As you may all know (if not, click here), Apple has finally decided to allow apps created using Adobe Flash CS5’s iPod Packager on the store. Owning a PC and not a Mac, this is great news for me as I longed to give a crack to iPod development.
I did try to use a fake certificate (yes I admit it) to publish an app and test it on my brother’s iPod Touch (running on iOS 4.0), but the app wouldn’t install. Is it because the iPod detected the certificate, or does he need to update his device?
My real question, however, is if it’s worth paying 99$ for a developper certificate or not now? I was leaning towards the idea but the restriction has just been relieved (if you’ll allow me the expression).
Thanks.
-Christopher
I’ve done quite a bit of AS3 Hacking along with Objective-C hacking, and on a surface level, the workflows are somewhat similar. There are plenty of differences, for instance the syntax has quite a learning curve, and creating UI elements is a breeze in Xcode, and has to be done by hand in flash (unless you like the way flex looks), whereas tapping into opengl and even using core animation can be daunting to a flash developer used to animating things around the screen.
This is important, because I really don’t think it’s worth the $99 unless you plan on developing in Xcode. A ton of the power of being an apple developer is in that amazing IDE, and missing out on that makes iOS development sound terrible.
There is however, 1 reason I would still buy it: if you already have an app you’d like to release, and all you want to do is get it on the app store. If you have a game you’d like to try releasing, it’s absolutely worth the $99. Even if you were to develop it in Obj-C, there’s still no guarantee it’ll make it through the apple approval process, so you’re not really risking much more than any other developer. What you wouldn’t want to do is pick up the certificate, then sit on it and wait for it to expire while you’re working in an IDE that has no relation to the program.
Buy the certificate if:
a) You already have a mostly-complete app you’d like to release on iPhone.
or
b) You also plan on setting up a Mac dev environment (and probably not until you have it set up).
Don’t buy it if:
a) You don’t plan on buying a Mac, using Xcode, or releasing an Obj-C app.
or
b) You are just toying with the idea of making an iPhone app, and haven’t made any steps towards it yet.
I would definitely not base your decision on if apple will rescind it’s decision or not – it’s unlikely that they will not allow adobe packaged apps without good reason, and even if they do, it’s the same risk any developer takes when making an app for release on the apple store. Apple can just deny it if they feel like it, and there’s not much you can do about it.
Think of the $99 as the cost of the privilege to submit an app to apple for review. Even if you plan on developing on a Mac, Xcode is free, and there’s no real reason to get a certificate unless you plan on testing on an iPhone or releasing your app. If you’re still in a planning stage, skip it until you’re ready to go.