Salesforce App Developer Guide

Introduction
About This Book
Setting Up Your Work Environment
Salesforce App Administration
Developing for the Salesforce App
Welcome to Salesforce Platform Development
Our Scenario
Who This Part is For
When to Use Declarative vs. Programmatic Tools to Create Salesforce Apps
When to Use the Salesforce Platform vs. Creating Custom Apps
Salesforce Platform Development Process
Development Prerequisites
Designing Mobile-First User Interfaces
Extending the Salesforce App with Visualforce Pages
Adding Functionality with Visualforce Custom Actions
Development Guidelines and Best Practices
Learning More
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Salesforce Platform Development Process

The Salesforce app is designed to run on a mobile device, like a phone or tablet, but that doesn’t mean you have to develop on one. Especially when you’re working with Visualforce pages that will apper in both the app and the full Salesforce site, it’s convenient to develop on your desktop. By accessing the Salesforce app in a device emulator, you can develop iteratively on your desktop, without having to pick up your device to test each change.

Running the Salesforce app in an emulator isn’t supported for normal use, and it’s not a substitute for full testing of your custom apps and pages on your organization’s supported mobile devices. During development you should regularly test your app on every device and platform on which you intend to deploy.

Important

To view your custom mobile pages and apps on a device emulator, download and install the appropriate SDK for your supported devices.

You can’t use the standard https://<Salesforce_instance>/apex/yourPageName URL to test Visualforce in the Salesforce app. You can only do that by accessing the page within the app.