MonoTouch - Summary

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Summary

MonoTouch by Xamarin

URLs: monotouch, xamarin

Create C# and .NET applications for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad while taking advantage of iPhone APIs, and reusing existing .NET code, libraries, and skills. MonoTouch is a software development kit that contains a suite of compilers, libraries and tools for integrating with Apple's iPhone SDK. MonoTouch includes Microsoft .NET base class libraries along with managed libraries for taking advantage of native iPhone APIs. Also included is a cross-compiler that can be used for turning .NET executable files and libraries directly into native applications for distribution on the Apple Apps Store or for deployment to enterprise iPhone users. In addition, Xcode integration enables application developers to test on the device or in Apple's iPhone Simulator and ship applications to the Apple Apps Store for distribution.

MonoTouch is a software development kit for Mac OS X that lets you use .NET programming languages to create native applications for Apple iPhone, Apple iPod Touch and Apple iPad devices. MonoTouch allows developers to use the .NET framework and more efficient programming languages, such as C#, to create applications that run on the iPhone and can take advantage of native iPhone APIs. Developers can test MonoTouch applications on the iPhone simulator, as well as physical hardware, and can distribute MonoTouch applications on Apple's App Store.

MonoTouch Features:

Mono for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch

C# and .NET on the iPhone

.NET Bindings to Native APIs

Distribute on the Apple App Store

Enterprise deployable

MonoDevelop Integration

XCode Integration

MonoTouch is delivered as a static compiler that turns .NET executables and libraries into native applications. There is no JIT or interpreter shipped with your application, only native code. In addition to the core Base Class Libraries that are part of Mono, MonoTouch also ships with bindings for various iPhone APIs to allow developers to create native iPhone applications with Mono.

MonoTouch requires a Mac and Apple's iPhone SDK to test on the emulator and deploy on the device. And you will need to be an Apple iPhone developer to deploy on the device.

MonoTouch is a commercial product based on the open source Mono project and is licensed on a per-developer basis.

MonoTouch is based on a hybrid .NET 2.0 and Silverlight 2 API profile. If you want to use existing C# code, you will need to compile it from scratch using the MonoTouch compiler and tools to make sure that the proper assemblies are referenced.

MonoTouch supports garbage collection, multi-threading, and many features of .NET 3.5, including C# 3.0 and LINQ, with some exceptions due to the security system in the device.

You cannot reuse the 1.0 or 2.0 desktop/server assemblies from Mono or .NET with MonoTouch.

To reuse existing .NET code with MonoTouch, you must recompile your libraries with MonoTouch's compiler and base assemblies.

Monotouch is available in Professional Edition and Enterprise Editions:

MonoTouch Professional Edition (previously known as Personal Edition) license is non-transferable, entitles the owner to one year of MonoTouch updates, and allows distribution of applications built with MonoTouch on Apple's App Store.

MonoTouch Enterprise Edition license is owned by a legal entity for use by one developer at any given time, entitles the owner to one year of MonoTouch updates, and allows enterprise deployments of MonoTouch applications, as well as the distribution of applications built with MonoTouch on Apple's App Store.

Professional

Enterprise

Enterprise Priority

Deploy to your devices•••

Publish to app stores•••

Enterprise distribution ••

Priority support queue •

Guaranteed response time •

License expirationNeverNeverNever

Update subscription1 Year1 Year1 Year

License UsageOriginal UserSeatSeat

Other Features:

Automatic Memory Management

Mono comes with a garbage collector that allows developers to focus on their software and let the runtime take care of the bookkeeping required to release objects. This avoids common memory leaks and reduces the amount of code that needs to be written to avoid these leaks.

Type Safety

The C# language in combination with the ECMA runtime prevent a whole class of errors from your application. With C# the common errors of reusing disposed objects accidentally, overflowing a buffer, casting an object into the wrong type (leading to corruption), releasing the memory twice or keeping dangling objects are a thing of the past.

C# 3.0

The C# 3.0 language is a rich high-level language that brings many constructs that improve programmer productivity.

In addition to traditional object oriented languages, C# offers many interesting new constructs: type safe generic types, automatic state machines created with iterators, lambda functions and anonymous methods, built-in properties and built-in event systems as well as the System.Linq namespace that allows developers to create functional programming constructs.

The terse syntax allows configurations of objects in one pass:

var slider = new UISlider (new RectangleF (174f, 12f, 120f, 7f)){

BackgroundColor = UIColor.Clear,

MinValue = 0f,

MaxValue = 100f,

Continuous = true,

Value = 50f,

Tag = kViewTag

};

slider.ValueChanged += delegate {

Console.WriteLine ("New value {0}", slider.Value);

};

Use iPhone 3.1 APIs

MonoTouch binds the Objective-C APIs that developers use on the iPhone into C# APIs that expose the functionality and map this to any ECMA CIL powered language. Objective-C delegates are exposed to C# applications in a number of ways giving developers complete control of how to consume and integrate with native APIs.

MonoTouch provides a C#/ECMA binding for:

Addressbook and AddressbookUI

AudioToolbox

AVFoundation

CoreAnimation/Quartz

CoreGraphics/Quartz

CoreLocation

Foundation and CoreFoundation

GameKit

OpenGL ES 1.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0

MediaPlayer

MessageUI

StoreKit

SystemConfiguration

UIKit

From the pure C#-based event model to the native Objective-C system, the two mechanisms are supported.

For example, to respond to events, programmers can just connect to the events they are interested in:

var page = new UIPageControl (new RectangleF (120f, 14f, 178f, 20f)){

BackgroundColor = UIColor.Gray,

Pages = 10,

Tag = kViewTag

};

page.TouchUpInside += delegate {

Console.WriteLine ("Current page: {0}", page.CurrentPage);

};

Access to .NET APIs

MonoTouch includes the .NET APIs that make sense in the iPhone device.

The assemblies shipped with MonoTouch include:

AssemblyAddedAPI Compatibility

Mono.CompilerServices.SymbolWriter.dll1.0For compiler writers.

Mono.Data.Sqlite.dll1.2ADO.NET provider for SQLite; (has some limitations. See online product documentation for more information.)

Mono.Data.Tds.dll1.2TDS Protocol support; used for System.Data.SqlClient support within System.Data.

Mono.Security.dll1.0Cryptographic APIs.

monotouch.dll1.0This assembly contains the C# binding to the CocoaTouch API.

mscorlib.dll1.0Silverlight

OpenTK.dll1.0The OpenGL/OpenAL object oriented APIs, extended to provide iPhone device support.

System.dll1.0Silverlight, plus types from the following namespaces:

System.Collections.Specialized

System.ComponentModel

System.ComponentModel.Design

System.Diagnostics

System.IO.Compression

System.Net

System.Net.Cache

System.Net.Mail

System.Net.Mime

System.Net.NetworkInformation

System.Net.Security

System.Net.Sockets

System.Security.Authentication

System.Security.Cryptography

System.Timers

System.Core.dll1.0Silverlight

System.Data.dll1.2.NET 3.5 , with some functionality removed.

System.Json.dll1.1Silverlight

System.ServiceModel.dll1.1WCF stack as present in Silverlight

System.Transactions.dll1.2.NET 3.5; part of System.Data support.

System.Web.Services1.1Basic Web services from the .NET 3.5 profile, with the server features removed.

System.Xml.dll1.0.NET 3.5

System.Xml.Linq.dll1.0.NET 3.5

Additionally there is experimental support for WCF web services.

Access to Third Party .NET Libraries

You can tap into the extensive universe of .NET libraries and APIs that exist out there for Mono and .NET and use them with MonoTouch.

Access to third party iPhone/Objective-C Libraries

MonoTouch allows you to access libraries created in the Objective-C language for the iPhone easily and to create C#/.NET bindings to Objective-C libraries.

The new btouch tool simplifies binding an Objective-C API and does the heavy lifting for you: registering the selectors, taking care of invoking the proper handle for overwritten classes, doing parameter checking and doing some of the common marshaling required for your project.

MonoDevelop and XCode Integration

MonoTouch is an SDK that can be used with your favorite editor, be it a fully integrated development environment or a simple text editor.

The MonoDevelop integration helps developers get started by providing iPhone application templates that will get you from zero to your device in no time.

MonoDevelop's code completion helps you quickly explore the API as you write your application:

Tutorials are available which will walk you through creating your first MonoTouch application, testing it on the simulator and then deploying it to your iPhone.

Interface Builder Integration

Both MonoDevelop and the MonoTouch SDK allow you to use Interface Builder to create and customize your UIs. The Inteface Builder has been taken one step further than XCode by making MonoTouch automatically bind any outlets you define on your interface and any methods that you define in your interface to your C# code.

You will never have to manually bind any outlets from Interface Builder to your code as MonoTouch takes care of this.

What's New in MonoTouch 5.0

MonoTouch 5.0 introduces support for the new APIs and features found on iOS 5.

These are the new frameworks supported by MonoTouch 5.0 with strongly-typed C# bindings:

iCloud - With iCloud you can access cloud storage to upload user files and automatically sync them, wirelessly, between other computers and devices.

Twitter Integration - Take advantage of easy Twitter access, URL shortening, photo uploads, geolocation, and more, all with a simple and easy to use API.

AirPlay - Stream audio, video and photos from iOS devices directly to an HDTV (via Apple TV) or take advantage of encrypted streams using HTTP Live Streaming.

Bluetooth - Using the MonoTouch Bluetooth APIs you can easily access and communicate with external Bluetooth hardware devices and accessories.

Newsstand - Use MonoTouch to interact with the new home screen folder Newsstand to publish and update magazines and newspaper subscriptions. Best of all, handle updates in the background without interrupting the user.

Core Image - The new Core Image API allows access to many built-in features such as applying effects to photos and videos, auto-enhance, reduce red-eye, and facial recognition.

What's New in MonoTouch 4.0

Core Mono Runtime upgraded to Mono 2.10:

Defaults to .NET 4.0 APIs

Parallel Frameworks support

C# 4.0 support

LLVM-backed optimizing compiler

Use LLVM to reduce your executable size and improve your application performance

Support for iOS SDK 4.3

New APIs bound

What's New in MonoTouch 3.2.4

Fixed AudioUnit linking error on simulator and device

Completed CoreTelephone and AssetLibrary bindings

Exposed CoreGraphics marshalling constructors (for btouch users).

What's New in MonoTouch 3

MonoTouch 3.0.8 introduced support for Apple's iPhone 4 SDK and supports the following platforms:

iOS 4 (iPhone and iPod devices)

iPhoneOS 3.2 (iPad)

iPhoneOS 3.0 (iPhone and iPod devices).

Multitasking

MonoTouch 3.0 supports all the new APIs to allow your application to multi-task on iOS 4.0. As part of this effort, Novell introduced bindings to Grand Central Dispatch (see the class MonoTouch.CoreFoundation.Dispatch).

You can build applications that support:

Background Audio

Voice over IP

Background Location

Receive push notifications even if your app is sleeping

Local notification support, without requiring a server to push the data.

"Just one more minute" support, to let your application complete any critical task before it is put in the background.

Fast App Switching support.

Multitasking support builds also on top of the new binding to the Blocks API.

Integration Technologies

All of the new iOS =4.0 "Integration Technologies" features introduced by Apple are supported in this edition of MonoTouch.

Location Notifications

Local notifications, provided by the MonoTouch.UIKit.UILocalNotification

EventKit

EventKit framework, gives you access to the device calendar (MonoTouch.EventKit).

CoreMotion

CoreMotion gives you access to the gyroscope and accelerometer (MonoTouch.CoreMotion).

CoreTelephony

CoreTelephony gives you access to information about your cell provider (MonoTouch.CoreTelephony).

Apple iAd

iAd allows developers to integrate advertisements into their applications (MonoTouch.iAd)

Graphics and Multimedia

High Resolution APIs

Support for iPhone 4's Retina Display is accomplished through various extensions to the UIKit and CoreAnimation APIs. These new APIs are also exposed to MonoTouch developers (MonoTouch.UIKit.UIScreen.Scale, MonoTouch.UIKit.UIImage.CurrentScale, MonoTouch.UIKit.UIView.ContentScaleFactor).

Quick Look Framework

This new API has been bound allowing your application to preview the contents of foreign file formats. The APIs are available in MonoTouch.QuickLook.

AVFoundation

The AVFoundation framework gives developers more fine grainer control over music and video playback and with iOS 4.0 it got a significant boost in terms of functionality. The new classes are available under MonoTouch.AVFoundation.

These are some of the new additions:

Media asset management

Movie capture

Movie playback

Track management

Metadata management for media items

Stereo panning

Precise audio sync between sounds

APIs to query details about the media files including data format, sample rate and channels

Core Services

Transparent access to the Blocks API

For those familiar with both Objective-C and C# we mapped C# delegates and lambdas into Objective-C blocks, so all the new blocks-based API is available to developers. Developers in C# can continue to use lambda functions as well as anonymous methods, and those will be transparently exposed to Objective-C as Objective-C blocks.

Grand Central Dispatch

This task queue management system is used in iPhone OS and MonoTouch now exposes these APIs for application developers to use.

Accelerate Framework

This API is a flat C API and is only available to developers by manually using P/Invoke to call into these routines. No object-oriented binding has been provided for it.

UIKit and UI Improvements

All of the improvements that Apple introduced in iOS 4.0 for UIKit are exposed in MonoTouch 3.0, this includes the new multi-tasking methods in UIApplicationDelegate as well as its support for scheduling local notifications.

Multithreading improvements

In iOS4 it is possible to use a graphics context (MonoTouch.CoreGraphics.CGContext) in a multi-threaded application. Access to UIImage, UIColor and UIFont is now also thread safe.

Block Animations

The new Block-animation APIs in UIView which provide various callbacks for custom animations are exposed in the API. Blocks in the UIView are merely C# instances of NSAction, so you can just use delegates, anonymous methods or lambda functions as your block values.

Font Smoothing Support

CoreGraphics now supports fine grained control of font smoothing in MonoTouch.CoreGraphics.CGContext.

MessageUI

The new MFMessageComposeViewController now supports a compositing tool for SMS messages without leaving your application.

MapKit

Map overlays and draggable map annotations are now supported.

Foundation Bindings

Many new Foundation APIs were introduced with iOS 4.0, these have been bound, and the most interesting include:

NSDateComponents

NSBlockOperation that allows adding lambdas/delegates to operation queues

NSCache

All new features from CoreLocation (MonoTouch.CoreLocation)

GameKit

All the new APIs from GameKit (MonoTouch.GameKit) have been added.

What's New in MonoTouch 2.0

MonoTouch 2.0 introduces support for the Apple's iPad, the support includes:

MonoTouch upgrade

Bindings for the new iPhoneOS 3.2 APIs for iPad development

Tools required to support iPad, iPhone and Universal (iPad/iPhone) applications

MonoDevelop upgrade

Templates for iPad projects

Templates for Universal (iPad/iPhone) projects

New configuration options for Projects to support iPad projects

This includes all of the improvements that were done on the 1.4.xx and 1.5 releases, including reduced startup time, reduced application footprint, reduced memory use as well as support for Apple's profiling tools.

Xamarin take over support of MonoTouch and Mono for Android

Xamarin obtained a perpetual license to all the intellectual property of Mono, MonoTouch, Mono for Android, Mono for Visual Studio and will continue updating and selling those products. Xamarin will be providing the support for all of the existing MonoTouch, Mono for Android and Mono for Visual Studio customers.

Create C# and .NET applications for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad while taking advantage of iPhone APIs, and reusing existing .NET code, libraries, and skills.

Pricing: MonoTouch 5.0.2 Professional 1 Developer License (1 Named User License, does not allow enterprise deployments, includes 1 year product updates), MonoTouch 5.0.2 Professional 1 Developer Upgrade (Subscription Renewal) (1 Named User License, does not allow enterprise deployments, includes 1 year product updates), MonoTouch 5.0.2 Enterprise 1 Developer Seat License (Corporate License, allows enterprise deployments, includes 1 year product updates), MonoTouch 5.0.2 Enterprise 1 Developer Seat Upgrade (Subscription Renewal) (Corporate License, allows enterprise deployments, includes 1 year product updates), MonoTouch 5.0.2 Enterprise Priority 1 Developer Seat License with Priority Support (Corporate License, allows enterprise deployments, includes 1 year priority support and product updates), MonoTouch 5.0.2 Enterprise Priority 1 Developer Seat Upgrade with Priority Support (Subscription Renewal) (Corporate License, allows enterprise deployments, includes 1 year priority support and product updates)

Evals & Downloads: Read the MonoTouch End User License Agreement, Download the MonoTouch 5.0.2 evaluation - enables development and testing against the iPhone Simultor only

Operating System for Deployment: MacOS 10.6, MacOS 10.5, Mac OS X, iPhone OS 4.0, iPhone OS 3.1

Product Type: Component

Compatible Containers: Mono 2.6, MonoDevelop 2.4, MonoDevelop 2.2, iPhone SDK 4.0.2, iPhone SDK 3.1.3

Keywords: mono touch, monotouch, monotouch professional, monotouch enterprise, monotouch visual studio, monotouch for windows, monotouch license, novell monotouch, monotouch novell, monotouch reseller, monotouch distributor, buy monotouch, purchase monotouch, order monotouch, upgrade monotouch

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