Are Your Plugins Out of Date?

We’ve quietly introduced a new feature - outdated plugin checking. It appears at the end of the log on jobs which fail:

Package                       Current  Wanted  Latest  Location
cordova-android                 9.1.0   9.1.0  10.1.2  node_modules/cordova-android
cordova-plugin-camera           5.0.3   5.0.3   6.0.0  node_modules/cordova-plugin-camera
cordova-plugin-file             6.0.2   6.0.2   7.0.0  node_modules/cordova-plugin-file
cordova-plugin-media            5.0.4   5.0.4   6.0.0  node_modules/cordova-plugin-media
cordova-plugin-media-capture    3.0.3   3.0.3   4.0.0  node_modules/cordova-plugin-media-capture

In the above example, 5 plugins are using outdated versions. This can cause a variety of problems - it’s good practice to keep your plugins up to date.

To fix this, look at your config.xml file. The version of the plugin used depends on two things:

What version did you set the plugin spec to?
What is the highest version the engine you have selected can use?

In this example, the camera plugin is declared in config,xml without a version:

  <plugin name="cordova-plugin-camera" source="npm" />

Which means use the latest supported version. To explicitly set the version (it’s good practice), do the following:

  <plugin name="cordova-plugin-camera" source="npm" spec="5.0.3" />

So why it is using 5.0.3 instead of 6.0.0? It’s due to this line:

Package                       Current  Wanted  Latest
cordova-android                 9.1.0   9.1.0  10.1.2

The project is using an old version of the Android engine (9.1.0), which does not support version 6 of cordova-plugin-camera.

You should update your project to the current version of the engine. The other outdated packages will then be updated automatically.

What VoltBuilder Does

VoltBuilder is an easy to use wrapper for Apache Cordova and Ionic Capacitor. It builds native executables (.apk, .aab and .ipa) for Android and iOS from web apps. These executables can be augmented with native code plugins which extend capabilities far beyond what is possible in Web Apps and PWAs.

It works as a web service. Zip your project, upload to VoltBuilder, and download executables for Android or iOS.

In designing VoltBuilder, we had the advantage of starting with a clean slate. We were able to simplify and speed up the workflow. We also kept it framework neutral: VoltBuilder does not use any other AppStudio products, nor does it restrict the use of other frameworks. There is nothing to install.

About Us

We started in 1993 at the introduction of the Newton to fill the need for easier to use development tools. Our first product, NS Basic/Newton, was a success. When the Newton was cancelled, we introduced NS Basic/Palm. It also did well, so we added NS Basic/CE.

In 2010, we realized that JavaScript on mobile devices was getting seriously fast. Web pages in those days used a bit of JavaScript to augment the page: Could we flip things around and make JavaScript the core of web pages, driving the HTML and CSS? That resulted in AppStudio, targeting iOS and Android. It now has thousands of users in over 80 countries. More than 2 million students have learned how to program using it.

The same core group of developers has been at work on AppStudio for many years. We enjoy what we’re doing - we’ve built a loyal base of customers by treating them fairly and providing great support.

How to Get Started

Visit https://volt.build for more information, to sign up and get started. You can use the Free plan for limited testing, or sign up for a trial of the Indy or Pro plans. The first 15 days are free: you can cancel at any time.

If you’re coming from PhoneGap, there is a PhoneGap Migration Guide. You can also use the tutorial.

There is also a one minute video, showing you how to submit your app and download the result.