# App development

You'd like to develop an app for Ubuntu Touch? Great!

## Quick start

Building your first app should be as simple as:

* Install [clickable](https://clickable.bhdouglass.com/en/latest/install.html)
* Plug in your Ubuntu Touch device
* Run `clickable create`
* Choose "QML Only" from the list of app templates
* Fill out the requested information for this new app
* When the app has been generated, enter the newly created directory
* Run `clickable`

Voilà you have your first app running on Ubuntu Touch!

## In detail

> ... doesn't really flow yet. copy/pasted together sections

Ubuntu Touch supports two kinds of apps:

* Native apps have a frontend written in QML or HTML with their behavior defined in plugins in JavaScript, C++, Python, Rust, or Go
* Web apps are special containers to run websites in

Thanks to Qt Quick Controls and the Ubuntu UI toolkit, Ubuntu Touch provides a continuous user experience. As a result, applications provide a familiar look-and-feel, so users can immediately feel at home whatever app they install.

[Clickable]() is the main tool to build apps on Ubuntu Touch. It is an easy to use command line tool with a lot of great features. Clickable allows you to compile, build, test, and publish your app. It also provides various templates to get you started with app development.

You can use any code editor or IDE to work on the code. Then you build your app from the command line with Clickable.


When you are ready, you can publish your app in the official app store [OpenStore](https://open-store.io/submit).

## References and guides

> Edit notes:
> links to existing subsections below in [sentence case](https://docs.ubports.com/en/latest/contribute/documentation.html#title)
> delete Getting Started page
> move Suru icons from Documentation to HIG section
> rename Documentation -> API documentation
> move Platform section into API documentation
> delete App publishing guides page

* Code editor integrations
* Developer guides
* API documentation
* Sample apps
* Preinstalled apps

If you are looking for other developers that might want to collaborate with you on your app, or
if you have questions that aren’t answered in the docs or want to chat with other Ubuntu Touch developers? Join our [UBports UT App Dev Telegram group]() or chat with us on the [UBports App Development forum]().

## Teamwork

Before anything else, we believe app development requires teamwork as the number one mandatory rule to secure community success, so we recommend "team-app" (you see what I did there?) If this is new territory for you, both groups would be a great place to start your next app.

* Open Store Group (Clickable expert)
* UBports Dev Group (Native, Rest, JS)

> ... I'm not sure here

## Maintain existing core app

Contribute to an existing app? sure, a bunch of [core apps](https://gitlab.com/ubports/apps) is open to maintenance

> Dan? Linoel?
> (List of mentor can be follow here)
> ... there is a dedicated page for Preinstalled apps ... shouldn't this info go there? ... actually, I guess it is mostly there? Links to the github/gitlab sources