Flash Builder 4.6 & Flex SDK 4.6
Yeah… I know… You probably already know about this and yes… I am a bit late to the party but I promise to return to my normal blogging schedule soon. The last couple of weeks I’ve been mostly occupied with looking for a place to live and when I found it furnishing it and getting everything hooked up and getting all the paperwork done took just about all my time. But back to the topic of this blog post.
Flash Builder 4.6 and Flex SDK 4.6 are available now. The one thing you may have missed is that this is a FREE UPDATE for Flash Builder 4.5 owners! Quick note: The update is not delivered by the update manager so you must download the trial of Flash Builder 4.6 and then you can use your Flash Builder 4.5 serial number to activate. You also must uninstall your previous version of Flash Builder 4.5 or 4.5.1 before installing 4.6.
The biggest new features in the SDK are the new mobile components. For Flash Builder I’d say that the ability of adding native extensions to your AIR apps as well as the ability to compile your apps with captive runtime support are the biggest additions to Flash Builder 4.6. Michael Chaize has a great post describing the new Flex 4.6 components and how to use them. He also talks about the new features in Flash Builder 4.6.
Michael also just released The Game Of Flex. The Game Of Flex is a quiz with 16 questions, and it’s a real game, which means that if you correctly answer all the questions you get a chance to win a copy of Flash Builder 4.6!!!
You should also check out Holly Schinsky’s post on how to use the new MapQuest API in your Flex 4.6 applications. It’s pretty amazing to see how advanced MapQuest has become and how easy it is to implement this in your Flex or Flash applications.
Flash on!
Build iOS applications with Flex and Flash Builder 4.5.1
You already know that you can use Flex 4.5 and Flash Builder 4.5 to build applications for Android and BlackBerry Tablet OS devices. Today we’re releasing an update to Flash Builder that will enable the exact same workflow to build iOS apps. You’ve probably see us demo this a million times already but today it’s here for you to start building your applications!
In this video I’m showing you have easy it is to do this and where to get all the developer and device certificates from.
The coolest thing is that you can now use the exact same code to build apps for Android, BlackBerry Tablet OS and iOS devices in one go! When you’re app is ready you only need to press the release build button to package your application for all these platforms.
“But my application won’t look native, Serge“. Well… I kinda like that. Flex gives you the freedom to make your application look however you want. But if you really need that native iOS feel then check out this Flex theme.
Want to find out more about Flash Builder 4.5? Then don’t forget to sign up for our Developer Week. It starts today and tomorrow I’ll be talking about mobile application development using Flex and Flash Builder 4.5.1.
If you already have Flash Builder 4.5 then go to the HELP menu and select SEARCH FOR FLASH BUILDER UPDATES to download the 4.5.1 update. If you haven’t upgraded to Flash Builder 4.5 yet then try it for 60 days. I guarantee you’ll love it. Oh… And yes… The iOS workflow also works on Windows!
Flash Builder sneak peek: Mobile application development
I’m sure you all know that Flash Builder will enable you to build applications with Flex and/or ActionScript and then compile them for distribution on the Android Market. An upcoming version of Flash Builder will also enable the same workflow for iOS and BlackBerry Tablet OS applications. You’ll even be able to package these different types of installers in one go.
Flash Builder sneak peek: Designer/developer workflow
The Flash Builder team is working on some very cool stuff for an upcoming release of Flash Builder. In this video I’m showing you how an upcoming version of Flash Builder is making it easer to combine the work you do in Flash Catalyst with the code in Flash Builder.
More sneaks soon… So stay tuned ;-)
Help shape the future of the Flash Platform tools
The Flex SDK, Flash Builder, Catalyst, and Flash Professional product teams are looking for your input. The teams are currently running a survey to gauge your current usage and satisfaction with Flex and Flash tooling, and to understand how you would prioritize the next generation of features.
The product teams take these surveys very seriously and it is therefore the ideal opportunity to help shape the future of the Flash Platform tools.
The survey should only take about 15 minutes to complete and your responses will remain completely confidential.
Go to the survey.
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