I am contracting a company to develop an iPhone APP.
Here is the issue: part of the APP will deal with signatures that are sent via text message from user to user.
I have been told that the native iphone OS is closed and that can't be modified so the only solution to is to build a completely new SMS APP using tools such as phonegap, or appcellerator, etc.
Is there any way to develop the app that works with the exisitng iPhone SMS program or is it true I need to build a whole new application? The problem with building a whole new application is the iPhone will have to use an external SMS gateway and charge fees for that.
Also, are there any recommended iPhone developers ?
Thanks
iPhone OS 4 will support In-App SMS:
In-App SMS Compose SMS messages from
within apps, similar to the Mail
compose sheet added in iPhone SDK 3.0.
If you don't want to use a third-party SMS system, you'll have to wait for iPhone OS 4.
Both PhoneGap and AppAccellerator may be banned from future store submissions- wait until the shakeout from Apple's change in development contract finish up, to see what other possibilites exist if you do not want to use Objective-C to build a custom SMS beforehand...
But I'd wait for 4.0 and implement the features using the system calls there, you can start building today as the beta SDK and iPhone images are out.
Related
I am just starting out experimenting with using Phone Gap to create an Iphone app, and in the Get Started guide it says a requirement is Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6).
Link
I thought it was possible do Phone Gap development on any machine using HTML/CSS/Javascript?
Phone Gap can build the app for you in is own server: https://build.phonegap.com/ . With that you don't need a mac to develop your app.
If you need private apps, this feature isn't free.
PhoneGap is an HTML5 app platform that allows you to author native applications with web technologies and get access to APIs and app stores. If the platform is supposed to produce a native iOS app (that can be submitted to AppStore) then you need to have Mac OS because Objective-C is supported on Mac/XCode.
More from their website:
The process for completing iOS builds is slightly different than that
for other platforms: all iOS builds need to be signed by a developer
certificate and a provisioning profile, that is tied to your Apple
developer account and the device you wish to test on. This document
covers how to set this up.
Note: Since PhoneGap Build uses Apple's standard development process
to build applications, you will need to sign up for their developer
program to build iOS applications on PhoneGap Build. You will also
need a Mac to configure your certificate and provisioning profile.
actually using phonegap application u can run your application in iPhone , Android & so many Phone application with single code which is written using html-5 ,css , jQuery , javaScript & jQuery mobile.
but if you want to post your application on apple app store then you have to have XCode which can run in only mac os.
so while you are designing or implementation time you not need mac os. all you need is notepad & html 5 supported browser.(for testing) Thats it.
I've been developing an iPhone web app on a Windows XP box using
MobiOne Test Center and Safari for testing and debugging and
occasionally using a real iPhone for testing. The problem is that
MobiOne, Safari (desktop), and the iPhone all produce different
errors. Obviously I am most concerned with the errors that occur on
the iPhone, since that is the target device. (An example of the type
of error encountered is that an image that ordinarily appears as
expected occasionally cannot be displayed, so the little question-mark
icon appears instead.)
I have the opportunity to obtain a Mac for development, but I need to
know whether using a Mac will make a difference.
Have any of you moved to the Mac for developing or just testing a web-only iPhone app?
Is doing so worthwhile? Why?
Does the iPhone simulator in the SDK simulate an iPhone better than Safari on the Windows desktop?
Is there a reason I would need a paid subscription to the Apple iOS Developer Program?
Thanks!
In short: no, I don't think a Mac is necessary for developing iPhone web apps, especially seeing as you have access to a device to test on, and you seem to be fine in your progress of development.
If you're not aware, there's a debug console available on Mobile Safari on your iPhone. Go to Settings > Safari > Developer (at the bottom) > Debug Console and turn that on.
When developing an iPhone web app, you do not need to pay for the iOS Developer Program. That program is for developing native apps to deploy either to your company or the App Store only.
Web apps, on the other hand, are nothing more than web sites that are designed (i.e. include certain meta tags, have mobile-friendly interface designs) to be run similarly to native apps on a device, and harness certain Web technologies such as geolocation that are available to devices. Users view them in Mobile Safari like any other web site, but for the best experience are asked to tap on the + sign and add your web app to their home screens to be accessed as such.
The iPhone Simulator certainly does a better job than desktop Safari on either Windows or Mac OS X since its user interface shares that of the iPhone device, but I don't think you'll need it for testing and debugging if you have a device to test on.
The iOS SDK has a tool called Dashcode but I don't think it's much of a difference from the web dev IDEs that the rest of us use every day. As far as I can tell, Dashcode doesn't give your web app any additional features that can't already be implemented using the standards we're familiar with.
I would not buy a Mac or a paid subscription to the Apple iOS developer program unless I was writing native iPhone applications.
You should be fine with your current configuration. Just make sure you do the bulk of your testing on the actual iPhone, that is what your customers will be using.
Does the iPhone simulator in the SDK simulate an iPhone better than Safari on the Windows desktop?
Yes - there are some significant differences between MobileSafari and Safari for Mac/Windows - but you've got an iPhone to test on. The iPhone Simulator offers no additional debugging tools for iPhone web apps, so you're not going to be better off having it available than just testing on the device.
Testing on an actual device is better than testing on any of the Simulators, since that is what you mobile customers will actually be using.
If you are strictly building web apps, your money might be better spent on more test devices (devices with and without a Retina display, iPad, maybe an old used iPod Touch running some prior version of iOS for regression testing, etc.) If you are choosy about your colors, the color can vary quite a bit across devices, so it may help to find one warm display and one cold one (from old/different manufacturing lots, etc.).
So you don't NEED a Mac (unless you have other reasons for acquiring one).
Buy an iMac. You will enjoy the experience better.
It is my understanding that your application needs to be compiled on a mac before it can be sold in the app store.
I would like to ask if I require a Mac for the entire process of the iPhone app development or simply to test the application and later on convert it into a format accepted by iTunes and then uploaded to the App Store.
Thanks a lot !
have a nice day :)
C.
You need a Mac (actually XCode that is available only for Mac) to sign it and compile you app before submitting it to App Store.
HI,
I am new to development for the I phones and got the iphone from USA which is locked to at&t, i have successfully able to develop the apps on it, while it is not unlocked, now i want to unlock it so that i can use it with my local network and also wants to continue the development on it, so is it possible to continue the development on the jailblroken phones for the app store, and what problems may i encounter.
As long as the application is developed using accepted Apple practices (using the official iPhone SDK, and not open-toolchain or something like that) and does not use any private APIs, you should not have any trouble submitting an application just because you tested it on a jailbroken (or carrier unlocked) phone.
To be 100% accurate, jailbreaking and carrier unlocking are against the developer agreement, but I can't really imagine the circumstances that would lead to you being caught.
I have a first generation american iPhone that is jailbroken and works with my local network.
I had no problem deploying a self made app to my phone.
At the time writing I have iPhone OS 2.1.
I haven't yet gone through the process of submitting the application to AppStore.
I followed the tutorial from this site:
http://theappleblog.com/2008/08/04/tutorial-build-a-simple-rss-reader-for-iphone/
to make my first iPhone application, now I would like to test this application on my iPhone, what steps do I need to take in order to do this?
You have two choices. You can register to become an iPhone developer like most people do on the iPhone Dev Center, and then deploy directly to the device by selecting "Device - iPhone OS 2.2" in the Overview menu and then hitting Build and Go.
If you're not using any 2.2-specific APIs, you can compile with "Device - iPhone OS 2.1" and then send your app bundle over to a jailbroken iPhone via SFTP, and fake the codesign process using the ldid utility, allowing you to mess around with your apps on the device without registering to become a developer, and without having the headache of installing the open toolchain.
Become a registered iPhone developer. You can't deploy to the phone without doing this first.
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/