Release History

AppBuilder v2.7

December 18, 2014

Release Notes

NEW

Features and Updates

This section contains the major new features and improvements that AppBuilder 2.7 introduces. For a complete list of the updates that AppBuilder 2.7 introduces, click here.

Feature	In-Browser Client	Windows Client	Extension for Visual Studio	Command-Line Interface
Develop hybrid mobile apps with Apache Cordova 3.7.0 (Experimental)*
Create, develop and test mobile websites			Coming Soon	Coming Soon
Create custom .debug. and .release. files to include in your Debug and Release builds
Run your app on Windows Phone 8.1 devices in the simulator
Develop apps with NativeScript 0.4.2
Distinguish between Telerik and Partner verified plugins				Coming Soon
Build for Android 5.0 Lollipop
Configure your icons and splash screens for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus**
Run your app on custom Android and Windows Phone devices in the device simulator
Automatically install Bower packages and dependencies from bower.json			Not Applicable	Not Applicable
Improved project validation
Updated project templates***
Unified list of Android permissions
Improved validation of CFBundleVersion and CFBundleShortVersionString in Info.plist
Updated the Telerik Mobile Testing plugin to 2.2.0.2

* Develop hybrid mobile apps with Apache Cordova 3.7.0
This version of AppBuilder introduces experimental support for Apache Cordova 3.7.0 for iOS and Windows Phone 8 and Apache Cordova 3.6.4 for Android. Migrations between Apache Cordova versions have not been verified and you might experience multiple issues when working against Apache Cordova 3.7.0.
When working with Apache Cordova 3.7.0, keep in mind that you might need to modify your code due to breaking changes in the APIs and the behavior of Apache Cordova hybrid apps.
Apache Cordova 3.7.0 will become fully supported in a future release of AppBuilder.

** Configure your icons and splash screens for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
The default Info.plist template has been updated in order for AppBuilder to build your projects with the correct app resources. If you have previously opened or modified Info.plist in your project, you need to manually add the following code in Info.plist to be able to build your project for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Make sure to add this code before the closing </dict></plist> tags at the bottom of the file.

<key>UILaunchImages</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>UILaunchImageMinimumOSVersion</key>
            <string>8.0</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageName</key>
            <string>Default</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageOrientation</key>
            <string>Portrait</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageSize</key>
            <string>{320, 480}</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>UILaunchImageMinimumOSVersion</key>
            <string>8.0</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageName</key>
            <string>Default</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageOrientation</key>
            <string>Landscape</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageSize</key>
            <string>{320, 480}</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>UILaunchImageMinimumOSVersion</key>
            <string>8.0</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageName</key>
            <string>Default-568h</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageOrientation</key>
            <string>Portrait</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageSize</key>
            <string>{320, 568}</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>UILaunchImageMinimumOSVersion</key>
            <string>8.0</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageName</key>
            <string>Default-568h</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageOrientation</key>
            <string>Landscape</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageSize</key>
            <string>{320, 568}</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>UILaunchImageMinimumOSVersion</key>
            <string>8.0</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageName</key>
            <string>Default-667h</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageOrientation</key>
            <string>Portrait</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageSize</key>
            <string>{375, 667}</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>UILaunchImageMinimumOSVersion</key>
            <string>8.0</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageName</key>
            <string>Default-667h</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageOrientation</key>
            <string>Landscape</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageSize</key>
            <string>{375, 667}</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>UILaunchImageMinimumOSVersion</key>
            <string>8.0</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageName</key>
            <string>Default-736h</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageOrientation</key>
            <string>Portrait</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageSize</key>
            <string>{414, 736}</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>UILaunchImageMinimumOSVersion</key>
            <string>8.0</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageName</key>
            <string>Default-Landscape-736h</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageOrientation</key>
            <string>Landscape</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageSize</key>
            <string>{414, 736}</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>UILaunchImageMinimumOSVersion</key>
            <string>8.0</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageName</key>
            <string>Default-Portrait</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageOrientation</key>
            <string>Portrait</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageSize</key>
            <string>{768, 1024}</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>UILaunchImageMinimumOSVersion</key>
            <string>8.0</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageName</key>
            <string>Default-Landscape</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageOrientation</key>
            <string>Landscape</string>
            <key>UILaunchImageSize</key>
            <string>{768, 1024}</string>
        </dict>
    </array>

*** Updated project templates

• When you create a new project from template, all Android permissions are disabled.
  • If you develop against Apache Cordova 3.x, any permissions required by the enabled plugin will be enabled during builds but will not be reflected in the user interface of AppBuilder.
  • If you migrate your project to Apache Cordova 2.x, you need to manually enable all the Android permissions your app requires to run properly.
• When you create a new project from template, the Telerik Mobile Testing and the Console plugin are enabled only for the Debug build configuration. You can enable them manually for the Release build configuration.

FIXED

Notable Resolved Issues

This section contains the major bug fixes that AppBuilder 2.7 introduces.

Functional Area	Notable Resolved Issues
Mobile Devices and Platforms	When you build for Windows Phone 8, AppBuilder might not show the complete build log. In the companion app on iOS 8.x iPad devices, if you launch the app in landscape mode, it does not resize properly.
Apache Cordova Plugins	Some antivirus programs report SQLiteWPNative.dll from the SQLite plugin as a Trojan. In the companion app on iOS 8.x devices, you cannot test the Geolocation plugin properly. Locations services constantly turn off. In the companion app on iOS 8.x devices, the Camera plugin might not work properly.
In-Browser Client	Sometimes, the UI Designer tool does not recognize valid <script> references to your Kendo UI libraries and warns you that it cannot load your project. After you revert your changes, the UI Designer tool can no loger load your project. If you rename a file while it is opened in the code editor, the AppBuilder in-browser client does not update its title in the code editor. The device simulator does not automatically open the last used device. If you have unsaved changes and attempt to run the device simulator, the simulator launches but never loads. The loading indicator continues to roll indefinitely. The AppBuilder in-browser client does not set file extension, when you attempt to export your project.
Windows Client	When you run the AppBuilder Windows client and the AppBuilder extension for Visual Studio simultaneously, the device simulator might not refresh changes properly or might stop responding and might need to close. The simulator might lock project files located on your system and you might not be able to work with them in your project. Code completion does not add brackets for methods. After you update the AppBuilder Windows client, you might not be able to open the Project Properties dialog. The dialog remains blank and an exception is added to the log. When you perform version control operations and you have unsaved changes, after the operation completes, you are prompted to save your changes. If you click Yes, the remote changes are discarded and the local changes are preserved and saved. If you click No, your local changes are discarded and your files are overwritten with the remote changes. If you click Cancel, the local changes are preserved but are not saved. Links and buttons in the Publish wizard point to incorrect resources. In the debug tools, tooltips do not render properly. When conflicts occur during a pull operation, the AppBuilder Windows client closes all open files and reloads the project. When you download an image in the device simulator, AppBuilder might not show the image.
Extension for Visual Studio	When you run the AppBuilder Windows client and the AppBuilder extension for Visual Studio simultaneously, the device simulator might not refresh changes properly or might stop responding and might need to close. The simulator might lock project files located on your system and you might not be able to work with them in your project. Links and buttons in the Publish wizard point to incorrect resources. In the debug tools, tooltips do not render properly. The AppBuilder extension for Visual Studio does not validate the splash screen images you upload for Android. The AppBuilder extension for Visual Studio does not resize the icon images you upload for Android. When you download an image in the device simulator, AppBuilder might not show the image. The Build in Cloud wizard shows incorrect deployment information when you build for iOS.
Command-Line Interface	On OS X systems, the Camera sample app does not run properly in the device simulator. In the debug tools, tooltips do not render properly. After you update the AppBuilder command-line interface, the device simulator no longer loads your project and the device screen remains blank. On Windows systems, sometimes the device simulator becomes unresponsive and needs to close. Sometimes, when you press Tab twice to list the available options for a command, an error is thrown. On Windows systems, when you download an image in the device simulator, AppBuilder might not show the image. You cannot develop NativeScript projects with TypeScript. The AppBuilder command-line interface cannot compile the TypeScript files to JavaScript files and cannot complete your build operations. This prevents you from testing your app on device, in the companion app and in the native emulators.

 

CHANGED

Breaking Changes

When you update your project to target Apache Cordova 3.7.0, you might experience multiple issues due to breaking changes to the APIs. For more information about the major changes in Apache Cordova 3.7.0, see iOS release notes, Android release notes and Windows Phone 8 release notes.
In addition, make sure to check the detailed release notes for the plugins that you have enabled in your project. For example, Apache Cordova 3.7.0 has introduced a breaking change in the StatusBar plugin which causes the previously black status bar in your iOS apps to appear transparent or as a white strip. For more information, see the StatusBar release notes and the StatusBar issue.

The project validation has been improved across the AppBuilder clients. This might cause issues when you attempt to open older projects or projects in which you have modified your .abproject file manually.

In the AppBuilder command-line interface, the retryCount option for appbuilder emulate android is renamed to timeout. This change will affect existing scripts.

The AppBuilder command-line interface now stores its files at %localappdata%\Telerik\BlackDragon on Windows systems and ~/.local/share/Telerik/BlackDragon on OS X and Linux systems.

In the AppBuilder command-line interface, you cannot build projects larger than 150MB.