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Developers: MS Hopes To Lure iOS Apps With API Mapping Tool

Posted by timothy on from the hey-fellas-psssst-over-here dept.

Microsoft isn't standing idly by while Appple's app store fills with software; fysdt writes "A newly-announced service called the iOS to Windows Phone 7 API mapping tool acts as an interchange for developers to take applications they've already written for Apple's platform, and figure out ways to get the code work with Microsoft's standards."

10 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. The first step to meeting Microsoft's standards... by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...is lowering your own.

    (Click here for more information)

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  2. Biggest problem with iOS development by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 4, Interesting

    is that you have to (AFAIK) buy a Mac to develop for it. I can't really fault Apple on this as it's a great business strategy, but I simply can't be bothered so I'll only make apps for Android, which doesn't require me to buy hardware.

    If Microsoft wants their phone to succeed, they need to make sure that their SDK is available on as many platforms as possible.

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    Summation 2
    1. Re:Biggest problem with iOS development by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Biggest problem with iOS development is that you have to (AFAIK) buy a Mac to develop for it. I can't really fault Apple on this as it's a great business strategy...

      How is that a great business strategy? The number of iOS developers buying Macs contributes basically nothing to Apple's bottom line compared to iPhone sales driven by their large number of iPhone apps. The great business decision is keeping the dev environment under their control and making it Mac only is just easier and cheaper than maintaining it on Windows as well. This leads to apps that conform to UI guidelines and leverage all the built in functionality of iOS and are updated in a timely manner to take advantage of new additions to iOS. Apple doesn't have to wait for third party tool developers to add features to support what Apple puts in iOS in a new release. They build it into the tools and in many cases the next recompile of the app takes advantage of the new function. That is what is smart about Apple's dev tools, not some barely noticeable increase in Mac sales from selling to developers that want to target iOS. It's about promoting iPhone sales because that is where the money is.

    2. Re:Biggest problem with iOS development by shmlco · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Not really, no. Google provide an Android emulator as part of the Android SDK. It's the standard way to develop for Android."

      I know Android developers who have bought a dozen or more different Android phones on which to test their software.

      If buying a used Mac to do iOS development is too much of an investment, and you believe that you can use the Android emulator to get by without testing across the myriad Android devices and platforms...

      Then all I can say is that I'm very, very, VERY happy you're developing for the Android platform...

      --
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    3. Re:Biggest problem with iOS development by Karlt1 · · Score: 4, Funny

      is that you have to (AFAIK) buy a Mac to develop for it. I can't really fault Apple on this as it's a great business strategy, but I simply can't be bothered so I'll only make apps for Android, which doesn't require me to buy hardware.

      All you have to buy is a dozen different phones to make sure your app is compatible and then enjoy on average 5% of the sales of the Apple app store....

    4. Re:Biggest problem with iOS development by jo_ham · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Right, you're ditching the most profitable market because... why? The dev tools only run on the OS the phone's OS is based on? The app store paid developers a combined 2 billion dollars in revenue (after Apple's cut). Nothing else is even close right now.

      Hilarious.

      I believe the phrase is "cutting off your nose to spite your face". If you're talking "as a professional developer" (ie, if you are making your living from this).

      For the casual developer just messing about, sure you need a Mac, but you can pick one up cheaply on eBay that will do the job just fine. Alternatively you can just build a hackintosh and see what's what before committing to buying new or used hardware.

  3. No standard C++ on Windows Phone 7 by tepples · · Score: 4, Insightful

    WP7 is a charm for developers.

    Except those developers who already have a library of application logic code written in standard C++ or Objective-C. On Mac OS X and iOS, a front-end written in Objective-C can link to application logic written in standard C++, and Android provides NDK to allow using standard C++ application logic with a Java front end. (It might be possible to use ObjC on Android through GCC or Clang, but I haven't heard about it.) But WP7, like Xbox Live Indie Games, can use only verifiably type-safe code. Microsoft's C++/CLI is a language that includes both Standard C++ and a C++-like verifiably type-safe language as subsets, but Windows Phone 7 will reject any assembly that uses unverifiable operations, such as any use of the Standard C++ syntax for pointers or references. So how does one translate Standard C++ into the verifiably type-safe subset (/clr:safe) of C++/CLI, other than doing it manually line-by-line and then trying to maintain two versions in parallel?

  4. "And figure out ways to get the code to work" by The+O+Rly+Factor · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sounds like Microsoft development in a nutshell.

  5. Nintendo more expensive; M$ just as expensive by tepples · · Score: 5, Informative

    Developing for anything Apple is more expensive than any other platform.

    False. Developing for Nintendo handhelds is more expensive than developing for Apple handhelds. For one thing, just to be considered, you have to have a dedicated secure office separate from your home and a previous commercial title on another platform (according to warioworld.com). I'd look up information about developing for Sony handhelds, but http://www.tpr.scea.com/ has been down for three weeks.

    And I wont get into all the added hoops that Apple development entails - like paying $99 to join the Developer Network just to be able to put your own app on your own device?!?

    And I wont get into all the added hoops that Microsoft development entails - like paying $99 to join App Hub just to be able to put your own app on your own Windows Phone 7 or Xbox 360 device?!?

  6. Re:Symbian is tha answer! by gig · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What is Symbian?