Update: there is not yet tooling support for AIR 2.7 but it will be coming soon. Until then you can compile via the command line.
I know you’ve been hearing a lot about AIR 2.7 lately, particularly surrounding the increased performance on iOS. Well I’m happy to report that it is now available for everyone to use. I will be doing a short tutorial tonight explaining how to get it setup. Until then, check out this video from Renaun showing the improved iOS performance.
Great news, been waiting for this
However, this seem like a fairly serious limitation…
“Loader.loadBytes fails on iOS. (2876657)”
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/906/cpsid_90612.html#main_AIR_2_7_0_1948_
Great news!! The motion looks like more natural in that example.
Geee… how can you not love adobe..
@Mike this is because all swfs need to be recompiled into an ObjC code. If you want to use SWFs (you need to compile it to SWCs) check out that blog post by Tom Krcha: http://www.flashrealtime.com/compiling-big-air-swf-to-ios/
@Michal Wroblewski – I’m loading images with loader.loadBytes, but the note on the bug doesn’t specify if it’s just an issue when loading SWF content that executes code or not. Not had chance to try it on device yet, hopefully it will work ok
Is there an update for Flash CS5.5 and the iOS packager that can be downloaded?
There is a workaround to publish iOS apps with 2.7 and Flash Pro CS5.5.
1) Download the 2.7 SDK.
2) Then navigate to the AIR2.6 folder under the Flash Professional CS5.5 install folder.
3) Rename the existing folder so you can revert.
4) Create a new folder with the ‘AIR2.6′ name.
5) Copy the 2.7 sdk contents to the folder.
6) When you publish you’ll be using the new version.
1+ for AIR 2.7 in Flash CS5.5!!
Does anyone know which ios devices are supported by Air 2.7?
For example: can we build apps for ipod touch 2nd and 3rd generation?
I can’t seem to find info about this….
i love that you can finally move the runtime to SD-Card now on Android!
cheers,
Sebastian
I’d like to see an example of the setup for Flash Pro 5.5 too. Following Ben’s instructions I don’t see any performance boost against 2.6. Hopefully I’m doing something wrong.
Can I develop iOS application using Flash Builder 4.5 & Flex 4.5 (Flex Mobil Project) template to take advantage of IDE then package the application later using command line or any other tools?
Great news!
Hopping that future releases for android air also have a 4X bust!
Cheers!
I’m not sure if this causes problems anywhere… but it allows me to have 2.6 still in the dropdown.
1. Download AIR 2.7 SDK
2. Unzip, etc. Rename to AIR2.7
3. Copy/Move to Flash Pro install folder (alongside AIR2.6)
4. Go to /Common/Configuration/Players/
5. Make a copy of AdobeAIR2_6.xml and rename to AdobeAIR2_7.xml
6. Find & Replace all 2.6 to 2.7, 2_6 to 2_7
7. Go to /AIR2.7/frameworks/libs/air/
8. Copy airglobal.swc
9. Go to /Common/Configuration/Actionscript 3.0
10. Make a new folder, AIR2.7
11. Paste the airglobal.swc into this folder
Open Flash, Air docs should default to Air 2.7. It targets the AIR2.7 SDK folder in the main, try renaming that folder and then publish, should throw an error.
However i’m not sure about the other values in the XML, between 2.5 and 2.6, there are minimal changes so i assume the same for 2.7.
Let me know.
Hm. The xmlns still points to 2.6, the UI doesn’t use the template within the AIR2.7 SDK… any ideas?
I’ve recently gotten into working with AIR for mobile development so I’m pretty new to all this. So here’s my quick question: is that scrollable list in the video some sort of component?
I built my own scrollable list for flicking and all that but that scrollable list looks a lot neater than mine.
Thanks in advance!
I’m up and running in FDT.
Pretty complex Box2D game I’m developing, and it runs better on my iPad2 than on my old Powerbook. Well done Adobe, now I’m proper excited about Flash again.
With Molehill, this, Unity3D exporter, you guys are on fire.
Keep up the great work!
Wow,
The animation rendered much more quickly in 2.7
I’m looking forward to the future of flash!
Good news: the “Loader.loadBytes fails on iOS” issue doesn’t seem to affect loading images, seems like it’s probably only SWFs (that contain code) that are affected, as in 2.6
When can we expect an update for Flash CS5.5? The hacks are fine but not for everyone.
Ya we can’t embed swf’s in any form and retain the actionscript, since all swf’s need to be cross compiled.
If you just need the assets you can package them as a SWC, or even use meta data [Embed] to grab symbols from the swf.
Great tutorial as always!
I’ve been comparing spritesheet animations performance on Android lately and Flash/AIR had some pretty nice results (over-performing Corona a lot..) . You can check it out: http://blog.krozalski.com/?p=1
Why no more linux support. First the death of Flex Builder, now Air. A sad sad day indeed.
Has anybody else had a massive dip in performance when rendering on the gpu for ios.
I have been waiting for air 2.7 because of the performance gains but the
gpu rendering seems to be a lot worse than 2.6.
So what’s the difference between what the PFI (Packager For iPhone) did versus AIR for iOS since they both seem to compile to native byte code? Is there any chance of being able to use AIR for iOS the same way as AIR for Android where you can sub-load in swf’s?
Looks like i got to upgrade my CS5 to 5.5 now then
Nice post, thanks Lee.
Ditto the request for word on when we can build for iOS via AIR 2.7 with CS5.5. Flash is my first love. I’d hate to be tempted away.
I was able to get my Flash CS5 working with AIR 2.7 SDK via command line compiling, but the problem now is I have an iPod touch 2nd gen, so when I sync the file from itunes, I can’t install the app because it’s not compatible. If I pub using the AIR 2.7 SDK, and submit an app to the app store will Apple ding me for not supporting “older” generations of ipod/iphone?
If I use the PFI, I can still install on my 2nd gen ipod touch, but of course I don’t get the benefits of the AIR 2.7 SDK. What is the oldest generation the AIR 2.7 SDK will be compatible with?
Thanks.
BTW, saw you at SDFUG. Great talk.
just read this in the system req’s for AIR:
iOS devices
—————
iPod Touch 4th generation, iPhone 3GS or 4, iPad
OS 4 or later
http://www.adobe.com/products/air/systemreqs/
Same question as Jesse! Is that a flex component he is using to do the scrolling. In my flash CS5.5 app im using a scrollpane and I have to use the scroll bar to get it to scroll.
Gotta love performance boosts! I’ll be using Air for porting some of my flash games over to Android devices, so it’s great to see Adobe adding more performance increases in unison with faster CPU’s in smart phones.