how to: test app with static library on device

mixer555 · 02-07-2010, 04:31 PM

Holla, guys!
Got coded application, based on three20 static library, and now it's time for testing it on a device.
So i got question: when i build it for device-release i've got two files: libThree20.a and sample.app. How can i transfer them to iphone? Usually i've done this with itunes, when i got only app file, so what to do with this static library?

btw i use jailbroken phone.

dljeffery · 02-07-2010, 05:50 PM

Your static library should be packaged into your .ipa file. Either hook it up and build/run on the device from Xcode, or make an Ad Hoc build and drop it into iTunes and sync.

Out of curiosity, how do you know you're done coding if you haven't tested it on a real device yet? I started testing both of my apps on my iPhone when they were at most 20% "done". On my released app, I started using it heavily on my iPhone (for real work, not just some test passes) when it was around 50% done. Once I got to that point, I quickly realized I had to rethink a lot of things. My buttons were too small and too close together (although on the Simulator, with its larger screen and with a tiny mouse pointer, they were totally usable). My table cells needed to be resized to become usable too. I had to change how I was using my photo thumbnails and UIImageViews, simply because they took too long to load into my detail view plus the OS would kill my app when I did certain things simply because memory on a real iPhone is extremely limited. All this stuff seemed totally fine on the Simulator... and almost always will, because even the wimpiest Mac is way faster than an iPhone, and will never hit any memory issues either. Plus a little testing on the Simulator just doesn't compare to walking around and using an app on your iPhone for real work (or real game play, or whatever)... once you start doing that, you will actually start to see your app through the eyes of a user, not just a developer/tester.

I would also recommend that you give friends ad hoc builds as well (as early on in the development process as you can convince them to try it out), and pass your iPhone around to people and let them try out the app as often as you can.

fbronner · 02-07-2010, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dljeffery

Your static library should be packaged into your .ipa file. Either hook it up and build/run on the device from Xcode, or make an Ad Hoc build and drop it into iTunes and sync.

Out of curiosity, how do you know you're done coding if you haven't tested it on a real device yet? I started testing both of my apps on my iPhone when they were at most 20% "done". On my released app, I started using it heavily on my iPhone (for real work, not just some test passes) when it was around 50% done. Once I got to that point, I quickly realized I had to rethink a lot of things. My buttons were too small and too close together (although on the Simulator, with its larger screen and with a tiny mouse pointer, they were totally usable). My table cells needed to be resized to become usable too. I had to change how I was using my photo thumbnails and UIImageViews, simply because they took too long to load into my detail view plus the OS would kill my app when I did certain things simply because memory on a real iPhone is extremely limited. All this stuff seemed totally fine on the Simulator... and almost always will, because even the wimpiest Mac is way faster than an iPhone, and will never hit any memory issues either. Plus a little testing on the Simulator just doesn't compare to walking around and using an app on your iPhone for real work (or real game play, or whatever)... once you start doing that, you will actually start to see your app through the eyes of a user, not just a developer/tester.

I would also recommend that you give friends ad hoc builds as well (as early on in the development process as you can convince them to try it out), and pass your iPhone around to people and let them try out the app as often as you can.

It may or may not work, he did say he had a jailbroken device. He may not have a licence from Apple to encode the program and create an ad-hoc.

mixer555 · 02-08-2010, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fbronner

It may or may not work, he did say he had a jailbroken device. He may not have a licence from Apple to encode the program and create an ad-hoc.

yep, you're right, i don't have licence.
usually i just drag'n'dropped app file from my build directory to itunes and that worked with application without static libs.
can you clarify how to create Ad Hoc build without licence? or how to package lib and app to ipa?

fbronner · 02-08-2010, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mixer555

yep, you're right, i don't have licence.
usually i just drag'n'dropped app file from my build directory to itunes and that worked with application without static libs.
can you clarify how to create Ad Hoc build without licence? or how to package lib and app to ipa?

I wouldn't know.

I have a licence.