iOS Xcode Auto layout device preview

When layout of a unversial app in Xcode for iOS, there a way to preview the unverisal layout on all apple device sizes within Xcode at the same time.

I been working with Xcode Swift with several companies and pretty much all of them never knew this could be done. It is a great little tip and I felt it is worth sharing with the world.




Enjoy and happy coding ;)

Adventures of iOS with Xojo Part 2 Tab Bar Now Working

If you been following along the first part I had a hell of an time figuring out the Tab bar set up. Well after a good night sleep and a good tip from a beta user,who had more info than me. Now it works and did another video showing how it does work.

When the help docs are vague it often seems harder than it actual is. Since I do not work for Xojo I can not help document for them but I can make a video like this in no time flat.

Adventures of iOS with Xojo Part 1 Tab Bar Blues

I was super happy to finally have a chance to work with iOS for Xojo. I knew there would be a learning curve. However never thought the would be a learning curve to just add user interface element like a tab bar.

Xojo included example project of a tab bar however that example has no code. It was done some way by the IDE. Trying to figure out how is the topic for this first part of the Adventures of iOS with Xojo.

I feel this is fitting for the first part because Xojo for iOS is not as easy as Xcode without better help docs. Would have thought it should have been, but its not. Since this has taken up hours trying to understand how Xojo for iOS works with just adding tab bars. also hearing other are experiencing about the same thing. Its fitting to start this series off this way.

Part 1; Xojo iOS Tab Bar Blues (in full motion color)

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Xojo on Mac OSX Yosemite.

This is a basic preview of the basic gui from Xojo on Mac OSX Yosemite, for those not on this OSX version yet. I have not notice any issue with any control that comes built in with Xojo (xojo 2014 r2 or higher) Also all MBS controls also work without issue. 

The full screen button is now the green button. Also the toolbar tabbed button looks more like linux now. Actual the whole interface looks linux like.

The only known issues are the Social Sharing and Notifactions (plugins or declares) no longer work in OSX 10.10. However this is not a Xojo only issue, its a 32-bit vs 64 bit built application issue. As these two frameworks are now 64 bit only changed by Apple without warning. They now require a 64 bit build for OSX app to work. 

Xojo has anccounced that in 2015 that they will be adressing 64 bit on all platforms. Starting with iOS and Linux, followed by OSX and Windows. 

An apps perceived value, Choosing the right tools.

With the update to Mac OSX 10.10 Yosemite, Xojo Native UI is updated without doing one thing or updating apps based upon appearance. However with Livecode the UI is a mess on this new OS version. If your forced into using custom controls to get a mac like appearance, like many Livecode developers do. Then there forced into updating apps with a new custom UI or worst just using the old non updated user experience (witch can be the case, because the app could have been made on a Windows or Linux machine. And that developer does not know any better because that.)

This all boils down to customers perceived value. If the customer sees a UI that old out of date and broken the perceived value of the finish product is not great and it equals lost sales. A customer will decide in a split second based on the appearance of your product if its worth there time. If you lose them in that second because of appearance and user experience, then you have a very hard sell in front of you.

In todays app market there several apps that do similar things. While one app could actual be better in functionality if it looks bad and has no pride of ownership it will fail vs an similar product that deliveries the perceived value the customer is looking for. 

When I personally used Livecode for Mac OS, iOS and Windows software 80% of the year was spent updating apps to work with a new OS release, 75% of that was based of user experience. (because Livecode does not use native UI and your forced into building a custom UI to just make a app look better than out of the box.) Now using Xojo and Swift the time I spend updating apps on appearance is zero. That means I have 100% of my time to focus on new products or adding new features to existing products. 

Example:

One application that I made since 2003 is called File Mutation Pro (from 2003 - 2012) This Application was made with Livecode. Since 2013 Its been remade with Xojo. 

Since moving to xojo with this product I was able to add many native platform user experiences and Native API's including adding AVFoundation, AudioToolbox, CoreAudio, CoreVideo, CoreGraphics, NSText etc etc. Things that can be done with Livecode using C++ but not as easy as with Xojo and not as robust. 

Since moving over to Xojo the product also has seen better overall success. The overall sales boomed since switching to Xojo from Livecode. Many of the long time customers that used both the Livecode built version and the Xojo built version actual wrote us, thanking us for the great improves that the Xojo version gave. Many thought the app (built with Xojo) was worth more money, even if it did the same things (as the versions built with Livecode).

The First Picture Below Is the last Livecode built version of my app File Mutation Pro. It using a full custom UI because the Livecode UI did not look like a mac app made in the last decade.

The Second Picture or the one below Is the Version of File Mutation made with Xojo. I can see why customers prefer it on looks and user experience alone.

One really needs to consider the end product these cross platform tools make. Livecode maybe fast to code with. However if your spending ever year updating a product X% of the time because of a new OS update its not really saving time or money like Xojo does in the end.

Xojo is not prefect either, but its 100 times better to actual gaining the perceived value and increasing sales. I still a fan of Livecode and I like to see them improve there tools. The thing is Xojo does most of this stuff now and can turn you and your products into a star now. 

I talked to some developers the other day that seem to not care what the app looked like, I believe that is a mistake on there part. Would you want a rust bucket car or a brand new car, if both cost the same price and did the same thing? There a reason why there thousands of rust bucket cars sitting in junk yards all over the world.

Even if your not a fan of Xojo, perceived value is a important thing to embrace. It will allow you to gain more value for your products in the end. Specially in a marketplace that has competitors to your products. If you take pride in your products appearance and user experience then your customers will open there wallets.