iOS Question Do I learn B4I

[gz7tnn]

Hi all

I have completed a B4A app that really does need to also be available on IOS.
It has the following features
Scans QR codes, saves data to a local database, allows file transfer between devices.
I have 2 broad questions here
1> around the financial ongoing costs of needing to pay an annual fee to Apple to keep the app available for download
2> The ease of learning B4I in the area of the features I need to incorporate.

I have read many articles around the costs and the fact that once the Apple licence lapses your app is no longer available on the app store - mine would be Free to download. For what I need this would not be an option, so would be in for an ongoing $99 per year as I hope for long term results from this.
But in saying that I would continuously need to sell the end product to businesses to cover that cost, and that requires time and effort I may not be able to consistently provide.


I have also read several threads in the forum and wonder how much learning I would need to put in to achieve a workable app. I have only one app at present that will benefit from IOS development, so am wondering if the effort is warranted - yes my call on this I know...

I would be interested to hear others ideas and opinions, and whether there is some other way of achieving this.

If I read one of the Apple sites correctly I may be able to at least develop and test on a device without needing a developer license - can anyone comment on that. I have access to a Mac via a family member, so at least have one less expense there.

I look forward to hearing comments from others on this
Thanks

If this is posted in the wrong place feel free to move this thread to a more appropriate forum

 

[Erel]

Note that you don't need a local Mac computer to develop with B4i. You can use the hosted builder.

However without a local Mac you must have an Apple developer account in order to develop. With a local Mac you can develop on the simulator without an account.

Technically it will not be too complicated to rewrite your app in B4i. All the mentioned features are supported.

 

[gz7tnn]

Thanks Erel.
2 more questions:
My windows PC is running XP - will B4I work in that environment? (just another cost I can avoid)
With a local Mac available, does that mean I can install the app onto a real device for testing purposes?

 

[ilan]

Thanks Erel.
2 more questions:
My windows PC is running XP - will B4I work in that environment? (just another cost I can avoid)
With a local Mac available, does that mean I can install the app onto a real device for testing purposes?

b4i should run on win xp but i think to get the best performance with the new IDE you will need to have frameworks 4.5.2, i dont think win xp support framwork 4.5.2
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dotnet/p/dotnet45xp.aspx

(it should run also with framework 4.0 but you should consider updating to win8/10 to be able to use framwork 4.5.2 to get the best performance with the new IDE)

to install the app on a real device you will need to have an apple developer account. only if you want to test your app on the mac xcode simulator
you will not need to have a dev account or a phone but you will need to have a mac.

 

[gz7tnn]

Thanks all for your comments. As the base requirement of my particular app is to read QR codes, and from what I have read it does not seem possible to test via the simulator, for the moment I will hold off branching into B4I. I do not know what the up-take of my app is likely to be, so am unable to even guess at the return on investment..