Category: Phonegap

Cordova and VSCode

Combining these takes a bit of tweaking.
CTRL-` starts the command line in a nice window, but I would like to use a different startup-folder.

How to change the default terminal directory in vscode?
Read from this link:
Navigate to File -> Preferences -> Settings.
Type cwd in search.
Choose Terminal > Integrated: Cwd settings.
Type the default path you want to set in the text block below (simply, no need for double hashes to escape)
No need for saving, It’s automatic.
Restart VS Code.

Next issue is trying to start cordova. It gives an error which can also be solved by setting the correct permissions for the Powershell. Read this link:
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

Have a nice day!

Converting Phonegap Build to Cordova CLI

While the previous article focussed on installing Cordova, this one has some usefull tip and tricks. A lot of possible issues and solutions to keep in mind while trying to get your app functional again.

Read it on stackoverflow here.

I have several apps that currently rely on PhoneGap Build to create native apps for Andriod and iOS. It seems that Adobe is about to abandon iOS compatibility by failing to upgrade to the latest Cordova iOS version to meet Apple’s requirements. It’s time to move to CLI. I’m hoping that someone who’d done this before can provide some tips on how they did this. In particular, changes to workflow, handling keys and config.xml, etc.

Continue reading Converting Phonegap Build to Cordova CLI

Phonegap Build died! Moving on to Cordova CLI…

Read the full article here.

And don’t forget to read the official documentation as well.

MIGRATING TO THE CORDOVA CLI

With PhoneGap Build shutting down, many developers are now left trying to find options to continue building their Cordova-based applications. While several new services like Ionic’s Appflow and Monaca Cloud have entered the market as replacements. Their cost might be too much for the independent developer. One of the things that attracted many to use PhoneGap Build was it was included as part of your Creative Cloud subscription. There was even a free version for open-source projects. For those developers who are either resource constrained or want complete control over their build system, they should migrate to using the Cordova CLI and building locally.

There are four general steps we need to take to accomplish this:

  1. Install the Cordova CLI
  2. Install the native build environments
  3. Migrate our existing PhoneGap Build App to use Cordova
  4. Build and Test!
Continue reading Phonegap Build died! Moving on to Cordova CLI…

Phonegap Build Android Splashscreen

Here we go again …
CLI-8.1.1 is new, new is better, ehm, except that the splashscreen stopped showing on Android. Stepping back to cli-7.1.0 solves this problem, but that is not really solving it.

<!-- Platforms to compile -->
    <gap:platform name="ios" />
    <gap:platform name="android" />

<!-- Define a specific version of PhoneGap to build -->
    <platform name="android">
        <preference name="phonegap-version" value="cli-7.1.0" />
    </platform>
    <platform name="ios">
        <preference name="phonegap-version" value="cli-8.1.1" />
    </platform>

Of course you search for solutions and may find out about density and qualifier, but neither keyword works. Also this link does not help by adding:

< platform name="android">
     < preference name="SplashScreen" value="splash" />
< /platform>

the only “solution” so far is…

<platform name="android">
    <preference name="phonegap-version" value="cli-7.1.0" />
</platform>

sorry.

Phonegap Build changes

dislikeNice. The ever-developing world of IT… or, “how to create more work for each other”.

My Brain develops Apps using a framework called Phonegap. Quick development, easy coding, simple configuration. Until you need to update an exisiting app and you are suddenly faced with the changes that were implemented since the last build…
This time the App did not want to access the Internet anymore… at all! So, Google to the rescue, finding this document with some good clues. I needed #10, which starts out perfectly phrased: “This is sooo new and obnoxious, one can only have pitty on returning developers.” …
bloemetje

Being a developer you have to love puzzles!

Continue reading Phonegap Build changes

App Approvals…

dislikeI would like to have an App. Sure. Development time depends on the complexity of the App, could be weeks, could be months. And after going over several versions and improvements, it’s finally time to submit the final App to the various App Stores.

“So that’s it? Good, so my App will be live tomorrow. What? Not tomorrow… So how long does it take? Really?”

Yes, check it yourself… this is the time Apple takes from the moment of submitting, to when the App is live in the App Store. See: http://appreviewtimes.com/

Damn!

Google Play and Windows Phone Store usually take a day for approval.
But all these periods are of course excluding the extra time/rounds it takes when the App gets denied at first. Could be incorrect screenshots, bad App descriptions, the App functionality, anything!
Apple, Google and Microsoft all made up their own rules for approving Apps. My Flappy Cows App for example is still not live on Windows Phone, because “it doesn’t offer any additional or unique functionality”… Thank you, Microsoft. Your loss, you’re missing out on my freakin’ cute cow game.

Mobile Apps? Endless resizing of icons, splashscreens and screenshots!

icon
As you may know, I develop Apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone using Phonegap. One of the most awful tasks is creating all the images needed for the icons, splashscreens and screenshots to create the App and get it listed on the Apple iTunes, Google Play and Windows Phone App-stores. Nothing bad about it, but creating the same image, resizing, scaling and stretching, 118 different times in various resolutions is simply a pain.

So I searched for, and found, a script to create these variations of the same image with a push of a button. My Brain did what it does best and adapted the script for my own needs, so all I have to do now is the following steps: Continue reading Mobile Apps? Endless resizing of icons, splashscreens and screenshots!