Re: [xmlvm-users] will XMLVM comply with appstore for OS4?

[Kühn W. <wo....@en...>]

Hi,

the note by Gergely is the most accurate synthesis concerning cross-language tools and the changed
iPhone Developer Program License Agreement.

Apple has an interest to create a market for quality software which does support and
makes use of their innovative hardware.

It is not in their interest to make an iDevice look like any other Android or Flash gadget.

So why not provide the community with tools to create iPhone specific software based on the
Java stack. And doing so by focusing on the strength of the Java (or Scala or any other JVM)
language and its tool chain, and not by emulating a particular Java framework.

My belief is that Apple will be less reluctant to object to this strategy the less their hardware
is exposed to most-cross-compatible applications.

Greetings, Wolfgang

________________________________
Von: Gergely Kis [mailto:ger...@ma...]
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 26. Mai 2010 12:02
An: xml...@li...
Betreff: Re: [xmlvm-users] will XMLVM comply with appstore for OS4?

Hi Alex,

I am not sure it is possible to take the Android code and just recompile it for the iPhone. Technically, it might be feasible with implementing as much of the Android API as possible, so that "80%" of applications compile fine.

However, the main issue is the difference in the platforms: both at the framework and at the UI level.

At framework level (just 2 examples):
- Android has the very powerful Intent system, iPhone has no such thing. It can be emulated for intra-app intents, but for complex apps, which are designed to have separate service processes ... etc. it won't work.
- File management concepts are different: in iPhone there is a very specific structure your app has to follow in terms of file placement. On Android you are much more on your own: you can use data directory, sdcard ... etc.

At the UI level:
- The iPhone Human Interface Guidelines are not compatible with the Android "Guidelines / Best Practices". For example: navigation bars at the top of the screen, no exit function on the iPhone ... etc.

If an application is not HIG compliant the chances are good that Apple will reject it during the review process. It would also open up an "attack surface" against XMLVM, because it would seem that XMLVM apps are not "native" apps.

In my opinion it would be a far better strategy to concentrate on making XMLVM a porting tool, by acknowledging the fact, that
- you will probably have to redo the UI for each platform
- you will need to adapt the backend to the platforms limitations (e.g. no bluetooth comms in iphone, or no in app purchase api in android)
- you should try to organize the software so that the majority of the code still sits in the business layer, which can be moved between platforms without touching it by hand.

So in my opinion the focus should be:
- Provide a complete Java Iphone API, so really all iPhone features can be accessed from Java
- Provide better tooling: This basically means incremental compilation, IDE integration, JUnit support and debugger support (I think I came up a better solution than Arno's proposal, I just have to write it up).

Of course these are just my thoughts, one of the great things about open-source is that everyone can work on parts they see as important, and we can all put together what we have and create something great.

What do you think?

Best Regards,
Gergely

2010/5/26 Dr. Alexander K. Seewald <al...@se...<mailto:al...@se...>>
Sorry for the late reply, but my app is also still in the App Store
and sells reasonably well...
http://itunes.apple.com/de/app/id365473377

Kudos to the development team to switch the license to LGPL! In fact
this suggests one safe way to prevent Apple from delisting
XMLVM-ported apps: porting as many apps as possible to the platform!
Once there are at least a few popular apps among them, Apple will
find it hard to prevent people from using XMLVM to port their apps.
With the half a dozen that are currently in there, it would still be
easy for Apple to "pull the plug".

I hereby suggest a Google Summer-of-Code project where Android
developers can contribute their app code and get iPhone versions
back. These could be made available as free apps via the development
team's account (since a lot of people might not want to install
XCode/MacOS and get an iPhone for testing) or given back to the
developers to list on their own (this could now also be done for
paid apps). Instead of porting one app at a time, we'd create tools
to port a lot of apps at once and address remaining issues with XMLVM
by highest frequency first. The goal would be to plug in the Android code
and get out the iPhone code without any changes in the application. Surely
Google should be interested in that, perhaps we can get a contribute
your code link on the main Android development page? ;-)

I can help with scripting and automating the porting of so many apps,
also with compiling (I've got an VMWare image w/ MacOS/XCode for
Intel - debugging does not work on AMD, everything else does). Some
local people here in Austria have also expressed interest. I don't
have a clue what needs to be done to set up a Summer-of-Code
project, or how best to get developers to contribute their Android
code for porting. I am afraid we are too late for this year, but
perhaps next year would be a ok.

Best,
 Alex
--
Dr. Alexander K. Seewald

Seewald Solutions
www.seewald.at<http://www.seewald.at>
Tel. +43(664)1106886
Fax. +43(1)2533033/2764

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