Creating a Flash Lite fretboard quiz app

Getting started building a Flash Lite application

It can be surprisingly time-consuming to find guidance online regarding the topics described below. Of course, until recently some of these activities weren't even possible, so things for mobile developers are definitely looking up.

Choosing a Flash Lite phone

I spent a long time looking at the list of Flash enabled mobile devices, and ended up feeling slightly envious of the Japanese. After doing careful research, my suggestion is straightforward (and not expensive): Buy a Nokia S60 phone. I personally own (and recommend) the Nokia N75. It's a nice phone in its own right, and it was reasonably priced when I signed up for wireless service with the monthly plan. Obviously, depending on your needs, you may want to do your own research using the supported devices page to find your preferred Flash Lite compatible phone. If you already have a phone, use this online resource to make sure that your device supports installation of Flash Lite. (Sadly, at the time of writing, the iPhone doesn't offer Flash Lite support.)

Installing Flash Lite to a Nokia phone

Most Nokia S60 handsets already have Flash Lite player installed. However, if your handset has an older version of the player, such as 1.1, then you may want to install a new version such as 2.1 or 3.0. To install the Flash Lite player on your Nokia phone, you must first download the installer (an SIS file), which is available from the Adobe Mobile and Devices Developer Center.

Next, follow the instructions as outlined in this helpful TechNote, Installing the Flash Lite player and content onto a handset.

Due to the wide variety of supported devices that run Flash Lite player, you may also find it helpful to visit the website of the manufacturer for your phone, to get more information about moving and installing files to your specific device.

Copying the Flash Lite installer (and other files) to a mobile phone

If you're on a Mac, then grey skies have turned to blue, as Nokia now offers a nice application to handle transferring files (previously the only utility offered was compatible with Windows only). Check out the Nokia Multimedia Transfer Beta to learn more.

Windows users can follow the instructions outlined in this article: Installing a Flash Lite SWF on a Nokia S60 device using Windows with Nokia PC Suite. After you transfer the Flash Lite installer SIS file to your mobile device, you'll need to navigate to it using the device's interface to run the file and perform the installation process.

Running SWF files on a mobile device

Running SWF files on your mobile device is not as simple as you might think, because the phone is designed to open SWF files with the pre-installed version of Flash Lite (often version 1.1 at this point). Attempting to browse and play a newer SWF file that you've copied to your phone results in the helpful error message: "Unable to open file. File corrupted."

The way to run a SWF file is to start by launching the standalone Flash Lite player that you have installed, and then open the SWF file using the standalone Flash Lite player. Flash Lite will browse the Other directory on your phone or memory card by default, so be sure to copy your SWF files to the Other folder when you transfer them. This way, they are available to you when you run the Flash Lite player. As it isn't yet possible to make the newly installed Flash Lite player the default application for opening SWF files on your phone.

Choosing which version of Flash Lite to target

Although the latest and greatest version always has its allure—as is the case with all new software—I recommend evaluating the needs of your project and then publishing your application to the earliest version of Flash Lite that provides the functionality you need. For the purposes of this sample project, since it doesn't incorporate video content, I decided to target Flash Lite 2.1. This is something you should consider in the pre-planning stages as you develop your own mobile applications.

Testing the SWF file during authoring

Ultimately, you'll need to test the application you've developed on the actual phone or mobile device, in order to establish that it works as expected and displays the content exactly as desired. Obviously, you cannot avoid testing the SWF file on the phone, because you'll want to be absolutely sure it delivers the experience and performance you want on the target device. Additionally, you'll find that pressing the keys of the device to interact with the application you've built is both gratifying and necessary before distributing the final version.

However, in order to save time in your development workflow, you can use the emulators included with Device Central to quickly preview iterations of your project, to verify that you've fixed something or to ensure that things are working the way you want them to work. This is very helpful, because it saves the step of having to copy each newly published SWF to the phone or device in order to test it. It can become very tedious to re-copy the files to the device for testing after every minor change is implemented, and Device Central includes device profiles for all major devices, (as well as offering the ability to make your own personalized device profiles) so using the emulators can greatly reduce your overall development time. Adobe has made the testing process very convenient for us, especially when developing complicated applications.

To learn more about this process, see the article: Creating your own custom device profile for Adobe Device Central CS3.

Note: I've noticed that device fonts are not always accurately represented in the Device Central emulators, so it is highly recommended to always include a final testing phase of your application on the target device before using or distributing it.

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