Developing Multi-Device Applications

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You can use RAD Studio on the Win32 platform to develop multi-device applications that run on other platforms.

Supported Platforms

RAD Studio supports multi-device application development for the following platforms:

• 32-bit Windows
• 64-bit Windows
• macOS
• 32-bit iOS Device
• 64-bit iOS Device
• iOS Simulator
• Android

Only Delphi supports iOS Simulator. All other platforms are supported by both Delphi and C++Builder.

Supported Frameworks and Libraries

RAD Studio supports three major libraries and several platforms. The following table lists the target platforms supported by the libraries in RAD Studio:

• FMX is FireMonkey (FMX.Forms, and so forth).
• RTL (run-time library) contains the convenience and utility functions and types (found in System.SysUtils and System.IOUtils, among others) that support both VCL and FMX.
• VCL is the longstanding Visual Component Library.

The following table summarizes the platform support by the various libraries in RAD Studio:

Library\Platform	Win32	Win64 (Delphi and C++)	macOS	iOS (Simulator and Device)	Android
FMX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
RTL	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
VCL	Yes	Yes	Not supported	Not supported	Not supported

Note: The table above is a high-level representation of library support for platforms. Some exceptions exist in RTL and VCL support for specific platforms. For example, BDE is not supported on Win64 or macOS.

Types of Multi-Device Applications You Can Create

• Mobile apps that run on iOS and Android devices, as well as the iOS simulator
• FireMonkey (macOS, Win64 -- native Win32 is also supported)
• VCL Forms (Delphi and C++ Win64)
• DataSnap clients (macOS, Win64 -- native Win32 is also supported)
• DataSnap servers (Windows, Linux)
• DataSnap connectors (iOS Free Pascal, iOS Objective C, Blackberry Java, Android Java, Windows Phone 7 C#Silverlight)
• Console applications
• 64-bit Windows applications are considered cross-platform because the RAD Studio IDE is a 32-bit Windows application

Developing a Multi-Device Application

The basic development cycle for a multi-device application is as follows:

1. Configure your development system and RAD Studio to support the target platform.
   • If your development system runs 32-bit Windows and your application targets 64-bit Windows:
     1. Connect your development PC to the 64-bit PC.
     2. Install and run PAServer, the multi-device server, on the 64-bit PC.
     3. Create a connection profile that describes the connection to the Platform Assistant server on the 64-bit PC.
   • If your application targets macOS or iOS:
     1. Connect your development PC to the Mac.
     2. Install and run PAServer, the multi-device server, on the Mac.
     3. Create a connection profile that describes the connection to the Platform Assistant server on the Mac.
     4. Add an SDK to build your application.
2. In the IDE, create and configure a multi-device project:
   1. Add the target platform that you want.
   2. Activate the target platform.
   3. Configure the target platform with a connection profile and an SDK if needed.

      Note: If you use a connection profile, you can test the connection on the Connection Profile Manager page.

3. Compile and build as usual.
4. Debug using the integrated multi-device debugger.

   Keep in mind that running a multi-device application requires the IDE to deploy the application.

5. Deploy your multi-device application.

Multi-Device Topics

• Supported Target Platforms
• Target Platforms Overview
• Requirements for Multi-Device Applications
  • Considerations for Multi-Device Applications
    • Delphi Considerations for Multi-Device Applications
    • C++ Considerations for Multi-Device Applications
    • Differences between Windows and macOS
    • Importing or Migrating Existing Projects into RAD Studio
  • Wizards for Creating FireMonkey Multi-Device Applications and Components
  • Toolchains
• Securing the Network Connections of Your Multi-Device Apps
• Creating and Deploying App Icons
• Distributing Your Multi-Device Apps
• Types of Multi-Device Applications You Can Create
  • 64-bit Application Development for Windows
    • Connecting Your 32-bit PC to a Win64 PC
    • 64-bit Windows "Hello World" Application
    • 64-bit Windows Data Types Compared to 32-bit Windows Data Types
    • C++Builder 64-bit Windows Application Development
      • C++Builder 64-bit Windows Differences
      • Upgrading Existing C++ Projects to 64-bit Windows
      • Stricter C++ Compilers (Clang-enhanced C++ Compilers)
      • Debugging C++Builder 64-Bit Windows Applications
    • Converting 32-bit Delphi Applications to 64-bit Windows
  • FireMonkey Application Platform - Multi-Device
  • macOS Application Development
    • Working with a Mac and a PC
    • Building a macOS "Hello World" Console Application
    • Compiling and Linking a macOS C++ Console Application from Command Line
    • PC-Mapped Exceptions
  • iOS Mobile Application Development
    • Migrating Delphi Code to Mobile from Desktop
    • Migrating C++ Code to Mobile from Desktop
    • Mobile Tutorials: Mobile Application Development (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Set Up Your Development Environment on the Mac (iOS)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Set Up Your Development Environment on Windows PC (iOS)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Set Up Your Development Environment on Windows PC (Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Creating an Application for Mobile Platforms (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using a Button Component with Different Styles (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using a Calendar Component to Pick a Date (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using Combo Box Components to Pick Items from a List (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using the Web Browser Component (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using Tab Components to Display Pages (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using ListBox Components to Display a Table View (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using LiveBindings to Populate a ListView (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using LiveBindings to Populate a ListBox in Mobile Applications (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using Layout to Adjust Different Form Sizes or Orientations (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Taking and Sharing a Picture, and Sharing Text (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using Location Sensors (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using Notifications (iOS and Android)
        • Mobile Tutorial: Using Remote Notifications (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using BaaS for Backend Storage (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using InterBase ToGo with dbExpress (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using dbExpress and SQLite (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Connecting to an Enterprise Database from a Mobile Client (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using FireDAC in Mobile Applications (iOS and Android)
      • Mobile Tutorial: Using FireDAC and SQLite (iOS and Android)
  • Android Mobile Application Development
    • Android Devices Supported for Application Development
    • Adding an Android SDK
    • Enabling USB Debugging on an Android Device
    • Configuring Your System to Detect Your Android Device
    • Running Your Android Application on an Android Device
    • Preparing an Android Application for Deployment
    • Creating a Keystore File
    • Adding a Certificate to a Keystore File
    • Deploying Your Signed Android Application
  • Using FireMonkey in Multi-Device Applications
  • Using the RTL in Multi-Device Applications
  • Multi-Device Database Applications
  • DataSnap Connectors for Mobile Devices
• Steps in Creating Multi-Device Applications
  • Working with a Mac and a PC
  • Connecting Your 32-bit PC to a Win64 PC
  • PAServer, the Platform Assistant Server Application
  • Creating and Testing a Connection Profile on the Development PC
  • Adding a macOS or iOS SDK
  • Adding an Android SDK
  • Activating and Configuring the Target Platform in the Project Manager
• Previewing your Multi-Device Application
• Compiling and Building Multi-Device Applications
• Debugging Multi-Device Applications
• Deploying Multi-Device Applications

See Also

• Migrating VCL Applications to FireMonkey
• Connection Profile Manager
• SDK Manager
• PAServer, the Platform Assistant Server Application