Category: news

AppStudio 4.1 has just been released. It has two important changes:

1. PhoneGap’s new authorization scheme is now supported. If you are using the default account, you do not need do anything other than install the new release. After May 15th, releases before 4.1 may not work. If you have your own PhoneGap account, read this:
   http://wiki.nsbasic.com/PhoneGap_AuthToken

2. “Run in Desktop Browser” now uses localhost. Certain features only work when the app is actually deployed. AppStudio now sets up a localhost so these features work even when running on your local machine. There should be no change to your work flow. Everything should work as before, except you no longer need to deploy to nsbapp or to your own server.

AppStudio 4.1 is free for all existing AppStudio 4 users. If you have an older version, you can order it from our order page.

Our fourth NSB/AppStudio Programming Contest is underway. We’re looking forward to cool entries which take advantage of the capabilities of devices and AppStudio.

We have four categories:

• Business
• Fun – Sports, Games, Personal interest – anything!
• Education – Assignments, Lesson Plans or administrative tools
• Showcase – Screenshots of your app

All registered AppStudio users are welcome to participate. Prizes are $100 USD in each category, with the exception of Showcase.

Continue reading “The 2014 Programming Contest is on!”

AppStudio 4.0.5 has been released. It has a number of nice new features:

• Scrolling forms!
• AddToHome works on current Android devices too.
• 70% reduction in SQLite files being deployed

Enhancements and Fixes
Continue reading “AppStudio 4.0.5 released!”

BASIC is 50 years old today. The language has introduced millions of people to programming and is an important language for education and business.

The charm of BASIC, which it still very much has, is that it is easy to just start working and get results. There are very few concepts that need to be mastered before writing your first program, and the learning process to become an expert is a smooth and gradual one. It is a reliable way to get good results, whether you are teaching it or getting an application done.

I’ve hung out with some of the creators of famous BASICs: Tom Kurtz, Steve Wozniak and others. I have had the good luck to work on successful implementations of BASIC for Newton, Windows CE, Palm OS and now iOS, Android and Window Phone.

It’s been great to be able to keep the core of the language intact, while adding features to make it work well with the modern technologies of the web and mobile devices. It’s more powerful than ever and still easy to use.

Here are a few great articles for BASIC’s birthday:

• Remembering BASIC on its 50th birthday – Engadget
• Fifty Years of BASIC, the Programming Language That Made Computers Personal – Time
• Those Were the Days: BASIC Turns 50 – Sci-Tech Today
• BASIC Turns 50, and I Still Miss It – PC Mag
• BASIC at 50 – Dartmouth
• How I wrote the original BASIC for Apple – Steve Wozniak

AppStudio 4.0.4 has been released.

Nothing major in this one, but a number of useful enhancements and fixes. In particular, we think we have a solution for the double click problem caused by iScroll 5.

Continue reading “AppStudio 4.0.4 released!”

AppStudio 4.0.3 has been released.

The cool new thing this time is a Camera control – making it much easier (and prettier!) to add a picture taking feature to your app.

Continue reading “AppStudio 4.0.3 released!”

AppStudio 4.0.2 has been released.

There are cool new controls for YouTube and Google Maps, plus some fixes.

Continue reading “AppStudio 4.0.2 released!”

AppStudio 4.0.1 has been released.

There are a number of improvements to make a programmer’s life easier, plus some fixes.

Continue reading “AppStudio 4.0.1 released!”

It’s not just AppStudio which got a makeover in Version 4. The default framework is now jQuery 1.4, which has had its own appearance updated.

After iOS 7 introduced its new look and feel, it was soon apparent which apps were paying attention and updated their own appearance. Apps which have not done so look old and tired. To stay competitive, apps need to updated.

Upgrading from jQuery Mobile 1.3 to 1.4 will give you that updated look.
Continue reading “jQuery Mobile 1.4: A new look and feel!”

Upgrading to AppStudio 4.0 should be straightforward. Here’s the information you need.

Ordering the Upgrade

• Upgrades are free for anyone who bought AppStudio 3 (or the upgrade to it) after January 1, 2014.
• If you bought before Jan 1, the upgrade costs $49.95.
• You can download the demo to give it a try.
• You can buy the full version in the demo using PayPal or use our order form.
• After you buy, restart the IDE and you will have the full licensed version.

Some technical stuff you should know

• Keep a backup of your critical projects. (Always!)
• jQuery Mobile 1.3 has been deprecated. While it will still work with AppStudio 4, support will be removed in a future AppStudio release. jQuery Mobile 1.4 has a much more modern look and feel, as well as many new features.
• iWebKit has been deprecated. While it will still work with AppStudio 4, support will be removed in a future AppStudio release. When we first launched AppStudio, it was a great framework. However, it has been abandoned by its author: it has not been updated in years. Time to move on!
• When you first load a project in AppStudio 4, it will ask if you want to update to jQuery 1.4. AppStudio will update all your jQuery Mobile controls.
• It will also update most of your iWebKit controls. Some, like menus, will need to be redone.
• Read about the rest of the breaking changes.