Android Ready for Prime Time NOW??

[richervin]

I received the latest promotional offer in my e-mail this week, and want to take advantage of RunRev's single-platform offer for the Android.

It seems they've listened to previous comment from myself and I'm sure many others that it is absurd to bundle a windows deployment feature with a mobile device development tool.

Also, it seems they've responded to complaints that the platform was nowhere close to being ready for Android production use.

So now my question is - with the latest release, is RunRev Android ready for Prime Time? Can I develop highly functional, production quality mobile apps for the Android with this new release?

Do they have a "real" scroller widget? Or is still a clumped-up combination of features of other widgets?

Sorry to bother with the questions, but I don't care to lose several weeks of additional effort over this latest release if it's going to be another lame-duck.

[FourthWorld]

The current feature set is listed at the RunRev page for their Android engine:

rendering of controls with non-system themes (default is Motif theme)
Date and Time Handling
Multi-touch events
Shake
Gradients, graphic effects and blending
Non platform, non system dependent syntax
Object snapshot command
Include file/folders
Accelerometer support (if present)
Ask / answer password dialogs
Sound playback
http://www.runrev.com/products/mobile-d ... /overview/

[Gene]

Don't forget the new sensor capabilities in 5.5 (GPS, Compass, Accelerometer). I waited to buy the commerical version until these became available because they are important to projects I have in mind, and I am far along on an app that is going well. A survey of like apps on the he market made me believe there is a hole to be filled by my product, which makes me feel good about going forward with my new committment to LC Android.

So, as a half-way answer to your question about whether LC Android is ready for prime time, I have to answer yes, at least with regard to the project I'm into now. I believe that LC Android is ready for prime time with regard to untold other projects, as well.

However, there is one thing I intend to always keep in mind. My projects will always be pre-qualified with respect to what I know LC will and will not do for Android apps. Of course, that applies to my own programming capabilities, too. In fact, I will probably confine my efforts to proprietary apps that I find interesting to myself and possibly others, and I know can be implemented with the current flavor of LC mobile.

If I do agree to create an app for a client, I will make sure that I know just what is to be accomplished, and that the current LC feature set is up to the task, because I never want to be in the position of getting into a project and having the client tell me they saw a feature in some other app and they want the same thing. I suspect I might have to tell them I can't do for them whatever it is they want. I've been there before with video production contracts at times over the years, and I have found that to be extremely uncomfortable place to be. Frankly, I've found that it's just astounding the bizzare stuff that clients can come up with out of the blue, right in the middle of a project.

That being said, I am very excited about the latest evolution of LC Android, and am looking at buying the iOS commercial license because I am betting that I will be creat apps that other people will want to use, and that they will need to run on iOS and Android both. The feature set is now rich enough that I don't have time to explore all the possibilities and learn to learn how to implement all the new features, mainly because I'm too involved in what I'm already using right now.

So...LC Android is ready for my prime time, but maybe not everybody else's, if that makes any sense. I'm new at this, so remember what I say is more opinion than proven fact (except the part about having to tell clients "No").

Cheers - Gene

[mwieder]

LiveCode for Android is *not* ready for prime time for my projects, but I probably have more specialized needs than some other folks. There's a list of things in the release notes that don't work, and you may want to look those over first before committing yourself. The lack of network sockets is a project killer for me. I could write my own external to handle sockets rather than waiting around for the RR team to get it done, except that there's no external support. If you don't need the features that aren't there then the new build has some things that the Android side of things has been needing for some time now (native controls).

[mwieder]

Frankly, I've found that it's just astounding the bizzare stuff that clients can come up with out of the blue, right in the middle of a project.

ROTFL. Been there.

[richervin]

... except that there's no external support. If you don't need the features that aren't there then the new build has some things that the Android side of things has been needing for some time now (native controls).

Thanks for that info, one of my questions was whether they provided any support for externally developed libraries.

It looks like there is no particular rush for me to decide this today. I had been under the impression that the $99 personal license was a limited-time offer, but after looking more closely it seems that is not the case.

Maybe I just need to take a 30 day trial license and see for myself how much has improved.

[BarrySumpter]

It is for me with my current needs.

Well written all.
I've only had 5.5 a few days.
The first few things I wanted and upgraded for are there now
after upgrading from 4.6.4.

I hope to spend the next few weeks catching up with
all the new features and falling in love with LiveCode.

I'm hoping extrernal support will be easy for us to use
like most things in LiveCode
once its been implemented.

I have no idea what most of those new features for Android listed above are.

Really looking forward.

[richervin]

Thanks Barry. This is really a ressurection of your old topic, and I was looking forward to hearing your response especially, since you always had the same Android support complaints that I had.

I'm having another developer over this weekend, and we are going to plow into LiveCode together, specifically for Android. If the new support lives up to it's promise, it means that whatever we implement on Android should run without modification on IPhone, so I think that's the tack we're going to take - develop specifically toward the Android, then test on iPhone.

The one major caveat, of course, is in the implementation of Android's Settings, Back, and Search buttons - they will have to be simulated on the iPhone

[jacque]

Thanks for that info, one of my questions was whether they provided any support for externally developed libraries.

Just to clarify, if by "library" you mean stacks with scripts that can be put in use, then yes, it does. If you mean externals written in another programming language, then no, not yet.

[BarrySumpter]

Thanks Barry. This is really a ressurection of your old topic, and I was looking forward to hearing your response especially, since you always had the same Android support complaints that I had.

I'm having another developer over this weekend, and we are going to plow into LiveCode together, specifically for Android. If the new support lives up to it's promise, it means that whatever we implement on Android should run without modification on IPhone, so I think that's the tack we're going to take - develop specifically toward the Android, then test on iPhone.

The one major caveat, of course, is in the implementation of Android's Settings, Back, and Search buttons - they will have to be simulated on the iPhone

Hi richervin,

Oh man, I am so jelous!
A developers weekend!
Mountain Dew and meat pockets!
What a buzz.

I understand all the Android functionality should work in the same way as on the iPhone.
With some slight modifications to the call prefix from iPhonexxxxx to Mobilexxxxx.

You'll have to join the apple developer group to even test on the iPhone.
If you havn't already.
I think its still $100. Per year?
You might want to get it sorted out before the weekend.
Or you'll be spending valuable researchy time joining.

I'd be very interested in your findings.
Ticking off those prime time features.
As both by ladies have iPhones now.


I've got the HD2.
Dorimanix the deveoper on HDA uses a really small soft back button
at the very top left of the screen for the back button.
I think it was because HD2s back buttons were wearing out.
i.e. HD2s are being kept for much longer than other phones.
My menu button "properties" is huge and takes up a lot of real estate.
It'll be nice to get rid of it.

I'll here all weekend trying to re-adapt to sunlight.

Let me know if I can assist.
Either by helping or staying out of your way.

If you feel like contacting me offline is better,
please feel free to do so: ...
I'll be thinking of you when I'm pulling weeds out of the garden.

Have fun!

[richervin]

Hey Barry, it didn't really go off as planned. The other guy went off to explore on his own, and I haven't heard from him since, except that he is not making as much progress as hoped.

I've been off learning Java-WS functionality myself, so RunRev is on the back burner for now. Java's come a long way in the last few years!

I'm looking forward to the Business Apps academy - hoping it will be Android-centric!

[richervin]

I'm back again! Once again, full of wild-eyed optimism that RunRev is now brimming with great features to make quality Android development fast, fun, and easy.

So far, not so much.

What I'm really looking for today is a sample Android program that can act as a template framework for other Android apps.

In the past, I worked with their Task List sample application, and was terribly disappointed at how much of the application was iOS specific.

Can anyone suggest a sample stack which is well optimized for Android operation, including such features as scrolling, swiping, and variable screen geometry?

On my last go around, I spent 4 weeks of my personal time trying to make those features work on my own, and found it intensely frustrating.

Thanks
Rich

[BarrySumpter]

...

[mwieder]

Rich-

Still no externals for Android, though.

[jacque]

It's catching up with iOS and now has native scrollers and input fields, camera access, and a bunch of other stuff. No externals yet, and no sockets. There's enough there now that it's viable for many projects. You can read the release notes here http://www.runrev.com/products/livecode/livecode-55/ which lists all the new additions.

The horror that is resizing for various displays and resolutions is identical to what's required for iOS with its multiple resolutions, so that part pretty much evens out. Chipp Walters has a nice (free) library to help with some of that.