Windows Azure Toolkits for iOS, Android, and WP7
As announced on the Official Microsoft Blog, the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS (v1.0.0) are now available. The toolkit contains resources and services designed to make it easier for iOS developers to use Windows Azure. This release pushes forward the momentum around Mobile + Cloud, and expands it such that we can make it easier to target Windows Azure by offering native libraries for non-Microsoft platforms.
You can see the official announcements here:
- Official Microsoft Blog: Microsoft Announces Windows Azure Toolkits for iOS, Android and Windows Phone
- Windows Azure team blog: NOW AVAILABLE: Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS
- Wade Wegner’s blog: Getting Started with the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS
Last March we released the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7, which not only provided a set of generic services for Windows Azure but also provided resources to build native applications for Windows Phone 7 that target those services.
You can get the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS—and all the source code—on github:
- https://github.com/microsoft-dpe
- https://github.com/microsoft-dpe/watoolkitios-lib
- https://github.com/microsoft-dpe/watoolkitios-samples
- https://github.com/microsoft-dpe/watoolkitios-doc
The Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS works in two ways: you access Windows Azure storage directly, or alternatively, can go through a proxy service. The proxy service code is the same code as used in the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7 and negates the need for the developer to store the Azure storage credentials locally on the device.
In addition to the iOS toolkit release, we are also excited to share the news that development for the Windows Azure Toolkit for Android has already begun – we expect to ship the first version next Month.
Here are some resources to help you get started:
- Blog posts:
- Getting Started with the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS : Details how to get started using the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS
- Updates Coming Soon to the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7 : What’s coming with the v1.2 release of the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7
- Using Windows Azure for Windows Phone 7 Push Notification Support : Details on how v1.1 of Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7 provides out-of-the-box support for Push Notifications
- Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7 1.2 will Integrate with ACS : Vittorio has blogged about upcoming details related to the Access Control Service 2.0 integration in v1.2
- Screencasts:
- Getting Started with the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS : Webcast showing where to get the bits and how to get started
- Deploying the Cloud Ready Packages for Devices : Webcast showing how to deploy the cloud ready package to Windows Azure
You can start building your application on Windows Azure in 3 simple and easy to do steps:
1. Download the Tools:
Get Visual Studio Express and the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio to start building and debugging applications for the Windows Azure Platform https://tinyurl.com/learnaboutazure . If you have already Visual Studio installed you can download the tools directly from https://tinyurl.com/toolsforazure . Also download the Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone 7.
2. Setup an Account:
Set up an account and obtain a free subscription for accessing the online portals for Windows Azure, SQL Azure and Windows Azure AppFabric. You can learn more about the accounts https://tinyurl.com/getazureaccount or you can sign up directly and get the trial https://tinyurl.com/getazurefreetrial .
3. Create your First application and Deploy it on the Windows Azure Platform:
First learn how to create a simple ASP.NET application in Visual Studio for Windows Azure on your local machine https://tinyurl.com/localazureapplication . Once successfully created, learn how to deploy this application on the Windows Azure Platform https://tinyurl.com/deployazureapplication .
When all steps are executed successfully you should have running your first mobile application on the Windows Azure Platform!