DragonFireSDK?

Coincidentally I was just reading up on SDKs for Windows to see if I could find a decent one. So far, no luck.

What put me off DragonfireSDK is the fact that to actually get an app into the App Store, you send it to Zimusoft who submit it via their own developer account - meaning you don't get full control over it, they're listed as the company and seller, and they take an unspecified amount of any money you earn from the app.

The alternative appears to be paying them $49.95 to submit your app, but I don't know how that'd work if the app was rejected, etc. Overall the whole thing seems less than perfect.

If anyone knows more, or knows of a better SDK for us Windows users, please post.

 

just get a mac? seriously.

if you are going to spend the $99 a year anyhow - what big deal is it to add another $500 to your budget. the platform isn't about writing an app for cheap and complaining that you don't have an SDK for windows. get over it.

 

Wow, you must be a bigshot if adding $500 to your original $99 budget isn't a big deal for you. I don't know why I'm dignifying your pointless response with this reply; if anyone would like to make a useful contribution, it'd be appreciated.

 

next thing you'll ask for is a developer to help you and you'll have a $100 budget.

$500 is not a lot of money. when i am a consultant; i earn that in half a day. if you are a student; then sure - it is a tight budget. i am thankful i already decided to own a mac before the iphone SDK came around - so, it wasn't much of a problem for me.

i am no bigshot; but this forum is full of younger people trying to make a few quick dollars without investing any money in the first place. the #1 rule i learnt when growing up is that you have to spend money in order to make money. if it is spent on education, equipment, advertising - you MUST be prepared to outlay something.. nothing comes for free in this world.

 

The iPhone SDK was designed specifically to be used on a Mac, and Apple will make sure to keep it that way. Any attempt at developing on a PC will be cumbersome, and always require a third party. You're best bet is to get a Mac, or at least temporary access to one if you can manage to write it on a PC is somehow compile on the other platform, which is not a fun route.

 

Look into running OSX on your PC hardware. I custom built a PC using components that were listed as compatible with OSX, so now I have a "Hackintosh" that can dual boot into Windows XP or OSX. (although I have since fallen in love with OSX and hate having to boot up XP)

Maybe, technically, the legality of it is questionable, but I don't see anything wrong if you purchase a legit copy of OSX to run on your PC hardware...

 

just be sure to have 10.5.5 or later

you'll need to have 10.6.2 i think for the ipad SDK - which may not be so easy to find with the "hackintosh" variants that are out there. one problem of hackintosh machines is that they do not typically have clean auto-updating functionality. before i got a mac, i explored the hackintosh route (also, before developing on iphone)

 

Did you look into airplay? It looks way more professional than dragonfiresdk. Also this topic has been discussed here before (link).

 

hey - fyi. contest to win one of 2 copies of dfsdk here: http://modmyi.com/forums/iphone-news/719292-dragonfiresdk-windows-iphone-sdk-giveaway.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+home_all+%28MMi+|+Homepage+All%29

they just added network functions to labs -- dfsdk

 

Actually - I'm the main moderator on the DFSDK forum,

I do personally use the DragonFireSDK (DFSDK) for most of my hobbyist development and it's very easy to use - there has been a fair bit of confusion regarding app submission, when Zimusoft first offered to publish apps, they did so either paid or free apps (which was a free service - but under the Zimusoft umbrella) or they would make a distribution build for $50 for your own dev account, that turned out to be a nightmare for several reasons so they changed their policy.

It's now $10 for a distribution build either for a free app (publishable either via Zimusoft or your own Apple dev account) or a paid app (only via your own Apple account).

Basically if you want to "sell" apps then you HAVE to have an Apple Developer Certificate but you DON'T have to have a Mac, the current price is still $99 for the Ultimate edition which includes access to the build server (for producing local "ad-hoc" builds that will only run on your own device - no need to jailbrake) or $49 for the "lite" edition which just contains the PC libraries and no build server access (although you can later upgrade for the difference if you want).

The SDK is not perfect (name one that is) and has it's own particular foibles, but it works, and there are apps in the store making money for their developers!

Any questions just drop by the forums at forums.dragonfiresdk.com and say hi (tell 'em Jon sent you!).

Jon...

 

DragonfireSDK-- true results

DragonFireSDK is a good way to publish games, social networks, etc via a PC. Yes, you do have to pay $99.99 to have a full account so they can convert the code into a format that Apple will accept. This hasn't posed a problem for me as a developer. I read about someone asking if you should get your money back if your app isn't accepted. That is like asking Apple for your money back if they don't accept your app. You may publish your app under Zumisoft, which in that case all games have to be free. Yes, there are a couple that cost money. Those apps are grandfathered in from when ZumiSoft allowed that. All you need to know to make an app is C or C++. I am currently working on an extensive 3d graphic game that I am publishing from my own developer account. The first version should be available this month, or early next month! If you see an app and it isn't up to par, don't blame the SDK. Some developers are still learning C or C++.
At the time of this post DFSDK is at Version 1.3 with version 1.4 right around the corner. With each version we get a plethora of new commands that are native to the Apple SDK. if DragonFire SDK isn't already the number one alternative to Apples SDK for all programmers who haven't learned Objective C, it soon will be.

 

Yeah, you can upload your app made with dragonfiresdk through your own Apple Dev account, no problem. If it gets rejected, you can simply fix what you need to fix about the app and re-submit it. I've enjoyed uploading my apps thru my own account using Dragonfire on my pc.

 

For me, the best way to build apps on a PC is by running osx on a virtual machine. The installation is very simple, updating the system is easier than on a hackintosh and you get the full flexibility of using a mac. Plus this way you can quickly switch between operating systems thus getting the best of both worlds.

 

what about picking up a mac mini..

dual boot it to windows 7 and mac osx. no need for virtualization nada.. the apple hardware is much more superior than most of the PC hardware out there. if you get a mini, you can run windows 7 on it fine for your existing applications/desktop environment.

 

the only caveat here is you need to share your certificate with a 3rd party by the sounds of it because it needs to be compiled, signed and packages on a mac. as my apple's policies, sharing your development certificate is not allowed, so it would be interesting to know how this development kit solves this.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3306488/share-my-iphone-develop-cert-with-others

the top answer is spot on.

 

All this spam is making me hungry