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PhoneGap Build: iOS 9 support delayed

The PhoneGap team posted the following to their blog yesterday:

iOS 9 is not officially supported yet, and there are some known issues. The Cordova open-source project team is hard at work on Cordova iOS 4.0, which will include iOS 9 support. For loads of helpful Cordova iOS news, keep an eye on Shazron’s blog, as well as the Apache Cordova blog.

Some of the problems notes by users on the PhoneGap Build Support forum are:

  • Scaling is wrong – elements are the wrong size.
  • System bars are wrong size.
  • In app browser issues

In the meantime, PhoneGap advises using the latest version (if you don’t specify “phonegap-version” configxml, the latest version will always be used) and to use the npm plugins (see this blog post!)

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PhoneGap Build: npm plugins

PhoneGap Build is changing how they organize their plugins. You will need to make some changes to configxml in Project Properties as a result.

For each PhoneGap plugin you use, you need to add a line to configxml which declares the name of the plugin. PhoneGap Build can then add it to your app. These used to be saved in a folder on PhoneGap’s servers: they are now stored in an npm repository.
Continue reading “PhoneGap Build: npm plugins”

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Design Screen Now Features Rotation

There are two ways to handle users rotating their devices: prevent them from do so by using the orientation control or locking the screen, or make your app look good in both Portrait and Landscape.

One of the problems with making your app look good in both orientations was doing the layout for both in the Design Screen. AppStudio 5.1 solves that. Here’s how:
Continue reading “Design Screen Now Features Rotation”

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AppStudio 5.1 released!

We’re pleased to announce AppStudio 5.1 is ready. Some of the major new features are:

  • Support for iOS 9, Windows 10 and Mac OS 10.11 El Capitan
  • New jqWidgets ComboBox Control
  • Design Screen has a new button to rotate from Portrait to Landscape
  • Open Samples is much quicker.

It has too many minor improvements and fixes to list here. You can see the entire listing in the Wiki.

Download the latest version from ‘Check for Updates’ under then AppStudio Help menu. It is a free upgrade for AppStudio 5.0 users.

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AppStudio 5.0.16 released!

AppStudio 5.0.16 is now available. It includes a number of fixes and enhancements.

  1. Controls: RadioButton – fixes to iconPos and style.
  2. Design Screen: Crash closing and opening contexts fixed.
  3. IDE: Fix background images in IE11.
  4. IDE: Fix background images in style headers.
  5. MakeEXE: Fix crash at startup of EXE apps on some systems.
  6. Runtime: Fix problem in ChangeForm slide.
  7. Samples: New JSModeler sample. (Thanks, Adrian!)
  8. Translator: Fix false negative on x = Array()

Tip: It’s worthwhile to uninstall the previous version. If you’re on Windows, delete c:\Program Files\NSB AppStudio to get a completely clean install.

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AppStudio 5.0.15 released!

AppStudio 5.0.15 is now available. It includes a number of fixes and enhancements.

  1. Controls: Line bounds are now grouped.
  2. Controls: RadioButton width is now in the right place in the Property Window.
  3. Forms: jQuery Mobile theme can now be set on a form.
  4. Localization: Files updated. Indonesian is now complete.
  5. MakeEXE: Better messages and wait cursor.
  6. MakeEXE: Debug window no longer appears.
  7. MakeEXE: Windows Shell commands can now be executed.
  8. Samples: Possible error fixed when opening samples picker.

Tip: It’s worthwhile to uninstall the previous version. If you’re on Windows, delete c:\Program Files\NSB AppStudio to get a completely clean install.

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AppStudio 5.0.14 released

AppStudio 5.0.14 is now available. It includes a number of fixes and enhancements.

  1. Code Window: Don’t case correct “parse”
  2. Controls: Add corner property to TextArea, TextBox.
  3. Controls: Allow multiline style properties
  4. Controls: Eliminate default text-shadow on TextArea, TextBox
  5. Controls: Enable theme support for TextArea, TextBox.
  6. Controls: Make Container Responsive Design aware.
  7. Controls: Redo how TextBox is created. Textbox_wrapper is gone.
  8. Controls: RadioButton horizontal now works inside a Container.
  9. MakeEXE: return error if evalPython fails.
  10. Samples: Add Globalization plugin to PhoneGapAPI sample.
  11. Samples: Add some folder descriptions.
  12. Translator: Fix a false negative.
  13. Translator: Fix bad translate of ’emptyData’

Tip: It’s worthwhile to uninstall the previous version. If you’re on Windows, delete c:\Program Files\NSB AppStudio to get a completely clean install.

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Some thoughts on hosting services…

This is a guest post by long term NS BASIC user, Lee Church. He nails the reality of hosting services. When you are ready to deploy your app to the world, you’ll need one.

Some thoughts about hosting services and errors:

  1. The barrier to entry to create a new business and call it a hosting service is under $100.
  2. With the proliferation of services like AWS (Amazon Web Services) you need only one PC on your desk to manage the hosting.
  3. You can hire some guy in India to “manage” the “service” for $10 per hour.
  4. Web hosting is like so much in the computer business: 99% of the “stuff” is automatic and handled by software, but the remaining 1% is where experience and knowledge pay off. You don’t get much experience and knowledge from the $10 per hour guy.
  5. The best defense is always “It’s the other guy’s fault”.

This is not a recipe for quality and good service.

If you’re new to this environment, understand that the hosting site is a critical part of the process and your app. The best app in the world will fail miserably on a hosting site not set up properly. If you are not familiar with Web issues and servers, find a friend or consultant to help. You cannot take the hosting site’s response to problems at face value.

Got a hosting service that has worked well for you? Let us know, and we’ll set up a list here.

Hosting Services

  • http://www.lunarpages.com: “They are reasonable and very helpful whenever I have had a problem.” — Helen Sandoz
  • Pair.com: Provides fully configured servers starting at $5.95/month.
  • tsohost.com: I’ve been using www.tsohost.co.uk for years and they have excellent support and very good value packages starting from £15 per year! — Roger Mepham

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