Adobe adds support for building iOS apps with Flash Builder, Flex
Adobe this week released Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5, adding the ability to build and distribute iPhone, iPad and iPod touch applications on Apple's official App Store.
The new functionality was announced on the company's official blog, where Adobe Product Marketing Manager Puneet Goel revealed that App Store software could be created "using one tool chain, programming language and code base -- a first for developers."
The support for iOS applications comes in addition to the ability to create software for Research in Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, also new features of Flash Builder and Flex 4.5. Initially, application support was only available for Android software.
Flash Platform evangelist Serge Jespers demonstrated the ability of Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5 to build iOS software in a video accompanying the post. The same stock market tracking application was shown running on an iPad 2 and iPod touch, in addition to an Android-powered HTC smartphone and the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Jespers also showed off the ability of Adobe's software to allow developers to quickly created tabbed applications, or add features like automatically rotating between portrait and landscape mode. By checking the appropriate boxes, developers can easily export their mobile software for Apple's iOS alongside BlackBerry Tablet OS and Google Android.
A "Platform Settings" option also allows developers to select their target device when creating iOS software. Through this, software can be created specifically for the smaller screen sizes of the iPhone and iPod touch, the larger 9.7-inch display of the iPad, or both.
"When your application is ready, you don't actually have to build the application separately for every single platform," Jespers said. "You can actually do that in one code. It's pretty amazing."
Flash 4.5 and Flex 4.5 are offered as standalone products for developers to purchase, or are available through Creative Suite 5.5 Web Premium and Master Collection.
"The reaction from developers to the new mobile capabilities in Flash Builder 4.5 and the Flex 4.5 framework has been absolutely fantastic," said Ed Rowe, vice president of developer tooling, Adobe. "They are amazed by how easy it is to create great mobile apps for Android devices, BlackBerry PlayBook, iPhone and iPad. Companies can now effectively reach their customers no matter what type of device they have."
Last September, Apple revised its policy on third-party development tools for iOS, and decided it would allow developers to use tools like Adobe's in order to create software made available to download on the App Store. That was a change from an earlier policy, when Apple's iOS 4 software development kid license banned tools that would port applications from Flash, Java and Mono.
Controversy over Apple's decision prompted CEO Steve Jobs to pen a letter in which he explained that allowing Flash conversion tools would produce "sub-standard apps" for the iPhone and iPad, hindering the progress of the iOS platform. Jobs said at the time that it was known from "painful experience" that allowing developers to become dependent on third-party tools is restrictive.
"We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers," Jobs said in April 2010.
Though Flash remains banned on iOS devices, Adobe has continued to expand its support for the iPhone and iPad, and this march released a Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool. The "experimental" software called "Wallaby" allows for Adobe Flash Professional files with the .fla extension to be converted to an HTML format that can be opened in the Mobile Safari browser on iOS devices.
The new functionality was announced on the company's official blog, where Adobe Product Marketing Manager Puneet Goel revealed that App Store software could be created "using one tool chain, programming language and code base -- a first for developers."
The support for iOS applications comes in addition to the ability to create software for Research in Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, also new features of Flash Builder and Flex 4.5. Initially, application support was only available for Android software.
Flash Platform evangelist Serge Jespers demonstrated the ability of Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5 to build iOS software in a video accompanying the post. The same stock market tracking application was shown running on an iPad 2 and iPod touch, in addition to an Android-powered HTC smartphone and the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Jespers also showed off the ability of Adobe's software to allow developers to quickly created tabbed applications, or add features like automatically rotating between portrait and landscape mode. By checking the appropriate boxes, developers can easily export their mobile software for Apple's iOS alongside BlackBerry Tablet OS and Google Android.
A "Platform Settings" option also allows developers to select their target device when creating iOS software. Through this, software can be created specifically for the smaller screen sizes of the iPhone and iPod touch, the larger 9.7-inch display of the iPad, or both.
"When your application is ready, you don't actually have to build the application separately for every single platform," Jespers said. "You can actually do that in one code. It's pretty amazing."
Flash 4.5 and Flex 4.5 are offered as standalone products for developers to purchase, or are available through Creative Suite 5.5 Web Premium and Master Collection.
"The reaction from developers to the new mobile capabilities in Flash Builder 4.5 and the Flex 4.5 framework has been absolutely fantastic," said Ed Rowe, vice president of developer tooling, Adobe. "They are amazed by how easy it is to create great mobile apps for Android devices, BlackBerry PlayBook, iPhone and iPad. Companies can now effectively reach their customers no matter what type of device they have."
Last September, Apple revised its policy on third-party development tools for iOS, and decided it would allow developers to use tools like Adobe's in order to create software made available to download on the App Store. That was a change from an earlier policy, when Apple's iOS 4 software development kid license banned tools that would port applications from Flash, Java and Mono.
Controversy over Apple's decision prompted CEO Steve Jobs to pen a letter in which he explained that allowing Flash conversion tools would produce "sub-standard apps" for the iPhone and iPad, hindering the progress of the iOS platform. Jobs said at the time that it was known from "painful experience" that allowing developers to become dependent on third-party tools is restrictive.
"We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers," Jobs said in April 2010.
Though Flash remains banned on iOS devices, Adobe has continued to expand its support for the iPhone and iPad, and this march released a Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool. The "experimental" software called "Wallaby" allows for Adobe Flash Professional files with the .fla extension to be converted to an HTML format that can be opened in the Mobile Safari browser on iOS devices.
Comments
2. Can this Adobe development system that can create apps for various mobile devices also create a conventional website in the same build step as just another target?
Flash tools for cross-platform applications have been available on PC's and Macs for decades, but the only things they are used for are banners, obnoxious websites, animations, and silly games that 9 out of 10 times also have a native version. For games, alternatives like Unity and Corona already exist that are much cheaper for developers.
Who exactly is waiting for tools like this, except lazy developers who think they can get away with substandard applications that perform mediocre on every platform, instead of trying to go the extra mile and make applications the perform outstanding on some?
Adobe is realling clinging to every last straw to keep their 'write once, deploy everywhere' development tools going, but if history teaches us anything, it's that developers don't actually mind all that much porting their games or sticking to one or two platforms.
Adobe this week released Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5, adding the ability to build and distribute iPhone, iPad and iPod touch applications on Apple's official App Store.
Doesn't matter. Apps made with this crap will be rejected due to poor functionality. Steve doesn't sell crap in his store, and every app made like this is going to be crap.
Doesn't matter. Apps made with this crap will be rejected due to poor functionality. Steve doesn't sell crap in his store, and every app made like this is going to be crap.
Nope, they'll go through like the tens of thousands of directly-ported Flash games before them.
Doesn't matter. Apps made with this crap will be rejected due to poor functionality. Steve doesn't sell crap in his store, and every app made like this is going to be crap.
They won't need to be so heavy handed because they've already dodged the bullet here. The concern was that iOS development would be dominated by crappy x-platform tools that produced ugly non-optimized experience and left people feeling that iPhone/iPad software was crappy. So they banned those tools and developers got stuck in and learned how to code for iOS.
Now there is a huge population of developers who can work natively with iOS and a big population of high-quality iOS native products. So now if you release a fugly piece of drek it won't reflect badly on Apple & iPhone, it will reflect badly on you as a software house - whereas back in 2008 it could have been the other way around.
Still I'd say it's a safe bet you won't be winning featured app status if you choose to use these sort of tools!
Can someone tell me what's the difference between Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5?
The Flex 4.5 SDK is a free and open source compiler, published by Adobe, which produces files that can run on the Flash run-time engine.
Flash Builder 4.5 is a proprietary IDE, which uses the Flex 4.5 SDK at its heart, along with some additional proprietary plugins and a visual design interface to streamline and accelerate the development process.
Their relationship is sort of like the relationship between LLVM/GCC and XCode.
In the background, the Adobe AIR platform includes a runtime for running Flash content on an iOS device. Applications built using the Flex 4.5 SDK can be statically linked with a copy of the Adobe AIR runtime, in order to produce standalone Apps that are can be installed and executed on iOS devices. This process can either be carried out by hand using free (but proprietary) command line tools, or else you can automate the process (somewhat) using Flash Builder.
Doesn't matter. Apps made with this crap will be rejected due to poor functionality. Steve doesn't sell crap in his store, and every app made like this is going to be crap.
I hate to break the news to you, but Steve Jobs does allow crap apps in his store. I'm glancing at the App Store right now and it's filled with numerous non-functional, blatant copyright infringing, and terrible apps.
I think every week a new Dunt Hunt game is released on the App Store that rips the sprites and sounds directly from the NES game and barely functions. Or fake apps like Future Baby Face that seem to be a random image generator that took probably all of a few minutes to write. Some of the apps seem to be minimally functional merely to generate ad revenue.
I'd love to hear from Flash && iOS developers that can tell me 1) If this is pretty doing a Flash app to create an IOS app, 2) the quality of the code it creates, and 3) if it's just better to use Obj-C/Xcode to create your iOS apps.
One shouldn't use Flash and quality in the same sentence...
I'd love to hear from Flash && iOS developers that can tell me 1) If this is pretty doing a Flash app to create an IOS app, 2) the quality of the code it creates, and 3) if it's just better to use Obj-C/Xcode to create your iOS apps.
this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHosLhPEN3k
The Biggest negative feed back you see on most Android app is it does not work on someone particular hardware. Unless developers are willing to invest money on all the various hardware platforms and test their code on them it just going to be a lot more of the same bad experience.
I think Adobe is just going to accelerate the death of these other platforms as developers get tire of hearing their program does not work on everything
The Flex 4.5 SDK is a free and open source compiler, published by Adobe, which produces files that can run on the Flash run-time engine. ...
Thank you very much for the detailed answer. Appreciated.
I thought Adobe changed all references of Flex to Flash Builder, but now I understand better.
1) Those that blame the Flash platform for cpu use, battery drain, jerky UIs, etc don't understand the difference between a platform and an implementation. That many flash applications cause high cpu usage, or a quick battery drain, is not the same as flash being a bad platform. It simply means that a single flash app is not well written. The root of the issue is that the Flash platform is so easy to use and publish with, that many in-experienced developers produce untested flash apps, which gives the platform a bad name.
I could write a C++ or Java program that's just as inefficient as a badly written Flash app. The difference is that it's much more difficult for a non-developer to produce a C++ or Java app, so that rarely happens.
I write enterprise flash apps that are indistinguishable from native apps. It takes a lot of effort, but has many benefits.
2) Well written Flash/Air desktop apps can now be ported to mobile devices quickly. And not just one specific type of mobile device, but several platforms of them. In the past month I've ported 3 very large enterprise Flex based UIs to mobile devices, and the results are fantastic.
Large companies, and software developers that cater to them, have absolutely no desire to learn each individual platform. The rate at which mobile and desktop platforms change is far beyond the ability to a single large organization to keep up. Adobe Air (Flash Desktop) allows these companies to divorce themselves from the platform wars, and ensure that they're future proofing their current software projects.
3) Within the next year, you will see a dramatic drop in platform specific developer job listings at large companies. The Flash platform, and others like it, prove that there is no reason for an enterprise to produce an app for just one platform any more. Instead, the ability to write a single code base and deploy across multiple architectures will be the standard for enterprise work.
4) Within the next five years, Adobe AIR will become the standard for writing cross platform enterprise apps. Using one code base, developers will produce applications for Mac OSX, Windows, iOS devices, Android, and Blackberry.
3) Within the next year, you will see a dramatic drop in platform specific developer job listings at large companies. The Flash platform, and others like it, prove that there is no reason for an enterprise to produce an app for just one platform any more. Instead, the ability to write a single code base and deploy across multiple architectures will be the standard for enterprise work.
4) Within the next five years, Adobe AIR will become the standard for writing cross platform enterprise apps. Using one code base, developers will produce applications for Mac OSX, Windows, iOS devices, Android, and Blackberry.
Agreed with much of what you said. For example, video games and related utilities are making use of Adobe Flash and the Qt Framework for accelerating cross-platform UI development. StarCraft II and Street Fighter IV both make use of Flash for their UI.
I've been a Flex developer for almost 5 years now. Flex Builder 4.5.1 is a really big deal. Here's why...
1) Those that blame the Flash platform for cpu use, battery drain, jerky UIs, etc don't understand the difference between a platform and an implementation. That many flash applications cause high cpu usage, or a quick battery drain, is not the same as flash being a bad platform. It simply means that a single flash app is not well written. The root of the issue is that the Flash platform is so easy to use and publish with, that many in-experienced developers produce untested flash apps, which gives the platform a bad name.
I could write a C++ or Java program that's just as inefficient as a badly written Flash app. The difference is that it's much more difficult for a non-developer to produce a C++ or Java app, so that rarely happens.
I write enterprise flash apps that are indistinguishable from native apps. It takes a lot of effort, but has many benefits.
2) Well written Flash/Air desktop apps can now be ported to mobile devices quickly. And not just one specific type of mobile device, but several platforms of them. In the past month I've ported 3 very large enterprise Flex based UIs to mobile devices, and the results are fantastic.
Large companies, and software developers that cater to them, have absolutely no desire to learn each individual platform. The rate at which mobile and desktop platforms change is far beyond the ability to a single large organization to keep up. Adobe Air (Flash Desktop) allows these companies to divorce themselves from the platform wars, and ensure that they're future proofing their current software projects.
3) Within the next year, you will see a dramatic drop in platform specific developer job listings at large companies. The Flash platform, and others like it, prove that there is no reason for an enterprise to produce an app for just one platform any more. Instead, the ability to write a single code base and deploy across multiple architectures will be the standard for enterprise work.
4) Within the next five years, Adobe AIR will become the standard for writing cross platform enterprise apps. Using one code base, developers will produce applications for Mac OSX, Windows, iOS devices, Android, and Blackberry.
99.9% of these "enterprise" apps would be better served via HTML based services.
I don't know how many times I have seen people come in and pitch Flash/Flex apps instead HTML based web apps when Flash/Flex is not needed.
You remind me of the developers who came up with the banner ad at the top of this page. Sweet, a Flash banner ad that displays a static image.