This section will give anyone with a working knowledge of JavaScript and HTML the knowledge to begin creating native applications for mobile devices.

It's a step-by-step guide to creating a new app, developing the app, testing on the device using appMobi test containers, and, when your app is ready, promoting it to "Production" status and building the distribution files you'll need to distribute it.

Once you’ve read through the basics, you may want to visit the API documentation of the JavaScript library used to access appMobi functionality.

appMobi apps can be thought of as very small websites. appMobi has coined the term "appsite" to refer to your app.

The simplest possible appsite consists of a single file - INDEX.HTML, but most appsites will have graphics, additional HTML files, and other resources. To make it easy to handle any appsite, whether it is simple or complex, appMobi uses .ZIP files to store all the files and directory structure for an app.

To familiarize yourself with the basic structure of an appMobi app, we recommend that you go to the demo library and download the source code to any of the sample apps there. As you'll see, it's surprisingly simple to create an app with appMobi.

Unlike native app development, where you need to use a specific PC type and learn new programming languages and software tools for each platform, your appMobi development system can be anything you are comfortable using to develop HTML. You can use your choice of Mac, PC, Linux PC, running HTML and JavaScript tools that you are familiar with. Some of our favorites include DreamWeaver or TopStyle for HTML, and FireBug for JavaScript, but you're the boss - use whatever works for you.

Every appMobi app is essentially a miniature web site that is deployed directly to the target device. That mini-website must always have the following attributes:

• An index.html start page
• Every page in the mini-website should reference _appMobi/appmobi.js through a script tag.
• Every page that needs to access the device OS or hardware must verify appMobi "deviceready" by listening to the “deviceready” event.

Here's an example of how your HTML references the appMobi JavaScript library. Every page of your app that needs appMobi access should have this code.

When your app is complete and ready to deploy to the app store(s) of your choice, go to Developer Dashboard, select the "QA" release, and upload the final version of your app. Then click on "Promote to Production" to create the final executable files for your app.

Note that when you create the final executables, you will be required to provide a number of ancillary files, dependent on the platform you are building for.

For example, to build an iPhone version of an app, you will need to provide a 57x57 Icon that will be used for the app when it is run on the iPhone. appMobi automatically requests the appropriate files from you based on the platforms you select for building.