browse.seam
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_application_development
Additional: The app is built with jQuery Mobile/HTML5. Connected to any REST API, tested, and exported as mobile Web, Android or iOS. PhoneGap is used for access to native device features.
Article on how to use: http://help.tiggzi.com/getting-started, Tiggzi and PhoneGap.