Appists!
Here's the latest news from Simulatorland...
*New Stable Release*
Last month we shipped a new stable release of the Simulator with more
up-to-date versions of B2G/Gaia and a variety of bug fixes I have
previously described, including a vastly improved app install/update
process. The release is available at addons.mozilla.org
<https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firefox-os-simulator/>.
*Latest Preview Release*
Yesterday we also released a preview of the next version of the
Simulator with even newer versions of B2G/Gaia, more bug fixes, and the
initial implementations of several new features.
Read on for descriptions of the features, and get the latest preview
release for Windows, Mac, and Linux!
*Rotation Simulation*
Recently, Luca Greco <https://github.com/rpl> landed a Rotation
Simulation. Pressing the new "rotate" button on the Simulator toolbar
now simulates rotation of the device by 90º, so you can test the effect
of an orientation change on your app.
In addition to simulating rotation, Luca's change also fixed one of the
Simulator's most longstanding problems, issue #7
<https://github.com/mozilla/r2d2b2g/issues/7>, and it now reports the
correct screen resolution to apps!
Note that the "rotate" button is disabled when the active app has locked
the orientation, f.e. on the homescreen.
*Geolocation Simulation*
In the latest preview, Nick Desaulniers
<https://github.com/nickdesaulniers> landed a Geolocation Simulation
based on code provided by Kan-ru Chen <https://github.com/kanru>. When
an app requests the geolocation, the Simulator now retrieves the current
geolocation and provides it to the app.
Coming soon: an enhancement that lets you specify the geolocation to
provide!
*Push To Device*
Over the last few weeks, I added a Push To Device feature based on code
from the b2gremote addon <https://github.com/fabricedesre/b2gremote>
written by Fabrice Desré <https://github.com/fabricedesre>. When you
connect a device to your computer, the Dashboard now reveals a "push"
button for each app that installs the app on the device.
Caveats: you must enable "remote debugging" on your device via /Settings
> Device information > More Information > Developer > Remote
debugging/; and you must configure your computer as described on
Android's Using Hardware Devices
<http://developer.android.com/tools/device.html>.
I also recommend updating the software on your device to the latest
available version to obtain various fixes that support the feature. In
particular, the fix for bug 842725
<https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=842725>, which affects
pushing packaged apps to a device, landed yesterday on the b2g18 branch
and is first available in today's nightly builds.
*Manifest Validator*
In the latest preview, Luca also landed a Manifest Validator that the
Dashboard uses to validate the manifest of an app you add to it and
report any errors or warnings it detects, including problems that
prevent the addon from installing the app on the Simulator, usage of
APIs that the Simulator doesn't yet simulate, and missing properties
that are required by the Marketplace or devices.
To use it, just add an app to the Dashboard (or press the "update"
button for an existing app). The validator will run automatically and
report its results!
*Apps Show & Tell*
We no longer hold weekly status meetings, as email, IRC, and other
lower-touch communications channels have proved sufficient for
disseminating project status. But we do demo new features in the weekly
Apps Show & Tell <https://wiki.mozilla.org/Apps/ShowAndTells>!
Attend those events to see the latest and greatest, including features I
described above; plus new and cool developments in Marketplace, the
Android runtime, and other Apps projects.
Show & Tells take place Fridays starting at noon PT (20:00 UTC tomorrow,
March 8; then 19:00 UTC starting March 15 due to US Daylight Saving
Time) in the Mozilla Apps vroom
<https://wiki.mozilla.org/Apps/ShowAndTells>.
-myk
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