Livecode and the new Mac app store

Deploying to Mac OS? Ask Mac OS specific questions here.

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andyh1234
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Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by andyh1234 » Tue Nov 02, 2010 6:13 pm

I have a cross platform app I would like to get into the new app store if possible.

Ive read through all the requirements on the apple site and cannot see any problems with the app itself, I just need to make a few tweaks to where files are stored but nothing impossible.

But (and its a big but!) I come to a grinding halt at the point where it says 'sign the application using xcode'.

Is it going to be possible to sign Livecode apps with xCode or if not is there another solution?

I assume something similar is required for the iOS apps written in Livecode so hopefully I do not have to re-write the app in xcode, as it is much easier to have one code base for Mac, Windows and Linux.

Thanks

Andy

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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by Mark » Wed Nov 03, 2010 1:17 pm

Hi Andy,

You need to create a deployment profile in your Apple Developers account. Once you have followed all the instructions provided by Apple (ask in the Apple forums if you need help), you can choose that profile in the RevMobile plug-in before clicking on the Deploy button. This should do the trick.

Best,

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andyh1234
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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by andyh1234 » Wed Nov 03, 2010 2:22 pm

Thanks Mark,

I assume RunRev will do something similar for the Livecode desktop apps and the new Mac desktop App store.

Hopefully sooner than later as we would really like to get a couple of apps into the desktop app store for the launch!

Andy

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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by kevinmiller » Wed Nov 10, 2010 6:32 pm

Did you have any luck with this submission? It should be possible to do it with Apple's codesign utility.
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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by andyh1234 » Thu Nov 11, 2010 5:50 pm

Thanks Kevin,

We hope to make the submission early next week, just a couple of small changes we need to make to comply with the guidelines (mainly getting rid of the trial restrictions!) and hopefully we should be good to give it a go.

Andy

interactbooks
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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by interactbooks » Sat Dec 18, 2010 9:42 pm

Andy,

Just curious if you have any updates on your success in submitting your application to the Mac app store.

Regards,

Ezra

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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by martyknapp » Sun Jan 02, 2011 6:58 am

I'm trying to get an app ready for the Mac AppStore and am stuck at "Signing" stage. I read the article in the Rev newsletter, "LiveCode Apps for Mac Store" and downloaded the Signing Assistant app that was linked there. I have the "Intermediate certificate authority" certificate and my developer certificate loaded into Keychain but when in the Signing Assistant app, with the info completed, clicking OK does nothing. I have no clue about how to do this from within X-code. So I'm pretty lost at this point! Any tips for me?

Thanks,
Marty Knapp

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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by andyh1234 » Sun Jan 02, 2011 9:29 am

I had a similar problem and used terminal to sign the code and build the package instead.

There is a doc on the Apple site that talks you through it, the steps are basically..

1. Compile the app for 'intel only' in livecode
2. Right click on the app and select show contents, then navigate to the info.plist file and edit it. Add a 'LSApplicationCategoryType' key and value to the file for your type of app, and check the rest of the file has the correct values for the version number etc. Then duplicate this file and put a copy in the same folder as your app.
3. Open terminal and change to the folder your app is in, eg. cd Desktop/YourAppName
4. Codesign the app..

codesign -f -s "3rd Party Mac Developer Application: YourDevName" ./YourAppName.app

5. Build the package...

productbuild --component "./YourAppName.app" /Applications --sign "3rd Party Mac Developer Installer: YourDevName" --product ./Info.plist YourAppName.pkg

6. Test the installer...

sudo installer -store -pkg ./YourAppName.pkg -target /

This last step will ask for your password.

If your app name contains spaces you can just enter the first word followed by a * (as there will only be one app file in the folder anyway).

I hope this helps!

Andy

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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by martyknapp » Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:18 am

Thanks Andy - I'll give it a shot.

Marty

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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by martyknapp » Thu Jan 13, 2011 2:42 am

Well I finally got around to trying this. But when I try to sign the app I get a "no identity found" error. I have:

Downloaded and installed WWDR intermediate certificate into KeyChain
Created, downloaded and installed developer certificate into KeyChain

Actually I've done this 3 times . . . I've Googled the error, but haven't come up with much. Is it a problem with my certificates? Something wrong with my plist file or what?

Tearing my hair out here,

Marty

martyknapp
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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by martyknapp » Sun Jan 16, 2011 4:23 am

I finally got this to work by changing a setting in Keychain for each of my Apple Developer certificates. I set the Trust setting to "Use System Defaults" and then I could sign my apps. Hopefully this will help someone else.

Marty Knapp

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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by andyh1234 » Sun Jan 16, 2011 7:01 pm

Great news Marty, good luck with the App!

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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by tolistim » Tue Mar 22, 2011 7:10 pm

Any update, Marty?
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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by stephenmcnutt » Wed May 18, 2011 3:32 pm

I just joined the Apple Developer Program and read their App Store Review Guidelines. Guideline 2.5 says: Apps that use non-public APIs will be rejected. That seems like bad news for us LiveCode developers. Isn't LiveCode considered a non-public API since we have to pay to use it? It seems like from reading this post that LiveCode apps have made it into the Mac (not iOS) App Store, though, huh?

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Re: Livecode and the new Mac app store

Post by FourthWorld » Wed May 18, 2011 3:47 pm

I believe "non-public APIs" refers to APIs provided by Apple but not for general use. IIRC there are at least a few LiveCode-based apps in the Mac App Store already, so this doesn't seem an issue (at least not as of today; with Apple's ever-changing terms it's not possible to invest in development for Apple systems with complete confidence of being allowed to deploy in their stores).
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