How To Make Iphone Apps

Everything Iphone Related

Mobile Slot Games and Your iPhone – A Perfect Match

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No matter how many versions of the iPhone come out, we still find a way to fall in love with the new while still respecting the old. After all, the iPhone has really come a long way in over 13 generations. Want a way to really put your smartphone to good use and get as much as you can out of that nice screen? Turn your attention to mobile slot games. If you need ideas of where to go to get the mobile experience, you can always check out Qyto – a place were you will be able to find best uk bitcoin casino on market today.

Mobile Slot Games

When you go with mobile slot games, you’re going to be able to play all of your favorites from just about anywhere in the world. As long as you have a strong data connection, you can enjoy mobile game play. Many of these games can be played for free to pass the time. Of course, if you really want to flirt with a little calculated danger, you can always play for real money.

The colors of 3D and video slots really come alive on that beautiful Retina display, one of our favorite aspects of the iPhone. You don’t have to sit and just stare at the screen without anything to do. There are so many different slot games with so many features that you owe it to yourself to check it out. [Read more…]

Mobile Apps: What to Install

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Apps have redefined how we access business and services in the modern world. They are essentially miniaturised versions of their websites that are more accessible as they can be opened quickly and easily compared to using a traditional browser. The creation of apps has directly led to the growth of many industries such as gambling at casinos like these here and they have been so successful because of the added convenience apps offer. When setting up a new phone, it can prove overwhelming when thinking of what apps to install as there are such a plethora of options on the market.

Apps can be downloaded from the platform’s application store, where they are immediately added to the home screen of the phone to give the best access possible. On these stores, apps are generally separated into sections for easier identification of the app that is desired. There is also usually a ranking list that goes by the number of downloads the app has had, which is a good indicator of some general apps that should be downloaded, but these lists often miss out on some great apps that should also be included on any phone. The best way to fill a phone’s library is to go through each category and choose ones that fit the personal use case. [Read more…]

Remote iOS debugging – an all-around approach

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So,why would you need to debug iOS apps remotely? Well, if you have the target iOS device around and can connect it directly to your development machine, you have nothing to worry about. But what if you needed to test a program running on a remote device which couldn’t be physically attached to your development computer?

The native solution for remote iOS debugging

Probably the simplest way to debug iOS apps on a remote device is the new option presented in Xcode 9 awhile back. It relieves you of the need to plug the device into your Mac any time you want to debug your iOS application. As for the weaknesses of this option:

  1. To be able to debug your iOS app remotely, you’ll still need to physically connect the iOS device to your development machine at least once (to setup remote debugging).
  2. Mac with running Xcode and the device you want to access remotely must be located within the same local network. If not, remote iOS debugging simply won’t work.

As an alternative to the native method, you may also consider using a third-party solution like FlexiHub. This software tool is designed to redirect iOS devices across any network and any distance. [Read more…]

App review – Pal

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Pal is great new app if you are interested in meeting up with people and taking part in various activities. It is more than a social media because you find like-minded people and then meet them while doing activities that you both enjoy.

The app is available for IOS and Android phones and can therefore be downloaded from Google Play or the App Store. Once you have it you can start adding to your contacts and build up a list. You will set up a UserID which you can give to your friends, family and acquaintances and thy will then be able to add you to their contacts and you can add them to yours. You can create groups to help you sort your list of Pals. You can also add photos and once you add a photo of yourself, you will be able to see others photos too.

Once you have a bunch of friends you will be able to send them messages. You will also be able to select activities to take part in. You can add your own activities or select ones that are already there and join them. Others may start activities and add you to them, you can contact them in the chat and ask to be removed if you do not want to be part of the activity. If you start an activity and add people, they may do the same for you. [Read more…]

100 Essential Apps

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A list of 100 Essential Apps for iPad/iPhone that will improve your lifestyle! Although I can’t guarantee anything… Not all will work on both iPhone/iPod and iPad and the prices may vary depending on location and iOS.

1. Facebook – Free

Got Facebook? Of course you have! The most popular website for Social Networking has got a free App which is easy to navigate and looks appealing. Now you can be anti-social and social at the same time! What, you don’t have a Facebook? Maybe you should just stick to writing letters.

2. Angry Birds – £0.59/$0.99

Perhaps not the most essential app in this list but let’s face it, until you try the most addictive physics-based bird-flinging game on the App Store, you really aren’t a true apple fanatic.

3. Twitter – Free

The best place to stalk celebrities and erm.. stalk more celebrities? Yeah I hate the thing. But there must be something appealing about it, perhaps to promote your business or find out when your favourite band are touring. So get your free Twitter App now and find out what Justin Beiber had for breakfast. Fascinating, right?!

4. Keynote – £5.99/$9.99

Make a moving presentation, and take it anywhere. A powerful presentation App for use with the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Keynote gives you ways to create interesting slideshows while being able to take them anywhere.

5. GarageBand – £2.99/$5.99

Did your jazz fusion band never really take off? GarageBand lets you mix different instruments together to create your own melodies. Many instruments available including guitars, keyboard, drums and tambourine, while a stylish and user-friendly interface allows anyone to create songs.

6. Hipstamatic – £1.19/$1.99

A fun little camera App that allows you to change the virtual lens, film and flash, giving your photos that awesome vintage/retro look. Essentially it’s just adding cool effects to your snapshots while providing you with an old-school camera interface. Turning hipster has never been so cheap!

7. Mint – Free

A virtual money-manager, Mint tracks your income, spending and investments after you enter your financial data to the password-protected site. It will also alert you should your spending go over a preset budget or if your credit needs attention. One of the best free finance related Apps.

8. Spotify – Free

The music revelation that is Spotify, now available as an App. Spotify allows you to play music streamed from the internet for free, and save them to playlists. Not every band can be found on it but it’s collection is pretty extensive.

9. Skype – Free

Yet another social networking App, Skype stands among the best, offering free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls over 3G and WiFi.

10. ShopSavvy – Free

Using ShopSavvy, you can find the best deals for products on the highstreet while uploading deals you have found yourself for other users to find. Now with improved search and barcode scanning.

11. Kindle – Free

Kindle offers an easy-to-use-interface giving you access to almost a million books in the Kindle Store. The App is free but you must purchase most books.

12. Google Earth – Free

View the entire globe from your iPhone! An interesting App, which uses GPRS to locate your current position and then you’re free to wander anywhere. Hawaii? Fiji? You be the judge. [Read more…]

What Are The Two Biggest Complaints That Frustrate Newbie iOS Developers?

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Does this sound familiar?

“I would love to do iPhone development but I just don’t have the time to wade through the obtuse and elitist tools required to master iOS programming.”

I’ll bet this describes at least some of you out there right? The reason I know this is that late last year I asked my readers what their biggest sticking points were. The overwhelming response to this question could be summarized by two words: Time and Tools.

Who Has A Massive Time Surplus?

The answer to this is: almost no-one. Maybe if you’re still a student or a recent grad and are very excited about mobile development then you can learn app development instead of burning away hours on the XBox (or whatever you kids are doing these days!).

However, most of the people who responded to my survey though already have tons of completing burdens on their time: family, jobs, hobbies, activities, babies and so on. For this group, taking a few months to struggle through learning something brand new is daunting. Almost no-one has the 6 months to a year it would take to learn this stuff on their own.

Some of the responses I got were:

“No time to explore mobile technologies though I’m trying hard to devote time for this.”
“Having time to work on iPhone apps.”
“Not having enough time.”
“Time. As a father of a young family with many constant and various needs. Husband. Working professional. Like many others.”

Trying to learn something brand new like iOS development on your own is going to take a ton of time. Obviously, learning a new skill will take some time – the question is only how much time will it take?

What’s the solution?

If you’re truly motivated you can find some time in your schedule. Here’s some ideas:

– Re-Prioritizing Projects (maybe that new bathroom can wait a few months)
– Getting Help With Chores (hire a cleaning service and/or a handyman and use your time savings for your education)
– Use your educational time wisely (investing in the right class or training program will be much better than wading through on your own)

The only way around the time problem (outside of magic spells) is to get help so that you use your time wisely.

The Comfy Tool Bias

This applies especially to seasoned software developers. We all have our favorite tools and have mastered our workflow to the point where making new software is as familiar to playing a favorite video game. Other professionals have similar feelings with their own workflows and tools.

Xcode, Objective-C, iOS and UIKit are the four main tools you’ll use to make apps. For most newbies, these tools are unlike anything they’ve worked with before. These are not your typical text editors, photoshops, Visual Studios or Microsoft Words. Many (if not all) newcomers find these tools daunting.

In fact, the words I used at the beginning to describe these tools sum it up pretty well: they seem elitist and obtuse. The truth is: they are. For a programmer used to performing magic feeling lost and stunted with Xcode is overwhelming. For a newcomer to software development who hasn’t used a Mac the experience can be terrifying.

What’s Your Opinion?  What is the biggest sticking point that you see with new iOS developers?  Please comment below…

Understanding Subclassing

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This means that if you have code in one class that you would like to reuse in another class you can create a subclass. The original class is called the superclass and the subclass gets all the code in the superclass. You can also add additional code to the subclass. Programmers do this all the time which creates a hierarchy like the graphic at the top of this page.

The Super And Self Keywords

If you haven’t yet groked the relationship between classes and objects the details of this can get confusing. For instance, take a look at the init override that you get from Xcode’s code library:

-(id)init{
    self = [super init];
    if (self) {
        //initialize here
    }
    return self;
}

NOTE I’m assuming you know about how to create classes in Objective-C here. If you don’t know what I’m talking about click here to read the chapter on creating classes in Objective-C.

So I highlighted some particularly confusing keywords that are in theinit function.self andsuper reference objects from the class that we are currently defining.

While both keywords objects created from the class self references the properties and methods defined in the current class definition while super references the properties and methods defined in the superclass definition.

Objects And Classes

Let’s take another look at that init override so we can see the context where we usually see this function.

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

@interface MyClass : NSObject

@property(strong) NSString *name;

@end

@implementation MyClass

-(id)init{
    self = [super init];
    if (self) {
        //initialize here
        _name = @"MyClass Object";
    }
    return self;
}

@end

int main(int argc, const char * argv[]){
    @autoreleasepool {
        MyClass *myObject = [[MyClass alloc] init];
        NSLog(@"myObject.name = %@", myObject.name);
    }
    return 0;
}

Here’s the English version of the code above: we defined a class named MyClass which is a subclass of the NSObject class. MyClass is going to override the init function.

In the main function we are going to instantiate an object named myObject and write out the myObject name value to the console log.

Class Vs Object

A class is a definition of an entity (an abstract model) that is made up of definitions for properties and methods. By itself, a class doesn’t do much other than contain a definition. In the above example all the code that defines the class is between the @interface and @end keywords and the @implementation and @end keywords.

Objects are special variables that are created based on class code definitions. You can see how objects are used in the main function above. Typically, you would create many objects based on one class definition.

How It Gets Confusing

This stuff gets confusing because most people think of classes and objects as the same thing. After all, when you want an object to behave differently you must make changes so rewrite the class definition. So that’s pretty natural. Getting back to the init function though you can see why this gets confusing,

-(id)init{
    self = [super init];
    if (self) {
        //initialize here
    }
    return self;
}

In that first line of code after the function name, self = [super init];, it looks like we are getting an NSObject object from the superclass, assigning this object to self and then returning this to the caller.

This is not really the case. You are simply getting your MyClass object from the superclass. The reason that it seems like you are getting an NSObject object back here is because you are thinking in terms of objects and not class definitions. Even though this code will be used to initialize and return objects at some point right now we are only working on the code definition.

That self keyword doesn’t represent some NSObject object variable out there. It’s simply a way to reference the code from the superclass definition.

What subclassing really does for you is more like a copy and paste. It’s as if you have copied all of the NSObject code and used this code in MyClass. So that init call to super will just initialize the part of the class definition that is contained in NSObject before you finish up initializing.