B4i (iOS) - Updates thread

[RAJAN MBA]

erel now is the question
u know the Unity? for make games etc
on the unity u can compile games for ios android windowsphone etc
and i never see problems

but dont askme how the unity compile to ios xD

Unity ios generates xcode. You need a Mac to compile the code and submit to Apple. Even for Win OS you need Windows 8 and Visual Studio to add splash screen, tiles, app icons and compile to Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 . The latest Unity cloud ( for Unity Pro users) still needs Mac for creating mobile provision files and submitting to App store.

 

[wimpie3]

Would a service like Macincloud.com do the trick? When you order their virtual machine, you have the possibility to add a "remote build port". Is this what we need?

 

[inakigarm]

Would a service like Macincloud.com do the trick? When you order their virtual machine, you have the possibility to add a "remote build port". Is this what we need?

http://www.macincloud.com/help/knowledge-base?kbartid=13

 

[JanG]

It is possible to use MacOS in VirtualBox (Host has to be MacOS, too. Legal reasons).

Is it possible to use this virtual environment to compile/release for iOS?

 

[MaFu]

It is possible to use MacOS in VirtualBox.

Is it possible to use this virtual environment to compile/release for iOS?

I tested with Delphi compiling and remote debugging OSX programs (which also needs xcode) without problems.
Therefore B4i should work too.
If you have a working network connection between host and VM there's no difference to a real Mac.

 

[Erel]

Does this mean to even develop a iOS app in B4i you need a MAC

Yes.

A Mac mini (including an old used one) is good enough and will be able to support a number of developers.

 

[nwhitfield]

If you have to treat yourself to a Mac, remember that it should also be possible to run B4i in a virtual machine on the Mac too; that's how I do all my work with B4A at the moment, using Parallels Desktop. Windows 7 runs fairly respectably like that, even on my 5 and a half year old Macbook Pro

 

[Jmu5667]

What is the Basic Mac Machine required for B4i, I have the opportunity to acquire a Mac G4 (free) and was wondering if I can use this for compiling B4i apps....

 

[socialnetis]

What is the Basic Mac Machine required for B4i, I have the opportunity to acquire a Mac G4 (free) and was wondering if I can use this for compiling B4i apps....

I guess that we would need at least xcode version 5 to compile for ios 7, so Mountain Lion 10.8.4 might be the minimum required

 

[Osi]

If you get an Mac Mini, quad core is so much better than dual core ... every time. And RAM! If worse comes to worse, get the lowest ram, and do the after market upgrade to 16GB. Much, much cheaper!

 

[nwhitfield]

A G4 is not going to cut it; that's a PowerPC based machine, and won't be able to run anything later than Snow Leopard (10.6) if memory serves correctly. You certainly won't be able to get the latest OS and build tools on it, and you'll be left behind with security updates too. I'm not sure what the requirements are for iTunes Connect (used to publish to the store), but I doubt that will run on such an old system, either.

 

[Mitchboo]

I'm quite happy with the progress. There is not much that can be demonstrated for now but here is a simple demo that I recorded:


Note that the device is not connected with a cable to any computer.
The debugger is almost fully working. You can put breakpoints, monitor the variables and run watch expressions.

It is better to watch this movie in full screen.

Good to see something moving.

After reading the last posts, I realize the IDE will be on PC but the final stage is on Mac ? Did I understand right ? That would make sense to be able to compile Objective-C.

Is it not possible to have the IDE on Mac as well ?

 

[Mitchboo]

I guess that we would need at least xcode version 5 to compile for ios 7, so Mountain Lion 10.8.4 might be the minimum required

Apple has a knack to require the latest versions of XCode. I am an Apple developer, and I just got an email a week ago that iOS 8 apps must be compiled with XCode 6.

 

[Erel]

Is it not possible to have the IDE on Mac as well ?

It will be possible to run the IDE inside a virtual machine on a Mac.

 

[Mitchboo]

I'm quite happy with the progress. There is not much that can be demonstrated for now but here is a simple demo that I recorded:



Note that the device is not connected with a cable to any computer.
The debugger is almost fully working. You can put breakpoints, monitor the variables and run watch expressions.

It is better to watch this movie in full screen.

New questions. I notice that you compile and run right from the Windows IDE and the app is instantly transferred to the iPhone.

1 - Is it like B4A Bridge that links to the device through Wifi ?
2 - How do you compile the Objective-C code into the PC without a Mac ? Or am I missing something ?

Thank you.

 

[techknight]

Eventually I would want the IDE to be mac/cocoa native. This bouncing between virtual machines or real machines/platforms is just.. blah...

But either way, thanks for the updates.

 

[Erel]

New questions. I notice that you compile and run right from the Windows IDE and the app is instantly transferred to the iPhone.

1 - Is it like B4A Bridge that links to the device through Wifi ?
2 - How do you compile the Objective-C code into the PC without a Mac ? Or am I missing something ?

Thank you.

1. More or less.
2. It is very similar to B4A (and B4J) rapid debugger. The code is executed on the local PC and through a quite sophisticated system the result of the code happens on the device. This allows the same debugging features as in B4A (code swapping, expressions and other).

 

[Erel]

This bouncing between virtual machines or real machines/platforms is just

There is no doubt that it was better without this requirement. However the Mac is really just a build center. The device will be connected to the PC. A single Mac can be used by multiple developers.

It is possible that in the future we will provide our own cloud based Mac compilers.

 

[Mitchboo]

1. More or less.
2. It is very similar to B4A (and B4J) rapid debugger. The code is executed on the local PC and through a quite sophisticated system the result of the code happens on the device. This allows the same debugging features as in B4A (code swapping, expressions and other).

Great. Thank you.

 

[Jmu5667]

So I guess a mac mini quad is they way to go ?