Xojo Android first impression

[ivan]

New proyect, add a button, add a MessageBox object Single line of code and clicked run…

A dialog to open a folder pops out… WTF? Open what? The IDE should at least tell me what is the problem and what it needs.

Ok, not so RAD anymore, no click and run, waste some time on the docs and xojo needs the full Android studio

It could just offer a download with the SDK and android build tools but… Ok, lets install a whole other application development tool besides xojo…

Ok, downloaded and installed the 1+ Gb of Android studio, open it and just then, it downloads the actual SDK And emulator …

Done, opened xojo again, same steps, click run… several minutes go by just for xojo to tell me it had a compiler error. Restart, launch again, same error.

Launch again, this time just a button with no code, this time xojo launches the Android studio emulator instead using the already running Genymotion one . Harcode the use of an emulator instead of using the standard Android Debug Bridge is not a good sign. Fun fact, support for Genymotion was sugested SIX YEARS AGO… 45688 - Android : please don't use only the simulator from the Android SDK - General - Xojo Programming Forum This days the Android emulator has many more features but flexibility is a plus.

10 minutes and xojo was frozen, kill the emulator, xojo responded …

Try again, this time started the emulator before running the app, click run, and WTF???

Xojo cant run the emulator but if I oppen the emulator first xojo can run alogside Android studio?..

Close all Android studio related… Same Error

Close Genymotion?? (no way that can be) Yes, Xojo sees Genymotion as Android Studio

(close genymotion and B4A) And xojo FINALLY runs the app in the emulator…

Created a simple container, put an integter property ad it to the inspector behavior bit it is NOT shown in the inspector…

Fisrt impression:

• The experience is very Messy

• The many error messages are not helpful

• No controlsets

• Custom controls with containers not working?
  …

• If after so many years of testing, something so basic as the MessageBox class, causes a compiler error , is hard to thing that the rest of the platform is in better shape…

[npalardy]

I reported a pile of “Android compile errors” during betas
I truly haven’t looked to see which, if any, got fixed

The only way I can describe it is “fragile”

Some kotlin differences leak out into how you have to write your code

The debug process is … troublesome

And if I have to install Android studio why wouldn’t I just use that ?

[TomasJ]

It is possible you may run into an error message that you’ve encountered an internal Android compilation error- if you do, just follow the instructions and create an Issue with your project attached. We’ll do our best to help you workaround the issue and get it fixed in a future release.

We’ll drop the “Beta” label on Android support once we feel this heads-up is no longer necessary for most users.

taken from Xojo Blog:

What does Beta mean for Android in 2023r2? – Xojo Programming Blog

[Torsten_B]

Be our beta tester - and pay for it!

[thorstenstueker]

Man. It is so beta that you can’t develop for tablets and you have nearly no controls, not a bit of the ones you have in Android Studio. That is … I have no words…let’s say shaming.

[npalardy]

Oh but “third party opportunity here” !

Android (Design) Extensions – Get more out of your projects – Xojo...

The really should just hire Martin
They need the extra hands

[Torsten_B]

@npalardy

The really should just hire Martin
They need the extra hands

They need more paying beta testers for being able to do so.

Btw., the technical writer job is still open. No one brave enough to co-write with Genius?

[ivan]

@Torsten_B

They need more paying beta tester

It is ridiculous. I wrote A SIGLE LINE of code and caused a compiler error.

How bad the testers and QA must be to never used one of the most basic UI, a message box?

[npalardy]

I think you had some typos so I fixed them

They need more paying beta testers for being able to do so.

Btw., the technical writer job is still open. No one brave enough to co-write with Genius?

Same guy that asked for this ?

Seriously they need a writer that is also a fairly sophisticated user able to explain things to beginners & experienced users alike
They cant afford me any more

[Jeannot]

I draw a summary of your first impression via an AI picture generator:

[TomasJ]

Dantes’ Inferno

[thorstenstueker]

Reminds me to a bible story with Lot and his salty wife…salty Android…possibly?
:=)

[bkeeney]

@npalardy

The really should just hire Martin

Martin did some work for me a few years back. I think he’s a fantastic Xojo developer. I think he could do some great work for them.

[Jeannot]

@bkeeney

some great work for them

like re-designing mobile from scratch?

[npalardy]

lets just say its NOT a good first impression

the debugger may stop - usually highlighting lines of code you dont have any code on
or not

I have a method that I’m trying to debug that has about a dozen break points in it
the debugger NEVER stops at any of it
but I can see it HAS executed as I’ve stuffed it full of debug log statements

but so many things just do not work as expected its NO fun whatsoever

[Jeannot]

@npalardy

I have a method that I’m trying to debug that has about a dozen break points in it
the debugger NEVER stops at any of it

don’t forget that the “R” stands for “rapid” in RA-Development!

[bkeeney]

I’m sure there are some people are happy with the release. But, the fact it’s missing basic functionality and has some serious limitations (not to mention bugs) means that the first impression isn’t what it can do but it can not do.

Many years ago I passed on the opportunity to purchase a VB6 to RB (at the time) conversion utility. What convinced me to not buy it was a friend helping me evaluate it saying: It’s not what it does well but what it doesn’t do well that people will remember it by. And every time they look at they’ll remember that utility that didn’t do what they needed.

I think iOS, Web2, and now Android falls into this category.

[Jeannot]

If I try to be fair and put on my rose-colored glasses: when the Inc thought about iOS there was no Swift yet, when they were planning Web1 JavaScript was still a big crap, TypeScript hadn’t been invented yet, etc. Then the Greens tried the adventure, but time was against them and new technologies overtook them by far.

But different rules apply to Android and Web2, where the company ran blindly and with a know-it-all attitude into their misery. My sympathy is limited because everyone has warned them.

[npalardy]

Lets just say that its pretty clear Android was MEANT to be “ambitious”
And given more time testing some basically functionality that people will definitely EXPECT probably would have been a good move
If its “supposed to work just like (iOS/desktop/web)” then dammit make sure it does

They could do themselves a HUGE favour and do really rapid “updates” JUST for Android in between now & whenever the next major release ships
Like an ACTUAL Public Beta with builds every week addressing Android issues (nothing else)

Then in 90 - 120 days release a new major version with fixes for other targets as well
Otherwise “show stoppers” for Android turn into literal “show stoppers” and any momentum they might hav had through the betas comes to a halt while people wait for fixes

[BillG]

Watching Xojo continue to go in directions that aren’t what I need or want, I think about how Steve Jobs was really good at cutting products that weren’t going to work, no matter how much time/money they’d spent. He was maybe too harsh about it to the people who were working on it, but if it was going to suck, it was gone and they could focus on making other things great. I really wish Xojo had someone to do that.