iPhone App project

The project is work in progress!

As I mentioned that I had been working on iPhone App since the end of September, it is still work in progress.   Some people are aware of some posts in my Japanese site.

Since I am focusing on Japanese version first, I did not post a lot in this site.

iPhone APP I am targeting

The APP I am targeting is a tool to organize all information related this blog into an APP.
Since blog is just posting articles and it is not really organized well.  There is a tag for each article, but it is not really enough to find out some information from the past posts.

A good example is recipe.  I also sometime looked for a recipe I posted.  However it is not really easy to find out.   Actually, it is not very hard when I am using PC.  However, it is very hard to find out on a smart phone.  Since there is no category listing side menu on a mobile site.
I have to go to a regular PC site and adjust the display size to find a post.

It is inconvenient when I cook something in a kitchen.  It would be nice to see it on a smart phone other than PC.

There are some similar information from my posts.

Web site is one of solutions

Build a web site is one of solution to organize the information.  So originally, I was thinking to have a web site to organize some useful information from the posts.   However, I realized that it is much more convenient if I can access such information from my smart phone.
In this case, a web site won't be the best solution since it is probably not really optimized for smart phone such as display size and basic operation.

All major services provide a dedicated APP for the best user experience.

On-going project is "Let's GO!"

So I called my project "Let's GO".  "GO" means "Group Organizer".
The app will integrate "News" feature which is something like "mail magazine".  Instead of sending a lot emails to subscribers, I post into "cloud (internet)" to share the news which includes a summary of new articles, events information, timely information such as Mt. Whitney lottery.

Also, I will integrate a reservation feature for one-on-one session with people who are interested in information I am sharing.  For a real time communication, a messenger / chat feature is also included.

Then, all useful information will be organized in a cloud database and provide the access from a smart phone.

The concept is a web data in a pocket.

Internationalization is one of time consuming effort

I really want to share the information world wide.  However majority of reader is still Japanese.  Therefore, I will focus on Japanese edition and try to support English for a long run.  Since internationalization effort on Smart phone APP is not small and I do not have time to do the both for now.   So I will try to release an APP in Japanese and try to add English menu / contents later.

iPhone APP development (4) ~ Test Flight

Beta Test issue ...

As I mentioned in the previous post, it might be hard to upload a test APP to a real iPhone from Xcode when a remote desktop solution is used.  Since it requires a physical connection from Mac to the target device for testing.

After searching the internet, there is a solution using "TestFlight" offered by Apple.  It is not a problem!
This is a scheme Apple offers for beta testing.  TestFlight was an independent company before, however Apple acquired and offers this service.

TestFlight

There are two category of testing, "Internal testing" and "External testing".  For internal testing, it does not require reviewing by AppStore.  It is up to 25 people / 30 devices and up to 90 days for testing.

The external testing, it is up to 10,000 people.  However it requires a review by AppStore.

Anyway, it is easy to run an App on a real device for testing.  I have not tried it yet, but I will try it and report it later.

The other thing is the guide line Apple defines for an App is higher expectation.  To meet the requirements, it is a little more work.

(To be continue)

iPhone APP development (3) ~ A sample APP

Xcode & iPhone Emulator

Tried a simple APP

As the first step, I tried to develop a simple iPhone APP on a remote desktop via a cloud service.

Here is the simple program I tried:

• A label it shows a title
• 2 buttons, one is to show a message "Hello World!", the other is clear the message.
• A text field to show the message

It is quite simple program.

The layout is pretty simple.  Just do "drag and drop" each "component".  Then just adjust locations, dimension, color and fonts.
Once layout is completed, then just write a simple program which is a response of clicking buttons.
Just open the layout and the swift program file next each other and clicking on a button to the source file, then the tool will generates a template.  Then just fill the template with a simple program.   (There are so many tutorial on the internet, I won't write how it works today.  But I will probably write overall process some time later).

As long as, people have some experience with Java, Javascript, Python and etc.  It won't be so difficult to write such a simple program in a few hours.

First impression of the cloud service

It is a little slow response, however it is not a big problem at all.  I think it is good enough this scale of program.  For a complicated program, it might be very smooth for each operation.....

Anyway, this service just USD $1 / hour, it is reasonable.   If people develop iPhone APP really seriously, it might be a good idea to buy a Mac.  It is probably good enough for most of cases.

A potential limitation is testing with a real iPhone.  I have not spent much time to see if there is any solutions.  But to use a real iPhone for testing, it requires to connect it through USB.  With the remote desktop, it might not possible.   However, it can be done with testing on an emulator and upload to the AppStore.

I will try a little complicate program.

It is probably easy to have your first app within a few days if people have some experience for programming.

iPhone APP development (2)~ Mac remote desktop service

Requires Mac!

First of all, to develop iPhone APP, it requires a development software.   One which is the most popular is "Xcode" from Apple.  It can be downloaded from Apple.  The problem is it only run on Mac.

Unfortunately I do not have Mac, therefore I might need to buy a Mac for this development.   I also search on the internet.  It seems that there is a software named "Xamarin".  It allows to develop an iPhone APP on Windows.   I am not sure but I also see some comments on the internet to say there is no iOS emulator on Windows, thus it requires a real iPhone for debugging the software.

I could search more about this solution, however, it is probably less issues to use "Xcode".   I decided to use "Xcode" for now.


Cloud service for Mac remote desktop!!

A good news is I found out a remote desktop service.  I will try it first before getting a "real Mac".  There are a several provider for the service.  But I picked "Macincloud" since there is a low cost plan which is hourly basis.  Only USD $1 / hour.

To start using the service, just sign-up on the site.  Then they sent an email with instructions.  After downloading a zip file, then just clicking a file with a right resolution.  Then a remote desktop window comes up.   Please note a user name / password for the remote desktop is different from the user name and password when I signed up.  I could not login since I was using a wrong user name and password.

It is a little slower than I expected, but overall it is not a big problem and I confirm "Xcode" is installed by default and it works.   I guess many people use this service for a similar purpose.

The next step is to write a simple program.

I plan to develop an iPhone APP!!

New "iPhone"(from Verizon Wireless Web site)

New Project!

Unfortunately, I have been busy for events for kids and there is not many things I can post here.  I have not updated this site for a while....  I probably want to start something new.

One of news recently is Apple announced a new "iPhone" a couple weeks ago.  I just think I might want to develop "iPhone APP".   The goal is probably to develop an APP for pace management in hiking based on heart rate.  The reason is I got many feedback from readers that it is probably too complicate to try the concept.  One of idea is to develop an app for Garmin devices.   The problem is that a very few people own a Garmin devices.   I have been wondering if there might be a better way to introduce the idea.  I guess "iPhone APP" is one of possibility to introduce it.

No experience .....

However a big problem for me is that I do not have any experience to develop any iPhone APP.   Therefore, I might need to start with a simple APP to understand the process of the development.  So that I will try to show how I develop an APP from scratch!!   I will share the progress in this blog!

Garmin Vivosmart 4 with pulse oximeter!

Garmin Vivosmart 4

I posted about Garmin fenix 5X Plus a few weeks ago.  I also found out that Vivosmart 4 was announced as well which has pulse oximeter function.  It seems that it will take a several weeks to get it based on information on Garmin web site.

The reason I am interested in this device is pulse oximeter function.  It seems that it is possible to measure SPO2 value during sleeping and  the price is USD $129.99 which is much lower than fenix 5 plus.  I saw some early reviews are posted on the internet.  However it is not very clear how often the device samples SPO2 value during sleeping.   I will try to get it and test it.

Garmin fenix 5X Plus ~ After some internet search ...

I mentioned I was interested in a new product from Garmin, which is fenix 5X Plus.  I did some search on the internet to look into review by some other people.

Here is the summary:
The pulse oximeter feature is supported in only "5X" model.  The other models are not supported.  I also found out Japanese edition does not support it at all. I am not sure why.....

The other things I found out is to look at SPO2 data on Garmin connect is not supported, either.  This product was announced some time the end of June this year.  It's been some time and it may supported now.  However, reports / reviews I checked mentioned it says the feature is not available.  I know Lactate threshold feature is not supported on the mobile application.  So I guess some special features which are supported a few specific model might not be supported.  This is probably in such category.  (Lactate threshold can be seen on the regular web site for Garmin Connect).

It also consumes a large power.  If people measure SPO2 value so often, then the total time to use the device with one charge would be shorter.  If people using this feature and GPS during hiking, the duration would be impact, especially this device also support embedded music player feature which also eats more power..... 
Based on a data I took from hiking on Mt. Whitney Trail a few weeks ago, the range SPO2 without  acclimatization is big.  Thus, it might be hard to find out a reasonable measured value if the sample size is small.  I think we probably need to sample more data to get average to evaluate the data in higher elevation without acclimatization.

Usage for Sleep apnea, it is also better to sample often to detect event of stopping breathing during sleeping.  For such purpose, it might be better to use a traditional pulse oximeter to collect data.

I concluded I would wait ./ watch how this feature would be supported.   For now, I have everything I need and I will continue to look into reviews by other people......