SDK

SAP Cloud Platform SDK for iOS now available to developers

Apple said yesterday that a software-development kit (SDK) for SAP Cloud Platform development is now available to iOS developers. Announced in May 2016, the Apple-SAP partnership aims to help reinvent business processes and workflows. The SDK lets developers build native iOS apps in Swift, Apple’s modern programming language, and integrate them with SAP's Cloud Platform.

For the uninitiated, SAP is a German business software maker that writes enterprise software for managing business operations and customer relations.

Facebook SDK for Swift beta now available to iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS developers

This past weekend, the social networking giant Facebook announced that a beta version of its brand new software development kit (SDK) for Apple's Swift programming language is available for download. The new SDK integrates Facebook buttons into iOS, watchOS, macOS and tvOS apps written in Swift, and integrates such features like Facebook Login, Analytics for Apps, Graph API and Share to Facebook sheets. The Facebook SDK source code is available via GitHub on an open-source basis.

Apple TV apps can now implement Facebook Login and sharing features

If you own Apple's fourth-generation Apple TV, you have probably noticed that apps and games for the set-top box currently lack common social features such as Facebook Login and sharing.

But that's about to change soon as Facebook earlier this week announced immediate availability of the first beta of its Facebook SDK for tvOS, which gives developers the means to build immersive social experiences on tvOS.

Apple confirms native apps with direct access to Apple Watch sensors arriving this fall

In announcing WatchKit and an accompanying SDK for developing apps for the Apple Watch, the Cupertino firm originally said in a November 2014 press release that “starting later next year, developers will be able to create fully native apps” for the wrist-worn device.

As Apple's op-chief Jeff Williams joined journalists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher on stage at Recode Conference earlier this morning, we got our official confirmation that native watch apps are indeed arriving this fall.

Broadcom releases SDK with support for Apple’s home automation HomeKit platform

Chip maker Broadcom, which supplies Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips for Apple products, on Tuesday announced a software development kit that supports HomeKit, Apple’s home automation platform supported across iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 8.

The announcement is the strongest indication yet that Apple has granted full HomeKit certification to Broadcom's hardware developer platform. It ensures that upcoming Internet of Things (IoT) home automation devices will be able to seamlessly connect with the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Apple Watch resolutions and other interesting tidbits disclosed in developer tools

Apple has left many questions unanswered regarding its upcoming smartwatch following its September unveiling. Representing a brand new form factor for iOS, the fashionable wrist-worn accessory sports a Retina panel which Apple bills as an "incredibly high pixel density" screen laminated to a machined and polished single crystal of sapphire (strengthened Ion-X glass on the Sport collection).

With today's release of the official Apple Watch software development kit (SDK), watchful third-party developers have scanned the files in search of interesting tidbits and discovered references to pixel resolutions for both the 38mm and 42mm high Apple Watches, in addition to other previously unknown details worth mentioning.

Microsoft launches iOS developer tools for deep integration with Office 365 features and services

Tuesday, Windows giant Microsoft announced that mobile developers can start building better apps by taking advantage of a brand new Office 365 mobile software development kit (SDK) for native app development and a set of Application Programming Interfaces (API) for mail, calendar, contacts and files. The tools debuted at the company's TechEd Europe 2014 conference.

The move aligns with the Microsoft Open Technologies initiative. The iOS SDK for Xcode supports Objective-C, with Swift support “coming soon”, wrote the team.

More on the SDK, which is currently in preview, is available via Microsoft's Office Dev Center. The Office 365 SDK for iOS can be grabbed through GitHub and the Getting Started with iOS page has details on how to get started with the iOS SDK.

Another claimed iPhone 6 resolution emerges: 1,472-by-828 pixels at 16:9 ratio

Back in May, code strings discovered in a beta of the iOS 8 software development kit (SDK) suggested that one of the upcoming iPhone 6 models has a screen resolution of 1,704-by-960 pixels, indicating a pixel density of 416 pixels per inch (ppi).

This, in turn, would be more than comfortably above Apple’s self-imposed Retina requirement of 300ppi.

A reference to a larger 1,472-by-828 resolution has now been spotted in a file added in Xcode 6 beta 5.

This assumed resolution on a 4.7-inch device would yield Retina-class 360ppi, or 307ppi on a larger 5.5-inch panel...

iOS 8 supports third-party keyboards

Yes! I was just talking about this in my Samsung Galaxy S5 vs iPhone 5s post, and it's actually here. As I type this with tears on my keyboard, it's almost hard to believe that Apple has opened up its SDK with the ability to use third party keyboards.

This means that you will be able to use third party keyboards like Swype for faster more sensible input for touch screens...

Apple announces all-new SDK for developers

Apple chief executive Tim Cook was on stage at the WWDC keynote today to announce a brand new SDK, or software development kit, for iOS developers. Cook described the new SDK as the biggest release since the launch of the App Store. It contains several new features for iOS that developers can take advantage of, including 4000 new APIs and an app communication framework called Extensibility… 

Google announces Android SDK for wearables releasing in two weeks

After becoming the world's top mobile operating system for smartphones and tablets, Google's Android software wants to become the leading platform for wearable devices.

CNET's Daniel Terdiman, reporting from the SXSW conference, has just tweeted that Google's Sundar Pichai confirmed that the Internet giant will be releasing its own Android software development kit (SDK) for wearable devices in the next two weeks.

The move indicates the search company's interest in the emerging wearable devices market, which has not exploded yet but is being closely watched in part due to Apple's rumored iWatch wearable project. Google itself is thought to be working on a smartwatch of its own...