exploration » apple

…here goes nothing. Mobile Logger submitted.

Robert — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 07:51:39 +0000

Just submitted MobileLogger to the AppStore. Hoping this goes smoothly given my tight schedule for thesis.

For reference, when there are multiple versions of Xcode / iPhone SDK, specifically a beta version alongside the release version, and using xcodebuild command…explicitly set the xcode path to the release version or the application may be built against the beta SDK and get rejected by Apple:

sudo /usr/bin/xcode-select -switch /Developer

Yeah, knowing that ahead of time would have saved hours.

Summer time: BeachBall

Robert — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:31:15 +0000

The BeachBall app has been submitted to the iPhone App Store. I’m pretty sure that I’ve crossed all the t’s and dotted the i’s throughout the application and am holding out hope for a smooth process. If all goes well it will be a great surprise just before the next semester kicks off.

Thanks to everyone who has been beta testing the (codename) Pinwheel app. I’ll be sure to give you all a copy of the final app when (if?) it’s approved.

In the meantime there are several other projects which need my attention. I’m committed to getting the in-progress work finished before moving on to new stuff…which is a strong motivator since I have a few things I’m really excited about working on. Onward…!

PinwheelBeta – adhoc

Robert — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:24:50 +0000

In preparation of submitting Pinwheel to the App Store I’ve gone and released a beta version via ad hoc distribution. Seems like it should be a straightforward prospect, however the various device provisioning, code signing profiles and entitlements made it a bit of a process for a first-timer.

iTunes also seems to be entirely unhelpful when something goes wrong with the “unknown error” message. What could it be? Code sign error? Unprovisioned device? Incorrect OS target? Mismatch in the app and mobileprovision file? It’s all a mystery in the iTunes universe.

Despite the inconvenience involved with having to generate a new ad hoc mobileprovision profile each time I add a new beta tester device, requiring a recompile of the beta app, it’s nice to finally get an app out to other non-development devices.

The ad hoc distribution process is documented well (enough) on Apple’s dev portal and on several other blogs, but my real stumbling block was navigating the Xcode interface to ensure that the proper code signing profile was being included in the binary (hint, look at the verbose build output for “embedded.mobileprovision” and ensure that the mobileprovision ID matches the correct version.)

I’ve also been getting trouble with Xcode not building using the correct provisioning, despite updating the target info and cleaning out the build folder. A restart of the program usually gets it sorted.

The next step will be to set up a Distribution build for the App Store submission. We’ll see how that goes in the end…

iPhone pinwheel: 4in4 day two

Robert — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:14:34 +0000

the iphone is missing one of my most beloved relics of os x…the pinwheel, aka beachball of doom/death. i wanted to experiment with using the core graphics framework to draw to the screen and create animation and this was an interesting experience.

the animation is too slow currently…i feel that i’m doing things in a really inefficient way at the moment. i had also tried using UIImageViews and animating them, but i couldn’t figure out a way to get the spinning layer to composite using the overlay blend mode…which you can easily do with core graphics contexts.

i’ll try again later, but i really need to get away from the computer and onto my bike to train (which is a matter of about five feet now that it’s dark and icy out). i’ll post a video if i can get the animation on the phone to happen more quickly.