In order to port games in to iphone, I dont thing complete Objective C coding is required. As I have seen most popular games which were on other devices or on other platform. Now converting exactly to iphone.
Is it there any tool for it ?
There are a few different tools out there that allow you to develop once and deploy to multiple platforms. Some of these are full engines, like UDK, Torque, and the aforementioned Unity. There are also tools like PhoneGap and Adobe Air, which allow you to develop using web technologies, and then convert to mobile apps.
Of course, sometimes you have to just write your code using C++ and OpenGL, and port it to each platform individually. This will allow for a bit more control and performance in some cases, and might allow for better access to the API of each device, but the trade off is that it'll take a bit of time to port.
I think this is easiest accomplished by creating a platform independant C/C++ library which can than be linked to from Objective C or loaded with JNI on Android systems.
But I don't think that there is a translator for languages, since the APIs are very different.
Another option is to create the game with a language independent game engine like Unity (which is commercial btw).
Related
I'm about to work on developing an application on tablets (Android/iPad).
Our clients ask us to make it cross platform unless there is any reason to stick to one.
I've looked at some posts related to cross-platform iOS/Android development here, but I'm still not sure if I should just develop a native application on a specific platform or I should try to make it cross-platform.
I'm new to developing applications on mobile devices.
If you can provide any advice/experience, that would be great!
As far as I know, for technical reasons, the trade-offs are as follows:
Native applications are faster, but it's not easy to reuse the codes on other platforms.
Cross-platform solutions using web-based applications (e.g. PhoneGap) have slower performance, limited access to OS and hardware APIs, web-like user interface.
Cross-platform solutions like Appcelerator Titanium compile the codes to native codes but I'm not sure about its limitation (if I have to change it back to native application after developing for three months, I'll cry!) and it costs money.
Also, for time/effort needed to develop a native application or cross-platform application on tablets, in general, is it easier and more reliable to develop/maintain a native application than a cross-platform solution?
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance! :)
Personally I would stick with native apps. I'm working for a company that wants to create apps for multiple platforms as well and they have been looking for alternatives to native development, such as Titanium and PhoneGap. We've chosen for the following approach:
I've been hired to develop the iPhone app.
Some students for a University will probably work on the Android version, where the data framework / layer will look and work somewhat the same as my Objective-C code, e.g.:
-getFlightInfoWithId:forUserId: will become something like (void)getFlightInfo(flightId, userId) in Java.
The view and controller layers will probably differ in huge ways, mostly because Android and iOS devices have different GUI guidelines and capabilities (e.g. Android screen sizes can differ a lot, whereas on iOS there are only 2 real options).
For other smaller platforms we'll be offering a HTML5 app. To me native apps are always preferable to apps created with cross-platform toolsets as generally native apps should perform better, should have a better 'feeling' and might have some more capabilities, e.g. might be able to use some hardware features that are native to the platform and unavailable in a cross-platform toolset.
The bad news is that unless you're planning on writing a web, then you're going to have to write two versions.
The good news is that you can share the assets between them.
I guess you write could write large chunks of your iPad version in C, then compile it for Android via the NDK, but then there's all the UI stuff and so it's still gonna be two versions.
Is there a sane way to develop a cross platform Mobile app? We want these to be native apps on each platform, and not necessarily some kind of web page.
Currently we're thinking to split it into two languages:
C# backend (business logic)
--> Standard C# app for WP7
--> App built on MonoTouch for iPhone/iPad/etc.
Java backend (business logic)
--> Standard Android Java app (MonoDroid version of C# not ready
yet)
--> Standard Blackberry Java app
We could also develop initially in C# and use one of the conversion tools out there to get our C# converted into Java as a starting point.
Is there another approach? Our skillsets include mainly include a strong C# .Net background, and minor Java experience.
We don't really want to go low level and use something like C/C++ to get the job done. These are usually going to be simple LOB applications that communicate to some web service.
Side Question: how do game devs like the makers of Angry Birds do it?
UPDATE:
MonoDroid is now officially released. So it seems you would only need to use Java for the BlackBerry. We are considering not developing for BlackBerry at all, because developing for the other 3 platforms has been simplified. There is definitely some cost involved, as MonoTouch and MonoDroid are both $399 and you would also need a license for Visual Studio (this doesn't include cost for App store, etc.).
There's no good simple answer that I know of for all mobile platforms. You can use development environments like Appcelerator Titanium, which cross-compile to native code on various platforms (right now, for instance, I think Titanium supports iOS and Android, with plans for Blackberry). However, these usually have a limited API that you have access to, and you still end up needing to design different UIs for the different platforms (in my commercial work, I have never successfully used such a platform)
You could also design all the business logic in a web-services back end, and then just write "thin client" apps for each platform. This works, but of course requires network access when the end user wants to use your app. (Usually it'll be there, but sometimes may not)
Ultimately, I usually end up doing what you propose -- writing the basic business logic in a couple of different languages as generically as possible, and then bundling that in with custom UI/device code for each platform. Haven't found a better way myself....
(BTW, I believe games like Angry Birds are written largely in OpenGL and then loaded onto the OpenGL processor on each platform. But I could be mistaken...)
Those are some great answers. I agree, x-platform development is still very primitive. I'd like to add 2 points:
1) You do not need to write your backend in different languages. Choose one language (based on your comfort level, performance etc. criteria) and then connect from your platform-specific apps directly to the backend. If your backend is server-side code, one way of talking to it would be via XmlHttpClient. If it's a piece of native code common across various apps and is written in say C++, you can use JNI from Java and wrapper assembly from C#.
2) Another reason for avoiding x-platform tools is that you'd always need to wait for them to support the new APIs released by the platform vendor (Apple, Google, MSFT etc.). Once these companies release new APIs, the tools will need to be updated and only then will you be able to use the new APIs.
I don't think this is (easily) possible, if you're not using some HTML5 (jquerymobile etc.) in a WebView in your own app (looks like a real app, but still you will somehow see that it's not) instead of the normal browser. You can still use some native API from the device (accelerometer,...).
There are (commercial) platforms like Sybase Unwired Platform that help you in generating some client code. Afaik for Blackberry and Windows Mobile even some UI can be generated out of the business objects on the server. But to me it sounds that this might be too heavy-weight for your case.
Regards,
Martin
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Possible Duplicate:
Write once deploy on Windows Mobile 6, Windows Phone 7, Android and iPhone?
Currently I have created a 2 simple apps for iphone and 1 for windows phone. When I go to promote these apps they usually....well do you have this for android or blackberry or whatever.
Do I have to rewrite my applications in every environment in order to have them compatible across all the operating systems out there? Is there tools that address this or do you guys simply recreate the app in eclipse, xcode, visual studio etc..?
Complex applications generally need to be created with the native environment.
Simple applications can be created with cross platform tools like Titanium and PhoneGap:
- http://www.appcelerator.com/
- http://www.phonegap.com/
#Fraggle (see comment)
I have quite some experience with Appcelerator Titanium. The choice for native v.s. cross-plafrom completely depends on the kind of application you need and your knowledge. General considerations:
Can the application be created with web technologies like HTML, CSS and JavaScript?
What language / environment do I know the best (native vs web technologies)?
How much time and money can I spend?
Do I really need cross-platform compatibility?
Most mobile phone applications only provide an easy interface for internet services like news updates, traffic info, social media and video. Those applications can be easily written with web technologies. Therefor most mobile applications can be written with tools like Titanium. The great thing about Titanium: Get the native experience on multiple devices while only maintaining one code-base. Cheap way of developing cross-platform applications.
Many developers use Titanium because they don't know the native language (objective-C / java), but they have extensive knowledge about web technologies. This way they can create pretty nice applications without learning new languages. Titanium is actually used for many non-cross-platform applications.
Complex graphics, device specific tools and complex interfaces still require the native environment.
Native applications will always perform better and use device specific features, but do you really need that degree of perfection? Yes, develop native applications for every device. No, simply create one cross-platform application.
Check this page to see what Titanium can do:
http://www.appcelerator.com/showcase/applications-showcase/
You may be able to use a third party tool like http://www.phonegap.com.
There are many options for cross-platform app development, but I would suggest Adobe AIR as it is also supported on the Blackberry Playbook by RIM. As far as I know, it's the only cross-platform runtime that is supported by a major platform owner.
I have also seen it do well on Android, and iOS support is also advertized.
Well there are definitely some supposed "write once, run everwhere" solutions out there. Here is one from RhoMobile which specializes in this space. But that is just what a quick Google search turned up. I haven't tried any of them.
I had an app that was developed for Android, and I ended up essentially re-writing it in Objective-C when I wanted to port it over to iPhone. It worked out pretty well and took less time than I thought (considering I hadn't done any iPhone programming prior). But now of course I have 2 code bases that I have to maintain and when I add features I'll have to do it for both the Android and iPhone version.
So having a single code base that lets me build apps for multiple platforms would be great. Do any of the tools out there work well? Not sure. Do they give you full control to make your app look and operate the way you want it, and make us of all the OS's features? Not sure.
Qt (now owned by Nokia) is another provider of a cross platform mobile framework
http://qt.nokia.com/
Even though iphone and android seem to be missing from their official Supported Platforms list I think there is an Android 2.3 release just around the corner. Qt for Iphone also seems to be in the works.
HTML5 may be one solution if the app you providing is simple enough. Google is doing it this way. Otherwise, even you have anything "cross-phone" it may still feels alien.
I want to make app for android and iphone "writing once" and run in both.
Despite hardware, OS and native interface differences between this two platforms there is a special technology to make this easy, or I need to think in web apps with only html5, for example?
I read a bit material related with rhodes, titanium app and a others frameworks, but I don't know if is better to spend time studying the sdks and native tools or to invest in only solution. It's worthwhile?
If you are doing a one off app and wont be doing a series of apps in different areas (games, content/music, LBS etc) then you are better off with using an existing framework. Otherwise you may want to build a platform of reusable components that you can leverage to quickly create apps.
I've tried to use Titanium - once you get past a certain level of complexity you really are much better off making a native program. Its like desktop cross platform toolkits (Qt, Wx) - it never looks quite right on different platforms - multiply this x 100 for mobile, with a huge performance loss.
Both Android and iPhone support C, with POSIXy standard stuff (especially sockets, etc). You can do your logic in C/C++ and UI in ObjC/Java. Games are better off in C/C++ anyway due to performance. The user visible part "works right", while your "business logic" is identical across platforms.
PhoneGap - http://phonegap.com/ is a very popular solution to your problem.
Single code base for iOS/Android/BB/etc.
I'm in the middle of development of a client-server "socializing" that is supposed to run on several mobile devices. The project is pretty complex, involving networking, exchanging media, using geolocation services, and nice user UI.
In terms of development efforts, technical risks and extensibility what is the best platform to start with? Taking into the account that the goal is go "live" as fast as possible with the mobile version. And second goal is to cover most users (but first is more important).
iPhone (iPod iPad)
Android
BlackBerry
Java ME,
Symbian
I realize that there are limitations on every platform, and there are different aspects to take into the account (for example iPhone has better developer's community then Android, J2ME runs in a terrible sandbox but covers most devices).
Please share your pros and cons. I have the experience only with J2ME, unfortunately I can't evaluate other platforms.
If you're looking at native applications on the platforms you list, then the development effort required in order from least to most is:
iPhone
Android
Blackberry
Java ME
Symbian
Development effort is largely governed by language/libraries, tooling and fragmentation. Hence iPhone wins (good language & libraries, excellent tooling, little/no fragmentation). Symbian comes last (C++ with limited libraries, poor tools, large fragmentation). Android beats Blackberry on libraries and fragmentation, and Blackberry beats Java ME on fragmentation.
The counterpoint to this is market size, especially among your target user base - Java ME reaches far more devices than any other platform, whereas the Android installed base is still the smallest of the 5.
There's no one right answer, but if reach is important then Java is a good place to start, if time-to-market and user experience are the keys then iPhone makes sense.
It's also worth looking at how easy/difficult it would be to port across to other platforms. There are various cross-platform libraries around such as Airplay or J2ME Polish that might reduce the costs - provided you can implement your application on the cross-platform part.
I'd like to speak up for Maemo/Meego(Nokia's/Intel's mobile Linux). While it is in a state of transition and currently Maemo 5 has only one good phone(and a couple of cheap Chinese ones), but I feel that it will soon be big(I like many people believe that Meego will be Nokia's high end strategy and Nokia is the biggest phone maker in the world). Plus the N900 is the coolest phone around.
Also their it basically an open Linux device (pretty similar to standard desktop Linux). The ide QT Creator is great and cross-platform(comes with embedded visual designer and nice documentation broser) but you don't have to use it, there is some support for using your own text editor or ide.
There is no sort of signing key nonsense(I did a student project for the blackberry and have been quite annoyed by keys). Other things I didn't like about the blackberry: windows only eclipse plugins, our team had a lot of trouble figuring out how to add third party libraries to blackberry COD archives . Also some of the Classes are somewhat sparse in a lot of ways especially String/Char, probably since its ME based, I also didn't like the file read/write apis, it felt somewhat awkward, possibly since blackberry apps only recently got the ability to store files(before you could only store/retrieve objects to disk via the persistence layer)..
The preferred Languages are (Gobject C currently but less so for Meego) , Qt flavoured C++ and python. There libraries are nice and the qt ones are especially well documented. Since its a tiny linux box you can have on device debugging (there is also an emulator).
Note I haven't developed anything for Maemo/Meego but I've read a lot about and just fell in love.
I think that the best solution might be to start with a smartphone optimized web site. A native app can provide a richer interface, but a well designed web app can come close and will run on any device.
Have a look at the WPTouch for an example of a very good phone optimized web site.
In line with Roman A. Taycher, I'd like to raise my voice for windows Mobile/Windows Phone. It's has a large installed base, it has the tried and true Visual Studio toolset to develop with, it has the best emulator of them all (it actually emulates the ARM instruction set - you hear that, Apple?), and you can leverage your Win32 experience.
MS-haters - please don't bother responding. I've heard them all.
A cross-platform runtime such as Qt or HTML5 are good bets and are portable.
Qt supports many platforms including Symbian, Meego, Linux, Windows etc. It is highly regarded as one of the best programming frameworks around currently.
Qt creator is also a very highly regarded IDE.
HTML can be accessed on nearly everything of course and can there are plethora of tools out there.
While applications natively developed for a given platform typically win in terms of platform UI consistency and performance, you could try going for one of the available multi-platform frameworks, such as Rhodes (just to name one). Personally, I do not have any specific experience with Rhodes and only learned about it a couple of days ago (having a closer look is still on my todo list), so please judge the user experience that the framework offers on different devices on your own.
It sounds like you need Mobile Community Framework (MCF). It is cross-platform framework to develop network-centric, location- and proximity-aware applications on all modern smartphone platforms (iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, WinMo - almost all you mentioned, except J2ME). It provide native binaries for all these platforms. With MCF development time can be reduced, as you don't need to code all this network stuff by yourself, but you can just use simple API to send any amounts of data across enrypted connections, via Wi-Fi ad-hoc mode or via special proxy-server.
More info at http://www.uvamobiltec.com.