As many of you know, as a platform we’re embracing the CommonJS module specification as the preferred means of structuring JavaScript code in Titanium Mobile applications. To help developers properly use our implementation of this spec, we’ve included a guide for using CommonJS modules in Titanium 1.8 in the wiki.
If you are using CommonJS modules in your applications, this guide should help you understand how we intend the CommonJS module implementation in Titanium to be used. Thanks!
Developer documentation is critical to success with any technology platform. For that reason, we’re planning further big investments in our API and written guide documentation in 2012. To help us in our planning process, we’d like to collect feedback from our developer community regarding the current state of our documentation, and where you’d like to see us go in the future.
Please take a moment (it’s one page – shouldn’t take but a minute or two), and fill out the following survey. We appreciate your valuable feedback, and we look forward to working with you to improve our docs and learning resources in 2012!
As part of the release of Titanium Mobile SDK 1.8, a number of changes were made to our Android platform APIs in order to support multiple Javascript runtimes (V8 and Rhino). Android Modules that have been built with versions of Titanium Mobile SDK prior to 1.8.0.1 will NOT work with applications built using version 1.8.0.1 or newer (and vice-versa). We have converted all of our internally developed modules as well as the publicly available modules to work with release 1.8.0.1. It is necessary to download updated Android modules in order to develop applications with Titanium Mobile SDK version 1.8.0.1.
Appcelerator modules updated for 1.8.0.1 contain two versions of the Android module, one for use with pre-1.8.0.1 SDKs and one for use with 1.8.0.1 or newer. In your tiapp.xml file, make sure that you specify the version of the module that corresponds to the version of Titanium Mobile SDK that you are targeting. For Appcelerator modules, specify the 1.X version of the module if building for versions of Titanium Mobile SDK prior to 1.8.0.1 and specify the 2.X version of the module if building for versions of Titanium Mobile SDK 1.8.0.1 or newer.
For non-Appcelerator modules, check the module documentation for the specific version required for your application.
If you are a module developer, you will need to update your module source code to build and run with release 1.8.0.1. As part of our internal effort to upgrade our modules we have compiled a list of specific changes that you may have to make to your source code. The Android Module Porting Guide for 1.8.0.1 is a resource to assist you in updating your source code.
Since not all of the application developers using your Android module will have upgraded to Titanium Mobile SDK 1.8.0.1, it will be necessary to maintain and distribute two versions of your module for a period of time. In distributing your module to application developers you have a couple of choices to consider:
To distribute your module on the Appcelerator Marketplace you will need to create a single downloadable zip file for each product. The downloadable zip file should contain both versions of your Android module as well as the iOS version of your module (if applicable). The naming convention that we have adopted is module name-iphone-versions-android-versions.zip. For example, the file
ti.barcode-iphone-1.5-android-1.5.zip
contains the 1.5 iOS version and 1.5 Android version of the barcode module. However, with the combining of multiple Android versions in the zip file, the name may change to designate that multiple versions are contained in the file. For example, the updated barcode module is now
ti.barcode-iphone-1.5-android-1.5-2.0.zip
and contains the 1.5 iOS version, the 1.5 Android version, and the 2.0 Android version of the barcode module.
You can also use the following python script to assist with packaging your module:
To use this script, specify the target folder containing the distribution zip file, specify the source folder containing the various versions of your module zip file (should not be the same as the target), and specify the name of the module. For example,
./package.py dist release ti.paint
The script will enumerate the module zip files in the source folder and prompt you for inclusion in the target zip file and will automatically build up the name of the zip file utilizing the selected version numbers. Feel free to use or modify this script to suit your needs. Your combined zip file will be ready for uploading to the Appcelerator Marketplace.
Titanium Mobile 1.8 and Titanium Studio 1.0.7 are now available for immediate download. With these latest additions to the Titanium integrated mobile development platform, developers can speed up their apps, deploy to more platforms and build apps more quickly than ever!
To help our developer community come up to speed with this huge release, we’re hosting a SEVEN WEBCAST series on January 5-13 we’re calling "Titanium Week" . Learn about the new Titanium products, ask questions of Titanium engineers, hear from experienced Titanium community members and take full advantage of all that is possible for mobile success with Titanium. Webcasts are targeted toward both novice and experienced Titanium developers. Check out the agenda and register.
Read on to learn more about the many reasons to upgrade to Titanium Mobile 1.8 and Titanium Studio 1.0.7. The official release notes for Titanium 1.8.0.1 and Titanium Studio 1.0.7 provide further details on the features and fixes made available in these releases.
You should be automatically prompted to update your Titanium Studio software. If you do not see the prompt, you can select “Check for Updates” from the “Help” menu from within Titanium Studio.
Similarly, you should be prompted to automatically upgrade your Titanium Mobile SDK from within Titanium Studio. If you do not see the prompt below, you can manually check for updates by selecting “Check for Titanium SDK Updates” from the “Help” menu within Titanium Studio.
One of the new features in Titanium Studio is the ability to create module projects directly from within the IDE. However when this update is applied, you won’t see the option in the “File > New” menu as you might expect. To rectify this, you can select “Reset Perspective” from the “Window” menu in Studio to see this new option from that menu.
Fasten your seatbelts Android developers: Titanium Mobile 1.8 introduces dual-runtime support for Android, enabling you to take advantage of the new and faster V8 JavaScript runtime in Titanium. How much faster is V8? Our benchmark tests show loading 1,000 TableView rows is more than twice as fast, and parsing a 50KB JSON file is nearly 15 times faster than the legacy Rhino Javascript runtime.
Titanium Mobile 1.8 expands your reach beyond iOS and Android with the introduction of Titanium Mobile Web Beta 2. This all-new product gives Appcelerator developers the ability to develop both mobile apps and mobile websites from a single Titanium API. While we’re still innovating and improving Mobile Web, you can leverage the advantages of Titanium and HTML 5 to create engaging mobile web experiences that run in browsers on any device that share a common foundation with your native mobile apps. The Titanium Mobile Web SDK Beta 2 was previously in private beta and is now available to the entire Titanium community. Give it a try and let us know what you think!
The new 1.8 release pushes the number of Titanium mobile APIs for iOS and Android to over 3,000. New capabilities include:
Productive developers are happy developers, and the new Titanium developer productivity features are going to make you very happy. To help you succeed faster than ever, we’ve made a number of improvements across the entire Titanium Mobile development lifecycle, including:
We’ve created a great agenda for Titanium Week, January 5-13, to help you get the most out of the all of new Titanium capabilities and to succeed using the Titanium Platform. Check out and register for any and all of the following free webcast sessions:
Titanium Week is your chance to learn from Appcelerator engineers, get answers to your questions and improve your Titanium skills. The content is suitable for both experienced and novice developers…so join in!
As we approach the end of 2011, we want to express our thanks to the Titanium Community for all your activity, feedback, inspiration and, of course, your great mobile apps.
Because of your collective efforts, nearly 40 thousand Titanium-powered applications have been installed on over 30 million unique mobile devices—a 12-fold increase over last year!
Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.
We’re excited to announce Titanium Mobile SDK 1.8 Release Candidate 3 is now available. This release fixes some issues in 1.8 RC1 and improves stability. For more information on the release, see the original blog post for 1.8 RC1.
To get the most out of the 1.8 SDK, you should also get the new Titanium Studio 1.0.7 Release Candidate. If you have already installed the Titanium Studio 1.0.7 RC, you do not need to reinstall, but make sure you have the latest updates. Click Help > Check For Updates to get the latest updates.
Read the Release Notes for additional details on all new features and improvements available in the release candidate.
This section lists high-profile issues that were fixed in RC3.
If you have Titanium Studio, you can download the 1.8 SDK from inside Studio. See below for instruction to install the SDK with or without Studio.
Download Links for Titanium Mobile SDK 1.8 Release Candidate 3:
OSX: http://builds.appcelerator.com.s3.amazonaws.com/RC/mobilesdk-1.8.0.1.RC3-osx.zip
Linux: http://builds.appcelerator.com.s3.amazonaws.com/RC/mobilesdk-1.8.0.1.RC3-linux.zip
Win32: http://builds.appcelerator.com.s3.amazonaws.com/RC/mobilesdk-1.8.0.1.RC3-win32.zip
Before running a project, double-click the tiapp.xml file and make sure the selected SDK is 1.8.0.1.RC3
If you don’t have Titanium Studio installed, you’ll want to download the appropriate distribution above and then extract into your Titanium directory.
For example, on OSX, your Titanium directory will be under either /Library/Application Support/Titanium or~/Library/Appcelerator Support/Titanium.
On Linux ~/.titanium.
On Windows Vista/7 C:\ProgramData\Titanium and on Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Titanium
Once you locate your Titanium directory, extract the zip file into this directory. The zip file will expand the contents and create/overlay some new directories for 1.8.0.1-RC3.
NOTE for OSX users who use Safari to download: Safari by default will auto uncompress your downloads, how handy. However, if you have a directory named mobilesdk, your extracted directory will be renamed.
Now, you’ll need to restart Titanium Developer to pick up the new release. Once restarted, remember to change your application SDK version and then click the ‘Save’ button.
You should now be able to test with the release candidate software.
For more information, you may view the related API Documentation: Titanium Mobile SDK 1.8 Release Candidate 3 API docs.
