4 ms·

> Therefore, most Android developers test small changes initially on a device. That's also because deploying an APK on a test device (or several devices) is w

> Therefore, most Android developers test small changes initially on a device. That's also because deploying an APK on a test device (or several devices) is way easier than deploying an IPA on an iOS device. As someone relatively new to iOS this past month or so, I was shocked by the number of hoops I have to jump through just to take a piece of code I've written and put it on a device that I own and is sitting right next to me[0]. Coming from Android development, I never thought twice about this - it's easy to push the APK to my phone as part of the build process, and I don't even have to plug my device in to do so. [0] Including shelling out $99 for a certificate that gives me the permission to do so.

gress 13y ago
How is it easier than just pressing the build and run button on XCode?
- donut2d 13y ago
  I think the problem he is having is with how to get to that point. There is a lot of setup to get to the point of just being able to hit the build and run button in Xcode. Of course, once that work is out of the way it's super easy.
  - gress 13y ago
    What setup work? Install Xcode from the App Store, and log in with your developer account? There is less involved than just downloading and unzipping the Android SDK
    - wattson12 13y ago
      (ignoring the creating the developer account) - create certificate(s) - create provisioning profile(s) - hit refresh in Xcode and hope it pulls in the profiles you want to use (maybe only an issue if you're a member of multiple teams) - modify build settings once you've done that its simple but there is definitely a setup overhead with Xcode and devices
      - gress 13y ago
        If you are not a member of multiple teams, this is all unnecessary. The point is that the original comment is flat out false.
        wattson12 13y ago
        In my experience anything that Xcode promises to just work, just doesn't but yes they have at least improved provisioning. The original point was that there are steps to go through, and creating a paid developer account is a non trivial step
        gress 13y ago
        There are steps to go through for android too. The original comment about deployment is false, and doesn't make any distinction about one time setup. > That's also because deploying an APK on a test device (or several devices) is way easier than deploying an IPA on an iOS device. False. > it's easy to push the APK to my phone as part of the build process, and I don't even have to plug my device in to do so. Also true of iOS. If you want to make the case that enrolling in the developer program is a hassle, that's fine, but it's misleading to make it sound as though that is part of the build process.
        krschultz 13y ago
        Mucking around with provisioning profiles, schemes, and certificates is a part of iOS development that totally sucks.
        gress 13y ago
        True but has nothing to do with what was claimed.
        dubcanada 13y ago
        You need to create a paid developer account on Android too.
    - JulianK 13y ago
      I'm not sure if it has changed since I last made an ios app a while back, but there was a fairly large amount of security certificate provisioning and the interface for it, at that time at least, was unintuitive.
      - gress 13y ago
        It has changed. The certificate is created and provisioned to the device automatically by XCode.
      - dubcanada 13y ago
        They is the exact same amount of work involved with Android. iOS is actually significantly easier.
mncolinlee 13y ago
I would argue that debugging is also infinitely easier in the Android world, since plugging a phone into USB and authorizing ADB gives you full control to see everything on the phone. You can get full logs and debug control over the hardware. You can push and pull stack traces and files to and from the device with a single, three operand command line and obtaining hardware screenshots requires only a click in IDE. Android also has a plethora of debug options hidden in a special device settings menu that can be hugely helpful for troubleshooting performance issues.
- gress 13y ago
  You do realize that all of those capabilities are available in XCode?
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- stefan_kendall3 13y ago
  Uh. It's way harder to setup an android device for debugging. I just had to plug in my iphone and tap "use for development" at the prompt. I'm porting an iOS app to android right now, and android is way behind on the development side of things.
  - mncolinlee 13y ago
    Okay. I guess I mostly used iOS with the simulator and have less experience with their hardware interface. I just found the feature set for ADB to be pretty dang impressive. Most developers never touch even 10% of the the features even though some are very useful. I'd love to see a side-by-side comparison if someone has a link. On the other hand, having iOS connect easily to a debugger disproves nothing I said.
    - stefan_kendall3 13y ago
      "Obtaining hardware screenshots is just a click in the IDE" I shouldn't need a computer attached to get screenshots for my app. Power + home button, or cmd+S in the simulator. Even my users can easily send me screenshots, some of the time unprompted even.

gress 13y ago

How is it easier than just pressing the build and run button on XCode?

donut2d 13y ago
I think the problem he is having is with how to get to that point. There is a lot of setup to get to the point of just being able to hit the build and run button in Xcode. Of course, once that work is out of the way it's super easy.
- gress 13y ago
  What setup work? Install Xcode from the App Store, and log in with your developer account? There is less involved than just downloading and unzipping the Android SDK
  - wattson12 13y ago
    (ignoring the creating the developer account) - create certificate(s) - create provisioning profile(s) - hit refresh in Xcode and hope it pulls in the profiles you want to use (maybe only an issue if you're a member of multiple teams) - modify build settings once you've done that its simple but there is definitely a setup overhead with Xcode and devices
    - gress 13y ago
      If you are not a member of multiple teams, this is all unnecessary. The point is that the original comment is flat out false.
      - wattson12 13y ago
        In my experience anything that Xcode promises to just work, just doesn't but yes they have at least improved provisioning. The original point was that there are steps to go through, and creating a paid developer account is a non trivial step
        gress 13y ago
        There are steps to go through for android too. The original comment about deployment is false, and doesn't make any distinction about one time setup. > That's also because deploying an APK on a test device (or several devices) is way easier than deploying an IPA on an iOS device. False. > it's easy to push the APK to my phone as part of the build process, and I don't even have to plug my device in to do so. Also true of iOS. If you want to make the case that enrolling in the developer program is a hassle, that's fine, but it's misleading to make it sound as though that is part of the build process.
        krschultz 13y ago
        Mucking around with provisioning profiles, schemes, and certificates is a part of iOS development that totally sucks.
        gress 13y ago
        True but has nothing to do with what was claimed.
        dubcanada 13y ago
        You need to create a paid developer account on Android too.
  - JulianK 13y ago
    I'm not sure if it has changed since I last made an ios app a while back, but there was a fairly large amount of security certificate provisioning and the interface for it, at that time at least, was unintuitive.
    - gress 13y ago
      It has changed. The certificate is created and provisioned to the device automatically by XCode.
    - dubcanada 13y ago
      They is the exact same amount of work involved with Android. iOS is actually significantly easier.

mncolinlee 13y ago

I would argue that debugging is also infinitely easier in the Android world, since plugging a phone into USB and authorizing ADB gives you full control to see everything on the phone. You can get full logs and debug control over the hardware. You can push and pull stack traces and files to and from the device with a single, three operand command line and obtaining hardware screenshots requires only a click in IDE. Android also has a plethora of debug options hidden in a special device settings menu that can be hugely helpful for troubleshooting performance issues.

gress 13y ago
You do realize that all of those capabilities are available in XCode?
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
stefan_kendall3 13y ago
Uh. It's way harder to setup an android device for debugging. I just had to plug in my iphone and tap "use for development" at the prompt. I'm porting an iOS app to android right now, and android is way behind on the development side of things.
- mncolinlee 13y ago
  Okay. I guess I mostly used iOS with the simulator and have less experience with their hardware interface. I just found the feature set for ADB to be pretty dang impressive. Most developers never touch even 10% of the the features even though some are very useful. I'd love to see a side-by-side comparison if someone has a link. On the other hand, having iOS connect easily to a debugger disproves nothing I said.
  - stefan_kendall3 13y ago
    "Obtaining hardware screenshots is just a click in the IDE" I shouldn't need a computer attached to get screenshots for my app. Power + home button, or cmd+S in the simulator. Even my users can easily send me screenshots, some of the time unprompted even.