

Pixate promises app UI production in pure CSS - pcolton
http://webdev360.com/pixate-promises-app-ui-production-in-pure-css-43915.html

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jefflinwood
This seems like it's going about solving mobile UI problems backwards.

I think a better approach would be to fill in the gaps between what a graphic
designer is used to (Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks), and the UI tools that
the different platforms offer - Interface Builder and the XML Layout editor
for Android.

Interface Builder is definitely visual enough for designers, but most of the
"cool" effects for modern iOS apps can't be done purely through Interface
Builder.

The Android Layout Editor in Eclipse has a lot more control over features, but
I wouldn't expect graphic designers to start creating drawables in XML either.

My thoughts would be to work within the Photoshop ecosystem - a plugin that
exported XIBs and Layout XML would probably be the easiest way to go.

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alexobenauer
I agree. CSS Hat currently does this for CSS (<http://csshat.com/>), but it
would truly be great there was a "CSS Hat for native mobile" UI's.

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pcolton
A 'CSS Hat for native mobile UI's" is basically what Pixate supports. That is,
we can take CSS, and style native iOS (and Android) components just like you
can web components. Pixate is the engine that enables all of this (whereas in
a web page, the browser is doing all the rendering for you).

~~~
alexobenauer
I think I like the CSS Hat model better because it generates the code that I
then have complete control over. First, that can be helpful when learning the
language. Second, it's really nice because of its tweakability. If the CSS Hat
dev's decided to implement a stroke as a border, but I know it would look
better as a layered drop shadow, then I can make that adjustment. If there are
any other quirks or bugs, I can fix them with the resultant code. With the
pixate model, I can't do that, as far as I understand (please correct me if
I'm wrong!!).

~~~
pcolton
You can edit the CSS with Pixate in the exact same way. It doesn't get
'compiled away', the runtime optimizations happen behind the scenes. The CSS
can remain in your project as a resource, much in the same way you reference
your CSS in an HTML page.

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JosephRedfern
$200,000 doesn't seem an awful lot for 3 software engineers and a graphic
designer, including premises, utilities and IT.

~~~
alexobenauer
I'm pretty sure they're currently in YC. I do wonder then what the campaign is
for.

~~~
agscala
It seems like Kickstarter has been used more and more lately as an
announcement platform that has the very nice benefit of generating a little
extra income on the side.

For now it's going to work because a lot of backers don't actually realize
that they have another (probably much larger) source of income to build the
product with, and they feel like backing is the only way this product will get
off the ground.

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pcolton
Appcelerator (creators of Titanium) supports Pixate by becoming first
corporate sponsor.

[http://developer.appcelerator.com/blog/2012/08/join-us-in-
su...](http://developer.appcelerator.com/blog/2012/08/join-us-in-supporting-
pixate.html)

~~~
bgramer
I've been watching this with keen interest since it was first announced here
sometime ago. Unfortunately, at the pace Pixate is raising funds on
Kickstarter, it doesn't look like they'll achieve their goal. Does this mean
they're screwed, or will they still push this product out the door through
their corporate sponsor Appcelerator?

~~~
pcolton
Have you made a pledge? ;-)

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carson
I was thinking about something like this the other day. Nimbus has something
similar I think <http://blog.jeffverkoeyen.com/nimbus-chameleon>

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zbowling
I wrote this for iOSDevCamp last year: <http://cssapply.github.com/>

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89a
Photoshop is awful for designing UIs

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k33n
Great design has almost nothing to do with the tools used.

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mistercow
Seems like an irrelevant point. 89a didn't say "UIs designed in Photoshop are
awful", after all. But a tool _can_ be bad for a job, even if it is
technically possible to do good work with that tool.

That said, I think that Photoshop does have a few core features that designers
really like for web design, and then a ton of features that get in the way for
that particular use case. So basing a web design tool on those features of PS
that are good for web design seems like a reasonable strategy.

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vtry
You can use Bootstrap today...

