The Playbook Games

It's been over 75 hours since I registered to be a Blackberry App Vendor and I still don't have an account. Hrmm.

I'm still trying to get the app working like it should (and does on Android). But there are some new problems:

Want to work on some code and test it when you don't have an internet connection? Forget about it. The blackberry signing process fails if you are not connected to the internet. And you will likely have to restart your IDE. Guess I won't work on the plane tonight.

What about google ads? For some reason (and maybe it's just me) they won't show up, but a blank spot is reserved on the screen for the view. Works fine, though, in the google tablet simulator (Android 3.1) and on handsets. Actually works much better- no flickering, weird display problems, etc.

I tried to run a video player app (it's been downloaded thousands of times and runs well on many platforms. I know since I wrote it). It complains that there is no Internet connection, while it successfully loads youtube's website. But videos won't play, so I can't port that app or add video to the one I was trying to port.

How about adb connectivity? I have not seen it at all. This means no logs. Here is some adb output:

C:\Users\erich>adb logcat

adb server is out of date. killing...

* daemon started successfully *

- waiting for device -

error: protocol fault (no status)

* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *

* daemon started successfully *

- waiting for device -

error: protocol fault (no status)

C:\Users\erich>adb connect 192.168.170.130:5555

adb server is out of date. killing...

* daemon started successfully *

** daemon still not runningerror: cannot connect to daemon

C:\Users\erich>adb devices

adb server is out of date. killing...

* daemon started successfully *

List of devices attached

C:\Users\erich>

and so on. I tried lots of things and many searches and found nothing. I even searched the Blackberry Android Micro-site as they call it for 'adb' and got this:

Your search - adb - did not match any documents.

So how do you develop and troubleshoot an app? The process is this:

1. write your app for Android (the first-class citizen)
2. if the app is successful, port to Blackberry and hope it works (an after-thought)
3. if it doesn't work, don't waste your time trying to get it running right. The tools are insufficient.

It reminds me of trying to run Java on a Windows PocketPC over 10 years ago.

RIM Offers Free PlayBook to Piss-Off Android Developers

See the tweet that started it all: https://twitter.com/#!/asaunders/statuses/165097598624075777

Sounds great, huh? Here's my ordeal so far.

Tried to sign up using iPhone- fail
Tried again from desktop- where's my email confirmation registration? who knows...
3 separate legal agreements to go through if trying to sell apps- really cumbersome process.

Tried to get blackberry tablet simulator- web link text was correct on the page but wrong in the html code. I figured it out. Just an extra challenge.

Crazy how much stuff to install- vmplayer, vm for tablet simulator, extra plugins for eclipse, certs to download, etc

Then you have to configure the plugin for eclipse- requires new process and legal agreements to get RIM software signing certificates (which come within 2 hours! oh boy!) Just another roadblock. Note to RIM: on android, I can make my own certs.

So I get my certs, try them out, and get another error. Not yet registered to create debug tokens. How many registrations do I need, seriously? Another note to RIM: easier to sign up for Android.

Got another email about cert registration. It says it succeeded and "the client has 2147483647 code signing request(s) left." Wow! This number looked familiar. Wikipedia says:

The number 2,147,483,647 (two billion one hundred forty-seven million four hundred eighty-three thousand six hundred forty-seven) is the eighth Mersenne prime, equal to 231 − 1

I'm guessing this is an error.

You can't install any apps without the cert. Need debug tokens, too, which also require the cert and to be registered. 3rd note to RIM: ever hear of self-signed certificates?

Almost an hour into the process. Still no verification from RIM I've even signed up as a developer!

3 hours after registering I finally get an email from requesting proof of identity. And it says it'll be another 24-48 hours (I'm guessing Sunday won't count) until the process is over. Well, no development for me anytime soon. I doubt I'll even get anything done now before the app submission window closes, since this is the last (and only weekend) during the Playbook giveaway promotion.

Does anyone wonder why no one wants to write apps for Blackberry devices? Such a horrible process just to get started. Something is clearly wrong with Canadian laws and/or RIM. No surprise there.

After over 3 hours of trying I have:

• extra software installed, but none will work since my registration is not complete
• a tablet simulator, but no way to install software on it
• 24-48 hours more to wait

RIM does not allow you to use the tools to simply load unsigned applications on the simulator. This is absurd. I can't even try to convert my apps to their format. But I did change my icon from 96x96 to 86x86.