Can you compile the CLI mobile package installer into an ANE?

[PeteCouture]

I'm looking to build an Air application that can detect the UDID of attached usb devices. This is to help facilitate adding them to the provision profile of an iOS app. Has anyone had experience with that before? Does java have to be compiled into the ANE as well or can it use the one installed on the native platform?

[PeteCouture]

That is not what I'm asking for and sounds more like a sales pitch. YOu can't get the UDID anymore from an App.

[kheftel]

Not a sales pitch, sorry, not affiliated with them at all.  Just seemed like an easier way to collect UDIDs than trying to do it the way you were going after.  Maybe I don't understand what the CLI mobile package installer does, but trying to include it into an app sounds like a serious challenge!

[kheftel]

trying to edit my reply that got rejected, and it doesn't want to let me do so:

[PeteCouture]

Good to know. But as of a few months ago, Apple no longer allows Apps to collect UDID. You have to use iTunes or some other external application accessing the USB.

At this point I think just writing a basic USB driver is going to be sufficient. The UDID of an iOS device gets returned as part of the USB handshake and that's all I need. You have to program this as an ANE which mean you write it twice. In PC native C and in Mac ObjC. Fun fun!

[kheftel]

Yeah, that's part of why I switched to the solution I did.  The link I provided isn't an app, it's a webpage, and it installs a profile on your device in order to get the UDID.  No iTunes, no plugging it into USB - just web access is all you need.  Doesn't even require a developer account, I sent it to one of my testers w/o a dev account and he was able to get the UDID off just fine.

It's the easiest way to get an UDID since testflightapp.com shut down as part of the Apple acquisition.

Writing a basic USB driver sounds hard to me, if that sounds like your cup of tea, kudos to you!  I've written several ANEs, and they definitely provide their own unique challenges     

[PeteCouture]

Ah, ya I didn't look at it close enough. The initial handshaking is the easy part. It sort of what you want to do with the USB after which you typically program for. I'll let you know when I'm done if you want to check it out.

[kheftel]

cool.  Can you allow my link on the forum now?

[kheftel]

So wait, you're writing an AIR app for desktop, using an ANE to write the USB driver code to get the UDID off a device you plug into the machine via USB?  Am I understanding you correctly?

[PeteCouture]

Correct, which is just 1 part of the process lol.

[kheftel]

Honestly sounds like a lot of work just to get UDIDs, when you could just fire up iTunes or do it on-device with my solution.  But hey, if you figure it out, more power to ya, and I'd be interested in seeing how it turns out!

[PeteCouture]

It comes down to use case. Your solution works well with engineers or tech savy people, but you may run into someone who doesn't know how his email works because someone else set it up for him. Instead of walking him through the process he just installs the desktop app and connects his phone via his cable. The UDID gets sent to me. 1 click and done. Investors commonly hate to have to deal with certs/profiles because they would have to do it so many times.

[kheftel]

Ohhh, you'd distribute the app to testers.  DOH!!  Sorry for the misunderstanding

Your use case makes much more sense to me now .  If they're that non-tech-savvy, will they get tripped up on installing an app on their computer?  I so feel your pain because I work with super-non-tech-savvy people all the time, on a small team, with only one other programmer who's in another city.

For what it's worth, the link I used was able to be used by a non-technical person.  He clicked on the link, pressed a couple buttons to install the profile, then pressed the "Send UDID by email" button on the webpage to send it to me.

Regardless of the path you choose, I wish you luck in your endeavors!  Apple sure doesn't make this process easy for people like us.......  I loved how the old Testflight would automatically grab the UDID after you signed up and registered the device, but alas, it is no more.

[PeteCouture]

Ya, it's a problem.

The app will already be installed on the computer connected to the cable. Just a "wham bam, thank you mam" solution.

[kheftel]

well, there you go! If you can control that, so much the better for you! My people are all remote, so I don't have physical access to their devices or computers. Our team is kinda scattered.