XIBO FOR APPLE IPAD / IOS?

Hi,

Sorry but we don't support iOS at the moment - there is a commercial Android client, but nothing for Apple. We may choose to engineer one in the future, but demand was fairly low due to the expense of the hardware.

Thanks,
Dan

Hi Dan, thanks for the answer.

One question:

What would I need, if I venture to develop myself a XIBO PLAYER for iPad / iOS? Some authorisations from you guys, tools, environment, etc?

In my humble view:
- Xcode to create the app itself, and some protocols to interface with Xibo Server (which is already running on XAMPP).
- Would it be that hard to create this player? I have some programming experience.

I think the community would greatly benefit from having Xibo Player running on those nice, reliable and somewhat outdated iPad 1, iPad 2, iPod Touchs, most of them with 720p or 1080p display capability. They are still around and are cheap!

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks again in advance!

You'd be very welcome to develop a player!

The player would need to understand XMDS (the CMS SOAP web service) and the XLF (xibo layout format).

It sounds simple, but you should plan for 3 to 6 months development for a stable revision. I would also recommend developing against the 1.7 XMDS specification.

The downside is we would have limited time to help and support you with the task as we have a lot of other things we want to focus on with Xibo.

A iOS release would be nice. Personally think most of the demand is on Android / Windows systems. I have developed multiple iOS apps and integrating both needed systems into the app would be difficult. The timeline I would foresee is about 6-8 months, if schedule is pushed.

Other question is would the iOS be a commercial application like the Xibo for Android with community support, or self-funded.

The older iOS devices ( iPad 1,2, Touch, etc ) are cheaper now, but you have to keep developing within iOS for the newer release, with some only supported on newer devices. Which in turn drives price back up to the newer devices.

An iOS application sounds like a great idea, and will keep my mind wrapped around the idea to see what I could come up with. wagnercs i would you like to help you on the project.

If there is a demand for it, and people could use it - I am up for the challenge. :-)

Whether it is something that you want to do commercially, or open source-ly, we'd be happy to be kept in the loop. The XMDS and Layout XLF spec will be having some changes implemented over the next 3 to 6 months - but nothing that wouldn't be easy to keep ahead of.

If you have some serious plans please keep <email address hidden> in the loop.

Hello Ryan & Dan,

Many thanks for the interest and support. It is just I can't imagine such a great system as Xibo with no presence in the iOS world. This would be terrific, and would drag attention from many users, as well as providing a new and reliable infrastructure, and giving all those legacy products a new run. Please note that all iOS products (no exception as far as I can remember) have enough specs to perform as good Xibo clients.

I'll do this. We here will be studying XMDS and Layout XLF specs, to learn about the efforts (we are considering 6 months, but let's see), and will keep you posted. This forum will be our main point of contact for now. If we need assistance, will ask for you guys indeed. But will do our best to not disturb you if not necessary.

Ryan, the main idea is to start self-funded, and depending on the demand, and to enable a supporting environment, turn it to commercial, since as you said yourself, keeping Xibo running on all new iOS version would not be that easy. But for now, self-funded.

Thanks again for the great welcome and support. Will keep you posted.

I recommend that anything you do is for 1.7 series, the manual for which is currently here: http://xibo.org.uk/manual-tuttle/

I need to write in some sections on XMDS and the XLF specification - for now, the best documentation is the existing clients and the WSDL.