IphoneOsSdk
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devsugar: A better way to share ad-hoc builds
Hey, Dave Howell. This post is for you. Dave's company Avatron is in the midst of a beta program for its newest application, Air Display. Steve Sande took a first look at Air Display not too long ago, and I've been messing with it too. The thing is this: Avatron is still sending out zipped application files and separate mobile provisions. As I told Dave, there's a much easier and better way to do Ad Hoc under the 3.2 and later Gold Master iPhone OS SDK. Ad Hoc provides a way to distribute signed, secure applications outside of App Store channels. With Ad Hoc, you can send your applications to up to 100 registered devices and run those applications using a special kind of mobile provision that allows the applications to execute under the iPhone's FairPlay restrictions. Ad Hoc distribution is especially useful for beta testing and for submitting review applications to news sites and magazines.
iPhone SDK calls out nonexistent iPad cam, confirms split views and popovers are iPad-specific
iPhone owners holding out hope that OS 3.2 would bring some of these fancy new iPad spoils to their devices might be in for a disappointment, because two of the big ones -- split view and popovers -- are both referred to in Apple's updated human interface guidelines as "iPad-only." Realistically, this shouldn't come as a surprise; both of these UI elements were built to shine on larger displays, and it's hard to say how you could make either one of them work on HVGA -- but it's important for devs to note that heavily investing in these are definitely going to make it difficult to make their apps compatible across all iPhone OS-powered devices. Considering that iPhones will almost certainly continue to dominate iPads for sales volume, we know how we'd be developing. In other news, running the updated iPhone simulator in iPad mode gives you the option to take photos, which doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense considering that it doesn't have a camera. There are plenty of plausible explanations for the muck-up, but our guess is that Apple's left the vestigial capability on-board since the framework's already in place for the iPhone and there could very well be iPads down the road that have a cam (or two). Follow the break for a shot of the iPad's Address Book imploring you to take a photo -- and savor it, since it's probably the closest you'll actually get to snapping a shot on the device any time soon. [Thanks, iPhone Dev and Eric]
Dear Apple: What we want to see for iPhone 4.0, part 1
A week ago we asked you, the TUAW reader, to help us tell Apple what you want in the next iPhone: the OS, the apps, the hardware. Within two hours, I had over two hundred emails in my inbox. Within four days, the email total topped 1,100. As I was shifting and sorting through all your suggestions, one thing became clear: you love the iPhone, but you want to see it better, more intuitive, and more versatile – and you know how the iPhone can accomplish those goals. This is the first of a series of letters to Apple on your behalf, telling the gang in Cupertino what would make their wonder-phone even more wondrous. This letter strictly focuses on the iPhone OS in general – the home screen, navigation, and settings. Future letters will deal with hardware and applications. There were so many suggestions, I needed to whittle them down. To do that, I tabulated how many times a feature request was made. If more than 50% of you mentioned it, it made it into the letter. If you guys want to see the others (most were one-offs or had less that 15% of you requesting it), perhaps I'll add an extra letter onto the series at the end of its run.
