pbasic for ipad?
beaglebain
Posts: 10
in BASIC Stamp
I have searched the apple app store and cannot find anything. is there not an app available to program pbasic for basic stamp on ipad? I would think something like this would have been desirable for more people than just me.
Comments
I just did asearch and came across this - http://redpark.com/products/developers/serial-cable-sdk-faq-download/ - Quote "As licensed by Apple, these cables are intended for use with apps deployed privately at home, at a school, or within an enterprise."
I've not used any IOS device but, out of interest, I do wonder what it takes to deploy software on an iPad that's not from Apple's AppStore?
Or, you jailbreak it, and or use things like iEmulator, etc... to hack the app in there.
Or... looks like this is being improved: http://bouk.co/blog/sideload-iphone/
Xcode 7 appears to allow anyone to load an app now.
I have to disagree with this because I know serial communication is already in use by Apple products through the lightening connector. Apple sells and licenses to sell connector adapters which connect the lightening connector to a USB connector as well as an adapter to connect to a compact flash reader.
I myself have used such a connector to connect a MIDI keyboard to my iPad. The MIDI keyboard is serial communications with USB for I/O.
Well, I wonder, however why Parallax hasn't developed something and licensed it through Apple? Certainly they have the resources to do that.
I believe what Potato is saying is, without using the AppStore, every iPad has to be loaded via the Xcode developer suit. Which means you have to buy the developer licence as well as anything Parallax might do.
I would be willing to pay for an app to program a stamp thru my iPad.
There's a limit to what I would pay of course, so it might not be cost effective for them.
The timing for Basic Stamp downloading is tight like that of the Propeller and doesn't tolerate delays. Whether it can be done via a wireless link involving an RN-XV is unknown. Something like EMESystems' Stache device might work, but would that bring the cost of programming a Stamp with an iPad well beyond what most people would be willing to spend is a good question, particularly for an already expensive product.
It comes to where you want to put your limited resources as a company and where the biggest payback is.
The main difficulty is getting past the policy ban, I'd say.
BTW, I've not tested it as my Mac is down and I don't have an iPad, but you can get xcode free with an Apple ID. Might not cost anything but some time now with xcode 7.
Connecting things in a direct way means more borked iPad to deal with. Apple is very likely drawing a hard line in the sand for support reasons. If you have the cable and xcode, do what you want, and they will ignore you.
Anything Apple is a very managed experience, and they consider that part of the value they provide. To the vast majority of iPad users, it is high value. It will all just work, no hassles.
For peeps like us, it's a PITA, which is what xcode is for.
I don't think Apple has or would ever have a specific policy that would prohibit a wireless download app on the AppStore. An app that includes a compiler creates a different issue and is probably more likely the kind of app that AppStore policy would prohibit, initially. But, time will tell.
Also, someone mentioned something about Apple charging the developer for an AppStore app. I don't think that Parallax would want to charge for an app as they have not done this for all the other software that it provides to developers for their products (to my knowledge). Apple does not charge developers of free apps on the AppStore. So, it would not be a money issue to provide an app on the AppStore, either.
Developers that produce products such as the RedPark serial adapter and its software are actually part of a separate developer program with Apple. Those developers go through a different and much more in-depth process for bringing their hardware & software into the AppStore world (i.e. you have to lay down all of your cards on the proverbial AppStore poker table).
XCode is free to developers that join 'any' of Apple's free or paid-for developer programs (Mac OS, iOS, tvOS, etc...). Joining Apple's individual developer programs for Mac OS or iOS cost $100 per year, general join-up is free. There's separate paid-for Mac development and iOS development programs. The $100 fee really just gives the developer the ability to create certificates that allow apps to be code-signed for possible AppStore inclusion (no guarantees of your app being accepted, here, just the ability to sign them). Code-signing also allows apps to be more easily downloaded outside of the sphere of the AppStore to pass through the Mac's Security & Privacy Preference settings.
So, an iPad or iPhone app that loads a binary onto a wireless-enabled propeller board is quite possible. An IDE-type app that allows editing, compile & loading is the more difficult goal. A developer would need to make a "really good" case for an app of this type. Interestingly, a search of the AppStore for apps that allow compiles of MCU code brings up only apps that offload the compile to a server, somewhere in the cloud. There are apps for Arduino and Particle-IO boards that use this method. If you are a Particle-IO developer, you probably already know about compiler outages and such via email notifications :zombie:
dgately
The important thing is the market share of iPads in the class rooms... School teachers and university professors have been asking for iPad apps (a little birdy told me this...), specifically for use in their robotics classes. They want to build software for their bots on iPads and then use the iPad to control & receive data from the bots.
The other side of the coin is what is the share of app-use on those devices? Which AppStore gets more app download requests, Apple's, Google's?
dgately
Dynamic NFC Interface Transponder for Large File Transfer
http://www.ti.com/product/RF430CL331H?DCMP
claims 848 kbps, and appx 50c price point.
I had not considered NFC as a serial link, but those numbers are quite good in the MCU space.
The NFC bit framing is UART type start-stop bits, half-duplex, little-endian, equivalent to a point-to-point RS485 link.