How to package applications for AIR for iOS

Animate includes support for publishing applications for AIR for iOS. AIR for iOS applications can run on the Apple iPhone and iPad. When you publish for iOS, Animate converts your FLA files into native iPhone applications. 

For information about hardware and software requirements for desktop and mobile AIR applications, see AIR system requirements.

For detailed instructions about packaging applications for the iPhone, see Building Adobe AIR Applications with the Packager for iPhone.

 Animate allows you to add path to the iOS SDK only when the AIR application includes an ANE file. Go to File > ActionScript Settings > Library Path to include an ANE file.

AIR 17.0 for iOS allows you to generate 64-bit binaries along with the default 32-bit binaries of your applications to comply with the Apple requirement for iOS applications. With the AIR 17.0 update for iOS, the Enable Faster Packaging option under the Deployment tab of AIR for iOS Setting dialog has been enabled by default.

Deploying AIR applications on iOS devices directly

An important change to the AIR application deployment workflow allows you to deploy AIR applications directly to iOS devices. Earlier, to deploy applications to iOS devices, invoking AIR applications from iTunes was necessary.

However, with Animate, you can deploy AIR applications on iOS directly, bypassing the usage of iTunes. This feature reduces the time required to publish an AIR application for iOS and improves productivity and performance significantly.

Note: It is necessary that you install iTunes on the machine that has Animate installed.

To enable direct deployment on an iOS device, do the following:

1. Ensure that iTunes is installed on the machine on which you have Animate installed.
2. In Animate, on the Properties panel, click the  button, beside the Target drop-down to bring up the AIR for iOS Settings dialog.

3. On the Deployment tab, select Install Application On The Connected iOS Device option.

4. Click Publish.

Testing and debugging AIR applications using the native iOS simulator

Animate can be integrated with Apple Xcode to enable Native iOS Simulator to test and debug AIR applications written for iOS. The iOS Simulator is highly useful when you do not have access to actual devices (iPhone or iPad). With the Native iOS Simulator, you can also test and debug AIR applications across multiple devices (iPhone and iPad). However, the iOS Simulator can be integrated with Flash CS6 that runs on Macintosh systems only.

To use the iOS Simulator, Animate requires you to download and install Xcode. For more information, see Setting up Xcode for iOS Simulator Support.

 Download and install the latest version of AIR to work with the iOS simulator.

Since SDK version 16 onwards (CC 2014.2 update), Animate installs and launches the iOS app on the IOS simulator.

Setting up Xcode for iOS Simulator Support

1. Download and install Xcode from http://developer.apple.com or download from Mac App Store.
2. Launch Animate.
3. Create or open an existing AIR for iOS document.
4. On the Properties panel, set the Player target to the latest AIR version.
5. Click the button, beside the Target drop-down to bring up the AIR for iOS Settings dialog.

6. On the General tab, provide the fully qualified path to the iOS Simulator SDK manually or browse to location. For example:

7. On the Deployment tab, provide the Certificate and Password. Optionally, provide the Provisioning Profile for the AIR application.

8. Click OK to finish.

You can now use the iOS Simulator to test and debug your application. For information, see Testing AIR applications using the Natives iOS Simulator and Debugging AIR applications using the Native iOS Simulator.

Testing AIR applications using the Native iOS Simulator

Ensure that you have set up Xcode and set the path to iPhone SDK before testing your AIR application.

1. In Animate, Control > Test Movie > on iOS Simulator to bring up the iOS Simulator. However, if you have not set the iOS Simulator SDK path in AIR for iOS Settings dialog, an error is thrown to indicate the same.
2. Browse to your application on the iOS Simulator, and click to launch.

Debugging AIR applications using the Native iOS Simulator

Ensure that you have set up Xcode and set the path to iPhone SDK path before debugging your AIR application.

1. In Animate, select Debug > Debug Movie > on iOS Simulator to bring up the iOS Simulator. However, if you have not set the iOS Simulator SDK path in AIR for iOS Settings dialog, an error is thrown to indicate the same.
2. In Animate, select Debug > Begin Remote Debugging Session > ActionScript 3.0.
3. Browse to your application on iOS Simulator, and click to launch.

Publishing AIR applications for devices with High Resolution Retina Display support

Animate allows you to create rich AIR applications for iOS with an extended support for High-resolution Retina display. You can choose to select High-resolution Retina Display when publishing AIR applications.

1. In Animate, create or open an existing AIR for iOS document.
2. On the Properties panel, click the button beside the Target drop-down to bring up the AIR for iOS Settings dialog.

3. On the General tab, set the Resolution as High.

4. Click Publish.

Test and debug using Interpreter Mode

The Interpreter Mode allows you to quickly debug or test your AIR applications written for iOS. When the Interpreter Mode is selected, AIR applications are installed without converting to ARM code.

To enable the Interpreter Mode, do the following:

1. On the Properties panel, click the button, beside the Target drop-down to bring up the AIR for iOS Settings dialog.
2. On the Deployment tab, select Device Testing In Interpreter Mode or Device Debugging In Interpreter Mode for the iOS deployment type option.
3. Click OK to finish.
   

 You can package and load multiple SWFs that contain ActionScript byte code using both the Interpreter and AOT (Ahead of Time) modes.

 The Interpreter Mode should only be used for testing or debugging purposes. The AIR installation files produced using the Interpreter Mode cannot be uploaded to the Mac App Store.

Testing and debugging on iOS via USB

You can test and debug applications on iOS devices connected via USB. This adds on to the remote testing and debugging functionality via wi-fi available within Animate. However, by connecting devices via USB, testing, and debugging workflows are simplified by reducing the number of manual steps and in effect, expediting the testing and debugging processes.

To enable testing or debugging via USB, do one of the following:

• (For debugging) Select Debug > Debug Movie > on Device Via USB.
• (For testing) Select Control >Test Movie > on Device Via USB.
  

Multi-device connectivity via USB

Animate supports testing of applications on multiple devices simultaneously. You can connect to and test multiple devices via USB.

You can take advantage of this feature to test by deploying to multiple devices of varying screen sizes, OS versions, and hardware configurations simultaneously. This allows you to analyze performance of your application across a spectrum of devices at once.

1. On the Properties panel, click the button, beside the Target drop-down to bring up the AIR for iOS Settings dialog.
2. On the Deployment tab, a list of all connected devices is displayed. Select devices on to which you wish to publish the application.
3. Click Publish.
   

Adding xxhdpi icons (144x144)

You can manually add xxhdpi icons for an AIR application using the app-descriptor.xml file. Animate allows you to add xhdpi icons (96x96) icons using the Manage AIR SDK dialog. However, if you wish to add icons of higer resolution, you can manually add them in the app-descriptor.xml file for your AIR application using the following tag:

<icon><image144x144>{Location of png}/[icon_name-144x144].png</image144x144></icon>

For more information about the app-descriptor.xml file, see this help article.

Troubleshooting

• Publishing an AIR for iOS application fails if the file name specified for the FLA or the SWF contain double-byte characters.
• When publishing an AIR for iOS application, Animate hangs if the device is unplugged.
  

 Air for iOS supports three new languages: Danish, Hebrew, and Norwegian.