Flash iOS framework instead a compiled app feature
Hi,
i study the iOS posibilities for flex on iOS about 4 weeks now. I think adobe did a really good job for the iphone packager.
I would like to share a idea to you developers and if you know some people at adobe, please also share the idea to the product-manager for the iOS packager.
When you build and develop your project in AS3, export it to the native ipa app you get an ready to go application.
It would be great when you have the option istead of creating the .ipa file that you will get a compiled closed framework, like
"
yourAdobePack.framework (for flex developer, is something like an SWC for Flex)
"
To load the framework in a xcode project will note take then some lines of code:
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];
int retVal = UIApplicationMain(argc, argv, nil, nil);
[pool release];
return retVal;
}
Why this makes sense?
The point is that you can combinate with this method the best things from the 2 worlds, first from the adobe flex component or as3 stuff (which are great), second from Apple original SDK and components that are not included yet by adobe. For me and maybe for you as a mobile developer we dont need the feature to compile actionscript code to iOS, no..It is more that we need the tons of ready flex components, AS3 classes, image processing libs, vp6 and h.263 video stuff that saves my developer time and customer developer cost.
I give you a example:
1) If you want to support RTMP streaming protocol in your app, you have to write the hole protocol in objective-c, right?
2) When you make a simple as3 mobileproject and export this as a iOS framework, you can have RTMP Support in your ios + add your own objective c code. GREAT!!!
Another Example:
- Embedding video is not possible right now in the flex iOS btw. it is possible but you have toDo a bad work-arround with stageWebView. With an framework with in and out you can call your objective-c compnent that allows you to display embedding video. The new HLS specs are a bomb from apple and that will change the web-video. When will the new streaming feature ready for flash builder??? With an obj-c component and a nice looking flex gui we can developer both in a very shor of time.
Last Example:
- When the new iCloud API come out (in iOS5) we all have to wait untill adobe has implemented this in an AIR update for crosscompiling. We dont now if adobe will implement this, and if they do we have to wait until a new AIR release was published.
- When we were able to develope a objective c component to communicate, we can add all the API and frameworks that came directly from apple.
Adobe will loose nothing from my point of view. Cause you dont get the sources of the flex component / object-code that is generated, you will need and to buy flash cs5.5 or flash builder. Apple is also loosing nothing cause you need an apple SDK and an iPad of course 
Permission SDK from Apple / private API´s?
- I red alot that private API are not allowed by the apple SDK. That point is one of the most miss-understanding thing. With private API apple describe that you dont use Apple undocument functions or classes (including the namespace of them). It is of course allowed to develope your own openGL Shader, videostreaming or encryption classes that your app needs to work right.
If you know already a way how toDo what i try to describe here, please let me know.
I hope you can follow me and iam waiting for your feedback.
Have a nice time.
Gary
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