Anyone have any current/planned projects on compiling Android and iOS
apps from Racket?
Details...
I'm interested for two reasons right now.
The practical way for most purposes today *should* be to do HTML5
offline apps, which (as standard HTML5 apps) should run on all
smartphones, tablets, and desktops. I have done this in conjunction
with Racket on the server, and Racket also generating much of the HTML
and JS. This is either in a standard HTML5 offline app way that is
sandboxed and also bypasses the official app store, or packaged as a
platform-specific app with PhoneGap. However, the biggest complication
with real HTML5 apps is that Apple seems to be doing its best to drag
its feet and/or break HTML5 apps whenever it can. (It's almost as if
Apple actually wants to keep developers captive to their infamously
heavy-handed app store policies and competition-killing maneuvers. I
know, I know, I find that as difficult to believe as you do. It's a
head-scratcher, for sure.)
When iOS is the most lucrative app platform, and it looks like you're
vulnerable to a competitor coming in *after* your first-mover advantage,
and taking away your app's iOS market share by virtue of their app not
being crippled by Apple like yours is, this is a problem.
Separately -- and this is more an issue because of the above handicap --
there's also the nagging issue of sometimes wanting to hide
closed-source "secret sauce" code to some extent from lazy
app-counterfeiters, without moving it to the server and requiring the
device to be online and phone-home with user's private data. A high
degree of obfuscation would help.
So, as an alternative for smartphone/tablet apps, to keep handy as a
backup to HTML5, I'm interested again in the idea of compiling Racket to
native iOS and Android apps. Typical polished commercial-grade apps, so
pedagogic graphics worlds alone usually aren't enough.
Neil V.
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