I’m glad that so many people enjoyed my last tutorial on creating iPhone applications with Flash CS5. As expected I have received hundreds of questions from people about it. This post will aim to answer some of the most frequently asked questions.
DISCLAIMER: All of the information contained in this FAQ is subject to change.
Will I be able to create iPhone applications in Flash Builder?
Yes you will be able to compile applications from Flash Builder at some point. Think of it just like AIR. You could actually compile on the command line as well. You provide a SWF and an application XML file to the compiler and it creates your IPA file.
Why do the applications appear to be larger in file size than regular iPhone applications?
This is because there are Flash libraries included with your application to make all of this work. The goal will be to make this as small as possible though in the future. But you should expect some extra file weight when using Flash.
Are there certain applications that are not appropriate for this workflow?
Absolutely. While we do have hardware acceleration support in this workflow, you would not want to build full-blown 3D game worlds with Flash CS5. A good example is the Star Wars game created by Infared5. A game like that would not be a good candidate for development with Flash.
When will I be able to try this stuff out?
We are planning a public beta of Flash CS5 before the end of the year. I can’t be any more specific as it is not finalized yet. Again this is subject to change.
Will Adobe provide a way to test things like the accelerometer on the desktop?
Yes we are looking at various solutions for testing device features on the desktop. The next version of Device Central allows for testing accelerometer and GPS but it is unclear if that will work for the iPhone workflow.
Why does it take so long to compile?
I wouldn’t begin to speculate about this or about what is actually going on during the compilation process. We will of course aim to make it as fast as possible. But this compiler has a lot of work to do.
How do you use the hardware acceleration features on the iPhone?
We have a new API which is similar to cacheAsBitmap except that it keeps your display object cached on the GPU even when it is scaled, rotated, transformed in 3D, or has its alpha changed. The actual API details are currently being renamed and that is why I am not providing the low level details at this time.
Can I have more low-level details about how this all works?
Mike Chambers has a great slide deck that goes into much more detail than I have. Go and download it and it hopefully will answer your questions.
Does this mean you are no longer trying to get Flash onto the iPhone?
Absolutely not. We are continuing our effort to get the Flash Player on the iPhone. We need support from Apple to make this happen though.
Lee
Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions Lee!
How exciting! CS5 by end of 2009 in beta??? Thanks again Lee!
Was thinking a good way to do acceleromter testing would be to have an iphone app that sends movements from yuor phone to the preview on your computer. Whilst you’re at it, it could also send finger input.
Thank’s for the answers Lee.
is The flasher magazine issue 3 coming soon because October is gone?
Oh man I wish I was on the Alpha. Excited!
Thanks for the info Lee, can´t wait to get my hands on this.
Any idea when Flash Builder will come out of beta?
Hi lee,
Great tute there. Wondering how the accelerometer code is standardised, since accelerometer results are chipset dependent. We can achieve truely independent code, only wen scaling factors are also given in the API..
One more question.. The iPhone SDk comes only on the MAC.. Similarly, will the facility to target iPhone come only on the MAC Flash CS5 ?
Hi Lee, i was wondering about acceleration, im currently developing a game using http://flixel.org/
Flixel uses Bitmapdata and copyPixels for all its graphics rendering which makes it nice and fast compared to normal flash games, but i’ve got a horrible feeling this is going to be the opposite for iphone apps… and my game is going to run at about 1fps
Are things like copypixels accelerated in anyway, and if not WHY NOT!
Manikantan, you should check out Adobe’s Applications for iPhone: Developer FAQ. It answers your question and many others about this technology.
From the FAQ: iPhone application development will be supported on operating systems supported by Adobe Flash Professional CS5. This includes both Mac and Windows based operating systems.
Are there any differences between publishing to the iPhone and the iPod touch? Will Flash CS5 be able to publish to any iteration of the iPhone/iPod Touch?
Hello,Lee? what time can the flash cs5 been downloaded?
ARE THERE ANY KNOWN RESTRICTIONS / ISSUES WHEN CONVERTING AN AS3 PROJECT TO AN IPHONE APPLICATION? WILL 3D PROJECTS UTILIZING PAPERVISION WORK AS WELL?
Hey there! I’m lookin’ forward to try the new Flash CS5. I hope I’ll get a copy of the beta version to tryout the new IPhone application.
PS: Love your tutorials and your blog. Keep it up!
Cheers from Romania.
Thanks Lee…
Thanks Lee, do you know if the public beta is still on track for a 2009 release?
Hi my name is Brandon Miller. I had signed up for the Pay Pal X developer compitition and was planning on using flash cs5 and Air 2 to build a biometric system to allow system integration with a USB silicon chip fingerprint scanner. I have allready put in my application because the due date was dec 17.
I am 25 in sarasota and working with a graphic designer here in town. I am also working with a student from NY who I initially started tutoring in Flash as3.
This is a really big deal to us! We had been following Lee’s blog that said the beat was right on schedule.
Please is there anything you can do to help?
PLEEEEEEEAAASSSEEEEEE!
Hello Lee,
Will it be possible to use The Iphone bluetooth capabilities ?
Will we have an AS3 API to get benefit of it ?
Thanks,
I’m also eager to know if the API will support Bluetooth.
where can i get the beta version… ? is there any torrent to try ? please help me
i really need to start tryint it… as everyone here…
so bad that beta will not come for us !
i simply can not wait for Flash CS5! the other features along with iPhone authoring, like the upcoming .xfl project extension and the improved actionscript editor, are going to be amazing.
Thank you for the updated. First, great tutorial on the iphone game and packager feature in details. Wow, you are one of the luckiest who has tried Flash CS5 ahead of the time. That is awesome.
i hope adobe and apple will settle this issue.
i would love to make iphone app using flash.