iOS Question B4i beta to be released next week

[Erel]

The very first beta version of B4i will hopefully be released next week

B4i will produce native iOS applications running on iOS 7+.

The IDE is similar to B4A / B4J IDEs, which means that it is a Windows program.

In order to develop with B4i you need:
- One or more real devices (iPhone or iPad) running iOS 7+.
- Register as an Apple developer. It costs $99 per year.
- A network connected Mac computer. We will also offer a Mac builder rental service which you can use instead of a local Mac computer.

We are looking for beta testers to help us.

You need to have a real device and register as an Apple developer in order to test it.
Please send me an email to [email protected] if you want to join the beta testers group.

 

[omidaghakhani1368]

Oh Erel you are best.i love you for your quest.
Erel i cannot buy mac user,then i cannot programming ios right?

 

[mrjaw]

Well, I have a Virtual Machine Mac with Maverick running over VMware in my i3
The only problem is to buy the developer account but meanwhile I use only the emulator.
Mac over VMware
Ipad/Iphone

I am so excited!! I started to learn Swift and Objective-C ...

 

[TheMightySwe]

What limitations can we expect with using B4A code in iOs development? I guess all serial communication will be hard or?

 

[Erel]

Serial communication is not possible in iOS. Only BLE API is exposed (currently a BLE library is not available however it will be added in the future).

 

[tufanv]

Erel,

I can have an apple developer account, i have an ipad running 7+ but dont have a mac computer. Can you give little bit info about mac builder rental service ? how much does it cost etc. ?

 

[Erel]

In the beta stage it will be free.

The prices are not yet determined. The Mac rental service price will not be too high. Probably around $5 per month (billed annually).

 

[tpakis]

wow!! great news!!!

 

[TheMightySwe]

Serial communication is not possible in iOS. Only BLE API is exposed (currently a BLE library is not available however it will be added in the future).

OK, thats what I need.

 

[roddy]

Hi, Erel
How many Libraries are not available in B4i ?
Like those Libraries : Parse, YouTube, SQL ....

 

[Erel]

Many libraries are not yet available in B4i. You can see the list of libraries currently available here: http://www.b4x.com/b4i/documentation.html

 

[roddy]

Libraries

Many libraries are not yet available in B4i. You can see the list of libraries currently available here: http://www.b4x.com/b4i/documentation.html

Reply so fast, thank you.
another question.
Is there a libraries not available in B4i in the future ?

 

[Erel]

Some of the B4A libraries are based on features not available in iOS. For example: Serial, USB, UsbSerial, Admin, LiveWallpaper, NFC and probably others.

As a general rule, if you cannot implement your project without a specific feature that is currently not available then it is better to wait for this feature to be available, before you purchase B4i.

 

[TheMightySwe]

Is there any way to be able to write conditions in the code so you can skip those features that is not availible if you compile to B4I?

 

[Erel]

Yes. You can use conditional compilation for that:

#If B4A
'... b4a specific code
#End If
#If B4i
'... b4i specific code
#End If

 

[TheMightySwe]

Very good, this is going to be intresting.

 

[Beja]

Erel,
You are my hero.. Bravo and many congratulations.. you made my day.. it's 7:22AM now and just wakeup.
Only 10 minutes ago I submitted a patent application to USPTO and was so excited -now to receive another pleasant surprise
in the same morning I think this is a true blessing.
God bless.

One question:

Some of the B4A libraries are based on features not available in iOS. For example: Serial, USB, UsbSerial

Does that mean we can't communicate with the outside world by BT and asynchstreams? How about SMS and Email?

 

[Erel]

I was surprised to discover that Apple hasn't opened any API for serial communication over Bluetooth (SPP) for standard developers.

You can use AsyncStreams over TCP (Network library).
SMS and Email are supported. However not without user intervention.

 

[Beja]

Thanks Erel,

 

[TheMightySwe]

What do you think about the posibilities to communicate with a Thermal Line Printer like the Star TSP-650II via BlueTooth?

It's "Apple MFi Certified" have no idea what that means.

 

[Erel]

The SPP profile is only open to MFi certified developers.
https://mfi.apple.com/MFiWeb/getFAQ.action

As far as I understand it is not relevant for most developers.