AIR, 10.1 and Mobile: Questions Galore

After writing this very lengthy comment on Brother Chuck Freeman’s (@ChuckStar) blog post responding to Brother Kevin Suttle’s (@kevinSuttle) excelent blog post regarding AIR and Mobile devices, I thought I should really post here on my own blog and #keeptheblogchainalive as Kevin says. There are a great deal of questions regarding AIR and Mobile devices, and I have had a few rolling around in my brain for some time. Be sure to read Kevin’s post then Chuck’s post, and you’ll get all the context.

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AIR on Mobile Devices

Adobe is pushing mobile devices in great new directions. First announced was Flash Player 10.1 concept on devices, then the iPhone packager with the upcoming CS5. But today, Adobe goes one step further with building AIR for Android devices (and quite probably more).

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Accessing Flash Player 10.1 from Flash CS4/5

Update 06/30/10: Some links have been updated and some changes have been made to the installation steps. The same installation work for CS5 as well. Just replace CS4 with CS5 and you’re good.

Flash Player 10.1 beta has been out for a little while, but Adobe doesn’t have any information on how to use the API in Flash CS4. They have instructions for Flash/Flex Builder. In fact, even Lee Brimelow had to ask how to use it from the Flash CS4 IDE. So here is how to get it running.

1. Be sure to fully quit out of Flash.

2. Download and install the player plugin for browsers. Also download the StandAlone players and place them here:
Mac: /Applications/Adobe Flash CS4/Players
PC: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS4\Players

3. Scroll to the bottom of the download page, you will need to also download and unzip the Player Global SWC.
**The Player Global SWC is no longer available as a direct download (although it should be). You will need to download the Flex 4.1 SDK. Once you do, unzip the package and browse to: flex_sdk_4.1/frameworks/libs/player/10.1/. Copy the playerglobal.swc.

4. Back up the FP 10 playerglobal.swc and replace it with the new 10.1 version.
You can find it here on Mac: /Applications/Adobe Flash CS4/Common/Configuration/ActionScript 3.0/FP10
And here on PC: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS4\Common\Configuration\ActionScript 3.0\FP10

Now let’s make sure it works.

1. Start Flash CS4 and create a new AS3 .fla.

2. Create 2 new Dynamic text fields, and give them instance names of text1 and text2.

3. We need some code. A topic of discussion lately has been Multitouch, and since the multitouch API is FP 10.1 specific, let’s use that. Open the Actions panel (opt+)F9 and copy/paste the following code:

**Previously I had extraneous code. It has now been removed.

Test Movie will throw errors because CS4 doesn’t have a standalone version of FP 10.1 (there isn’t one publicly available yet), well, because the IDE has issues. But you installed FP 10.1 earlier can use Debug Movie (cmd(cntrl)+shift+enter) to test. Or you can Publish and Run (cmd/cntrl+F12) in the Browser. Text1 and 2 should report back if GestureEvents and TouchEvents work on your computer.

Check Christian Cantrell‘s Adobe Dev Center post about Multitouch if you are unsure if your system supports it.

Have Fun!

Screw the iPhone, what about Android?

Back in October of 2009 Adobe showed off the ability to publish Flash files as iPhone applications. That sent the Flash world into a tizzy that we still have yet to come down from. The apps looked like iPhone apps, they installed out of the Apple Store like iPhone apps. In fact, if you didn’t know the people that created them were primarily Flash developers, you would have never known the apps were created in Flash (that is if Adobe didn’t tell you, too).

Then comes the Android Phones, and in particular, the Nexus One. (ok so the image below doesn’t show the Nexus, just the Motorola Droid. The Nexus One is a bit too expensive without service.)  Reports are that Nexus One will handle Flash Player 10.1 when Adobe is ready, so too, will the Droid and Palm Pre.

That’s cool. Actually that’s awesome. I can’t wait to be able to hold the Flash Player in hand. But that’s within the staunch walls of the browser.

Maybe this whole Flash compiling to iPhone thing is an even better idea. Compiling an application or game as a device driven app is much more compelling to me than running that same app through the browser and it’s limited sandbox and often ugly UI. I mean, there is a greatly growing number of AIR applications being released into the wild, taking Flash out of the browser. So why is the mobile push for Flash pretty much staying in the confines of the browser? Why not go further than that?

How about a compiler for Blackberry (Storms, Curves, etc) native applications? What about Android?

The Nexus One looks very promising compared to the iPhone. Android OS can certainly handle intensive applications on the Droid, so the Nexus One should be able to as well. If the Flash compiler can perform well enough on iPhone, why can’t we get a compiler to other devices as well? And if Adobe really can’t stand Apple as much as we think they do, then why not push for native apps on devices that could have the potential of bringing this iPhone madness to an end?

We continue to feed the iPhone/iPod tyranny by creating content for them. Instead, we should be trying to focus on making content for those that can match up to the iPhone. It’ll make innovation better. Maybe we’ll eventually see a device that will render the iPhone obsolete.

Simply, I want to be able to compile device driven (non-browser) applications and RIAs to multiple platforms and OS with minimal effort. Please.

Work Flow Lab (.9 beta Release) – Keep it in your sights

Since moving to the Mobile and Devices Group at Smashing Ideas we have started to implement scrum/Agile development style project flows on a few projects. We have also been looking for an application that can assist in such but have yet to find anything of any value.

Adobe has been working on an AIR app called Work Flow Lab that looks to be pretty promising. The .9 beta release of WFL has quite a bit of the features we have been looking for, but as of this release, still lacks in some of the features that would make this app truly useful. This is a beta application, though, so hopefully it can be expanded.

In any case, keep an eye on WFL. I have a feeling it will be an useful tool for project development in the future.

Also watch Doug Winnie’s Adobe blog for updated information on WFL.

I’m going to try to do a screencast of this as soon as I can.

FWIW – My 10 cents on Flash -> iPhone (and Flash Player 10.1)

With the Adobe MAX keynote now over a week old, and after reading countless blog posts, articles, and hours of discussions on the subject, I feel like I should share some of my thoughts on Flash’s future capabilities to publish native apps for the beloved iPhone.

As soon as someone breathes the words “Flash” and “iPhone” in the same breath people get hysterical. (Actually, as soon as it was announced I watched multiple people whip out their iPhones and immediately check their favorite Flash site to see if it would show, only to be extremely disappointed/angry that it didn’t, like somehow FP would magically be on their phones.)

First, it absolutely can not be understated that it is not Flash Player on the iPhone but rather native iPhone apps created in the Flash authoring environment.

There are several discussions/aggravations out there about this whole concept. One being performance. I’ve read and heard several sources say something along the lines of “the applications in the app store now are slow/chuggy and don’t perform very well.” This is to be expected since the apps in the app store to date were built off of early alpha builds of the compiler. Let’s face it, anything in alpha never performs perfectly. Even after projects and products launch there will always be much room for improvement. We should not expect something that is in the early stages of its life to be able to live up to the quality we hope it would. After much refinement, eventually the product will perform well. Please, we all must keep that in mind at this point.

Another gripe I have heard/read is in regards to the Flash compiler versus using Objective-C or any other iPhone application development environment. This is a discussion as to which is best to build applications from. I see Flash -> iPhone as an inclusion to the list of possible environments to build apps out of. It’s great, really. Flash is now (or will be soon) another tool to build fun, rich, engaging applications for a large market. But is definitely not the ONLY environment.

Flash should not be considered a competitor by any means. Objective-C may still be an exceptional development environment for the iPhone, but Flash may have its upsides as well. We just have another tool at our disposal. The key to your future application’s success (or maybe even your pocket book’s) will be in figuring out which tool will be the best for the job. This should go without saying but really needs to be stress, after all, there are many different tools to create many different things.

Along the same lines, Flash developers are ecstatic that they will be able to build iPhone applications from the comfort of their Flash authoring environment. That is great and all, but really, where’s is the harm in learning a new language that sounds like it wouldn’t take that long to learn. (I personally don’t know Objective-C, but if I had the time and resources, I would totally be willing to learn. But it is not the direction I hope to move towards.)  Frankly, you – as a Flash dev – would have another language under your belt, and would be that much more valuable because of it.

Flash -> iPhone is big, but I really don’t think it is as big as so many people are making it out to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that we will be able to publish for the iPhone straight out of Flash. But what IS big is the fact that we – as the Flash community – have yet another place to deploy our content.

Which brings me right into what I consider even more important, and most under-spoken, announcement from the MAX keynote: Flash Player 10.1.

OMFG. Here is where I get the most excited. As a designer, there are two things I am most interested in when it comes to Flash. 1. Creating great content, and 2. Getting that great content on as many tiny squares of light I possibly can. With FP 10.1, I feel like this is at it’s most possible. Everything from hand-held devices and phones, to TVs and set top boxes, to gaming consoles and blue-ray players (hopefully), to anything else, will be able to display whatever my designer brain and dream of (you know, to a point).

This is awesome. I have been waiting for this for years (and still have to continue to). Quite possibly one of the first things I imagined creating with Flash when I first stepped into it was something, anything, on the TV. Soon, this will be a reality. And I can not freakin wait anymore. Just imagine, building in the same environment to deploy over multiple devices. Astounding.

(I will go on in another post at a later time.)

Yet, with as great all this iPhone and 10.1 talk is, there is still something to be said. We, as the Flash community, have a responsibility to ensure our projects perform as best as possible no matter where they may be deployed. Optimize, Optimize, Optimize. From graphics to code, we all must optimize. Performance will increase, and our work will be appreciated that much more because of it. And, let’s face it, we want people to like our stuff.