Auto update API for AIR Native Installer Apps
If you’ve played around with native installers for AIR 2, you probably already found out that you cannot use the update framework. My fellow evangelist Piotr just released a solution for that.
Piotr’s NativeApplicationUpdater library works in exactly the same way as the update framework you use for AIR applications. When your app starts it loads an XML file that has all the update information. If an update is available you will be prompted to download and install it. Piotr actually uses another AIR 2 feature to launch the downloaded native installer. By opening the package with openWithDefaultApplication() the installer launches and installs the update.
I’ll definitely add this to the next release of my Package Assistant application (an update is coming soon!).
Check out the video where Piotr explains how it works and download the library from Google Code.
If you haven’t played with native installers for AIR 2 and want to learn more, then check out my video tutorial.
Video tutorial: Create native installers in AIR 2
One of the many exciting new features in AIR 2 is the ability to create native installers. That gives your AIR 2 application the ability to talk to native code. In this video I’ll show you how to build native installers for Adobe AIR 2 using the command line, and I also explore how my Package Assistant app simplifies that process. The Package Assistant that I’m using in the video is an older version and I think you’ll find that the current version is even easier to use.
Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2 released
Aaah… This is a great day! The Flash Player and AIR teams have been working on this for months and we’ve also been talking about it for quite a while. Today we’re upgrading the web with a ton of new features in Flash Player 10.1 and enable developers to build engaging cross-platform desktop applications.
Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2 are now available for download.
If you haven’t been able to check out some of the new APIs before today then check out my “What’s new in Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2” presentation and sample code. We’re also hosting a series of free webinars introducing the new multi-screen development capabilities of the Flash Platform. Details and registration link online. Also check out the Flash Player Team and AIR Team blogs for more info.
One of the biggest new features in AIR 2 is the ability to talk to native processes and build native installers. To help you out with building those native installers check out my Package Assistant Pro AIR 2 application.
I can’t wait to see what you will build with these new capabilities! Flash on!
Package Assistant Pro
A few months ago I released an early version of my Package Assistant application. The application made it easier to compile native installers for AIR 2. While it was a lot easier to use compared to using the command line the application wasn’t very user friendly. A few weeks ago I started working on a brand new version and I think you will like it!
When you first launch the application, it will ask you to enter the paths to ADT and your code signing certificate. When you have access to the AIR For Android Beta you can also add the AIR 2.5 ADT to package native Android installer packages. AIR For Android is currently in private beta but you can sign up to be notified when it is publicly available. When you have set your preferences, you are ready to go. Just point Package Assistant Pro to your application descriptor XML file and it will read and set all your parameters from it. Package Assistant Pro will also check if you correctly entered your code signing certificate password.
If you don’t mind playing around with beta quality software then check out http://bit.ly/papinfo for the downloads (available for OS X and Windows) and more information. If you run into an issue, have feedback and/or have a feature request, feel free to get in touch or leave a comment on this post.
Package Assistant Pro would not be possible without AIR 2. To learn how to use native processes in AIR 2, check out this article on Adobe Devnet.
AIR2.0 RC available on Labs
The Adobe AIR 2 Release Candidate (RC) build is now available on Adobe Labs. Please be sure to download the latest AIR runtime and, if you are an application developer, SDK. If you run into any issues, please let us know by using our feedback form to send us a bug. Please be sure to include all relevant information necessary to reproduce the issue.
Important: Applications built against Adobe AIR 2 beta 2 *will not run* using the AIR 2 RC runtime. In order for an AIR 2 beta 2 application to run on the AIR 2 RC runtime, the namespace of the beta 2 application descriptor file must first be updated to “2.0″ and compiled against the AIR 2 RC SDK.
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