I am a Windows user and dont know anything about iOS so please bear with me.
My 10y old Son is completely addicted to Codea and he really wants to create his first app
I concluded I needed a Mac to run Xcode so I bought him a old system as follows:
APPLE IMAC A1224 inCORE 2 DUOin 2.0 -2.4GHZ
4GB RAM, 160GB HDD,
OS X El Capitan 10.11.6
The seller said that 10.11.6 is the lastest OS that would still work with this system (is this true?)
The latest Xcode version 10.2.1, will not work so I installed the latest version (8.2.1) that could still run
Only to discover that the exported Xcode file generated by Codea 2.0 is incompatible with Xcode 8.2.1
Am I doing something wrong? and is there a way I can make this work, or do I need to dump this old system and accept I need to buy a newer system? Can I install a later iOS system which would alllow a more recent version of Xcode which in turn would accept Codea exported files?
@johnthelegend2009 Maybe before you spend all that money trying to get an app on the App Store, have your son create an app to post on this forum. He’ll get a lot of comments, good or bad, and you won’t have to spend $99 for a developers license or whatever the cost is now or spend more money on a Mac. I also think that someone who has never written a program won’t get an app on the App Store any time soon (years). Apple has strict standards (code) as to what can be on the App Store. Those are my thoughts, others my vary.
Thanks Dave
He just wants to share his creations amoungst family and friends so they can run his apps. I dont think we want to upload anything (yet) to the app store. I only spend 200gbp, so no real damage done. My technical questions still stand though…
@johnthelegend2009 In order for family and friends to run his apps, he still needs to get it accepted by the App Store. That requires a Mac and a developers license. After that he needs for his code to be accepted by Apple which is hard even for experienced programmers. The App Store isn’t a place to put code just for sharing, it has to pass extensive Apple testing. It might be easier and cheaper to buy the family and friends a copy of Codea. Anyone who has Codea can run his programs without any Xcode or acceptance by Apple. He could email a copy of his programs to anyone that has Codea to run it or post it in this forum to be copied. I’ve been using Codea since 2012 and haven’t used Xcode at all, so I can’t give you any help relating to Xcode.
@Simeon Is it possible to create a Codea run time that can be loaded on family or friends iPads that can run Codea projects without any editor options. You can only run the code, nothing else.
@johnthelegend2009 Codea requires Swift 5.0 so it requires Xcode 10.2 and up. If your old laptop can’t install that version, it won’t be able to be run from xcode. It might be possible for @Simeon to make Codea work with Swift 4, but I am fairly sure he needs Swift 5 support for many of the features he is including in Codea. Such as; AR, Apple Pencil, and more. It would require Codea to block users from using certain features depending on Swift export version.
If you can sell the Mac laptop, and buy a cheap Mac Mini 2012 you can run the latest version of Xcode. However, @simeon is having trouble with a bug report he sent to Apple in July and getting Codea made apps to export and upload to the Apple store. So I haven’t been able to upload or export directly to an apple device yet. Connecting and running the Codea made apps for debugging works though. So if your family members connect their phones to the Mac your son can install a debug version that works just like a real app.
If some day your son gets everything to work, making icons for apps in Xcode is one of the most stressful things, so here is a site that can make all of icons for you from one image App Icon Generator. It might be good to bookmark that for future use.
The other choice @dave1707 is to buy Codea for all of your family members and share the game your son made. Sharing is really simple. The next version of Codea will support iPhones too!
Thanks for the feedback all!, I never realised that its that complicated. So Apple prevents (kids) to create simple apps that can be shared and run on single devices. Just like a APK file on Android? , That’s really dissapointing, I thought I found in Codea (and Lua) the perfect coding environment for him. Maybe I should consider an alternative …I did not expect that from Steve…
@dave1707 This is one reason I’d like to move Codea to a free with in-app-purchase model like Shade. So that people could run and share projects without having to buy it. The part I’m having trouble with is detecting when people have already purchased Codea at the pay-up-front model and ensuring that all features are unlocked for them.
@johnthelegend2009 how many friends and family does he want to share with?
@johnthelegend2009 Why give up on Codea just because he can’t share code with others. I’ve been playing with Codea for over 7 years and I don’t have any interest in putting anything on the App Store. If he’s really interested in coding, then Codea will hold his interest for a long time. If he wants to share code or get input/comments for what he does, he can put his code on this forum where anyone with Codea can run it. He’ll get plenty of comments that will help him with future code.
@dave1707 I have been lurking on the Codea forums for many years now to keep up to date with what is going on, but I finally felt the need to create an account. I really don’t understand why you are being so toxic towards @johnthelegend2009 … He asked a very valid question and you are making it sound like it is bad that he wants to sell his app on the Apple store or even trying is impossible. One of the first things to show up on Codea’s main advertisement page is an example of a game that has been release on the app store Starsceptre.
If his dream is to try to release a game to the app store, let him try. He doesn’t need to show his code here first, just so you can say it is “good” or “bad.” You don’t need to judge him. Let him follow his dream. You are hurting the Codea community and scaring off new users of Codea. When they see, “Post your code here. I have programmed for 7 years I know a lot. I don’t need to sell my apps,” you are making the forums feel unwelcome. I might not have the right to say this, but you are one of the most helpful people on this forum, but you are overstepping your bounds here. Not everyone wants to share, nor has the confidence to do so. You might think you are protecting him, but I feel you are scaring him away from the field of programming. His app might not get accepted, but let him find out and try.
If Codea advertises that apps made in Codea can be published to the app store, he has every right to try, without your negative comments.
@the_dog Thanks for finally joining the forum. The more people that join, the more diversity we have in response to questions and other help.
I’m not trying to be toxic, I’m just trying to point out that buying Codea, a Mac, and a developers license will not get your program on the App Store. Yes I’ve been here a long time and I’ve seen a lot of questions about the App Store. I also haven’t seen that many comments where someone got an app there. Those that did have been coding a long time and have the experience and resources to do so. But someone who is just starting out isn’t going to do that anytime soon. How many Macs and developers license has Apple sold to people thinking that they can write something and put it on the App Store to sell, but didn’t.
@johnthelegend2009 is finding out that it’s not that easy just by the questions he asked. I’m just giving him an idea of what he is going to run into.
I don’t see anywhere where I said I’m going to judge his code and say it’s good or bad or that he had to post his code. I said anyone. I’m not here to judge, but I’ll give what I feel is an informative answer that helps.
His son is completely addicted to Codea and he shouldn’t lose that interest by trying to get something on the App Store and most likely won’t. Nothing puts a damper on doing something you like more than trying to do something where the odds are against you. Not everyone will continue to fight. That’s why I said if he wants to share his code here, he can. I’m sure everyone here will give him support. He’ll be told what he’s doing right and what he doing wrong. That’s how you learn, that’s how I learned.
Your comment saying that “I have programmed for 7 years, I know a lot, I don’t need to sell my apps”, is wrong. I have programmed for over 35 years, I do know a lot, but not everything, and I’m still willing to learn. I’m also willing to help anyone who wants help which is why I’ve been here for so long. You’re right, "I don’t need to sell my apps ", I also don’t have a desire to but I’m not telling anyone else not to. But I will say it’s an uphill battle, you’ll spend a lot of money, and not everyone will do it.
Again, thanks for finally joining and I hope you’ll help out with questions now that you’re here.
@the_dog thanks for your comment, I agree that we need to make publishing way easier than it currently is
It’s a huge technical hurdle and does require a Mac and the latest Xcode. I have a couple thoughts for future directions to pursue:
Create a web version the runtime and allow publishing to the web
Try to simplify the Xcode export process, though it’s always going to require a Mac with the latest version of Xcode, unfortunately. I’ll be doing this more and more once Codea for iPhone is available soon
Move Codea to a free product with in-app-purchase for editing. I’d really like to do this, just having no luck validating old receipts of users so I can ensure no one has to pay twice. (If you check the credits screen you can see I’ve put in some receipt checking in the current App Store version, it just doesn’t seem to find any receipts)
Create a new, open source C++ Codea runtime that works on all platforms
I think a combination of (2) and (3) is the quickest thing I can do to help people get their work in front of others. @John is currently working on (4)
