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iOS Iphone SDK for Windows
- Thread starter Moneyman1029
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As far as Unix dev systems go xcode isn't that bad. Compared to Visual Studio and WSAD it's pretty poor... It's hampered by the debugger being based on gdb (which means no inline debugging, no edit/continue, etc.) and the lack of integration between IB and the editor is completely frustrating.
OTOH compared to trying to get an HPUX or AS400 machine to do what you want to do.. it's miles better.. at least the API is somewhat consistent (poorly documented, but meh. so is nearly everything in this world.. if everything was documented I'd be out of a job because anyone could do it..).
As far as the original question goes, the cost of a mac mini compared to the cost of development of the average application is so tiny nobody is going to care about it. It's less than the cost of a compiler license on most systems (hell, a Mac Pro is less than the cost of some compiler licenses...).
I've been a developer for both Windows and Mac. I LOVE Macs and have four of them in my house, but I must say that Visual Studio is hands down better and easier to program with than Xcode.
Xcode does has some unique features and uses a different way of programming (MVC), but Visual Studio has FAR more rapid application development features than Xcode does, especially with the UI. Just being able to drag over a button, double-click it, and then code what it does is super simple. Not being able to do that with Xcode/IB adds so many extra steps for a simple task. I know many programmers don't like code generation, but for the easy things it sure is a nice-to-have.
To be completely honest, when I first started with Xcode I was surprised it was an Apple product. Apple prides themselves on being intuitive and easy to use, yet when it comes to their development tools it's nearly the opposite.
Ethan
Xcode does has some unique features and uses a different way of programming (MVC), but Visual Studio has FAR more rapid application development features than Xcode does, especially with the UI. Just being able to drag over a button, double-click it, and then code what it does is super simple. Not being able to do that with Xcode/IB adds so many extra steps for a simple task. I know many programmers don't like code generation, but for the easy things it sure is a nice-to-have.
To be completely honest, when I first started with Xcode I was surprised it was an Apple product. Apple prides themselves on being intuitive and easy to use, yet when it comes to their development tools it's nearly the opposite.
Ethan
This thread is pointless. Some people love Visual Studio, some don't (I don't like it, and absolutely hate it without Resharper).
I find XCode completely usable and good enough for the job at hand. Best of all, I don't hate it.
There will be many people out there with the opposite view. That's your prerogative. Good for you.
I find XCode completely usable and good enough for the job at hand. Best of all, I don't hate it.
There will be many people out there with the opposite view. That's your prerogative. Good for you.
Don't create an iPhone application
Android has a development kit for Windows. I suggest dumping the iPhone and develop Android applications.
Android has a development kit for Windows. I suggest dumping the iPhone and develop Android applications.
Sure, give up a market with millions of customers who actively buy apps for one with many times fewer users who tend to stick to free apps. Don't let the door hit you in the ass!
I tried the Android SDK (on a Mac) and it is excruciating to use compared to XCode and the iPhone SDK. The simulator was so slow and unreliable that I just gave up.
Love how that tide is changing don't you?
Iphone will bow to droid if Apple continues to want to rape developers with their overpriced hardware.
If Apple's decisions were based on battling windows only then they would allow Linux and other *nix users to develop. However, this is NOT their desire. They want everyone to overpay for the same hardware and stolen open-source technology to develop for the Iphone. I have several Iphones in my family but love my new Droid FAR more. And love developing for it more then Iphone too.
Now I can quite having to log onto my doorstop to develop and can stick with Linux.
I know the Mac homers in here will disagree, but you really ought to try a Droid. Far better then the Iphone. And with the free, open development you will only see more and more development for them.
And love the comment (Only free apps on the Droid). Of course there free. welcome to the open-source community. The developers didn't have to over-pay Apple for a system to develop on. They can use any system they want. So, they don't have to try to recoup system costs.
Um, what about the cost of development? You think developers should not be allowed to be rewarded for their time and talent, if they so choose?
Open source software is a nice idea and all, but frankly it tends to pale in comparison to well-made commercial software (with a few major exceptions like Firefox) when it comes to usability and polish.
A developer can buy into iPhone development for well under $1000. If that's really too much for them, then perhaps they aren't serious about their business. And as dejo pointed out, even if Apple was giving away free Macs, etc. to developers I guarantee there would be nowhere near as many apps as there are today if not for the potential for serious profit.
Absolutely they should if they choose. And there are certainly pay aps on Droid. But, since any developer can just play around with Droid aps in their free time you get a lot more free aps. Which I don't think will hurt Droid.
Well, I believe programs like Perl, MySQL, PHP are quite nice open source languages/programs. And MANY linux flavors (like Kubuntu) are as nice as Leopard in many regards. Add to that OpenFire, OpenOffice, DotProject, etc. etc. and I think there are FAR better open source apps then just Firefox.
If you, or someone you know, has a copyright on some open source software you wrote, and you have good evidence that Apple is violating the terms you granted them in your open source license, there are probably lawyers on this site who would be interested in your case. On the other hand, Apple has reportedly won cases against companies that stole their software (including a big one whose name starts with the letter "M").
As for "overpaying", it's very good business to get people to pay that much while maintaining an above average customer satisfaction rating. Maybe they should raise their prices and developer fees until that price lowers their satisfaction ratings to be the same as Android-based products.
Don't get me wrong, there are tons of awesome open source tools like the ones you mentioned, but when it comes to GUI-based software that is really polished the right way for use by the general population, OSS tends to not stand up to its commercial competition.
Airplay SDK on PC and Mac
I'm using Airplay SDK on Mac to develop for iPhone, Android and other platforms:
http://www.airplaysdk.com
Some friends are using Airplay SDK on PC... it allows you to develop, test, deploy and sign iPhone apps (all the way to App Store submission) purely in a PC environment.
I'm using Airplay SDK on Mac to develop for iPhone, Android and other platforms:
http://www.airplaysdk.com
Some friends are using Airplay SDK on PC... it allows you to develop, test, deploy and sign iPhone apps (all the way to App Store submission) purely in a PC environment.
Advice please
I have read through this forum, and I see that most of you have many years experience. (some really passionate about their platforms, tools, etc.
I have only done web based applications for mobiles, using MVS 2005 and 2008.
Now, I need to get going with iPhone apps. Can you please give advice on what is the best setup to invest in (keep in mind that I do not know Mac's at all).
And, do you think that there is a posibility that there will be a windows based development platform for iPhone in the relative near future? I do not want to make this investment, just to find out that there were some Windows based solutions in the pipeline.
Thanks for your feedback.
I have read through this forum, and I see that most of you have many years experience. (some really passionate about their platforms, tools, etc.
I have only done web based applications for mobiles, using MVS 2005 and 2008.
Now, I need to get going with iPhone apps. Can you please give advice on what is the best setup to invest in (keep in mind that I do not know Mac's at all).
And, do you think that there is a posibility that there will be a windows based development platform for iPhone in the relative near future? I do not want to make this investment, just to find out that there were some Windows based solutions in the pipeline.
Thanks for your feedback.
A second-hand Intel based Mac Mini off eBay or similar. Apple will, in my opinion, never release a development environment for Windows. Others have suggested potential alternative third-party Windows environments above.
Other mobile devices
I have recently invested in a iPhone myself, and I absolutely love it (I have always used SonyEricsson before). What about Andriod?
Would it not be too limited to short-sighted to gear up and just develop for iPhone in the longer run. Or, is it possible to write applications for both?
I have recently invested in a iPhone myself, and I absolutely love it (I have always used SonyEricsson before). What about Andriod?
Would it not be too limited to short-sighted to gear up and just develop for iPhone in the longer run. Or, is it possible to write applications for both?
You can write applications for both but they'll be two different applications: you cannot share code as they don't even use the same programming language...
They both share the plain ANSI C programming language (it's a legal subset of Objective C, and accessible from the NDK in Android). Anything in the app in plain C can be shared (example: the Doom/Quake ports to both the iPhone SDK and the Android NDK).
You can't share the UI portions of the code. But if you program using the MVC paradigm, just write the Model in C, then only the Views and portions of the Controllers need to be ported between platforms.
Airplay SDK
I posted earlier about Airplay SDK:
http://www.airplaysdk.com
I can't believe more people aren't using this... the more I get to grips with it, the more amazing it seems.
You can develop, test, deploy and sign iPhone apps (all the way to App Store submission) purely in a PC environment (it's also available for Mac).
Best of all is that you can press a button and deploy your app as a native Android app (silently uses the Android NDK behind the scenes) without even recompiling your code!
It doesn't allow access to the native platform UI (so no UIKit on iPhone, and no native Android UI) but it does provide its own reskinnable UI framework if you really need that kind of thing.
I posted earlier about Airplay SDK:
http://www.airplaysdk.com
I can't believe more people aren't using this... the more I get to grips with it, the more amazing it seems.
You can develop, test, deploy and sign iPhone apps (all the way to App Store submission) purely in a PC environment (it's also available for Mac).
Best of all is that you can press a button and deploy your app as a native Android app (silently uses the Android NDK behind the scenes) without even recompiling your code!
It doesn't allow access to the native platform UI (so no UIKit on iPhone, and no native Android UI) but it does provide its own reskinnable UI framework if you really need that kind of thing.
And that's the core problem: apps created this way will feel odd on all platforms. Users notice this sort of thing.
VNC (or RDP) into a Mac from the iPad. Looks like there are several popular Remote Desktop and VNC apps for the iPad.