IPad apps using Flash

Question

Hi - Hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction. My question is - Can iPad and iPhone apps be created solely with Flash alone (inclusive of tilting and touchscreen features) and submitted to the iTunes store? I have used Flash quite sparsely since Flash 8 so haven't really followed the debate around Flash and Apple devices.
I'm working on an App for iPad along the lines of a children's interactive book. I'm a trained Illustrator and don't think it would take me long to get up to speed again with Flash, however if Apps absloutely require coding in Apple's SDK then I have the problem of finding or paying someone to make an App from my work (otherwise, I can manage the whole project myself).
...and if it is possible to create Apps entirely within Flash - does anyone know of a good starting place for tutorials specifically for this?
Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

To just be complete, yes you can complete an app using Flash Pro or Flash Builder plus the proper credentials.
I prefer Flash Builder as it offers profiling tools that really help keep memory managed. I do not have CS6 but I know CS5.5 does not have a memory profiler. Although with a PITA amount of hacky work you can use instruments in XCode to profile. A great majority of your time developing apps will be finding ways to keep both memory, processor, network traffic and CPU to an absolute optimized minimum.
You mentioned iOS so the first thing you should do is go pay $99/yr and become an Apple Developer. Otherwise you cannot submit your app or even test on a device without a lot of complicated mayhem. It takes a little time to get set up as a developer so I'd get that process under way. If you're an individual it's easier but if you're a company it involves proving you're a company, faxing, etc.
After you wade through the iOS provisioning portal (reading all the how-to tabs) you get your app set up in the back end. Any app needs 3 files generated and obtained from files the portal gives you. You add devices, app ids and use those to generate a .mobileprovision file. Typically a person would start at the certificate portion but let me save you a headache. Every new app ID you make is saved in your certificate so you need to make the app ID first. Then you create your own development or distribution certificate for your developer account and download a .cer certificate file. You install that in your computer along with the Apple WWDC developer certificate that's linked on the same page. That lets you create yourself a .p12 file needed to sign an app and since you did this last it will already have the new app ID in it.
Now you have your .mobileprovision with your device listed in it and .p12 file with password and you're ready to go.
Just open Flash CS5.5 or CS6, whichever you have, start a new AIR for iOS project. Work in Flash as you normally would but just remember iPhones, iPods and iPads are really just "glorified phones". You can't just animate the way you used to, you have to get used to the idea that running your slick animation on your computer runs great but these devices are EXTREMELY memory and processor deficient. What runs buttery smooth on your computer will bog and run like a train wreck on what will end up feeling like a solar powered calculator.
Now you're off and running. As long as you're very careful with how much RAM, CPU and GPU you try to use you'll be fine. A book is a good app to start with. Limited animation and you could possibly even use the timeline to do it. Timeline animation ala traditional flash performs considerably worse as compared to code animation. If you haven't used flash since version 8 you've got a whole new language (AS3) and framework (AIR) to learn.
If you have any specific questions, fire away, but yes you can create the entire iOS app that works like a book using just Flash Pro and having an Apple Developer account.