First Look at Sencha Designer 2

Sencha Designer 2 beta is the latest version of our visual drag-and-drop tool for building JavaScript-based applications. Designer 2 supports both the Ext JS and Touch frameworks, so you can use the tool to build applications for either desktop or mobile operating systems. For a more in-depth look at Sencha Designer 2, please see our Introduction and Guided Tour included in the Designer documentation.

**UPDATE**: On February 15th, we pushed an update to Sencha Designer 2 beta. This update addresses several critical bugs, as well as adds our new Snow Theme for the UI. Open the app and click accept to automatically get the update.

h3. Building a Sencha Touch Mobile App using Sencha Designer 2

This tutorial is delivered in both video and written form. You may find it easier to follow one or the other, or use both in unison. Continue on to the bottom of this post to see the full video walkthrough.

The application we’ll be building is called CityBars, a Sencha Touch app for mobile devices which makes use of the Yelp API to find nearby watering holes. I’ve tried to add some color to the video and to introduce you to Sencha Designer 2 in much the same way I’d help any developer new to Designer.

h3. Project Assets

To follow along with the project you’ll need a copy of Sencha Designer 2 beta; and a Yelp developer API key. Note: Your API key will be capped at about 150 calls per day. If everything stops working this might be why.

You’ll also need to follow the step-by-step guide along with the CityBars project file — be sure to unzip it. (The CityBars project is also available as Github repository, though this is simply the Sencha Touch mobile app, and not the Sencha Designer project.)

h3. Watch the Video

Watch this video on Vimeo.com

If you hit any road bumps, head over to the Sencha Designer 2 Help & Discussion forum to ask questions and get some assistance!