Stability and Modernization

Under the hood, we’ve updated the Web framework to use Bootstrap v5.3.8 and set the TypeScript target to ES2020. Windows users will notice better WinUI support for DesktopTabPanel and DesktopGroupBox, along with fixes for Dark Mode consistency.

You can find the exhaustive list of every change in the Xojo 2026r1 Release Notes.

Xojo 2026r1 is a free update for everyone.
Download Xojo 2026r1 now.

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Most of the development effort over the past two years was certainly spent fixing compiler errors. In 2023 and 2024, the framework was still encountering errors during app builds. Since then, the situation has improved significantly—thanks in large part to hundreds of issues submitted by users. Example projects were particularly helpful for the Xojo team in identifying and fixing bugs. It’s always important to show Xojo how we as users work with the IDE and write our code, as our approaches often differ and expose edge cases that Xojo doesn’t cover out of the box. The past two years have therefore also helped Xojo better understand how developers actually use the product.

The initial Android beta in 2023 included a basic set of UI controls. Over time, four more were added: MobilePopupMenu, AndroidMobileUserControl, MobileMapViewer, as well as classes like Barcode, TCPSocket, and UserAuthentication. This brings the Android target closer to the iOS feature set, with the long-term goal of enabling unified mobile projects that can build for both platforms. However, some steps are still needed to reach that point. The Android framework itself has seen substantial improvements over the past two years. Several new classes were added to enhance the developer and user experience compared to other platforms: RegEx, Set, ColorGroup, structures, localization, dark mode support, and more.

I asked Paul Levebvre, the lead developer of the Android framework, what the most challenging moments over the last two years were for him: “It may have been only two years, but I feel like I’ve aged 10! I am pleased with the forward progress and it’s always great to see the amazing things that people have created with Xojo for Android. The hardest thing to get working—by a wide margin—was the debugger. Nothing else comes close. In the past two years, the most difficult things have probably been TCPSocket, Operator_Convert, ColorGroup, MapViewer, and ByRef. Right now, the plan is to continue fixing bugs and adding features to get Android to feature parity with iOS.”

The development of the Android Design Extensions began early in the public alpha phase of Xojo Android. This close integration led to numerous improvements and enhancements in the Android Declare engine. Today, there’s practically nothing you can’t implement on Android using Declares, even native controls—provided there’s no built-in Xojo support yet. Naturally, this does require some knowledge of the Android API and the Kotlin programming language. With the help of the Android Design Extensions, you can further enhance your apps, much like you might already do in your iOS projects using Jérémie Leroy’s iOS Design Extensions.

Of course, there’s still a lot of work to be done to bring Android up to the same level as iOS. For example, support for custom attributes and AttributeInfo is still missing, along with several control-specific features, the DatabaseConnection class, XML handling, PDFDocument, and more. It’s important that we test thoroughly and cover as many edge cases as possible to make Android support truly stable—and to ensure that the full Xojo language feature set works as expected. As a welcome side effect, the Xojo documentation has also improved significantly through this extensive testing. Encouraging, indeed.

Martin T. is a Xojo MVP and has been very involved in testing Android support.

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While license pricing is going up, we’re also increasing long-term value for our loyal users by doubling the auto-renewal discount from 10% to 20%.

What’s Changing Today

Beginning today, new Xojo Desktop, Web and Mobile licenses are $499/year. New Xojo Pro is $999/year. Xojo Pro Plus will remain $1999/year.

The Xojo Lite license is being retired and is no longer available. Existing Lite licenses will continue to function as expected. Lite renewals will be available until August 4, 2025. In order to receive future updates, existing Lite license holders will need to upgrade when their current license expires.

What is Coming Up

While the new pricing is in effect for new licenses starting today, we want to give existing users time to renew under the current pricing. The updated pricing for renewals and upgrades will take effect on August 4, 2025. One and two year renewals are available on our website. New and expired licenses can be renewed anytime. If you are interested in renewing for a longer period, please contact our support team.

The standard auto-renewal discount is doubling from 10% to 20%. Additionally, users who maintain an unexpired license¹ will receive even greater discounts over time: 25% after five consecutive years and 30% after ten years.²

We do not make this decision lightly. Our goal is to ensure that we can continue to invest in Xojo. This update reflects not only inflation over recent years but also the expanded value we’ve added to Xojo.

We remain committed to providing excellent value and keeping Xojo more affordable than many alternatives in the market. Raising prices today helps us keep that promise long-term.

Note: These changes do not affect the Xojo IDE which remains free for downloading, development and testing. You can still install Xojo on as many machines as you like and run your projects using the free IDE. Building for Linux and Raspberry Pi also remain free and do not require a license.

1. Updated to include all renewal types: Maintain an unexpired license, using auto-renewal or manual renewal, to receive these discounts. Renewals placed before a license expires always include the full 12 months of support. ︎
2. Discounts are automatically applied based on your auto-renewal history beginning August 4, 2025 and are not retroactive. ︎

What is a UUID?

A UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) is a 128-bit value that is unique worldwide. UUIDs are commonly used in software development to identify objects and have the format xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx, where each “x” is a hexadecimal digit.

The Code: GenerateUUID

The following code shows a simple Xojo function that uses the built-in Java method on Android to generate a UUID. The function allows you to create the UUID either with or without hyphens, depending on your project requirements.

The Code:

Function GenerateUUID(useHyphens As Boolean = True) As String
' https://developer.android.com/reference/java/util/UUID
  Declare Function generateUUID Lib "java.util.UUID" Alias "randomUUID().toString" As CString

  Var uuid As String = generateUUID

  If useHyphens Then
    Return uuid
  Else
    Return uuid.ReplaceAll("-", "")
  End If
End Function

Code Explanation:

● Declare Function generateUUID: This Declare statement gives us access to Android’s native Java library. We use the shared randomUUID method from the java.util.UUID class to generate a random UUID. This method returns the UUID as a string.

● Var uuid As String = generateUUID: The generated UUID is stored as a string.

●  useHyphens: This optional parameter controls whether the UUID is returned with or without hyphens. The default value is True, meaning the UUID will be returned in its usual format with hyphens.

●  If useHyphens Then … Else: Depending on the value of useHyphens, either the standard UUID is returned or a hyphen-free version, where the ReplaceAll method is used to replace all hyphens with an empty string.

Use in Your Android Project:

1. UUID with Hyphens: If you want to get the UUID in its standard format with hyphens, you can call the function without any arguments:

Var myUUID As String = GenerateUUID 
' Example result: 123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000 

2. UUID without Hyphens: If you prefer a UUID without hyphens, you can pass the argument False to the function:

Var myUUID As String = GenerateUUID(False) 
' Example result: 123e4567e89b12d3a456426614174000 

Why Use UUIDs?

UUIDs are ideal for cases where you need to ensure that every generated identifier is unique, even if they are generated by different devices or systems. Some common use cases in Android development with Xojo include:

●  Uniquely identifying users or devices

●  Creating keys for database entries

●  Tagging objects in a distributed application where no identifier conflicts should occur

With the GenerateUUID function, you can easily generate a unique UUID on Android devices using Xojo, without worrying about the complexities of native Android APIs. This method integrates seamlessly into your Android application and offers the flexibility to generate UUIDs with or without hyphens. If you’re working on a project where uniqueness is crucial, using UUIDs should be at the top of your list.

Good luck with your Android project in Xojo!

Martin T. is a Xojo MVP and has been very involved in testing Android support.

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What’s New in Xojo 2024 Release 3

We’ve been working hard to bring you the best possible cross-platform development experience, and Xojo 2024 Release 3 delivers. Here are some of the highlights:

These updates and enhancements are designed to make your development experience more efficient, productive, and enjoyable. Whether you’re building a new application or updating an existing one, Xojo 2024 Release 3 provides you with the tools and capabilities you need to succeed.

Get Started

To learn more about Xojo 2024 Release 3 and to get started with the development process, please visit the Xojo 2024r3 Release Notes. The update can be downloaded right now, from the Xojo downloads page.

What’s Next?

We’re always working on new features, updates, and enhancements to our platform. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please don’t hesitate to add them to the Xojo tracker. We’re always looking for ways to improve and expand Xojo.

Thank you for being part of the Xojo community. We’re excited to see what you’ll create with Xojo 2024r3!

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xDev is a bimonthly digital publication and a staple of the Xojo community since 2002. Every issue is packed with fresh and vital information: step-by-step tutorials by Xojo experts, columns for the beginner and expert, “behind-the-scenes” postmortems of popular programs made with Xojo, fascinating interviews, handy tips, product reviews and Xojo news. Subscribe today and start expanding your Xojo world.

10 Questions with Marc Zeedar of xDev Magazine

Mac, Windows or Linux?

Mac.

What do you wish more people would ask you about when it comes to xDev?

I love learning about people’s projects. I find many (most) people are overly modest about their own work and over-idealize the coding of others. Every programmer creates bugs. The truth is that *every* project is interesting, regardless of skill level. That’s one of the things I love about programming: it’s so vast and covers such a broad array of uses. They’re all fascinating.

It’s especially gratifying to hear about xDev articles or tips that readers put into practice. There’s nothing better than learning how the magazine helped someone!

How would you explain your most recent project to a 5 year old?

I got AI to help find writing errors in articles (see xDev 22.4’s “Beginner’s Corner” column).

What’s next on your Learn Next list?

Oh boy. That list is so long! And it doesn’t just include programming. Like I’m working on building a microcamper and I’m wanting to learn more woodworking skills so I can build some custom cabinets. I know just enough to be dangerous now and to realize how much more I need to learn!

In terms of programming, I always feel I’m weak on the algorithms side. There are many project ideas where I have no idea how to even begin. So I’m always open for more learning in problem solving.

In tech, I’d like to learn more about AI from a behind-the-scenes perspective, such as training models. For instance, could I create an AI model trained on xDev content that would make it easier to find coding help from past articles?

When do you think of solutions for big bugs?

Usually several hours after I wished I had! Typically that’s at 3 a.m. when I should have quit and gone to bed at midnight. Then I’m kicking myself for making such an “obvious” error.

What programming moments made you think “Wow, I love my job so much.”

Every time my code actually works! There’s nothing more satisfying than having an idea and then seeing it come to life. Probably 90% of the time when I start a project it’s on a whim and I’m just “playing around” to see if the idea is even feasible. Then when it works I’m totally jazzed and inspired.

I did that recently with my “Sandstorm” simulation (xDev 22.1) [Download this article for free], my “Find the Differences” game (xDev 21.6), and my “Xojo Jigsaw” app (xDev 20.4). They all started out with me just fiddling around and then ended up as surprisingly good apps I could write articles about.

What’s something that has surprised you about coding in the last 10 years?

Probably AI (horribly named since it isn’t intelligent at all), which is problematic, but capable of impressive feats. The idea that it can actually generate useful code is wild to me. It’s still early days and there are serious issues to figure out, but it has incredible potential.

Focusing more on coding itself, I don’t think it’s any one thing, but just the way programming has improved and grown more powerful over the last decade. Each year there are small improvements and after ten years you look back and you’re amazed. The high standards of software these days — what users expect — keeps rising and yet coding is getting more powerful and making achieving those levels possible.

What’s a cool piece of software more people should know about?

Not really software, but a technology: RSS (Really Simple Syndication). It’s old, but so simple (it’s even in the name) and effective. I hear so many people grumbling about bad stuff on the news, social media, screen addiction, etc. and I wonder why they put themselves through that. The beauty of RSS is you can use it to set up your own custom feed of information and ignore all the cruft. I get to ignore politics and nonsense and focus on interesting people and technology.

What’s the coolest thing you worked on recently?

Besides my microcamper? My current project is always the coolest, at least until the next one comes along.

Music or no music while coding?

No music. I wouldn’t hear it anyway. When I go into coding mode (or writing mode or reading mode), I’m not aware of much that’s around me. It’s like I’m underwater.

Thank you to Marc Zeedar for answering our questions. If you want to learn more about xDev visit https://www.xdevmag.com/, you can get your subscription via PDF, or print for those of you who still like to hold your media in your hands. xDev also offers a 500-page printed book of each year’s issues.

Since its launch in 2002, Marc Zeedar is the publisher and editor of *xDev Magazine*, an independent bimonthly publication focused on instructing users of the Xojo development environment. He’s been using Xojo (then called REALbasic) since 1998 when he released his acclaimed Z-Write word processor, a unique tool for creative writers. In his spare time he hikes and camps, reads, writes novels, watches soccer and films, and lets his dog and cat tell him what to do. He lives in beautiful Oregon wine country.

GraffitiSuite is a series of user interface components for Xojo developers. With a powerful data grid component for web, an extensive WYSIWYG HTML content editor, and beautiful animated in-window modal popups for Desktop, GraffitiSuite classes have helped people make stunning UIs for their Xojo-made apps since 2003. Anthony Cyphers, GraffitiSuite’s founder, is a well-known name in the Xojo community and a Xojo MVP; and he volunteered to be our first Spotlight On guest. GraffitiSuite is offering 10% off this month only! Use coupon code SPOTGS10 in June go get 10% off GraffitiSuite.

10 Questions with Anthony Cyphers of GraffitiSuite

Mac, Windows or Linux?

Mac, primarily, but I’m comfortable pretty much anywhere since I tend to have a set OS for specific things. macOS for work, Windows for play, Linux for servers. I keep multiple machines for each hanging around here.

What do you wish more people would ask you about when it comes to GraffitiSuite?

I wish people would show me their project and ask how GraffitiSuite can help them more.

How would you explain your most recent project to a 5 year old?

I make pretty things that help people use computers.

What’s next on your Learn Next list?

I’ve been deep in TypeScript for the last six months — and enjoying it — expanding from my JavaScript skills. The plan is to continue that journey and use it to augment Xojo Web as much as I can. This means rewriting some Xojo Web components with more modern, useable, performant and attractive controls.

When do you think of solutions for big bugs?

Usually when I’m trying (and failing) to sleep or when watching something on TV that I’m really not paying any attention to.

What programming moments made you think “Wow, I love my job so much.”

That feeling of triumph when you spend an inordinate amount of time working on an idea without doing any actual testing, then you hit “Run” and it just works. As though the stars aligned in that moment to say “Yeah, you can have this one, but the next one will be harder” — and it usually is.

What’s something that has surprised you about coding in the last 10 years?

Meh. Not much.

What’s a cool piece of software more people should know about?

The obvious answer would be Xojo, but I’m also very impressed with a lot of software that I use. And, in keeping with the Xojo theme:

• Version Tracker from Tim Parnell immediately springs to mind as an indispensable part of my toolkit.
• Apple Profile Triage from Greg O’Lone has saved me from some headaches.
• Beauty Shot by Ricardo Cruz is wonderful for tweaking screenshots.

What’s the coolest thing you worked on recently?

I’d have to say it’s my web application firewall (WAF) for Xojo Web called GraffitiFirewall. I spent some time reading white papers, tutorials, specs, and just playing with other implementations. I’m really happy with how it’s turned out and excited to add more features over time that may help protect Xojo users’ web apps. I work on a lot in a given week, both new and old stuff, but this one feels right.

Music or no music while coding?

Doesn’t matter. It’s all background noise. I often stream an old TV show like The X-Files, Law & Order, The Big Bang Theory, or Adventures of the Gummi Bears.

Thank you to Anthony Cyphers for answering our questions and for being a rock in the Xojo community. If you want to learn more about what GraffitiSuite can do for you, visit graffitisuite.com. And take 10% off in June with coupon code SPOTGS10.

Anthony G. Cyphers is the Lead Developer and Sole Proprietor of GraffitiSuite Solutions, and has been providing custom Xojo components and contract development since 2003 and is a Xojo MVP.

Firstly, the MVPs work as your advocates, drawing attention to issues that they feel are important to the community. Their passion comes through in all interactions with the Xojo team, from justifiably reminding us of bugs we need to address or features that would be appreciated by many.

Since the MVPs all use Xojo in different ways, this helps to make sure we get a wide variety of feedback. Sometimes we get direct, specific suggestions such as the Set class, which (due to the provided code), we were able to add as a feature to Xojo relatively quickly. Some especially valuable MVP insights regarding stack checking helped us to pinpoint areas where we could make changes to the Xojo framework that resulted in dramatic performance improvements to Xojo itself along with all your projects. MVP tips and testing have also helped us nail down some issues that helped improve debugger stabilization. MVPs have even created a supplemental unit testing suite to help test the Android framework!

Speaking of testing, the MVPs certainly do more than their fair share of testing. They have helped with an enormous amount of testing for many parts of Xojo, most recently including PDF, Barcode, Charts and Android. When they find bugs, MVPs always create thorough, well-explained Issues, usually with sample projects, allowing us to fix things faster for everyone’s benefit. At times MVPs even review your own submitted Issues and may offer suggestions or advice for you to try.

In addition to testing and providing feedback on the product as you see it today, MVPs get to see stuff early, sometimes even before designs or implementations are finalized. This may be in the form of demos or test builds. Their tips, comments and suggestions can help provide direction to how we end up actually implementing a feature or change.

The Xojo documentation is also continuously improved by MVP feedback and suggestions. MVPs were first to see the new documentation site before it was unveiled to everyone and their keen eyes have helped us improve search, sample code and continue to polish things.

From inception to documentation, this group of dedicated Xojo experts has helped us shape Xojo. If you are pleased with what Xojo is today, you should thank a Xojo MVP.

To Anthony, Christian, Gavin, Jeremie, Kem, Martin and Wayne we at Xojo offer a heartfelt “Thank You!” and have made donations on your behalf to several open-source projects that also help make Xojo possible: LLVM Foundation, Bootstrap and Ubuntu.

Xojo Linux is Free

We have made building for Linux free and included in the Xojo IDE! This means that on Linux you get a version control ready IDE, along with the ability to build desktop and console Linux apps (including Raspberry Pi), all for free. Launch Xojo 2024r1 (or any later release of Xojo) and open any desktop or console project, go to Build Settings, select Linux and in the Inspector choose the appropriate Architecture that matches the Linux OS you want your app to work on, either ARM or x86. Click Build to compile your project to a standalone app that you can then run on Linux – no license required.

Wrapping Up

All these changes were made based on feedback from the Xojo community and to better match the changing ways that people develop and share software projects. With this change Xojo continues its dedication to supporting Linux.

Download Xojo to get started.

Edited 07/2025 to reflect changes to licensing.

Textbook, Books & Magazines

• Introduction to Xojo Programming Textbook – This is where you start if you are new to programming. Learn the fundamentals of programming. The book uses Xojo to teach programming, but the concepts are applicable to any programming language.
• Teacher’s Guide – A guide to help teachers introduce students to the basics of programming. using the Textbook
• I Wish I Knew How To…. – A Book Series from Eugene Dakin that covers many topics including I Wish I Knew How to … Program SQLite with Xojo, I Wish I Knew How To … Program the Canvas Control and I Wish I Knew How to … Program Plugins with Xojo on Windows, to name a few.
• xDev Magazine – A staple of the Xojo community. Subscribe annually or review the collections, books and back issues for articles.

Xojo Documentation

The Introduction section in the Xojo Documentation is great place to start if you already familiar with Xojo or object-oriented programming. From there, you can choose a QuickStart for Desktop, Web, iOS or Android. Xojo’s Documentation site is organized by the following sections:

• GETTING STARTED – step by step tutorials and a high-level overview
• TOPICS – categorized discussions on accomplishing specific tasks
• API – guide to the specifics of the Xojo language and framework
• RESOURCES – information including licensing, system requirements, how to report bugs or request features, etc

You can also find many Third Party resources from the Xojo community in the Xojo Documentation, including books, magazines, tutorials, free source code, open-source projects and more.

Browse the sections or search for exactly what you need.

Xojo Examples

Experiment with Xojo example projects. Run example code, edit it and use it to get your own project started.

• In Xojo, choose File > New Project and then click on Examples.
• Search for a specific example.
• Download the examples to work off-line.

Xojo Programming Blog

The Blog is an ever-growing resource that offers insight into Xojo features with code examples and best practices, plus community news and events. The Xojo Programming Blog includes guest posts from Xojo users and third party developers as well as posts from Xojo team members.

Xojo Video Library and Webinars

Xojo’s YouTube Channel has hundreds of videos from beginner topics, object-oriented programming concepts to how to use databases with Xojo. It also hosts recordings of the Xojo Webinars.

Xojo Forum

A search of the Xojo Forums often leads to a helpful discussion or a solution to that thing you just could not figure out on your own. And if it doesn’t, forum members are friendly and free with their Xojo knowledge. The forum is free for everyone, no license required. Enable Forum Access in your Xojo Account and go to the Xojo Forum to read the discussions and ask your questions.

Email Xojo, we’re happy to help you find a resource or take a request for a topic for a future blog post, webinar or tutorial.

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Students looking to begin their journey into programming choose Xojo for its ease of use and dedication to cross-platform development. Plus, Xojo is true rapid app development and is ideal for building prototypes and mockups really fast. All of these features benefit from Xojo’s OOP-focus. Xojo also has an active and helpful community and years worth of free, on-line resources.

Ease of Use from App Design to Build

Xojo is known for its user-friendly and visual development environment. It employs a drag-and-drop interface, which can be helpful for students who are new to programming and those who want to rapidly prototype software without delving into complex coding. Xojo is efficient, featuring a streamlined development process and extensive feature set, you can create applications fast without sacrificing quality or functionality. Xojo is based on object-oriented programming principles. Learning OOP through Xojo can provide students with a solid foundation in programming concepts that are widely applicable in the software development industry.

Multiplatform Development for Windows, macOS, Linux, mobile, & web

Xojo is incredibly versatile. Whether you’re interested in desktop, mobile, or web application development, you can built it with Xojo. With its cross-platform capabilities, you can even build applications that run on multiple platforms from a single code-base. This can be particularly valuable for students working on a MacBook but needing app for a Windows machine or vice-versa. Write your app once and compile it for macOS, Windows and Linux.

Rapid Application Development for Prototypes and Mockups

Xojo is designed for rapid application development (RAD), making it an ideal choice for students who need to create functional applications quickly. Students can use Xojo to build practical, real-world applications. This hands-on experience can be valuable for learning and demonstrating software development skills, especially for those working on the design and usability aspects of software development.

Community and Resources

Xojo has an active community and offers resources, including documentation, tutorials, and forums. Students can benefit from this support when learning and troubleshooting. With an active and friendly community of developers, top-notch support team and extensive documentation and tutorials, you’ll always have the help and resources you need to succeed. Learn at your own pace, and have access to the support you need to overcome challenges along the way.

No matter why you choose Xojo, whether for its simplicity, cross-platform capabilities, rapid development or community and resources, Xojo is a valuable tool for learning programming and software development concepts. Xojo is a great place to start when building or looking to expand your development toolkit.

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XDC London

We held our first international Xojo Developer Conference in London at the end of April. I can’t emphasize enough what an excellent event XDC London was. Sessions ranged from Android hands-on training, to creating a multi-language UI, plus panel discussions about AI and informative talks from Xojo engineers and experts. Read the XDC breakdown to get links to videos and more. We also had quite a few great meals, one questionable pub dining experience and no one got lost in the Underground.

Xojo Android

It’s been years in the making! After a few false starts and dead ends, we are incredibly excited to have delivered Android support for Xojo in August 2023. Because so much of Android is all-new, the Android support is considered Beta, similar to how we introduced Cocoa and 64-bit support years ago. But, even though it is Beta, we have several users who have Xojo-made Android apps in the Play Store and others who have created Xojo Android apps that are being tested by their own users. Android support is improving with each release and we even added Barcode scanning for Android in Xojo 2023r4, debuting it in Android before it appears on other platforms in 2024. You can read all about what’s new in Xojo Android on the Xojo Blog. With iOS and now Android, it’s never been a better time to make mobile apps with Xojo!

New to Xojo, Inc.

In November 2023 we welcomed a new Marketing Manager to Xojo, April Baynes. You can reach out to April if you have an idea for a webinar or video topic. Additionally, we’ve brought on help to polish the Xojo Documentation and Introduction to Xojo Programming textbook. You can look forward to seeing the results of that in the coming months.

Xojo, The Technical Stuff

Xojo itself has also reached some technical achievements….

• Chart control for Desktop and iOS
• Code Editor and Debugger improvements
• Dark mode for Web projects
• PDFViewer control for iOS
• XAML controls for Windows
• Zip/Unzip for Folderitem
• Geofencing and Visits support for iOS
• Big speed improvements for built apps, in the Xojo IDE and Xojo Web

In additional to all that, the Xojo team has kept hard at work squashing hundreds of bugs throughout 2023. We continue to spend two weeks per release cycle working on bugs that do not necessarily meet the regular criteria. If you have a showstopper bug that you cannot work around, please contact us – our team may be able to help you or escalate it. A huge and sincere thank you to everyone who took time to report Issues and help us troubleshoot. Your knowledge and experience is invaluable in making Xojo better.

From all of us at Xojo, Inc. to all of you in the global Xojo community, thank you! May 2024 bring you peace, joy and great coding with Xojo.

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Xojo Cloud is optimized for Xojo applications. It is specifically designed to provide the best possible performance and stability for Xojo web applications. We optimize Xojo Cloud for performance, so your web apps will run smoothly and seamlessly. You can even monitor server stats from within the Xojo IDE.

Xojo Cloud is focused on simplicity and ease of use and requires zero configuration. Designed with the Xojo developer in mind, Xojo Cloud’s Control Panel makes it easy to deploy and manage web applications. Purchase a server, open a web project in Xojo and click Deploy to upload and install to Xojo Cloud. Not just for web apps, Xojo Cloud includes Apple Push Notification server (APNs) support for your iOS apps. Set up SSL, PostrgeSQL, MySQL, SFTP and a SSH Tunnel with a click in the Xojo Cloud Control Panel (the Control Panel itself is a Xojo web app). The administration of a web server is a significant and constant task; Xojo Cloud allows you to leave that behind and focus on your projects.

We take security very seriously. Xojo Cloud offers advanced security features to protect your data from cyberthreats, including a smart firewall, intrusion and hacking detection and Security-Enhanced Linux. Unlike most hosting solutions that provide little to no security, each Xojo Cloud server is built with our state-of-the-art, industrial-strength, multi-tiered security system woven into its very core. 

Additional features and benefits include daily automatic backups, load balancing and support from the Xojo team. With nine global hosting locations, you are able to host your Xojo web applications close to your users, for speed and an ideal overall experience.

In addition to the standard options, Xojo Cloud servers with more RAM, storage and Virtual CPUs are available. Contact customer support for details about personalized plans. 

Whether you are a seasoned Xojo developer or just getting started, Xojo Cloud provides an intuitive and user-friendly hosting solution for Xojo web applications. Today is a good day to start using Xojo Cloud, visit our website to learn more or see the Xojo Store to pick your package and location.

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Database Support

Xojo works with a wide variety of databases. SQLite is bundled with your Xojo license and is a great beginner database for desktop, web and mobile apps. Xojo includes direct support for SQLite, PostgreSQL and MySQL. Plus, you can use ODBC to connect to just about anything else, such as Oracle, MS-SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Firebird or even IBM iSeries.

Examples

To help you get started, there are many examples in the Examples/Databases folder included with the Xojo Download, including examples that connect to each of the supported databases. You can find a breakdown of the examples included in the Examples folder in the Xojo Programming Language Documentation.

Additionally, you can check out the Eddie’s Electronics sample app (located in Examples/Sample Applications/EddiesElectronics) to see how to share database code between Xojo desktop and Xojo web apps.

DBKit is an example project designed to make it easier to build desktop and web applications that are front-ends to databases. Specifically, DBKit makes it easy to connect a database table to the user interface controls on a layout. DBKit also handles a lot of the interface for you. You can read more about DBKit in the Xojo Documentation.

Read: Documentation

After you have reviewed the examples, the Database Overview in the Xojo Documentation will help with next steps. Remember, Xojo comes bundled with SQLite which is an excellent database for desktop, web and mobile apps. Read more about using SQLite in the Xojo Documentation and check out this SQLite Tutorial for more detail.

Watch: Videos

The Xojo YouTube channel has hundreds of videos on all things Xojo. Here are the most recent Xojo Database videos and playlists:

• Video: Connecting to a Database from Xojo
• Video: Updating a Database from Xojo
• Video: Querying a Database from Xojo
• Video: Managing the UI when Updating a Database
• Video: Using DBKit to easily connect databases to Xojo applications
• Playlist: Using Databases with Xojo – A growing, catch-all playlist for videos related to Xojo and databases.
• Playlist: Xojo and SQLite – SQLite comes bundled with Xojo and is a great database for beginners building desktop, web and mobile apps with Xojo.

Vendor Documentation

Lastly, you should always refer to the vendor-specific documentation for the database you are using to learn the specifics about how that database works, including SQL syntax.

• SQLite
• PostgreSQL
• MySQL
• Oracle Database
• Microsoft SQL Server

Xojo simplifies the development process, reduces complexity and empowers developers to create efficient and functional database applications with relative ease. The Xojo IDE is free to use for development and testing – design, develop, run and debug your app all without a license. Purchase a license when you are ready to compile your apps, licenses start at $149. Visit the Xojo Store to find the license right for your project.

If you have questions after you have reviewed these materials, the Xojo Forum is an accessible and essential resource for Xojo users of all levels. You can also contact Xojo directly with your questions.

• Facebook
• X
• LinkedIn
• GitHub
• YouTube

With this in mind, here’s an infographic that illustrates how Xojo’s been continually updating and modernizing since 1996 while other development tools come and go.

• Facebook
• X
• LinkedIn
• GitHub
• YouTube

Locking Controls

For Android, we use control locking just like you are used to when building desktop and web apps in Xojo. Control locking has always worked quite well and in the odd case where it doesn’t do exactly what you want, it’s easy enough to write a line of code or two to get the control to behave exactly the way you wish.

Implicit Instances

You are likely familiar with using the name of a window or webpage in code to access it. When you do this, you are accessing an implicit instance. For Android, Xojo supports implicit instances.

TaskEditorScreen.UpdateControls(Me.SelectedRowText, complete)
TaskEditorScreen.Show

AndroidMobileTable

Tables are extremely common controls for mobile apps. Xojo provides the AndroidMobileTable control for this purpose. If you use Xojo’s desktop or web ListBox controls, you will be familiar with how to use the AndroidMobileTable control.

On-Device Debugging

While you can create an Emulator (the Android equivalent of the iOS Simulator), you will likely find that it is faster and easier to use an actual Android phone or tablet for on-device debugging. If you do not have an Android device, you can pick one up from Amazon for about $100USD to $150USD. Make sure it supports a recent version of AndroidOS. Read more about on-device debugging for Android in the Xojo Documentation.

The Back Button

Android has a system-provided Back button that is usually available at the bottom of the screen. so there’s no need for you to provide one in your app. If there is no back button a swipe from the left edge of the screen takes you back.

Of course there are other differences, but these are 5 of the big ones you’ll want to know about from day one of your Android app building adventure. More Xojo Blog posts demonstrating what you can do with Xojo Android.

Create your Xojo account, download Xojo and begin to bring your mobile app to life. Launch Xojo and begin with the Android Quickstart and Android Tutorial. These two will walk you through creating your first Android app with the Xojo programming language. If you prefer video, we have a number of videos detailing the ins and outs of Android you can find in this playlist. When you are ready for more, the Xojo programming blog already has multiple posts about Xojo Android.

If you are already developing mobile apps in Xojo for iOS, we have some resources for you too. This PDF details the differences (and limitations) between iOS and Android. Please reference this document for the most up to date details.

Register now for our next webinar all about developing Android apps with Xojo!

Anyone one with a current Xojo Mobile, Xojo Pro or Xojo Pro Plus license can download Xojo 2023r2 and start building for Android today. Renew your expired Xojo iOS, Pro or Pro Plus licenses or Upgrade a Xojo Lite or Desktop license to start building for Android anytime. As always, you can download the free Xojo IDE to develop, run and test your projects before purchasing a license.

To learn more about Xojo Mobile licenses, visit our website. Use the Android category in the Xojo Blog to read more posts about Android support.

TL;DR Xojo iOS licenses are now Xojo Mobile licenses. Using Xojo 2023r2, Xojo Mobile, Xojo Pro and Xojo Pro Plus licenses can build Android apps!

My new path has taken me deep into the world of iOS and macOS and I thought I would create some projects & products which would benefit Xojo apps on those platforms by creating some products which expose some of the larger frameworks which are not already available but also cannot be accessed by declares alone…

WeatherKit

About the time that Apple ended support for the Dark Sky API, forcing users to transition to their WeatherKit Rest API, I was thinking about an iOS project which would benefit from having access to the phases of the moon and barometric pressure on a historical basis. After a bit of research, I found that Apple’s WeatherKit framework was well-suited for the purpose, but found that it was a Swift-only framework and accessing it from Xojo was going to be challenging. I proceeded to create an obj-c bridge framework and a set of Xojo classes to make it available to everyone.

What resulted is a framework which currently provides developers access to the WeatherKit framework as well as some helper tools for:

• Location Geocoding, because WeatherKit requires Latitude/Longitude and humans don’t remember locations that way.
• Unit Conversion, for the units that are used in WeatherKit.
• Multicolor Symbols, for a quick and easy way to access the multicolor SFSymbols which are provided by Apple for weather.

You can read more information about this framework and download a demo from here, and it can be purchased from Xojo’s Extras Store.

Multipeer Connectivity

Another framework which caught my eye was MultipeerConnectivity. This framework allows you to make connections with up to 8 macOS and/or iOS devices simultaneously for use in games or business applications with multiple communicating workstations. It offers both automatic user-driven and manual programmatic device discovery as well as a few data transfer mechanisms. macOS devices use Wi-Fi and/or Ethernet and iOS devices use Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth. Network selection is completely automatic so once the connection has been established, all your app needs to do is send data back and forth and disconnect when it’s done.

My port of the framework gives you access to nearly the whole framework, short of creating a direct socket connection between two devices, but text and file transfers are both implemented and working just fine. I was even able to transfer a 130MB file from a Mac to an iPhone in about 16 seconds.

You can read more information about this framework and download a demo from here, and it can be purchased from Xojo’s Extras Store.

Free Stuff

I also have several Github repos and a number of free xojo-related items available, including my Profile Triage tool for helping developers figure out why they get errors when trying to sign or notarize their apps. You can see that list on my site here.

More on the horizon…

There’s more to come. I have some other products which I think will benefit Xojo iOS and macOS projects in the future, so watch for posts on the Xojo forum!

Greg O’Lone spent eleven years as a member of the Xojo engineering team from 2011 through 2022. During his time at Xojo he worked on many of the parts of the product that make Xojo what it is today – from the IDE and iOS Framework to Xojo Cloud and both of the Web Frameworks. You can learn more about Greg and what he’s creating now at his website.

Conference Apps

The XDC App is available on both iOS and Android for the first time ever! Search ‘XDC 2023’ in the Google Play Store or iOS App Store. A shoutout and big thank you to Xojo MVPs Martin T and Jérémie Leroy for making these apps. Martin wanted to test out the Android pre-release by developing a real world Android app. Jeremie then used Martin’s project to create an iOS version in a few days.

XDC Videos

We are pleased to announce that all of the XDC session videos and keynote will be available free on Xojo’s YouTube channel (XDC 2023 Playlist). You can subscribe to the YouTube channel to receive notifications when new videos are posted.

Bug Bash

As we announced at the last conference, we are spending two weeks per release cycle working on bug bash type bugs. This means we are looking for bugs that do not meet the regular criteria, so they are old, only affect one person or a small number of people, etc. For Xojo 2023r2 there are already 17 issues of this sort that have been resolved. One of them, for example, was reported twelve years ago. We are committed to focus on bug fixes and will continue to fix these types of bugs during each release cycle. As a reminder, if you have a bug that is a showstopper for you, something you cannot work around, please contact us – our technical support team may be able to help you or can escalate it to an engineer.

Recent New Features

In his Keynote, Geoff discussed some recent new features, including PDF, the ChartControl, Filtering the Debugger and more.

DesktopXAMLContainer: This is the foundation for what will be our updated Windows controls. We will start with using the new controls in the Desktop XAML container but in the future they will replace the Win32 controls with modern controls. William will be talking more about this in his session.

Popover Control: A dialog-like layout that can pop-up over the existing layout is in the works.

DatabaseConnection Class: A lot of work has been done to make connecting to databases easier with more on the way.

Xojo Libraries (formerly Xojo Plugins): Using Xojo libraries, you will be able to take some portion of a Xojo project and compile to a library you can distribute or use in your other projects.

Sales & Community Growth

Sales of Xojo licenses continue to grow in 2023! This year-to-date, license renewals are up 10% over the same period last year and new license sales are up 20%.

In-Person Events

Apple, Google and others have moved to mostly online events. And in that same light, Xojo will be focusing more on on-demand events and videos. Given peoples’ comfort and preference for online, on-demand content, we do not plan on having an XDC 2024.

Android

Xojo Android is currently at 96% completion with only a handful of things remaining. Android will be shipping in the next release of Xojo, 2023r2 (marked as beta). If you have a current Xojo iOS, Pro or Pro Plus license, Android will be included at no additional charge. The iOS license will become a Mobile license and will build for both iOS and Android.

Android in the Future

Initially, you will need to develop separate Android and iOS projects. The end that we are working towards will be a single mobile project that builds for both Android and iOS similar to how Desktop projects build for Mac, Windows an Linux.

Now that we are getting closer to Android shipping, we look forward to more time for us to focus on other things.

Artificial Intelligence

AI may not be on the roadmap but we are definitely thinking about it. There are some significant gains in the apps and how you create them. If you have input please reach out to us and let us know how you could use AI in your projects, or create a feature request. We are excited to see how the world of development and software in general will change with AI.

The rest of the sessions today will be presented by the Xojo Engineers. We look forward to hearing from Paul, William, Travis and Ricardo. We will keep this blog post updated and will let you all know when the videos are ready to watch! We look forward to the next few days and a great conference!

New licenses will reflect our new pricing starting today. In order to give license holders 30 days to renew at the current pricing, the new pricing for renewals and upgrades will go into effect on May 5, 2022. One and two year renewals are available on the website. If you would like to renew for a longer period, please contact Customer Support. 

Your continued support of Xojo is greatly appreciated. Contact our friendly Customer Support team here with any questions.

Note: If you did not receive an email with this information, check your account settings under “Emails from Xojo” and see if that is enabled. You can sign up or opt back in to Xojo mailings here.

Once you start using AddControl in your new Desktop projects (we definitely recommend that!) you’ll see it’s more convenient, plus you aren’t required to have a control to be used as a template already on the Window.

Related: Read “Simplified: Adding User Interface Controls at Runtime“

Xojo recently shipped the first pre-release supporting Android. We appreciate your enthusiasm as well as the dedication so many have shown to testing it. We will continue fixing the bugs you report and releasing updates until it’s ready for general release.

I don’t have to tell you that the pandemic has resulted in most large, in-person events being cancelled. Last year we scheduled the Xojo Developer Conference for March in Nashville. That had to be cancelled, of course, so we planned ahead for XDC in London in April 2021, then rescheduled for October, then March 2022 only to have to cancel that too. We look forward to this conference every year, not only to see Xojo users, but also to see each other. The Xojo team is distributed across North America and Europe and while we see each other on Zoom (a lot), as we all know, it’s not the same as being together in-person. We anxiously await the eventuality of the pandemic subsiding and holding the Xojo Developer Conference. What a wonderful reunion it will be!

Throughout the year we continued to work closely with the Xojo MVPs. They provide us with a lot of great feedback and ideas from their own experience and expertise, as well as from the community. The MVPs were extremely helpful in 2021, testing parts of API 2.0, Android and discussing features and improvements, like changes to Feedback. We look forward to continuing to work with them in 2022, if they continue to put up with us.

2021 really shined a light on the Xojo community! We were introduced to a few new guest bloggers on the Xojo Blog, plus multiple new YouTube Channels making videos for Xojo beginners and more. Thank you to all the creators out there talking about, teaching and sharing your experiences with Xojo! Word of mouth is always the best advertising since it comes with personal experience and we are very thankful for everyone who contributed to make the Xojo community a positive place for developers of all kinds. Follow @xojo on twitter to keep up with all the new creators and content!

This year we introduced the Xojo Educational license. This new license aims to empower educators of all kinds, whether they teach in traditional classrooms, adult education programs or clubs. We are ecstatic about the responses we’ve gotten from teachers from around the world! Xojo continues to participate in the GitHub Student Developer Pack which has resulted in thousands of young developers joining the Xojo community. We have heard of some interesting projects these students are doing such as building a college app, making a crypto currency blockchain system and more. We are excited to continue to offer resources to young developers and eager to see the creative ways they use Xojo!

We know you like the numbers so here are a few we are proud of this year. As of November 30th, Xojo license sales in 2021 are the highest they have been since Xojo was released in 2013. For those of you interested in more bug fixes, 61% more bugs were fixed in Xojo in 2021 than in 2020. We’ve learned that the vast majority of users are quite happy with Xojo. Our annual survey reflects that nearly 90% of users report they are “satisfied” with Xojo. As proof of that, the Xojo community really showed up to support us with the release of Xojo 2021r3 and the Android pre-release. In November, existing Xojo users renewed at nearly twice the rate projected!

We appreciate your continued support, it helps us to continue to push Xojo forward making it more functional, more reliable and easier to use than ever before. We’ve got a lot of exciting stuff in the works for 2022 and we look forward to sharing it with you. From all of us at Xojo, we wish you a happy and healthy holiday season and a wonderful new year!

Simple things should be simple, complex things should be possible.

This quote reflects a key driver for what we do. With Xojo, we abstract your app development from most platform details so you’re not affected by their complexity and frequent changes. Keep in mind the many platform changes that have occurred over the past 25+ years: from Classic Mac OS to macOS Big Sur, from Windows 98 to Windows 11, to Linux, and the growing relevance of Web and now Mobile applications.

Over the past quarter century there have been many different minds working on Xojo, each using changing API design trends to add new features and entirely new platforms that did not even exist when earlier work was done. This has resulted in inconsistent naming and a somewhat steeper learning curve than we’d like. In order to ensure that Xojo remains as easy to use as it can be, API 2.0 was introduced with a clear set of naming guidelines. After all, any programming language needs updates to stay modern, relevant and usable. Xojo is no different.

With API 2.0, we have taken the opportunity to transition to more consistent APIs, modernize frameworks when we can and generally prepare for the future so that you can continue to use Xojo to make great apps for a long time. However, unlike other platforms and tools, Xojo’s legacy APIs continue to be available for use. We rarely remove anything and for the most part your existing projects continue to work with few or no changes.

The final piece of API 2.0 will be here soon with the arrival of new Desktop controls (introduced in Xojo 2021r3), which bring together all the work we have done for Web and Mobile, including naming improvements and general modernization. In fact, Desktop API 2.0 lays the groundwork for even more improvements, such as Dark Mode on Windows.

We are excited about the future of Xojo and can’t wait to see the apps you create! Read about more technical details in the Xojo Documentation: Moving to API 2.

From the entire team: Thank you for using Xojo!

General Tips

With that said, here are a few things that you may have to update to be able to run your project using 2019r2 and later Xojo releases:

• Some advanced properties on FolderItem have been removed.
• You’ll have to use the Global prefix with the ToolTip class (or switch to new methods).
• You’ll have to add the new EndOfFile method to anything that uses the Readable interface.

Converting Code to Use a New Class

When converting code to use a new class that replaces a deprecated one, there are two different approaches that will help you do so efficiently.

Method 1: Not Familiar with the New Class

When you’re not familiar with the new class, replace class members such as properties and methods first, before replacing the class declaration itself. This will allow you to use auto-complete to see which methods or properties replace the deprecated ones.

Consider the following code example:

Dim rs as RecordSet
rs =db.SQLSelect(“SELECT * FROM Customers”)
If rs <> nil then
While Not rs.EOF
//perform some data processing
  rs.MoveNext
Wend
End If

Deleting EOF and then pressing tab will display the auto-complete menu showing the replacement method, AfterLastRow:

Auto-complete will not replace EOF with AfterLastRow as the variable rs is still a RecordSet. However, you can manually make the change now. Once you have changed all class member references, you can then change the variable itself from RecordSet to RowSet.

Method 2: Familiar with the New Class

If you are familiar with the new class, change the variable (rs in this case). Having done so, you can use auto-complete to change any class members references (properties, methods, etc.) to the new class.

In the beginning the changes in API 2.0 will be unfamiliar so Method 1 above will make sense. Over time you’ll be more familiar with API 2.0 and then Method 2 will work best. The important thing is to remember that you can do this at your own pace. The APIs that have been replaced will continue to be available for a very long time.

Summary

These changes and more are described in detail in the API 2.0 Guidelines topic in the docs. Be sure to give it a quick read to more easily get up and running with 2019r2. For other guidance on moving projects to API 2.0 to take advantage of newer features and improved naming (again, when you’re ready), be sure to read Moving to API 2.0.