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Active Captain & iPad Aarghhhhhh

8K views 23 replies 10 participants last post by  JeffreySiegel 
#1 · (Edited)
don't know who to be more po'd at active captan for needing flash or apple for not supporting it on the pad. i guess the ipad is bigger more popular so I guess I feel as if active captan should try and come up with a fix. i can't be the only one wanting to surf ac on our pad?
 
#4 ·
Seems pretty stupid in this day and age that a device as popular as an iPad can't work on the many sites that use Adobe Flash and viceversa.
Flash power and CPU requirements are very excessive. But Flash is made by Adobe, so perhaps it is Adobe that doesn't support the iPad. In all likelihood a Flash app would drain the iPad's battery in about three hours. Were it available for the iPad or iPhone I wouldn't install it.
 
#6 ·
But Flash is made by Adobe, so perhaps it is Adobe that doesn't support the iPad.
Umm...nope. Flash for the iPad would be available tomorrow. Like I implied, I create Flash apps on my iPad all the time. There's a funny developer work-around that allows it. If you have an iPad, you've likely run Flash apps without knowing it.

Here's a good example - it was just released. There's a pretty well done app called "Conqu". It's free. It's a to-do list type of thing that uses the cloud. The day it was released for the iPad, it was released for Android. Double the user base with pretty much no change in the code (plus Windows, Mac, Linux, and Blackberry support too). What's the value of that? Would it be better to have fewer users but really great support for just one platform? For some apps, yeah. But for anything vertical like boating - gosh, no. The more users who access and contribute the better. ESPECIALLY if it's a crowdsourced app like ActiveCaptain. More users are better for all of us.

In all likelihood a Flash app would drain the iPad's battery in about three hours. Were it available for the iPad or iPhone I wouldn't install it.
Poorly written apps in Objective C drain the battery too. It's not Flash. It's how it's written and what hardware capabilities are needed. You can't believe everything you read.

I admit, I've met Steve Jobs. It was an outstanding experience and he's an amazing person. He's done incredible things for technology and I love Apple's products. My wife used to work for Apple and I'm the one in 1988 who got her interested in the company. But you can't just believe everything he says because there's a fair amount of hype and market position that he's trying to achieve. Flash/Adobe has gone head-to-head with what many believe Apple is trying to accomplish. That's why Apple comes out so strongly against it. The battery, CPU, and memory requirements have a glimmer of truth with a lot of hype. Every native Objective C chartplotter app for iOS I've seen is a much bigger resource hog than any Flash code I've ever run on iOS myself.

There are a lot of half-truths surrounding Apple and Flash.
 
#5 ·
Don't know who to be more ticked at Active Captain for needing Adobe Flash or Apple for not supporting it on the iPad.
There are other ways to look at that.

Flash is the most installed software on this planet. 99% of all desktop computers have it right now. If you think Windows dominates the computer world, it isn't even close when compared against Flash.

In addition to that, there are 3 million developers who are qualified and use Flash. Many of the developments are simple but some realized the advantage of creating larger applications like ActiveCaptain with it. The development of ActiveCaptain happened before there was anything called an iPhone and certainly long before there was anything called an iPad.

Today there is only one tablet type of device that doesn't run Flash - the Apple iPad. I have an iPad and I love it. But how come I can use the ActiveCaptain website on my Motorola Xoom Android pad directly in the browser? How is it that no one else is leaving out Flash except Apple?

There is no technical or performance reason. Sure, Flash code ends up running slower in payment for the device independence. I doubt I'll ever create a heart-lung machine with it. But when you want an app to be used across all platforms*, nothing really beats Flash today. (* all platforms except one)

There are multiple shipping iPhone/iPad apps that use ActiveCaptain offline. I'm working on my own too. My development is happening not because I want to see support on the iPad - that exists. It's because there's a whole new range of capabilities possible and the iPad is an important platform.

The new developments are written with ActionScript/Flash/AIR as well. Apple gave in with one concession in allowing Flash use through Adobe AIR. It's a bit esoteric and hard to totally understand unless you're in the middle of it. There are many shipping games in the Apple App Store that are really Flash-based right now. Many more are coming as a new 3D capability is being released in Flash.

For what it's worth, I'm not a gung-ho-crazy Flash developer. I like picking the right tool for the job. Sometimes that's C++, sometimes PHP, and sometimes Flash.

Bottom line - it's not worth getting ticked off at anyone. The solution is available in other ways for ActiveCaptain/iPad. Apple just isn't going to give in about Flash under the browser. You've got to wonder...why would that be? Do you think it's really better for us iPad owners? Or do you think Apple has some other, special motives?
 
#11 ·
It's my understanding that IOS 5, which will be released in Oct will include Flash support.
I'd be surprised to see Flash 11 support in Safari under IOS 5.

I know that Air 3 support will be there because it's there now under IOS 4.

I think a lot of people would be surprised to see how many thousands of games for the iPhone and especially the iPad were written in Flash/ActionScript/Air. Some of the hottest iPad games are well-known to have been written in Air/Flash:
http://www.flashstreamworks.com/archive.php?post_id=1315521136

Flash 11 and Air 3 add a new 3D capability that is very nice. If you write 3D code to the new API, it'll use 3D hardware on the target platform if it exists and emulate it in software if it doesn't. This brings 3D capabilities to many more developers.

I'm working on a new, simple anchor alarm in Air right now (it's not 3D). For me it has the huge advantage of allowing it to run on the iPhone, iPad, and Android phone/tabs with the exact same code - zero code change. It could easily work inside a browser or on Windows/Mac too except they don't have native GPS support like iOS/Android does.

An anchor alarm is a great example of something that fits Air/Flash really well in my opinion. It only needs to do an update once a second which Flash can easily handle. Also, no one would use it, especially overnight, without plugging in the device.

I hope to publish the apps in the Apple App Store and Android Market. And of course, they'll be free.
 
#13 ·
Sort of.

I cannot use the browser on the iPad to see the cruising guide on the AC website. Adobe Flash is not supported by Apple.

I can access the AC reviews through the Tides and Charts app that I use on the iPad.
 
#15 ·
I've been using Charts & Tides for over 2 years - I helped test and debug it. They only use NOAA vector charts so if there aren't NOAA vector charts for the area you're in, the chart support is poor. In all cases, the ActiveCaptain support is excellent - the best of all products that exist currently. They've also added Canadian CHS charts recently.

Today eSeaChart and SailTimer also support ActiveCaptain offline on the iPad. Garmin's app is about to be released with support as well. SailTimer is especially interesting because of the TDD/wind/tacking calculations they do. It just came out 2 weeks ago.
 
#17 ·
The download time is only bad the first time you load the data - and it's compressed and doesn't use a lot of bandwidth even over cellular. After that, it only downloads the items that have changed since the last download.

Anyway, the reason it's big is because there's so much data - which is exactly why you want to load it in the first place!
 
#19 ·
Jef, I should have said that I was joking. I have spotty internet service. AC is great service and I have and would recommend it ti all my friends. As to the use of Charts & Tides, I was referring it my inability to see routs I have created and also the icons are just colored dots.
 
#21 ·
Technical politics aside, I like eseachart quite a lot. It's cheap and has raster charts, which I enjoy. It has quite a few usability issues, but my main purposes are at route planning at home and activecaptain while underway. With the iPad being poor at best in daylight, I wouldn't use much of the chart plotting underway.

The other thing is that I like using eseachart to look at distant places. I can explore key west, my old stomping grounds on the great lakes and NY harbor, with AC info, without buying more charts.

It doesn't replace more full featured options, but it suits my needs.
 
#22 ·
Minnewaska, you are absolutely correct. I worded the post poorly and I should have corrected it, as regarding AC. I do not like Charts and Tides for the reasons stated. Pschoonveld, Easeachart got poor reviews. "I've used this app a few times now and it's been okay. When it works it works well and gives you quick accurate info on depths and position. Unfortunately you can sail off the edge of the map. I couldn't get it to load the next map." "I bought this because it claims active captain support. I don't know because it won't allow me to enter my road runner email address as required for logging in to active captain. I reported this via email three times, and once via their web site. I get an auto reply, but that's the extent of their support." What has been your experience accessing Active Captain?
 
#23 ·
The first download of the Active Captain database takes some time and is best done on a good wifi connection, not cellular. I update about monthly, which takes a minute or so via cellular. I had no trouble using my name and pwd.

p.s. skippy, you still haven't amended your post.
 
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