News: Cordova, iPhone 6, and iOS 8

Shazron of Adobe System’s Inc. gives us the latest news about Cordova and Apple’s release of iOS 8. Here’s what we need to change to get our apps ready for iOS 8:

http://shazronatadobe.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/cordova-ios-and-ios-8/

More news:
http://sdtimes.com/guest-view-hybrid-app-developers-love-new-ios-8/
http://www.sitepoint.com/getting-app-ready-ios-8/

Nov. 25, 2014 Need to upgrade iOS apps with Cordova older than 3.4.1 before Feb. 2015: http://cordova.apache.org/announcements/2014/11/25/ios-64bit.html

PhoneGap 2.1.0 in Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.8: from Download to iOS App Store

These instructions follow the Getting Started with iOS guide at http://docs.phonegap.com/en/2.1.0/guide_getting-started_ios_index.md.html#Getting%20Started%20with%20iOS. (Earlier versions of this PG pointed to the wrong file.) PhoneGap uses “PhoneGap” and “Apache Cordova” terminology on its web site. I’m going to use “PG” often in this article for shorthand.

Before you can install the app on your device, you need to sign up as a Developer with Apple and go through the business documentation, Certificate Signing, and Developer Certificate process, all of which are detailed on Apple’s web site (https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/), under Prepare for App Submission. Nevertheless, you can skip all those steps and still see your work in the the iOS Simulator included with Xcode. Xcode is a free download you can download now, but the Developer status comes at $99 a year. If you are new to creating apps for the App Store, you’ll want to peruse the App Store Review Guidelines to make sure your app falls within acceptable limits: https://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guidelines.html

Installing Weinre remote debugger on the Mac OSX Lion

Weinre, which is short for Web Inspector Remote (pronounced “winery,” “wine-ray,” “whiner,” or “weiner,” depending on your native accent or sense of humor), allows us to debug our mobile app code remotely, that is, in a desktop browser window outside the mobile device. Why would we do this? Because checking our HTML/CSS/Javascript during development in a browser doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll run flawlessly in the target mobile device. The environments are different. Also, 9 times out of 10, the device has poorly integrated debugging of its own.

How steep is the learning curve for this tool? Well, if you are habiitually using Google Chromes’s Javascript Console (in Google Chrome, click on the wrench icon > Tools > Javascript Console), then you’ll quickly grasp this tool (which is WebKit’s Web Inspector), since they are the same tools, with the addition of one extra tab in Weinre for Remote.

Currently, Weinre, developed by Patrick Mueller, only works in Webkit-based browsers like Google and Safari, as used in iPhone and Android devices. Here are the steps to download and install the software tool, and get it running on an iPod touch device running an app which uses Cordova PhoneGap. These steps are extremely thorough, designed for newbies to coding. (You’re welcome.)

(Sept. 21, 2012 update: If you use a Mac, you may want to try the iWebInspector, which is more feature-rich and designed to replace Weinre on the Mac.)

Uploading your iPhone app with Application Uploader 2.5.1 in Mac OSX Lion

According to the Developer Guide PDF dated 2012-06-13, after the status of our application is “Waiting for Upload,” we are to use Application Loader to upload our binary. However, the Product > Archive and submit process through Organizer still works. This process through Archive is way easier and faster than the App Loader process. But here is the App Loader procedures to follow if you want to take those steps.

Here are the Application Loader instructions online: https://itunesconnect.apple.com/docs/UsingApplicationLoader.pdf

“Waiting for Upload” status

Make sure in your Developer account online that the status of your app is “Waiting for Upload.” This means that you’ve filled in all required fields, including text and images. 

Getting the iOS App to a Tester (Xcode 4.3.2, Mac OSX Lion)

What steps do you follow to get your app out to a tester’s physical iOS device? This article assumes you will have the physical device in hand to plug into your development Mac computer. 

Code Sign error: Provisioning profile ‘388E4 … AA58’ can’t be found

I got the above error and after a search, found this link that saved the day:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1760518/codesign-error-provisioning-profile-cannot-be-found-after-deleting-expired-prof

The steps I took to resolve this were:

1. In Finder, right-click on the xcodeproj file.

2. In the options box, click on Show Package Contents.

3. Right-click on the .pbxproj file and select to open in TextEdit.

4. Do a search on that file for the long string of numbers.

5. Comment out the line and save (add /* before the line and */ after the line).

6. Restart Xcode, reopen the xcodeproj file, and do a Product > Clean. It should start up fine if there were no other problems.

 

Xcode 4 Transition Guide

Xcode 4 Transition Guide

Link: [Sign in to your iOS Developer account] > iOS Dev Center > iOS Developer Library > Resource Types > Guides

These are notes based on the Xcode 4 Transition Guide (page numbers refer to the PDF) that I found helpful to me. This guide gives you an overview of the many refinements made during the transition from Xcode 3 to 4. Well worth a look if you are not using Xcode 4 regularly and would like to know more about its features. The following notes are of particular interest to me; you’ll find much more in the document than what I’ve written.

Renaming your App in Xcode

http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#qa/qa1625/_index.html

I just created an app with Xcode 4, PhoneGap 1.0, ChildBrowser, and local storage. That project  is a template, the basis for starting any other projects I do in the future. Luckily for me, Apple has already created step-by-step instructions on how to rename an app (in this case, my template app) so that I can save the original as a template and use the renamed version as the app to submit. Read the above to see how we’re supposed to rename apps in this way, for Xcode 3 and 4.

Code Signing Issues – Apple Tech Note

Apple must have written a gazillion tech notes on a variety of issues people have with their products. Here’s one I wished I had known about sooner to help me with my code signing blues. It has a sexy name, too: TN2250.

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#technotes/tn2250/_index.html

Check it out next time an error mentions anything about code signing.

Installing ChildBrowser into Xcode 4 with PhoneGap 1.0 (Mac OS X, Snow Leopard)

You’ll need the ChildBrowser plugin with PhoneGap in order to return to the app after clicking on an external link. A Done button will appear under the web page, allowing you to exit the web page and return to the app. Very convenient. I’ve had to search and experiment for two weeks before I could piece all the correct steps together. If you landed here early, you can do it all within an hour!

UPDATE 6/5/2012: For PhoneGap-Cordova 1.7.0, use these steps to install ChildBrowser:
https://iphonedevlog.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/installing-childbrowser-with-cordovaphonegap-1-7-0/

UPDATE 3/21/2012: For PhoneGap-Cordova 1.5, use these steps to install ChildBrowser: http://blog.digitalbackcountry.com/2012/03/installing-the-childbrowser-plugin-for-ios-with-phonegapcordova-1-5/

UP

Installing PhoneGap 1.0 into Xcode 4 (Mac OS X, Snow Leopard)

PhoneGap allows you to avoid learning Objective-C when making iPhone apps. With PhoneGap, you insert your HTML, CSS, and Javascript in the www/ folder and PhoneGap will make sure it shows up on the screen. (Disclaimer: I know very little Javascript. Much of what are downloaded from the web, then are modified by trial and error to suit my project. I have been a web developer for nearly 20 years.) I am going to assume you don’t know Javascript, and are only barely familiar with Xcode, the software necessary to compile iPhone apps for the App Store.

The Windows PC is my main computer, so I’ll assume you are barely familiar with the Mac interface (maybe you’re moving from the PC to the Mac just for building apps, like me). So I think you’ll find these steps easy to follow. At this time, there are no screen shots (sorry). I assume you already have Xcode 4 installed. I’m not going to go into provisional profiles here; I’m going to assume you will take care of that on your own.

Access your apps on the App Store directly from your website or marketing campaigns

Do you need to link directly to your app on iTunes?

• To send customers to a specific application:
  http://itunes.com/apps/appname
• To send customers to a list of apps you have on the App Store:
  http://itunes.com/apps/developername
• To send customers to a specific app with your company name included in the URL:
  http://itunes.com/apps/developername/appname

See also: http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/qa/qa2008/qa1633.html

“The binary you uploaded was invalid. The signature was invalid, or it was not signed with an Apple submission certificate.”

If you ever get the above message when you upload the binary to iTunes Connect, you may need to double-check the following points. I found the following helpful  list when scanning the Apple support forum.

When do you use the Disclosure Indicator or Detail Disclosure buttons?

The following comes from the iPhone Human Interface Guidelines, under Table Views, Text Views, and Web Views > Table-View Elements.

Use the Disclosure Indicator button, which contains a gray chevron at a cell’s right, when tapping the button will bring up a list of more choices.

Use the Detail Disclosure button, which contains a round blue button at a cell’s right, when tapping the button will bring up detailed information about the list item. As a mnemonic help, just think of “Detail” when you are revealing the actual details of the choice and not more choices.

UITableViewCellAccessoryDisclosureIndicator; // Adds “>” to right of cell.

UITableViewCellAccessoryDetailDisclosureButton; // Adds round blue button to right of cell.

Programming Sliders

After you slide the Slider control and label onto the page, how do you get them to work together? Here is the code I use to make a UISlider change the text of a UILabel. (Xcode 3)

Programming Segmented Controls

After you slide the segmented control and label onto the page, how do you get them to work together? Here is the code I use to make a three-button UISegmentedControl change the text of a UILabel. (Xcode 3)

Apple App Store Application Assets Template

I put this page at the top of the site for quicker access. View it here.

Provisioning Profiles Made Easy

When I have a new Xcode project and need to test on my device, these are the steps I take to get a provisioning profile working right the first time. (Vcode 3)