RIAs that Rock

In July’s column, I mentioned that Adobe Flash Player is everywhere. That is true, but until recently, deploying applications for iOS has been difficult and slow. With some new work by Adobe, Flash Platform developers can now effectively deploy amazing applications across iOS devices using the Adobe AIR Packager for iOS. Let’s look at three applications that showcase this tool in action.

Pyramix
Technology: AIR (packaged for iOS)
Platforms: Mobile

Recently, HD Interactive developed a new word game called Pyramix. This game was built with AIR 2.7 and deployed to the Apple App Store. This iPad application presents you with a series of tiles you must use to form words on the board. This game has its roots in titles like Cryptoquote and Boggle, and it is highly addicting. 

Pyramix demonstrates one of the great use cases for AIR on iOS. Game developers have a lot of code in existing applications that they can now slightly tweak to target iOS users. This brings another avenue for monetization of AIR content, and many early adopters of this technology have seen positive results when deploying to the Apple App Store.

In his post Flex based word game featured on iOS App Store, Lee Brimelow recently highlighted the fact that this application was featured in the App Store’s New and Noteworthy category for word games.

Pyramix is available from the App Store for $0.99.

TouchUp Pro
Technology: AIR (packaged for iOS)
Platforms: Mobile

TouchUp Pro is a photo editor for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad built with AIR 2.6. It enables you to either take a picture from your device or use an existing image. Once you have loaded the image, you can process it in many different ways. Performing editing tasks such as red-eye reduction and color shifting are really easy and can be completed in a matter of seconds. In addition, you can easily adjust hue/saturation and perform blur or sharpening on the image. The application also provides unlimited undo/redo so you can experiment with your images to find the perfect settings.

In addition to the normal image adjustments, the application also provides a handful of effects, including black and white, vignette, sepia, high contrast, low saturation, and many more. The developers of this application are also at work on a whole new set of features that will extend this functionality significantly.

TouchUp Pro is currently available on the App Store for $1.99.

Rossignol Experience
Technology: AIR (packaged for iOS)
Platforms: Mobile

La Haute Société recently developed the Rossignol Experience iPad application for Rossignol Skis. This application provides a way for users to experience much of the product lineup for Rossignol. In addition to pictures and highlights, the application also provides a significant outline of the technology behind the skis themselves.

The Rossignol application not only has great content, but it also provides a great example of a responsive iOS app developed using AIR. The photo slideshows are very responsive to the user’s touch, and the included videos play without interruption.

Watch a video demo of the application.

The Rossignol Experience is available today on the App Store for free.

Conclusion

Now that the doors of the App Store are open to the Flash Platform, developers have new ways to promote and monetize their applications. In addition, this technology has been made even faster with AIR 2.7, which makes a whole new breed of AIR based iOS applications possible.