April 27, 2010
QuickConnect 1.6 beta 13 now Available
QC 1.6 beta 13 new features/fixes:
1 – iPad charting example
2 – splash screen resizing on app startup fixed (iPhone only).
3 – QuickConnect iPad project template
This is a small update, but I wanted to get the charting example and the new template out for the iPad.
April 26, 2010
Teaching at iPhone/iPad DevCon
I have been invited to teach three 75 minute courses at the upcoming iPhone/iPad DevCon in San Diego September 28th and 29th, 2010. Two of the courses are on Objective-C topics and one is on using QuickConnect to build hybrid applications.
I’d love to meet you there if you get the chance. Maybe we could setup a users group meeting. I have put up a survey here on the blog as to what you think would be the most helpful items to cover in the ‘using QC’ class.
After the survey you can see a description of each of the classes I’ll be teaching.
Advanced track “Mobile Data Synchronization with Any Database”
Abstract:
iPhone applications can easily store data using either the core Data framework or by directly interacting with the SQLite database engine. This data can then be heavily used without delays involved in passing information back-and-forth between the device and a remote database. How then can data be kept in sync if it needs to exist on the device and a remote database? What if you don’t need all of the data found in the database to exist on the device?
This class helps you design and implement a synchronization utility that will work with the database management system of your choice. It could be Oracle, MySQL, Sybase, or some other database. It could even be something completely different such as XML or other textual flat files. The data structure on the device won’t even need to match the remote data structure.
All of this can be done to create an easy to use sync utility you can use in any of your applications.
Intermediate track “Creating an Easy-To-Use Objective-C Modular Framework”
Abstract:
The Model-View-Control pattern as implemented by apple is great as far as it goes. It does tend to lead to implementation code being scattered across many areas of your application.
This class helps you design and implement a modular, reusable framework that can speed up your application development dramatically. Initial data indicates you could reduce your time to market by a factor or 10 or more by reusing the framework you will create in this class.
You will create a command-response, highly modular framework that you can reuse in every iPhone, iPad, and even Mac application you ever create. Your framework will be fast. It will be small. It will be easy to use.
Beginning track “Ship Your App Now by Creating Hybrid Applications”
Abstract:
Learning Objective-C can be a major hurdle for a beginning iPhone or iPad application creator. One solution that allows you to get your apps out the door and helps you learn Objective-C at the same time is to create a hybrid application. Hybrid applications use HTML, Javascript, and CSS for much if not all of your application display and logic. There are several hybrid application libraries available on-line both open and free as well as closed and for cost.
This class helps you create your hybrid application using the first, open source, free, and most highly developed hybrid application framework QuickConnect. A few of the ideas you will learn to implement are:
- Storing data on the device
- Using HTML 5 to animate your interface
- Displaying Maps in your application
- Using audio and Video
April 20, 2010
Native JSON tools in iPhone 3.2 SDK
I went back over a couple of older blogs today and decided to see if the native JSON object exists in the later SDKs. I found that it wasn’t in 3.1.x but does appear in the 3.2 iPhone SDK. Thank heavens! Now we can get a fantastic speedup since we can use the browsers C based parsing and stringifying as apposed to the JavaScript implementation.
With as much JSON as we use to communicate with the Objective-C side of the framework and the use of AJAX to get JSON from servers this should really help out.
It appears that the API is the same as we have been using. JSON.parse() and JSON.stringify(). If you are working in 3.2 and later you can get a speedup. I’ll build in some auto detection in the next beta.
QuickConnect 1.6 beta 12 is now available
I have uploaded the latest 1.6 beta. It includes a few new pieces of functionality in addition to that added in the previous betas.
The new functionality is:
- Orientation(Compass) toggling on and off
- In-app purchase
- in-app email
- Toggling AutoRotation on and off
- Toggling the Accelerometer on and off
- Enterprise Synchronization enhancements
- Additional Examples including a simple iPad example
- Memory enhancements
The in-app purchase and Orientation functionality is very green. I’d like your help in debugging them.
I had hoped to have Blackberry support in this one but the BB development tools still will not work in my virtual machine so that will have to wait.
The next beta will have bluetooth peer-to-peer and updated Bonjour functionality.
April 9, 2010
iPhone OS 4, Hybrid Apps, and QuickConnect
Yesterday a deluge of emails and blog postings regarding changes in what applications are allowed into the app store have appeared. Most of these focus on what languages and translation libraries will be allowed in applications submitted to the app store. Be careful in believing what people are saying.
I am limited by the NDA of the developer license agreement and so I can not get too specific. I feel I can safely say that Hybrid application libraries and frameworks will not be affected in any way. In fact it appears that Apple is explicitly encouraging them.
The QuickConnect framework appears to pass the language very well.
I would encourage you to go read the actual entry in the document rather than the partial entry cited in most blog postings.
Now that I am done with the factual statements here comes the speculation.
Why would Apple make such statements? No one but Apple knows for sure. Here is my guess.
Everyone wants their apps to get through the approval process as quickly as possible. Apple wants this as well and needs the approval process to be low cost and fast. It seems to me that compiling using other languages and the libraries that go with them would dramatically slow down the approval process and make it more expensive.
There. I said it. My opinion and it has nothing to do with world dominion, secret manipulations, or other such strangeness I have see in other postings. It isn’t nearly as interesting as an opinion that Apple is trying to be evil but it is my take on the situation.
Teton Technical 