Building Apps with Students..

[soveryapt]

Right, so I've been asked to look into the possibilities of building Apps for our iPads with Students.

 

Now, I know the standard way is obviously through XCode with (if you want to sell it) Apple Developers Membership, which I believe kicks in around £99?.

 

I also know that there are Apps for building Apps (App Wizzard, iPhone Sculptor, etc) but these all start to cost even more money and what not, and I think this is something they are looking to do as an ongoing element of school learning, so ..

 

HOW DO YOU DO IT?!

 

Thanks all in advance (and maybe with a thanks button press if you're really nice! lol)

 

Andy T

[Steve21]

Although we don't do it currently, been looking into it for either iphone/android.

 

And the short version (imo anyway) is you don't...

 

As normal, UK can't get in to the campus developer sign-ups that USA can for schools to pay for a generic license etc, which means unless you're rooting phone you have to either pay someone to make the app, or sign up to xcode yourself, else you can't even get the apps onto your phone as such.

 

(I may be missing something obvious, but unless you really want iphone apps, would suggest android "easier" as such)

 

Steve

[soveryapt]

Yeah, I was fast coming to a similar answer .. we have the "free" XCode and a MacBook Pro as well as a Mac Mini Server, so getting them onto the devices isn't an issue, but if they wanted to go further.

 

Thanks though

[Steve21]

Yeah, I was fast coming to a similar answer .. we have the "free" XCode and a MacBook Pro as well as a Mac Mini Server, so getting them onto the devices isn't an issue, but if they wanted to go further.

 

Thanks though

 

Don't you still need the developer certificate to be able to put the apps onto the iphone though? As you can't put them into the app store with, and it needs to be signed to sync over itunes? (Unless I'm missing something )

 

Thanks,

Steve

[soveryapt]

Don't you still need the developer certificate to be able to put the apps onto the iphone though? As you can't put them into the app store with, and it needs to be signed to sync over itunes? (Unless I'm missing something )

 

Thanks,

Steve

 

TBH. I've not looked that far into it as yet .. I thought I saw something somewhere that you could put internal apps over without the need for a paid up membership, but I'm willing to be wrong ..

[Steve21]

TBH. I've not looked that far into it as yet .. I thought I saw something somewhere that you could put internal apps over without the need for a paid up membership, but I'm willing to be wrong ..

 

Internal apps yes, but that's internal using Enterprise Developer subscription (If that's the one you mean?)

 

https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/

 

Steve

[soveryapt]

Internal apps yes, but that's internal using Enterprise Developer subscription (If that's the one you mean?)

 

https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/

 

Steve

 

Meh .. see .. told you .. I've not gone a long way down that road yet .. lol ..

[BJG]

Incidentally I had no idea what language people would use for iPhone development, so I just did a quick search, and it looks like Objective-C, which I've never heard of. Sure you could probably use a dozen other languages as well, but it the the current weapon of choice...?

[CyberNerd]

Our ICT dept will be using:

Educator Resources | MIT App Inventor

 

for android of course, but doesn't need the devices for the dev environment

[pete]

Our ICT dept will be using:

Educator Resources | MIT App Inventor

 

for android of course, but doesn't need the devices for the dev environment

 

@CyberNerd How are your lot getting on with this, or is it a "they start in September" thing?

[SYNACK]

Why not dev the stuff in HTML5, much more versatile than creating yet another chain to Apple and you can dev, test and mess with on all sorts of devices. There will probably be more free tools too.

[CyberNerd]

@CyberNerd How are your lot getting on with this, or is it a "they start in September" thing?

 

They did some trials last year and the teachers really liked it, its a start in sept for the majority though

[Marci]

Another thumbs-up for HTML5 here... can also head down the more ring-fenced (in terms of functionality) jQuery Mobile or jqTouch routes, basically making a webapp which costs nothing but time and effort to produce / distribute... and then to take it a step further and publish on the AppStore, get dev account and wrap the whole lot up with Phonegap.

 

Have a look at Getting Started - Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript - OFPS - O'Reilly Media - a tutorial for jqTouch / Phonegap.

[SYNACK]

NZ Interface Magazine | Students develop 'app' for parents to check on them

 

Not that I agree with half of the magazines content usually but it occasionally has something remotely useful.

 

Edit: Also the HTML5 stuff can be easily made into Windows 8 apps too thanks to its native support for apps written like that.

Edited September 1, 2012 by SYNACK