LiveCode Forums.

I know these are basic questions but I can't seem to find answers either on the Apple site or here.

1) What is a provisioning file and how do you get one? I have joined as a "free" Apple developer but can see nothing on the site about provisioning files. Do you have to enrol in one of the $99 programmes? The conditions seem aimed to people wanting to make money out their software rather than those like myself who just want some functionality for myself. I chose Livecode because it was easy to write software that does a job but getting things working on an iPad or an iPhone seems like a nightmare not worth pursuing. Is android easier?

2) In any case the "profile" pull-down menu on the iOS tab of the standalone applications settings stack does not seem to do anything. It has "none" selected and there are no other options when I click on it. Of course when I go to compile the stack as a standalone, it does not work. I bought the $5.99 xcode and downloaded it from Apple and the simulator works but that is as far as I have been able to get.

I would be grateful for some pointers.

Alex

Hi Alex,

What is a provisioning file and how do you get one? I have joined as a "free" Apple developer but can see nothing on the site about provisioning files. Do you have to enrol in one of the $99 programmes?

You have to join the developer programm at $99 to get a provisioning profile. It is explained there.
If you have the provisioning profile you can get your app on a actual device for testing. For deploying to the app store there is more you have to do.

I chose Livecode because it was easy to write software that does a job but getting things working on an iPad or an iPhone seems like a nightmare not worth pursuing. Is android easier?

It is basically the same for iOS or Android. Certainly not easier for Android.
The thing is you have to expand the language to accomodate for the mobile devices. Livecode makes it probably as easy as it gets. Try to do that in Java (for Android) or Objective-C for Xcode -> iOS.

bought the $5.99 xcode and downloaded it from Apple and the simulator works but that is as far as I have been able to get.

see above.

Kind regards

Bernd

Hi Bernd

Danke schön

Such a pain just to write something for yourself - I'm not interested in even putting it on the app store.

Kind regards

Alex

Hi Alex,

Such a pain

when I applied for the $99 membership I made a mistake in the address of my credit card. They made me go to a solicitor to get a certified photocopy of my ID card that I had to fax to Apple, then it finally went through. I can not repeat all my expletives in this well behaved forum... At least the Apple support people on the phone were nice.
And then all the different profiles you need is confusing to say the least. I really am not good at filling out forms stuff, I rarely succeed in filling out an imigration form at the first take.

But once you do that you can very well do apps for yourself and keep them working by renewing the provisioning profiles every 4 month. There are also ways to share the apps while the provisioning profiles are valid without jailbreaking the iDevice.

It is a lot of fun to play around with what works well and what does not work in Livecode mobile.

I did not do an app for the app store and don't know whether I will. But it shure is different to code for a touch device compared to a mouse-driven desktop computer. And it is also a kind of magic to just touch the screen and something happens.

Kind regards

Bernd

Hi Bernd

Apple has always protected its IP but the joy of Apple over the years has been the capacity to enjoy the best user interface to the full and to be able to bend it to do things which are useful in my work. The restrictive rubbish going on with iOS feels like Apple is shooting itself in the foot; I wonder whether it is time to really get into Linux and Android and just leave Apple behind. I would jailbreak my iDevice just to have the freedom not to bother with the App store and its associated crap.

Alex

One other thing that is really annoying me about Apple at the moment - the Australian dollar is running at about 91c to the US dollar at the moment yet every purchase at the Apple store costs more in Australian dollars than it does in US dollars - go figure.

Alex

bn wrote:when I applied for the $99 membership I made a mistake in the address of my credit card. They made me go to a solicitor to get a certified photocopy of my ID card that I had to fax to Apple, then it finally went through. I can not repeat all my expletives in this well behaved forum... At least the Apple support people on the phone were nice.

Well I *didn't* make a mistake in my credit card address but I almost had a similar situation. I got an email response with the activation code link to follow, and when I did so it told me that identity verification could not be performed and the account would be suspended. Needless to say I was disgruntled at them having just charged my credit card. I immediately clicked on a support link from that same response page asking why, and for assistance with getting the account properly activated. Fortunately I did that *before* I looked at the status page, telling me "your identity can not be verified... get a solicitor to notarize a copy of your passport and fill this form out blah blah" because it would have cost me £90 to get a solicitor to do it, plus it was over a weekend. Thankfully Apple support sent me an email 3 days later saying that the block on account activation had been removed and to retry with the original activation code, which worked. I would have been absolutely furious to have had to get my passport notarized just to join a developer program which I'd already paid for (and IMHO should be free anyway, at least until you want to try and go commercial in the App Store).

Hi SparkOut,

get a solicitor to notarize a copy of your passport and fill this form out blah blah" because it would have cost me £90 to get a solicitor to do it

come over here, it was only £10 for me. A real bargain in hindsight... (not counting the drive to and from the solicitor, the half hour wait etc. Though I met a nice guy while waiting in the solicitor's office, we discussed the problems of the world and then some.)

Seriously, I guess they want to make shure that you are who you claim to be. But it still feels funny if you have to prove this with a solictor's help. The problem of identity in the internet age is not yet solved. In Germany you can now opt to have an identity card with a chip that has a "secure" way of proving your identity. Problem is that the first generation readers you have to buy and connect to your computer was hacked in 1 (one) day. So much for safe computing.

I would love to have a fail-safe way to know who I am since ever morning I have some doubts as to who that person is I meet in the mirror...

Kind regards

Bernd
(probably)