 | | | | | |
Does anyone know of any efforts to build an LDraw display app for the iPad or
any Android system?
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In lugnet.cad, Paul Sinasohn wrote:
> Does anyone know of any efforts to build an LDraw display app for the iPad or
> any Android system?
Not that I'm aware of. The biggest issue I can think of is how to handle the
library. I think the best way would be to convert it to a binary format and
update the app every time a new parts update is released.
-Orion
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In lugnet.cad, Orion Pobursky wrote:
> In lugnet.cad, Paul Sinasohn wrote:
> > Does anyone know of any efforts to build an LDraw display app for the iPad or
> > any Android system?
>
> Not that I'm aware of. The biggest issue I can think of is how to handle the
> library. I think the best way would be to convert it to a binary format and
> update the app every time a new parts update is released.
I own a 4th-gen iPod Touch, and I even have an iPad at work, so I've considered
it. I think it could be done for the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch. In fact, I could
see a pared-down LDView running there quite happily. The library could be a
simple zip file (either unzipped during the first run or simply left in zip
format depending on how that performed).
However, publishing such an app would require somebody to spend $100 per year on
an iOS developer account, and I'm not personally willing to do that.
--Travis Cobbs
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| |
|
In lugnet.cad, Travis Cobbs wrote:
> In lugnet.cad, Orion Pobursky wrote:
> > In lugnet.cad, Paul Sinasohn wrote:
> > > Does anyone know of any efforts to build an LDraw display app for the
> > > iPad or any Android system?
> >
> > Not that I'm aware of. The biggest issue I can think of is how to
> > handle the library. I think the best way would be to convert it to a
> > binary format and update the app every time a new parts update is
> > released.
>
> I own a 4th-gen iPod Touch, and I even have an iPad at work, so I've
> considered it. I think it could be done for the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch.
> In fact, I could see a pared-down LDView running there quite happily.
> The library could be a simple zip file (either unzipped during the first
> run or simply left in zip format depending on how that performed).
A simple zip file also makes sense for Android. I believe that SDK uses
java, and the .jar files used by java apps are really just .zip files with
a different file extension.
> However, publishing such an app would require somebody to spend $100
> per year on an iOS developer account, and I'm not personally willing
> to do that.
Yeah, maybe it makes more sense to try and push the Bricasso app author
toward some sort of compatibility with ldraw.
Have fun,
Don
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| |
|
> > Not that I'm aware of. The biggest issue I can think of is how to handle the
> > library. I think the best way would be to convert it to a binary format and
> > update the app every time a new parts update is released.
This is an issue I considered during my brief fling with a Java-based LDraw web
viewer:
http://anoved.net/2010/01/online-ldraw-viewer/
> I own a 4th-gen iPod Touch, and I even have an iPad at work, so I've considered
> it. I think it could be done for the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch. In fact, I could
> see a pared-down LDView running there quite happily. The library could be a
> simple zip file (either unzipped during the first run or simply left in zip
> format depending on how that performed).
That would be really neat. Having a static library (e.g. pulling parts out of an
archive - perhaps even the LDraw.org zip download, for easy updates) seems like
the way to go.
On the building side of things, I think a touch-based editor (at least for
larger screen devices like the iPad or other tablets) could be very good, and
significantly flatten out the LDraw editor learning curve for newcomers. (That
said, I can also imagine many reasons why a touch-based editor would be
difficult to do or at least to do right.)
> However, publishing such an app would require somebody to spend $100 per year on
> an iOS developer account, and I'm not personally willing to do that.
Am I correct in understanding that the developer account fee is required to
publish apps but not necessarily to work on them personally? Although I haven't
done anything with it, I was able to download the iOS SDK for free (with the
free "entry level" developer connection account).
Jim
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| |
|
In lugnet.cad, Jim DeVona wrote:
> Am I correct in understanding that the developer account fee is required to
> publish apps but not necessarily to work on them personally? Although I haven't
> done anything with it, I was able to download the iOS SDK for free (with the
> free "entry level" developer connection account).
It is true that you can download and install the iOS SDK with a free Apple
developer account, so you can in theory develop an app without paying any money.
However, in order to get the app onto a non-jailbroken iOS device, you have to
pay the fee to become an official iOS developer. Furthermore, the Simulator is
just that, a simulator. That means that it contains the iOS software stack, but
runs natively at the full speed of the Mac it's running on. So you really have
no idea how an app will perform until you run it on an actual device. (To make
matters worse, the OpenGL ES driver in the simulator claims to be an Apple
software driver; I suspect that their "software" driver is based on the
underlying system hardware-accelerated driver, although I could be wrong about
that. What I can say with some degree of confidence is that the performance you
get out of it won't match up with the device hardware performance.)
--Travis
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| |
|
In lugnet.cad, Travis Cobbs wrote:
> In lugnet.cad, Orion Pobursky wrote:
> > In lugnet.cad, Paul Sinasohn wrote:
> > > Does anyone know of any efforts to build an LDraw display app for the iPad or
> > > any Android system?
> >
> > Not that I'm aware of. The biggest issue I can think of is how to handle the
> > library. I think the best way would be to convert it to a binary format and
> > update the app every time a new parts update is released.
>
> I own a 4th-gen iPod Touch, and I even have an iPad at work, so I've considered
> it. I think it could be done for the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch. In fact, I could
> see a pared-down LDView running there quite happily. The library could be a
> simple zip file (either unzipped during the first run or simply left in zip
> format depending on how that performed).
>
> However, publishing such an app would require somebody to spend $100 per year on
> an iOS developer account, and I'm not personally willing to do that.
>
> --Travis Cobbs
I'd be willing to front the iOS developer fee in partnership with someone, but I
really don't want to have to learn how to program...
Anyone interested?
We could charge a buck for the finished app to get back the developer fee...
Paul
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In lugnet.cad, Paul Sinasohn wrote:
> In lugnet.cad, Travis Cobbs wrote:
> > However, publishing such an app would require somebody to spend $100 per year on
> > an iOS developer account, and I'm not personally willing to do that.
> >
> > --Travis Cobbs
>
> I'd be willing to front the iOS developer fee in partnership with someone, but I
> really don't want to have to learn how to program...
>
> Anyone interested?
>
> We could charge a buck for the finished app to get back the developer fee...
I'd be interested, but I should warn you that I'm unsure about the ability of an
LDraw viewer to sell 145 copies at $.99 each, which is how many would have to
sell to recoup the $100. (If I was highly confident of the market, I'd do it
all myself.) Also, I would likely need artwork help from someone. My
understanding is that the app approval process could fail if the artwork is too
bad, and I'm definitely no artist.
--Travis Cobbs
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In lugnet.cad, Travis Cobbs wrote:
| |
LDraw viewer to sell 145 copies at $.99 each, which is how many would have to
sell to recoup the $100.
|
Okay, explain to me (in layman terms) what you are talking about here. If it is
anything remotely related to ldraw and LEGO, hell, I’d pay the .99 to support
the effort!
JOHN
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In lugnet.cad, John Neal wrote:
| |
In lugnet.cad, Travis Cobbs wrote:
| |
LDraw viewer to sell 145 copies at $.99 each, which is how many would have
to sell to recoup the $100.
|
Okay, explain to me (in layman terms) what you are talking about here. If it
is anything remotely related to ldraw and LEGO, hell, I’d pay the .99 to
support the effort!
|
It would be an LDraw viewer for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. If I wrote it, it would
be based on LDView (and presumably be called LDView), but would have a
simplified UI appropriate to the iOS touch interface. It would be available on
the Apple App Store.
--Travis
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In lugnet.cad, Travis Cobbs wrote:
| |
In lugnet.cad, John Neal wrote:
| |
In lugnet.cad, Travis Cobbs wrote:
| |
LDraw viewer to sell 145 copies at $.99 each, which is how many would have
to sell to recoup the $100.
|
Okay, explain to me (in layman terms) what you are talking about here. If it
is anything remotely related to ldraw and LEGO, hell, I’d pay the .99 to
support the effort!
|
It would be an LDraw viewer for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. If I wrote it, it
would be based on LDView (and presumably be called LDView), but would have a
simplified UI appropriate to the iOS touch interface. It would be available
on the Apple App Store.
--Travis
|
Could you team up with Ace Kim from fbtb.net who has already created an app?
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bricking-news/id398355004?mt=8
That would save the $100 cost, sell for $.99 or even $1.99?
Just a thought.
I’d buy one.
Chris Eyerly
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In lugnet.cad, Chris Eyerly wrote:
Thanks for the suggestion. The answer would depend on two things:
- Whether or not Ace and I could come to an agreement.
- Whether or not Ace has a company. Joint iOS development requires proving to Apple that there is an actual company involved. Otherwise, only one person can do development.
--Travis
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
In lugnet.cad, Travis Cobbs wrote:
> However, publishing such an app would require somebody to spend $100 per year on
> an iOS developer account, and I'm not personally willing to do that.
A friend of mine has written just three super cheesy apps and has more than
re-cooped the fee. Might be worth it.
Scott W.
| | | | | | |
