| Programming language | Debuggers available | Emulator available | Integrated development environment available | Cross-platform deployment | Installer packaging options | Development tool cost |
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Adobe AIR | Action Script, HTML, CSS, JavaScript | Yes | Yes | Flash Builder, Flash Professional, IntelliJ IDEA | iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch), Android, BlackBerry | The native distribution format of each platform | Flash Builder, Flash Professional, IntelliJ IDEA - Commercial licenses available Adobe AIR SDK (command line tool) - Free |
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Android | Java but portions of code can be in C, C++ | Debugger integrated in Eclipse, standalone debugging monitor available | Yes | Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA, Project Kenai Android plugin for NetBeans | Android only, because of Dalvik VM, March 2009 | apk | Free, IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition - Free |
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Appcelerator | JavaScript | Yes, in Titanium Studio, currently in beta. | Emulator is available using 3rd party tools | Internal SDK | Android, iPhone; BlackBerry planned | The native distribution format of each platform | Apache 2.0 license, commercial licenses available |
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Aqua | C, C++, JavaScript | Yes | Yes | Visual Studio, Xcode, Eclipse | Android, BlackBerry Playbook, iOS, Palm/webOS, Samsung bada, Windows Mobile 6.x, Windows Desktop | The native distribution format of each platform | Free & commercial licenses available |
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BlackBerry | Java | Debugger integrated in IDE | Yes | Eclipse, BlackBerry JDE | BlackBerry only, because of RIM API | alx, cod | Free |
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BREW | C; the APIs are provided in C with a C++ style interface | Debugger support for the native ARM target code.Can use Visual Studio to debug the x86 testing code | No Emulator for the target ARM code, has a simulator for the x86 testing code | Visual Studio 6.0, Visual Studio 2003 .NET, Visual Studio 2005 | Compile for the specific BREW version available on the handset | OTA | Related dev fees typically needed for Brew App Certification - VeriSign annual fee for becoming a certified developer. Realview ARM compiler for BREW (the free GNU C/C++ is available, but with limited function and support). TRUE BREW testing fee for distributing the application. |
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Convertigo Mobilizer MEAP | HTML, CSS, JavaScript | Yes Any web development debugger such as Chrome/Safari or Firefox | Yes Web based emulator | Eclipse based IDE, shipped as standalone or Eclipse Plugin | Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile | The native distribution format of each platform | Open Source Affero GPL licence, free Community edition, or subscription based Enterprise Editions |
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Corona SDK | Lua | Yes | Yes | Xcode | iOS, Android, NOOK Color | Native deployment for each platform | Free unlimited trial; commercial licenses available for deployment |
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DragonRAD | Visual drag & drop tiles | Yes | Uses 3rd party emulators | Proprietary IDE | Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile | OTA deployment | Free & commercial licenses available |
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GeneXus for Mobile and Smart Devices | Knowledge Representation and Declarative Modeling for easy development, then code is automatically generated for each platform | No | Publish in the Cloud, test native in the device (No emulator required) | Proprietary IDE | Android, Apple iOS (iPhone, iPad), BlackBerry and even HTML5 if desired | The native distribution format of each platform and also Cloud/browser based | Free to try, Commercial and Enterprise licenses available |
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Gideros Studio | Lua | Yes | Yes | Yes | iOS & Android | The native distribution format of each platform | Free |
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iOS SDK | Objective-C | Debugger integrated in Xcode IDE | Bundled with iPhone SDK, integrated with Xcode IDE | Xcode, AppCode | iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch | Only via App Store, needs review and approval by Apple Inc. | Apple tools are free for an Intel-based Mac. Simulator testing is free, but installing on a device needs a fee for a developer signing key. AppCode - Commercial licenses available. |
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iOS SDK | Object Pascal | Debugger integrated in Xcode IDE | Included in Delphi XE2 professional or higher | Embarcadero Delphi XE2 | iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch | Only via App Store, needs review and approval by Apple Inc. | Development requires Intel-based Mac besides the IDE on Windows. Design is on Windows, Compilation and deployment has to be done on Mac. Simulator testing is free, but installing on a device needs a fee for a developer signing key |
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Java ME | Java | Yes | Free emulator, Sun Java Wireless Toolkit, mpowerplayer | Eclipse, LMA NetBeans Mobility Pack | Yes although many VM implementations have device specific bugs necessitating separate builds | Jad/Jar packaging; PRC files under Palm OS | Free |
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Lazarus | Object Pascal | Yes, can debug in IDE via ActiveSync for Windows CE | Uses the emulators of the platforms | Lazarus IDE, including integrated GUI designer and debugger | Compiled language available for Windows CE, Linux-based devices, SymbianOS port in development | The native distribution format of each platform | Free |
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Macromedia Flash Lite | ActionScript | Yes | Bundled with IDE | Macromedia Flash MX2004/8, Eclipse | Yes | SIS / CAB deployment or OTA/IR/Bluetooth SWF files | Varies, free but limited with MTASC |
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Marmalade | C, C++ | Yes | Yes | Visual Studio, Xcode | All native: Android, BlackBerry, BREW, iOS (iPhone), Maemo, Palm/webOS, Samsung bada, Symbian, Windows Mobile 6.x and desktop, OSX | The native distribution format of each platform | Commercial licenses available |
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Meme IDE | MemeScript | Validation is provided in the problems view | Yes, Android emulator can be integrated | Eclipse RCP | Android, Windows Mobile | The native distribution format if each platform | Free for development |
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Mendix | HTML5, Java | Yes | Yes | Yes, The Mendix App Platform | All platforms, mobile apps are browser based | Not applicable, Mendix is a Platform as a Service | Commercial licenses available |
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Metismo | Java | Yes | Yes | Eclipse | Java ME, Android, BREW, BlackBerry, Nintendo DS, iOS (iPhone/iPad), Palm/webOS, Sony PSP, Samsung bada, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7, Windows Desktop, OSX | The native distribution format of each platform | Commercial licenses available |
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MobiOne by Genuitec | HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, visual drag-n-drop | Yes | Yes | Use any Java IDE for back-end services, integrated MyEclipse soon | iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod), Android phones and tablets | OTA for device testing and native distribution format of each platform | Trial and Commercial licenses available |
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Mono for Android | C# | Yes | Yes | Visual Studio 2005 and MonoDevelop | Android | The native distribution format of the platform | |
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MonoTouch | C# | Yes | Yes | Visual Studio 2005 and MonoDevelop | iOS | The native distribution format of the platform | |
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MoSync | C, C++, Lua, HTML5, CSS, JavaScript | Yes | Yes | Eclipse, Visual Studio 2005 and later, MoBuild w/ text editors | Android, Java ME, Moblin, iOS (iPhone), Smartphone 2003, Symbian, Windows Mobile (Pocket PC), Blackberry (experimental) | SIS, CAB, JAD, JAR, APK, OTA deployment | Free, GPL 2.0, Free Indie Subscription; commercial subscription available |
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Mulberry | HTML5, CSS, JavaScript | Yes | No, 3rd party tools | No, 3rd party tools | Android, iOS, Mobile Web | The native distribution format of each platform, OTA deployment, | Free |
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.NET Compact Framework | C#, VB.NET, Basic4ppc | Yes | Free emulator, source code available, also bundled with IDE | Visual Studio 2008, 2005, 2003, Basic4ppc IDE | Windows Mobile, Windows CE, Symbian-based devices via third party tools | OTA deployment, CAB files, ActiveSync | Most tools free, but commercial editions of Visual Studio needed for visual designers |
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NME | haXe (similar to Actionscript and Java) | Yes | Yes | IntelliJ IDEA, FlashDevelop | iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch), Android, BlackBerry Playbook, WebOS, HTML5, Flash, Windows (exe), Linux | The native distribution format of each platform | Free |
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OpenPlug | ActionScript, XML | Yes | Yes | OpenPlug ELIPS plugin for Adobe Flash Builder | Android, iOS (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), Symbian, Windows Mobile | The native distribution format of each platform | Free & commercial licenses available |
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Palm OS | C, C++, Pascal | Yes | OS 1.0 - 4.1: Free Emulator provided by PalmSource (Access); OS 5.0: - 5.4 Device-specific Simulators provided by Palm (palmOne) | Palm OS Development System (Eclipse), CodeWarrior, PocketStudio, HB++, Satellite Forms | Palm OS handhelds, or Windows Mobile with StyleTap emulator | PRC files, PalmSource Installer (.psi) | Free (POSE or GCC for Palm OS), or commercial (CodeWarrior), or various commercial rapid-development frameworks |
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PhoneGap | HTML, CSS, JavaScript | Yes | No, 3rd party tools | No, 3rd party tools | iPhone, Android, Tizen, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Symbian, Palm, Bada | The native distribution format of each platform | Apache 2 |
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Python | Python | Yes | Add-on to Nokia Emulator | Several, including plugins for Eclipse | Interpreted language available natively only on Nokia Series60 (and desktops) though ports exist to other mobile platforms, including PalmOS | Sis deployment with py2sis or can use Python Runtime | Free |
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Qt SDK | C++, QML | Yes | Yes | Qt Creator | Symbian platform, Maemo, MeeGo, Linux, Windows, Mac OS X | The native distribution format of each platform | Free & commercial licenses available |
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Rhomobile | Ruby with HTML interface features compiled through an interpreter into native applications. | Yes | N/A, applications can run in Win32 runner, or in device emulators for supported platforms. | Xcode or Eclipse, on-demand RhoHub version includes full IDE | Yes, supports iOS (incl. 3.0) on iPhone and iPad, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Mobile Windows 6.0 Standard, BlackBerry 4.6, 4.7, 5.0, 6.0 (BlackBerry 4.2 and 4.5 supported but database access is very slow on these devices), Symbian and Android 1.6 and higher | OTA deployment, iOS through App store, .SIS, .CAB, .APK, .COD | Rhodes is free and open source under the MIT License, RhoSync is under GPL or commercial, Commercial support available. Subscription for RhoHub |
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Sencha Touch | HTML, CSS, JavaScript | Yes | Yes | Sencha Architect 2 | iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch), Android, Kindle, BlackBerry, Bada | Web delivered, or hybrid via native shells for each platform | GPLv3, Free Commercial License, Paid OEM and Embedded Systems Licenses |
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Smartface Platform | Drag-and-drop tools and action editing | No, not needed | Yes | Smartface Designer | Yes: Android, BlackBerry, J2ME, Symbian S60 | The native distribution format of each platform | Community licenses available |
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Stencyl | Drag and drop editor based on MIT Scratch, Objective-C | Yes | Yes | Xcode | iOS (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch) | The native distribution format of each platform. | Free and commercial development licenses. |
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Symbian | C++ | Yes | Free Emulator | Many choices | Compile per target | SIS deployment | Commercial and free tools available |
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Unity | C#, JavaScript, Boo, other .NET-based languages | Yes | Remote used to simulate device interaction before app is uploaded to the device. | Unity Editor, also works with Visual Studios and MonoDevelop. | Android, iOS (iPhone/iPad), PC, Mac, desktop browser, XBOX360, PS3, Wii. BlackBerry Playbook, Nokia Symbian, Roku 2 and others available through company's Union program. | The native distribution format of each platform. | Free and commercial development licenses. |
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ViziApps | WYSIWYG, Graphical Drag and Drop | N/A | Test right in browser or device | Online design studio | Android and iOS devices, Windows Phone 7 planned | N/A | Free to design, test and demo app. Costs to publish an app. Free to update apps. |
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WebORB Integration Server | C#, VB.NET, Java, PHP, ActionScript, JavaScript, Objective-C, XML | Yes | Uses emulator for corresponding mobile SDKs | Works with Eclipse, Visual Studio, intelliJ IDEA and Amethyst IDE | Android, iOS (iPhone/iPad), BlackBerry Playbook, Windows Phone7 | The native distribution format of each platform | Free development licenses; Free and Commercial deployment licenses |
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webOS | JavaScript, CSS, HTML, C and C++ through the PDK | Yes | Free emulator | Eclipse | webOS, Palm only | OTA deployment, webOS through App store, Web URL, Precentral, .ipk | Free |
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Windows Mobile | C, C++ | Yes | Free emulator (source code available), also bundled with IDE | Visual Studio 2010, 2008, 2005, eMbedded VC++ (free), Satellite Forms | Windows Mobile, Windows FU, Windows CE | OTA deployment, CAB files, ActiveSync | Free command-line tools or eMbedded VC++, or Visual Studio (Standard edition or better) |
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Windows Phone | C#, Visual Basic, C, C++ | Yes | Free emulator, also bundled with IDE | Visual Studio 2012, Visual Studio 2010 | Windows Phone | OTA deployment, XAP files | |
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