Xojo 2020 Release 2 Now Available; Adds Native Apple Silicon Compilation, Multicore Support, New iOS Features

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Nov 24, 2020, 09:00 ET

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Xojo, Inc., the company that has enabled over 400,000 developers to build native cross-platform applications, today announced the availability of Xojo 2020 Release 2. Xojo is an integrated rapid application development environment and programming language for making apps for the desktop (macOS, Windows and Linux), web, iOS, and Raspberry Pi.

Using Xojo, developers of all levels and backgrounds can build native applications for the desktop, including macOS, Windows and Linux, Mobile (iOS - iPhone and iPad with support for Android coming in 2021), Web, and Raspberry Pi. Application development with Xojo is easy and straight-forward since the user interface can be built with drag and drop from the library of native controls. The Xojo language is intuitive and powerful, making it an ideal programming environment for citizen developers and professional developers alike. It's the result of more than 20 years of development and Xojo itself is made with the current release of Xojo.

This latest release adds 232 improvements, with 57 new features, many of which focus on developing iOS apps with Xojo. The new mobile framework greatly improves code compatibility with desktop and web apps, making it easier than ever to support multiple platforms. New features have been added to the mobile framework, which include Notifications, URL Schemes, Modal Screens and more. Lastly, plugins for iOS are now supported, allowing plugin developers to bring plugins to iOS.

This release now supports native compilation for the new Apple Silicon (M1) Macs that were just recently released, making Xojo the first cross-platform development tool to support Macs with this new processor technology. A popular feature request, the new Worker class is an easy way to take advantage of multiple cores in desktop applications to greatly increase the speed of data processing.

"We are constantly pushing Xojo forward as new technology provides ever-increasing performance and capabilities," commented Geoff Perlman, Founder and CEO of Xojo, Inc. "Apple's new M1-based Macs, which we have added support for in this release, are a perfect example of that. Another is the growing number of cores new computers now have. It's traditionally been difficult for developers to take advantage of all of this available processing power. Our new Worker class makes this simple so that any Xojo user can get huge gains in their app's data processing speed. Finally, with cross-platform including mobile now more than ever, our new Mobile classes, which will be compatible with our forthcoming Android support, include many new iOS features such as support for notifications, plugins and more."

"With the announcement of Apple Silicon, the demand for this new family of high-performing Macs is going to be huge," commented Ken Whitaker, Managing Director of Leading Software Maniacs. "With Xojo 2020 R2, I am now able to rebuild my app to a Universal Binary with no code changes whatsoever. I couldn't imagine a better app development environment for our upcoming Spresso apps designed for creative professionals. With a single set of source code, our desktop apps support Intel Macs, Apple Silicon Macs, and Windows. This is like a dream come true."

"Xojo 2020 R2 is a big step up for making native iOS apps. It is no secret that my business is iOS-centric for the past couple years," commented Jérémie Leroy, developer of Packr and Secret Santa. "After releasing ten apps on the App Store, I was eagerly waiting for this update. The new features in Xojo 2020 R2, such as Notifications, Modal Screens, Search Fields and Plugins are a great addition to the framework. The new Mobile classes will set a new ease-of-use standard for sharing code between iOS and Android apps in the near future. The ability to mix iOS-specific features with the new cross-platform Mobile classes will help a lot for a smooth transition. I am now looking forward to making Android apps with Xojo."

2020 Release 2 feature highlights include:

API 2.0 for iOS

The new mobile framework is API 2.0-compliant, using String and Variant which greatly improves code compatibility with Desktop and Web
Updated Mobile controls, including all-new MobileMoviePlayer and MobileMapViewer
New iOS features such as Notifications, URL schemes, app shortcuts, modal screens, badges and more
Many common framework features are now available including URLConnection, XMLDocument, RegEx, UDPSocket and more
Support for iOS plugins

Apple Silicon (M1) Native Compilation

Build native Apple Silicon (M1) apps for Mac
Build Universal Binary apps that will run on both Intel-based and Apple Silicon-based Macs

Desktop

Worker Class, allowing you to take advantage of multiple CPU cores for faster data processing
New SearchField and DateTimePicker controls
ColorGroups to make it easier to support Dark Mode
Graphics enhancements including LineCap, LineJoin properties and a Brush property with support for LinearGradientBrush, RadialGradientBrush, ShadowBrush and PictureBrush

Xojo 2020 Release 2 is available at https://www.xojo.com/download. Xojo is free to use for learning and development. For information on pricing and licensing options, please visit https://www.xojo.com/store.

SOURCE Xojo, Inc.