Lightning Platform Mobile from Salesforce aims to futureproof apps

Adding another lego to the wall between native programmers and low-code app builders, Salesforce has just announced the new Lightning Platform Mobile, a set of tools and services that aim to empower business users to build quick, connected and future-proofed mobile apps.
 
Consumers today expect their mobile experiences to be immersive and easy-to-use. But with app developers in short supply, there is an increased demand for cost and time-efficient solutions for building meaningful mobile apps. This is especially true given that 48% of IT organizations have a significant mobile developer skills gap, with an additional 33% anticipating one in the next two years.

Lightning Platform Mobile includes:

• Mobile Builders for creating immersive mobile experiences using a low-code development environment and pre-built JavaScript components that act as building blocks for your mobile app. With Mobile Builders, admins can easily turn spreadsheets into mobile apps, design their app’s data model, and configure the app UI using simple clicks. And our AppExchange offers more than 180 ready-made components to give you a head-start.
   
• Mobile Services that make adding backend services a breeze for business users. With Mobile Services, admins can add more power to their mobile apps with elaborate workflows, Einstein’s declarative AI services, and integration with third-party data. And now with this release, admins can add mobile push notifications — all with the click of a button.
   
• The all-new Mobile Publisher empowers admins to publish employee and customer apps directly on the App Store and Google Play. Mobile Publisher takes care of the entire packaging and submission process, making it quicker and easier than ever to get apps published and updated. Read more about Mobile Publisher here, and find out how Cornell University and Mercer are already using it to transform how they engage with students and customers.
   

Leyla Seka, EVP, and Head of Mobile at Salesforce said in a recent blog post that Dumbo, a century-old Dutch supermarket chain built their employee app for internal collaboration and task management in the span of eight weeks using the new platform. Along with that, she also mentions that United Rentals built an app that reduced the complexity of finding business opportunities and bolstered their team’s ability to drive sales using the new Lightning Platform Mobile.