And I thought a Mac might make mobile app development easier!

Coffee Lounge
#1

I mistakenly assumed that, as most of the current mobile app development platforms appear to be developed on Linux/Unix platforms, a Mac may make things a little easier

Seems exactly the same issues are there on Mac as there were on Windows

So rather than do my normal “get on with it, google it to solve it” approach I thought it was time to reach to to all those Apple fans.

So I have got node and GIt installed OK
Android studio appears to be installed although I think the HAXM driver install failed.
I tried uninstalling Android studio to do a reinstall but even when I uninstall when I go to reinstall it seems to just fire up rather than start a fresh install?

Then there is good old JAVA, what a piece of **** the installers are on both Mac and Windows platforms, paths never seem to be set correctly

I have tried adding jdk 13 and jdk 8.22110

When I can get this sorted I can go on to gradle and Brew (never heard of that one)

Any help appreciated, this is your first test @Scott!

Setting up for App development
#2

Hi Brian,

The best way to install all the needed tooling is just to follow the cordova platform guides.

https://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/latest/guide/platforms/android/index.html

also note that you might need to restart Wappler after you have installed some of the tools, so it picks up the new environment variable changes.

but yes - Android is always pain to do no mater the platform.

#3

@Hyperbytes, I would do as George suggested.

With Mac, uninstalling is different that with Windows so if it is not reinstalling, but rather just firing up, that tells me it was not uninstalled.

#4

That would be the logic but I can find no reference to it anywhere since uninstall (usual drag app to trash)

#5

That is true. I have a program, CleanMyMac that notifies me if a program is not uninstalled properly by dragging it to the trash.

As far as the android studio, did the link George provided help with the installation? I have not installed it myself (at least as far as I know).

#6

No, still messing about trying to get paths set correctly, initial impression, once the Apple lady takes off her makeup she is pretty ugly underneath. Other than a pretty interface not seeing a lot difference to Linux at present.

Think i need to remove java runtime 13 and then reinstall with java sdk 8

#7

There is a learning/adaptation curve as with everything. But don’t lose faith :slight_smile:

You have got yourself a good machine.

#8

It’s going back in the box for the moment, i am seeing no extra value compared with my very capable Windows system with which I am very ahppy.

I never intended it to be my main machine and frankly don’t have the time to mess about with it when i have work piling up

Was hoping the mobile app development platform would be a but more streamlined, it’s no better than the windows environment, perhaps worse.

I will use it for the for the purpose for which it was purchased, advising customers of email setup etc and stick to a platform I am comfortable and competent with (am Microsoft Certified Professional)

2 Likes
#9

That is ok of course. Time is money and if you are more productive with Windows that is totally understandable.

#10

Managing tools deployment and frameworks is always messy on any platform so that is why new package manager are arising.

On Mac the most common used tool is Brew - with it you can easily install/update or remove any package you might need.

on Windows is also not easy as you might think when you go into the frameworks and tools world, so that is why there as well Chocolatey is arising.

So you might want to check those out. Very useful for managing tools outside of the official stores

#11

Ok I thought I would take a dive and go through the process of adding Android Studio to my Mac.

Note: I have OS Catalina

Here are the steps I took. I am going to go through it step by step because 1.) I am unfamiliar with mobile applications so I don’t want to miss a step and 2.) Help identify any bottlenecks that may help others.

  1. Went to https://developer.android.com/studio/index.html and downloaded the software
  2. Opened the downloaded dmg file.
  3. Dragged the green Android Studio App to Applications.
  4. Went to Launchpad and typed in Android to find the Android Studio.
  5. Opened the Studio to launch the launcher.
  6. Went through the installer, selecting all options 1.3 GB to install.
  7. Clicked ok the appropriate pop-ups.
  8. I did receive a pop-up that HAXM needed additional permissions, so I entered my Mac password to allow.
  9. Received a security pop-up, clicked opened Security & Privacy.
  10. Clicked that annoying lock icon and and entered my password, then clicked allow Intel Corporation
    Apps.
  11. Checked the Downloading Components screen for any errors and found none.
    Note: It did say Running Intel HAXM Installer, Silent Installation Pass towards the end.
  12. Clicked on Finish
  13. Received the Welcome to Android Studio screen with various options.
  14. Closed and restarted Wappler
  15. Closed my existing web project and started a new mobile project kitchen-sink
  16. Received a Wappler pop-up saying a system check needed to be completed, clicked yes.
  17. System check found Cordova was not installed.
  18. Entered Mac password to install (in the Wappler console)
  19. Cordova installed correctly.

At this point, @Hyperbytes, I’m not sure what else I would need to do. You mention Java in your original post, but I have not been prompted to install or update Java.

I should mention that it does not look like I even have Java installed on my Mac.

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Screen Shot 2019-10-11 at 7.54.49 AM.png1315×763 250 KB

Unless they have changed where it is located in Catalina. I did do a search and no results were found for Java.

1 Like
#12

@Hyperbytes this might help you install the HAXM as a standalone if it was not installed as part of the Android Studio, https://github.com/intel/haxm/wiki/Installation-Instructions-on-macOS just scroll down mid page.

#13

From looking at the link @George posted above, I see the first requirement for Cordova is to install the Java Development Kit. So I clicked on the link to go to that website and selected the first one with no samples and selected the Mac 64 bit download. After going through an annoying registration process, the download started.

As mentioned above, the installer installs JDK 8 Update 221. I went through the install process, entering my Mac password as required and the installation took 3 seconds to complete successfully.

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Screen Shot 2019-10-11 at 8.17.36 AM.png2568×1616 665 KB

Note: Correction to my post above, Java did appear in System Preferences after it was installed.

The only thing I can think of @Hyperbytes is that:

  1. Your new Mac may not be updated to the current software version. Granted you may not want to install Catalina as of yet, but there may be other software updates that need to be installed.

or

  1. It looks like you might have been trying to install from terminal or a command prompt. Maybe try installing from the download packages from the perspective software websites?
#14

Everything has been updated but have put off Catalina for the moment, have an inbuilt resistance to installing anything brand new until it has been tested a bit

Everything installed via .dmg packages

Installing java is easy but it has a bad habit of not setting paths correctly (does it on mac and windows)

Node, GIT and Cordova are installed correctly according to Wappler but when you actually add the android 8 platform the java errors emerge

Gave up for the moment after trying to get rid of Java SE 13 which seems to be causing some problems

Too much to do to waste time on this at the moment, back in the box till i have a some spare time

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Setting up for App development
#15

Removed to split into a new topic.

Mobile App - Platform Selection Missing
#16

Had no major issues with Catalina and I’ve done all my machines now. Does seem to be a little quicker than the old OS.