Basic4iOS (B4i) Coming Later This Year – The Easiest Way to Develop iOS Apps

Those of you who have read my posts on app development, will know that I owe any success I’ve had to a certain development environment called ‘Basic4Android‘. After struggling away with Eclipse and Java for over a year, I discovered this platform that tapped into my love of the BASIC language (it’s what I learned with, just like we all have a soft spot for our first Bond) and that made the whole development process considerably easier.

Put simply, without Basic4Android, I would have taken years longer to release Multiscreen Multitasking and I probably would have missed the boat.

And now Anywhere Software have announced that their next project B4i or Basic4iOS is likely to be available before 2015. As you may have imagined, this will allow users to develop apps for iPhone and iPad (and maybe Apple Watch in future?). Guess I’ll be developing for iOS too now then!

B4i – What We Know

What we know so far, is that B4i will use the same basic language as both Basic4Android and Basic4Java (a free program that you can use to test the environment out and to build Java apps for Windows, Linux, Mac OS etc.). This is essentially very similar to Visual BASIC, meaning you can use simple commands like ‘IF’ and ‘THEN’. It’s one of the easiest jumping on points for those new to programming, but it doesn’t have any limitations that you would get from using an ‘app builder’. If Basic4Android is anything to go by, it’s also likely to streamline the whole development process making it much less of a hassle to test, debug and compile apps during development. Essentially building an app goes from a year-long project to a month-long one (remember you can refine your apps post-release). (Note that the libraries from Basic4Android won’t work with Basic4iOS though because they will often rely on the Android SDK.)

Here’s a screenshot of B4i in action:

This video shows the software in action.

Developers will need an iOS device to test their creations on (I believe that emulators exist but aren’t highly reliable) as well as an Apple Developer Account. What you don’t need though is a Mac computer which nicely saves you a bit of cash if you don’t already have one. The price of Basic4iOS itself is currently unknown, but presumably it will be similar to Basic4Android ($59 for the standard version).

We also know that the estimated release date is ‘before the end of the year’, though Anywhere Software founder Erel (and sole member to my knowledge), is not yet taking pre-orders. You can see an example of a Basic4iOS-written app already in the Apple App Store. That’s got to be a good sign!

Watch this Space

This link will take you to the B4i update thread on the Basic4Android forums. Meanwhile, I’ll be sure to let you know updates as I hear them and will update you on my own experiments with the software. iOS apps typically sell for more than Android apps and if I can recreate the success I’ve had on the Play Store then that should equate to a fair amount of extra cash to support my entrepreneurial lifestyle. Hopefully it can do the same for you.