macOS version of ZX81 iOS/iPadOS app

Emulator and emulator development specific topics
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kpalser
Posts: 80
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2012 2:18 pm
Location: Dundee, Scotland

macOS version of ZX81 iOS/iPadOS app

Post by kpalser »

Hi folks,

Download link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/3ahyb9b5 ... 1.dmg/file

First and foremost, there are already other ZX80/81 emulators that run on macOS without the need for Windows virtualisation:
- ClockSignal
- SZ81
- ZEsarUX

This emulator is an unapologetic recycling of the iOS/iPadOS ZX81 app using Mac Catalyst. It will run on macOS 10.15 (Catalina - minimum possible Mac Catalyst target) and above with a universal binary for both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. It is not a fully-fledged macOS app in that it still has iPadOS controls and layout. However, it does have functionality migrated to a menu bar instead of tapping on the CRT screen for the extra options. And unlike the iOS/iPadOS App Store app, it has an option for loading external P and O tape files.

Consider this a rough first version with references to the iOS/iPadOS app in its text and a lot of room for obvious improvements in its interface. That said, bear in mind this has not been a simple adjustment of project settings and selecting build. Numerous changes had to be made to the original iOS/iPadOS project to get it to behave on a Mac target. Technically this app could be hosted on the Mac App Store with the main drawback that the tape file loading would need to be removed to comply with Apple developer rules.

A big thank you to Allan McLeod for all his patient testing over the last couple of months as we worked together to identify and resolve stability and usability problems. There is also a lot of Paul Farrow in this project code base be it from direct email comms or ‘borrowing’ aspects he has implemented over the years in EightyOne.

More macOS versions to come…

Kevin
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SafePit
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Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:06 pm
Location: Boise, ID
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Re: macOS version of ZX81 iOS/iPadOS app

Post by SafePit »

Really appreciate your hard work. Just tested and ran great. Really like that it works with Chroma. I had fun playing with settings. I also have the iPad version installed on my Mac, so I had to rename it in my App folder. I know it is still early, but would be nice to include recent files and a reload option--something I use in testing a lot.
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sboisvert
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Re: macOS version of ZX81 iOS/iPadOS app

Post by sboisvert »

Nice work.

One thing that'd be nice to be able to do would be to load a .p program, without the system being reset; for example I'd load something that would transfer code to address 8192, then load something else and I'd still have the code at 8192 be resident.
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