SpeechBubble iPhone App

[Andrew McCartney]

Hi Guys/Dolls

I have just finished writing an app SpeechBubble Manual Handling using the BETA of Adobe CS5.

I had never developed an iPhone app and this was my first outing using software that is in BETA. It took me approx. 20 hours to design - write - deploy (during this process I filed over many BUGs to Adobe and have a good 1 to 1 relationship with them now).

There is areas that I would like to develop but cannot as the functionality is not working 100% in CS5 yet i.e. Swipe Screen ,Camera, etc.

As soon as this becomes available I will be implementing into the APP, also I will be expanding the Content to other Topics and Languages. An example is that for the Ulster Hospital I am creating a FREE Type 1 Diabetes App with Instructions, Help Guides and an Interactive Insulin Calculator aimed at young people.

So please take time to download and review (hopefully positively).

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/manual-handling/id355307466?mt=8

Cheers

Andy

[Dave Guerin]

I have to ask:

Why do it with CS5?

All the native APIs, Swipe Screen, Camera, etc, are available, er, natively.

The SpeechBubble Manual Handling app could easily be done using native Objective C. You could then have all the Swipe Screens you wanted. It would then also not have any of the lag I experienced trying your app on my iPhone 3G: tap a button or arrow, wait a second or two, the new screen appears. Very, very slow.

So, why do it with CS5?

Cheers,

Dave

[Andrew McCartney]

Hi Dave

Thanks for the feedback you want to see the frame rate for version 1.0 :)

As a software developer it is good for me to know what is the best solution to solve problems so the application is not for commercial selling but more proof of concept, which is why it is free.

It is like having to know what to use ASP, PHP, etc for web development, best tool for the job.

On the 3Gs it has no lag but on 3G 1st Edition it is slow, which i have now resolved.

Since the version 1.1 the new version 1.2 is fully XML driven (as the version 1.1 has all the content on the .ipa file, meaning that at 8MB it comes down very hard on the iPhone CPU) about 500KB in size and is fast on all models of iPhone, as content is pushed in 10 - 30 KB files when navigating (down side, need data connection).

Also I am currently working on an online Adobe Flex application which allows the user to create their own slide presentations, get translation and push to iPhone (no need for a development house to make your Apps also have a corresponding online web version).*

*Due to NDA with Adobe I cannot discuss this further, yet :(.

So please treat it as proof of concept, getting to know the alternatives to Apples SDK (as this will become market trend over the next year), the limitations of the software and also that it is a very early BETA.

I hope this answered this for you.

Andy

[Dave Guerin]

Andrew McCartney said:

It is like having to know what to use ASP, PHP, etc for web development, best tool for the job.

And the best tool for the job when developing for iPhone OS is Xcode and Objective C.

Cheers,

Dave

[Conor Winders]

Andrew do you work for or have ties to Adobe? Your posts sound somewhat like sales pitches!

[Andrew McCartney]

Hi Conor

No I am the software Director for Bubble (NI) Ltd - I just love working with good software and love working with concepts that break the mold :)

I could not sell Snow to the Eskimos.

Mind you if Adobe cam e knocking I would very tempted.

Andy


Conor Winders said:

Andrew do you work for or have ties to Adobe? Your posts sound somewhat like sales pitches!

[Andrew McCartney]

Hi Dave

I totally agree that the Apple Software is the best in performance but very hard to integrate into other software platforms.

I will reserve final judgment after the final release of CS5.

Andy



Dave Guerin said:

Andrew McCartney said:

It is like having to know what to use ASP, PHP, etc for web development, best tool for the job.

And the best tool for the job when developing for iPhone OS is Xcode and Objective C.

Cheers,

Dave

[Andrew McCartney]

Hi John

Dont worry about the nit-pick - I work of the new iMac and maybe how i should have started is that I write on XCode (I will have an iPhone App on this platform for a famous Author in the next couple of weeks, it is a real head wrecker but I have started the development).

I am saying that if you want to create real online GUI apps to allow users to create there own App's (Again I can not go into this in great detail) then the XCode is hard to integrate into 3rd party software.

When I say platform I mean 3rd party software, internet browsers, etc.

The reason that I joined the BETA of Adobe CS5 was not 100% to compare to XCode more to see how it integrates to Web Software like Flex and Coldfusion - which initial tests are great. But with all BETA software there are many bugs and performance issues, but these usually get resolved over time.

I love XCode but it is not an easy software to allow outside of developers integration, except for a XML feeds, etc - where as CS5 allows you to design in house Engines and Internet enabled GUI's to make the iPhone process a lot more flexible.

But as I say the jury is out until CS5 is out of BETA.

Andy

John Long said:

Not to nit-pick, but how can you accurately judge something without working with both?

I'm assuming since your using CS5 and saying that it's hard to "integrate into other software platforms" that you are not running on an Apple computer?

Surely you'd have to try working with XCode and IB for accuracy's sake!

Andrew McCartney said:

Hi Dave

I totally agree that the Apple Software is the best in performance but very hard to integrate into other software platforms.

I will reserve final judgment after the final release of CS5.

Andy



Dave Guerin said:

Andrew McCartney said:

It is like having to know what to use ASP, PHP, etc for web development, best tool for the job.

And the best tool for the job when developing for iPhone OS is Xcode and Objective C.

Cheers,

Dave

[Andrew McCartney]

Here is a good article explaining why I am testing CS5 (AIR).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8515813.stm

It is going to be a weird year for mobile app development the last paragraph about Google and Apple Smartphones going to be using AIR technology.

This is why I am testing Flex 4.0 and Flash CS5 as these work hand in hand over the Adobe AIR criteria.

Andy

[Dave Guerin]

So this will be like Java applications that supposedly run on any platform. However they never seem to look quite right, or always work quite right, when compared to applications written in the native language of the platform. A Java application on Windows doesn't feel quite the same as a Windows application on Windows, and a Java application on Mac doesn't feel quite the same as a Mac application on the Mac.

What's easier for the developer isn't always best for the end user of any specific platform.

The best tool for developing for iPhone OS is, and probably is always going to be, Xcode and Objective C.

Cheers,

Dave

[Andrew McCartney]

I agree - the best method at the minute is to use the native Apple Software for iPhone.

This is going to be an interesting year for mobile development, but as I am also looking and testing the Nexus One it is good for us to use AIR to run comparable tests.

It is like the good old days at the start of Operating Systems, Blueray vs HD, etc - there is no way that Apple/Google (market leaders in smartphones) will work with Nokia, Blackberry, etc, they don't even go to the mobile conferences anymore :)

So unless Apple allow their SDK and Xcode to work on Google's Nexus series it is important as a developer to investigate all technologies.

Andy



Dave Guerin said:

So this will be like Java applications that supposedly run on any platform. However they never seem to look quite right, or always work quite right, when compared to applications written in the native language of the platform. A Java application on Windows doesn't feel quite the same as a Windows application on Windows, and a Java application on Mac doesn't feel quite the same as a Mac application on the Mac.

What's easier for the developer isn't always best for the end user of any specific platform.

The best tool for developing for iPhone OS is, and probably is always going to be, Xcode and Objective C.

Cheers,

Dave

[Conor Winders]

Uh oh