Touchy – Mobile App for iOS and Android Re-built in ZIM #canvas #mobile #JavaScript #CreateJS #ZIMjs

The Touchy Mobile App found at http://touchy.mobi by Dan Zen has been relaunched on Apple iTunes and Google Play stores.  The app was originally built in Flash AIR and now has been reconstructed in a couple days with ZIM.  You can try a Web preview here: http://touchy.mobi/touchy/touchy.html.

You need two or more people in the same place to play Touchy.  The players try to touch a target on their opponent’s screen while preventing others from touching theirs.  The revolutionary mobile mediated game was made in 2008 and appeared on the Dragon’s Den TV Show for inventions.  The site has a link to YouTube videos of people playing.

The App was made with ZIM which is an open source JavaScript Framework for the HTML Canvas.  ZIM is powered by CreateJS.  It features an animated wave background which represents touching ;-).  Inventor Dan Zen responded to our questions saying:

“It initially started off as fingers touching but looked a little rude at times…”

The app features the Gesture class in ZIM to handle multitouch on mobile canvas.  It also makes use of Pages and Layout classes for different screen layouts and easy page swiping (only in a few instances).

PROCESS

The app was made just like any ZIM site based on ZIM Frame Full mode and scaling done through the Layout class.  Then the app was published to GitHub and prepared for mobile Android and iOS platforms with PhoneGap Build.  All is free and online – except for the Developer costs for Apple and Android.

“I can build and publish this type of app in one day.”

states Dan Zen – but he has done it a dozen times and there are more than 50 steps so it does take some experience.  Most of the steps are in getting Apple Development and Distribution Certificates and Provisioning Profiles.

ABOUT ZIM

ZIM at http://zimjs.com is an open source JavaScript Framework for the HTML Canvas. You code in a text editor and view the code in a Browser. You can make visually rich games, apps, art and sites. ZIM is powered by the wonderful CreateJS with many thanks to their team!

The ZIM site features the following sections:

• LEARN tutorials on how to start and code in ZIM
• CODE ZIM Frame template and code context
• DOCS the objects and commands all defined
• NEWS latest features and articles
• ABOUT features, applications, archives, reviews, etc.
• EXAMPLES sample projects created in ZIM