Every time developers come up with an idea for an app they face the eternal question: Which platform should we build it for, iOS or macOS? After all, resources, especially in the beginning, are constrained and no one wants to risk spreading themselves too thin by working on two products at the same time.
In most cases, the decision comes down to pure numbers: There are over 1.3 billion active iOS devices against 100 million macOS ones. So iOS usually wins. But even though you can build progressive Mac apps with WebView, nothing beats a native Mac app for user experience and speed. Finally, with Apple’s announcement of Project Catalyst at WWDC 2019, you don’t have to compromise any longer.
What Is Project Catalyst
In a nutshell, Project Catalyst is a new macOS Catalina feature (out of more than 120) by Apple built into the latest Xcode 11, which allows developers to extend their existing iOS apps to macOS using all the native Mac functionality, such as mouse and keyboard navigation, window and file management, rich text editing, etc.
To try Project Catalyst today, download macOS Catalina first. Note that not all apps are eligible for iOS to macOS transfer. How to know which are which?
iOS app criteria for Project Catalyst
Once you’re running macOS Catalina and have Xcode 11, turning on Project Catalyst is a breeze: Open your iOS app project in Xcode. Go to project settings and check the Mac box. The Mac version of the app should now be created. The new Mac app shares the same codebase, frameworks, resources, and runtime environment as your iOS app. Open the directory of your iOS App with the Finder, then open the.xcworkspace file. The Xcode will open your iOS App and will do some things in the background in order to run your App for the first time. That’s it, now you can click on the play button, the Xcode tool will open the iPhone simulator and will run your iOS App.
Apple made sure that most iPad apps would have no problem transferring to macOS. But there are a few exceptions. First, if your app relies on features that are exclusive to iPad, it might not operate correctly on Mac. Some examples include using gyroscope, accelerometer, back-facing camera, HealthKit, or ARKit.
In general, Apple says that if the app supports the latest iPad functionality, such as multitasking, drag and drop, as well as keyboard shortcuts, porting it to Mac shouldn’t be a problem. In addition, try to think through the user experience of your app on macOS to check for any incompatibilities yourself.
Benefits of using Project Catalyst
Currently, there are two approaches to building apps on Mac. Either you create something natively or use WebView. The first approach requires a completely separate codebase; the second, a functioning web app and results in slower user experience in the end.
Project Catalyst combines the best of both worlds. It lets you create completely native apps while retaining exactly the same codebase you had in iOS. Basically, at the flip of the switch, you get access to macOS features like:
All in all, using Project Catalyst would save you days, or even weeks, right from the beginning and an immeasurable amount of time you’d otherwise spend maintaining separate codebases in perpetuity.
How to start with Project Catalyst
Once you’re running macOS Catalina and have Xcode 11, turning on Project Catalyst is a breeze:
The new Mac app shares the same codebase, frameworks, resources, and runtime environment as your iOS app. As you continue to enhance and optimize your project, compatible changes will appear in both versions.
If you need some feature inspiration, check out the newly released Project Catalyst apps created by the teams at Twitter, Jira, and TripIt. But before you start building the new app in a new macOS Catalina environment, make sure your Mac is running at top speed.
Xcode For IpadMake sure your Mac is bug-freeRun Iphone Apps On Mac
Developers know that every time you change any variables around your app, unpredictable things might happen. The best you can do is ensure your Mac hasn’t carried over any bugs accumulated in years of use. The fastest way to do this is using a professional optimizer:
![]()
The Maintenance scan will ensure your Mac is not laden with everyday inefficiencies. However, if you feel like your Mac needs a deep, overall optimization scan, CleanMyMac X can help you here too:
Now that your Mac is free of bugs, resource-hogging cache files, and unresponsive processes, you’re ready to take full advantage of Project Catalyst. Port your iOS app to macOS in no time and remember to scan regularly (about twice a month) with CleanMyMac X to make sure all processes run as smoothly and quickly as possible. How to make an ipad app without a mac pro.
These might also interest you:
To develop an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad app, you have to work within the context of an Xcode project. Xcode supports the following activities that are parts of developing your app:
Creating an Xcode project
To develop an iOS app, you start by creating an Xcode project. A project contains all the elements needed to create an app, including the source files, a graphical representation of the user interface, and build settings needed to build your app.
You work on your project in the Workspace window, which allows you to create all of these elements as well as build, run, debug, and submit your app to the App Store.
Developing the app
You have a lot to do to develop an app. You need to design the user experience and then implement what you came up with as a user interface. You need to write code to implement the features of the app. You also need to test and debug the app.
Designing the user interface using a storyboard
Xcode’s Interface Builder is the editor you use to assemble your app’s user interface with the help of preconfigured objects found in the Library. The objects include windows, controls (such as switches, text fields, and buttons), and the views you’ll use, such as Image, Web, and Table views.
The Interface Builder editor allows you to add objects, configure their properties, and create connections not only between user interface objects, but also between user interface objects and your code.
When you use a storyboard, most of if not all your screens end up being displayed in the storyboard, and Interface Builder saves your storyboard in a storyboard file (with the extension). When you don’t use a storyboard, each screen is saved separately as a nib file (with the extension). Either way, these files contain all the information iOS needs to reconstitute the user interface objects in your app.
Interface Builder saves you time and effort when it comes to creating your app’s user interface. You don’t have to code each object (which saves you a lot of work), and what’s more, because Interface Builder is a visual editor, you get to see what your app’s user interface will look like at runtime.
CodingIpad Os Xcode![]()
To code, you use the Source Code editor, which supports features such as code completion, syntax-aware indentation, and source code folding (to hide “code blocks” temporarily). You can get context-based help to assist you, and if you need information about a particular symbol, you can either get a summary of a symbol’s documentation directly in the editor, or you can opt for more extensive documentation.
Xcode’s Live Issues and Fix-it features work together to point out mistakes as you enter your code and offer to fix those mistakes for you.
Running and debugging
When you run your app to debug or test it, you can run it in the iOS Simulator on your Mac and then on an iOS-based device (if you’re in the developer program). Using the simulator, you can make sure your app behaves the way you want. Macbook running slow. You can also get debugging information — as you run — in the Debug area.
By running your app on a device connected to your Mac (still using the debugger, if you like), you can observe the actual user experience and see how the app will perform.
Tuning app performance
As you are running your app, gauges show you the amount of memory you’re using, what’s happening in your app’s iCloud sandbox, how you’re doing on energy consumption (a critical issue for mobile devices), network activity, and more. The clear, graphical interface of the gauges is a major new feature of Xcode 5.
Distributing the app
Xcode provides various kinds of app distribution, including
Run Ipad Apps On Mac
You create an archive of your app that contains debugging information, making it easier to track down bugs reported by testers (and users) of your app. When your app is ready to go, you submit it to the App Store. (Before you submit your app to the store, you even run some of the same software-validation procedures on your app that Apple does.)
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |