Release History

By product

AppBuilder v2.12

October 1, 2015

Release Notes

NEW

Major Features and Updates

This release of AppBuilder introduces the following major new features and updates across the AppBuilder clients.

Feature In-Browser Client Windows Client Extension for Visual Studio Command-Line Interface
Hybrid Development Develop hybrid mobile apps with Apache Cordova 3.8.0 (Verified)*
Build Apache Cordova 4.0 projects with iPhone SDK 9.0**
View and install only Telerik Verified Plugins Marketplace plugins and plugin versions applicable to the current target Apache Cordova version Not available
Create new projects with Kendo UI 2015.2.805
Build iOS apps with unique CFBundleVersion key values generated on build
Review the release notes for the Kendo UI package that you want to install
Work with Apache Cordova plugins referencing Android SDK JAR archives
Improved generation of icons and splash screens
Improved error reporting when working with Telerik AppManager
Improved error reporting when your project file contains invalid data
Native Development Install npm packages
Install plugins from the Telerik Verified Plugins Marketplace
View detailed logs of build operations
Build iOS apps with unique CFBundleVersion key values generated on build
Improved generation of icons and splash screens
Improved error reporting when working with Telerik AppManager
Improved error reporting when your project file contains invalid data
Mobile Website Development Create new projects with Kendo UI 2015.2.805


* Develop hybrid mobile apps with Apache Cordova 3.8.0 (Verified)
This version of AppBuilder introduces verified support for Apache Cordova 3.8.0 for iOS, Apache Cordova 3.8.0 for Windows Phone and Apache Cordova 3.7.2 for Android.
When you migrate to the latest supported Apache Cordova, keep in mind that you might need to modify your code due to breaking changes in the APIs.


** Build Apache Cordova 4.0 apps with iPhone SDK 9.0
When you issue an iOS build, AppBuilder uses the following toolset to build your app.

  • If your project targets Apache Cordova 4.0.0, AppBuilder now builds your iOS apps with Xcode 7 and the iOS 9 SDK. Your iOS apps support both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.
  • If your project targets Apache Cordova 3.7.0 or 3.8.0, AppBuilder now builds your iOS apps with Xcode 6 and the iOS 8.4 SDK. Your iOS apps support both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.
FIXED

Notable Resolved Issues

This release of AppBuilder introduces the following notable resolved issues.

Functional Area Notable Resolved Issues
General
  • When you attempt to add an existing folder, the AppBuilder in-browser client creates an empty file without a file extension in your project.
    When you run the Add → Existing Files operation, in the Upload pop-up window, you can drag a folder to the drop files here to upload text box. If you drag a folder, the AppBuilder in-browser client adds the folder as an empty file with no extension to your project.
  • The icons and splash screens for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are missing from the NativeScript project templates.
Frameworks
  • You cannot debug NativeScript apps. On Android devices, the debug tools do not hit your breakpoints. On iOS devices, AppBuilder does not detect NativeScript apps as debuggable.
  • When you attempt to attach the debug tools to an iOS device for the second time in one AppBuilder Windows client session, an error is added to the log and debug tools window remains blank.
  • Sometimes when you debug your NativeScript project on an iOS device, the debug tools might not show code and resources.
  • If your project targets Apache Cordova 4.0 and contains the Telerik AppFeedback plugin, you cannot build your app for Android devices.
  • You cannot work with Apache Cordova plugins which require frameworks with parents, such as the Telerik AppFeedback plugin.
  • If your project targets Apache Cordova 4.0 and contains the LeanPlum plugin, you cannot build your app for Android devices.
Mobile Devices and Platforms
  • Sometimes when you debug your NativeScript project on an iOS device, the debug tools might not show code and resources.
  • After you deploy your app on an Android device for the first time, you might experience issues with running in background mode during the first run. When you put the app in background mode and then tap its icon to restore it, the app reloads entirely and lands on the home page. If you exit the app, this behavior does not reproduce the next time you run the app.
  • External links such as tel: and mailto: do not launch in the AppBuilder companion app for Android.
    Apache Cordova 3.7.0 has introduced a breaking change - for Android to open external links, you must add them to the whitelist in your config.xml. However, the AppBuilder companion app does not respect config.xml and AndroidManifest.xml for user projects and its config.xml currently does not whitelist them.
  • You cannot debug NativeScript apps. On Android devices, the debug tools do not hit your breakpoints. On iOS devices, AppBuilder does not detect NativeScript apps as debuggable.
  • When you attempt to debug NativeScript apps on iOS devices, the resources never populate.
  • If your project targets Apache Cordova 4.0 and contains the Telerik AppFeedback plugin, you cannot build your app for Android devices.
  • The icons and splash screens for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are missing from the NativeScript project templates.
In-Browser Client
  • When you attempt to add an existing folder, the AppBuilder in-browser client creates an empty file without a file extension in your project.
    When you run the Add → Existing Files operation, in the Upload pop-up window, you can drag a folder to the drop files here to upload text box. If you drag a folder, the AppBuilder in-browser client adds the folder as an empty file with no extension to your project.
  • The AppBuilder in-browser client does not show data link server-related information properly in the Data Navigator.
Windows Client
  • Sometimes when you debug your NativeScript project on an iOS device, the debug tools might not show code and resources.
  • If a virtual Android device is already running, when you select to launch the emulator with its image, the AppBuilder Windows client runs another instance of the image. This instance never loads and your app is not deployed in any of the instances.
  • When you attempt to attach the debug tools to an iOS device for the second time in one AppBuilder Windows client session, an error is added to the log and debug tools window remains blank.
  • Sometimes the AppBuilder Windows client recognizes valid 9-patch images as malformed.
  • You cannot debug NativeScript apps. On Android devices, the debug tools do not hit your breakpoints. On iOS devices, AppBuilder does not detect NativeScript apps as debuggable.
  • When you attempt to debug NativeScript apps on iOS devices, the resources never populate.
  • When you set a target iOS Simulator device type on which to test your app, the AppBuilder command-line interface does not respect your choice.
  • You cannot delete the values of your plugin variables.
Extension for Visual Studio
  • Sometimes when you debug your NativeScript project on an iOS device, the debug tools might not show code and resources.
  • If a virtual Android device is already running, when you select to launch the emulator with its image, the AppBuilder extension for Visual Studio runs another instance of the image. This instance never loads and your app is not deployed in any of the instances.
  • When you add an existing TypeScript file to your project, the AppBuilder extension for Visual Studio sets an incorrect build action for the file - Content instead of TypeScriptCompile. Because of this, your TypeScript files do not compile to JavaScript files.
  • Sometimes the AppBuilder extension for Visual Studio recognizes valid 9-patch images as malformed.
  • In Microsoft Visual Studio 2015, you might not be able to trigger autocompletion inside <a href> tags.
  • In Microsoft Visual Studio 2015, you cannot use the built-in debug tools to debug your AppBuilder projects.
  • You cannot debug NativeScript apps. On Android devices, the debug tools do not hit your breakpoints. On iOS devices, AppBuilder does not detect NativeScript apps as debuggable.
  • When you attempt to debug NativeScript apps on iOS devices, the resources never populate.
  • You might not be able to debug NativeScript apps on Android devices with the built-in debug tools of Microsoft Visual Studio.
  • When you set a target iOS Simulator device type on which to test your app, the AppBuilder command-line interface does not respect your choice.
  • You cannot delete the values of your plugin variables.
Command-Line Interface
  • Sometimes when you debug your NativeScript project on an iOS device, the debug tools might not show code and resources.
  • After a Screen Builder command completes, the AppBuilder command-line interface does not release the console.
  • If your project does not contain a valid form, running appbuilder add-field might throw an error.
  • You can set the data provider to None for appbuilder add-list commands.
  • Some Screen Builder commands lack the Y/N options and this might cause your configuration to fail with a Missing or invalid component options. error message.
  • In the AppBuilder Windows client and the AppBuilder extension for Visual Studio, when you set a target iOS Simulator device type on which to test your app, the AppBuilder command-line interface does not respect your choice.
  • On Android devices configured to a language different from English, the AppBuilder companion app display name is Barcode Scanner.
Companion Apps
  • External links such as tel: and mailto: do not launch in the AppBuilder companion app for Android.
    Apache Cordova 3.7.0 has introduced a breaking change - for Android to open external links, you must add them to the whitelist in your config.xml. However, the AppBuilder companion app does not respect config.xml and AndroidManifest.xml for user projects and its config.xml currently does not whitelist them.
  • The AppBuilder companion app for iOS scales the contents of your apps on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices.
  • You cannot load your project in the AppBuilder companion app for Android if the language of your device is not English.
CHANGED

Breaking Changes

Hybrid Development

Warning The AppBuilder Windows client, the AppBuilder extension for Visual Studio and the AppBuilder command-line interface for Windows no longer support .NET 4.0. To continue working with any of these clients, update to .NET 4.5 or later.

Warning The AppBuilder command-line interface now requires the latest Node.js 0.10.x or Node.js 0.12.x to run. You cannot install and run the AppBuilder command-line interface on Node.js 4.x.

Warning Deprecated the appbuilder update-kendoui command in the AppBuilder command-line interface. This command will be removed in a future release. Use the appbuilder kendoui commands instead.

Warning AppBuilder no longer builds Apache Cordova 3.7.0 and later projects to support the armv7s architecture.

Warning AppBuilder now builds Apache Cordova 4.0.0 projects with Xcode 7 and the iOS 9 SDK.

Native Development

Warning Starting with AppBuilder 3.0, support for NativeScript versions earlier than NativeScript 1.1.2 will be deprecated. Deprecated versions will be removed in a future release.

Warning The AppBuilder Windows client, the AppBuilder extension for Visual Studio and the AppBuilder command-line interface for Windows no longer support .NET 4.0. To continue working with any of these clients, update to .NET 4.5 or later.

Warning The AppBuilder command-line interface now requires the latest Node.js 0.10.x or Node.js 0.12.x to run. You cannot install and run the AppBuilder command-line interface on Node.js 4.x.