Aila SDK 2.0 Announcement

We’re excited to announce Aila SDK version 2.0. This new version brings a host of new features, improvements, and modernization of the framework. Version 2.0 also introduces new APIs and an updated demo application.

Get the latest update now by visiting Aila’s Customer Portal. If you don’t have an account, you can create one for free here.

iOS/iPadOS 16 Qualified

Apple released iOS 16 on September 12th and iPadOS on October 24th of 2022. Aila has been testing and qualifying SDK 2.0 against Apple’s latest OS months before its release and through the public release. With this release, the Aila SDK is formally supported in iOS/iPadOS 16.

We also understand that updating your application with Aila’s new APIs may require some additional development time. For this reason, we have also qualified our existing SDK 1.9.19 for iPadOS 16.0 and 16.1. SDK 1.X will not receive formal qualification against future versions of iPadOS (e.g. 16.2). Therefore, It is recommended to migrate to SDK 2.0. 

New APIs and Documentation

Aila SDK 2.0 introduces new APIs to support advanced features like MultiScan, while modernizing throughout for a smooth and consistent app integration. Our supporting documentation has also been updated with additional references, examples and guidance to support development.

The new documentation is bundled with the SDK and the demo application.

New Demo Application

We’re introducing a new demo application with SDK 2.0, along with its source code. The new app, AilaDemo, has been written from the ground up in Swift, and replaces PLSExample. We have updated the demo to showcase new features and APIs including MultiScan. 

Developers can use the AilaDemo app to learn how to implement and configure elements of the Aila SDK within their own app, making it easier than ever to get your experience off the ground. 

New Symbology Support

We are introducing support for  MSI/Plessy and Aztec* symbologies as configurable barcode types. 

UPC and EAN barcodes can now be individually configured and returned with discrete code types. In legacy versions of our SDK,  UPC and EAN barcodes were returned together as one type. However, this is limiting for those who need to perform different workflows from one of these symbologies.

*Additional licensing is required for Aztec, as it is part of our advanced symbology set. Please contact [email protected] or reach out to your account manager if you need to use one of our advanced symbologies. 

MultiScan

We are very excited to introduce support for MultiScan. This feature enables the simultaneous capture of barcodes within a single frame without the need to capture one barcode at a time. MultiScan also supports a duplication filter so you do not scan the same barcode over and over again. 

This enables advanced workflows through conditional filtering, allowing barcodes to be captured in the background until your condition has been met. For example, capturing four disparate barcodes from a cell phone box used to require placing fingers over surrounding barcodes to capture the codes of interest, one by one. With MultiScan, you can configure the SDK to simultaneously scan the entire region of the barcodes, filter down only those of  interest, and return a result nearly as quickly as a single scan. This can greatly reduce frustration, time, and miscaptures for these advanced workflows. 

End of Support: Resiliency Mode

Announced in September of 2021, as of SDK 2.0 we formally deprecate Resiliency Mode. As a reminder, Resiliency Mode was a feature we introduced on our Interactive Kiosk for the 12.9” iPad Pro 4th Gen. This feature, when enabled, allowed the iPad to power the kiosk in the event of a power disruption. 

Other Notable Changes

• SDK 2.0.1 has officially moved to the XC Framework. With this update, we will no longer be providing a static library 
• Aila’s RSM no longer has a dependency on Firebase. This will allow projects that use Firebase/Crashlytics to coincide with the Aila SDK without conflict
• We have updated our barcode scanning libraries for additional bug fixes and improvements
• ID-1 Detection and ID-1 Image Capture have been improved
• “beepMode” has been extended to support the ImageCapture function in addition to scanning
• Introduced a new “SetLightTimeout” command for the 10.2” Interactive Kiosk. This allows a developer to tell the kiosk to keep the kiosk lights on for a programmed amount of time when the SDK disconnects from the kiosk. This is primarily intended for use when implementing accessibility features and audio needs to be played via the iPad speaker (via Aila_EnableSpaker) which interrupts the comms between the SDK and the kiosk via the audio jack. 
• The SDK formally expires March 31, 2024. As a reminder, standard symbologies will continue to work past this date provided you are connected to Aila hardware

Contact [email protected] with any questions regarding this update.