This is a simple question on a (probably) complicated topic.
I'm in the process of trying to build an app in which multiple users are invited into a session by a single user.
If they accept, I would like the session admin/host's device to control the views on the devices of all the users in that session.
I have searched high and low, Google, StackOverflow, Treehouse etc. but whenever I suggest multiple users or type the question as I have here I get responses that demonstrate how to make an app capable of supporting multiple users on one device, or similar.
The question is simply: is what I want to do possible? Is it safe? Does anyone have a resource that would get me started in learning about how to code this scenario.
Thanks in advance,
Kyle.
Easy as pie - you use PubNub for exactly that.
demo similar to your problem:
https://www.pubnub.com/developers/demos/codoodler/
(That demo is in-browser, but it's equally easy to do inside an app - assuming you're an experienced app developer of course!)
more demos:
https://www.pubnub.com/developers/demos/
I can tell you're new at mobile development. Do understand that:
A) In general programming is extremely difficult. Programming mobiles in particular has a lot of fussy knowledge needed as well as broad general engineering skills.
B) We really live in the "age of BAAS" - "platforms" such as PubNub, FireBase, Parse, Realm, Couchbase and so on. (These days you can't really be an "app programmer" .... you can't get a job "programming an iPhone". You get a job doing Firebase development, happening to be on iPhone - you know?)
I believe Apple has documentation on this very topic:
https://developer.apple.com/reference/multipeerconnectivity
The trickier part will be how do you send back and forth data that allows the host to "control" the views of the other devices. If by "control" you want to let the host control things that are outside of your app (like a screen share) I don't believe that will be possible.
Related
I need to create and App that will run in the background and will monitor the user's behavior in term of applications installed, opened and deleted.
i.e Application will save the information in the database that at what time user has installed/opened/deleted an application in iphone.
I wonder if its possible and Apple will allow this??
I tried to google on it but did not get anything, i know if its possible then it would be possible by multiasking only??
Can any one please help me on the same.
Brn
Not possible. Your app can only run when the user chooses to (except for a limited sub-set of tasks like VoIP, etc).
Your app can know nothing about other apps.
iOS apps are sandboxed. I wouldn't say impossible but certainly not allowed. You'd have to find a security hole to give you root access first. Oh, and notify us when you do ;).
Edit:
Maybe it wasn't clear in my post but I was at least half joking. Not sure why you want to do what you want to do. I can imagine the following scenarios:
1) Your company wants to monitor everything their users do on their phones. In that case I would either
a) lock them down and only allow app installation through a company portal (enterprise distribution is possible in iOS) OR
b) forget about iOS alltogether. Blackberry would probably be closer to what you want, although I don't really have experience with that platform. Also, its future is not sure.
2) You're trying to do something illegitimate. Because of iOS's locked down nature it won't be easy. See how few successful attacks there have been in the last years - and that's for a highly successful platform where an attack could be high paying both in terms of money and reputation.
I am writing an iPhone app, and I have a remote server that will deliver content. I would like to have my app poll the server once per day to see if there is new content, even if it's not running or in the background. I would also like to do this without setting up an APNS. Any advice?
You can't do that, either when your 'not' running or if you are running in the background. The best you could do is to download once per day when your app is first run / pushed to the foreground.
You could use remote notifications to "prompt" the user to bring the app to the foreground so that it could download something?
With the current apple IOS guidelines, that is about the best you can do.
I read that you are trying to avoid using APNS, but I am wondering if you are trying to avoid it for the right reasons, especially when it is designed to efficiently solve the scenario you are describing. I've seen many developers seek alternative solutions to APNS simply because the technology appeared to be complex to use after looking at Apple's documentation. The online documentation does go into a lot of details, right down to the binary protocol level.
But just to be sure you know, there are open-source libraries whose only purpose is to shield you from all these technical details. Some libraries are more complex than others, but some are remarkably user-friendly. If you have not done so already, you might like to take a look at JavaPNS and other similar projects.
I'm new to mac/iOS development. I'm thinking of to develop a UI less application by using existing Apps/Libraries.
I want to know whether following things will be possible to make or not, it will be great if someone provides me some insight.
Here are my questions:
Is it possible to show/hook additional buttons on existing contacts
-> contacts view (some additional buttons under FaceTime button)?
Is it possible to route some messages to SMS inbox? where the user
feels like he received/sent the real SMS?
In short: no.
In somewhat longer: iOS applications run in a sandbox that rather severely limits their ability to interact with the outside world. This is for the purpose of protecting the user's security and experience using the device. It MIGHT be possible to accomplish both of those things if you were running on a jailbroken device and using non-public APIS (though frankly I doubt you'd be able to add buttons to the existing contacts list by any means at all). But such an app couldn't be sold in Apple's app store.
What kind of practices do you do when developing iPhone apps? For instance, do you write up a technical design document of any sort. Do you write down the design of your app at all? Do you implement a certain methodology agile/scrum/waterfall etc...? I'm just curious when working on projects like an iPhone app, what kind of best practices do people use or do people just go at it?
I've worked on a few iPhone apps, and I've found this workflow works pretty well:
Figure out what the app is going to do. Create a one sentence description of the app that embodies what you're trying to do. If you can't explain the core functionality in one sentence, people won't get it!
Create interface mockups for each screen of the app on paper, and then in Adobe Fireworks. Fireworks' native file format is PNG, so it's easy to create images for use in the actual app later.
Figure out how you're going to architect your app using Model-View-Controller and the other iPhone app design patterns (delegates, dataSources, etc...). Don't try to do something other than MVC. The whole SDK is built around MVC!
Start coding! I usually start with the bare functionality first. For a drawing app, I implement the drawing controller and the important drawing views (color picker, etc..) first. I back things up to an offsite SVN repository as I go using Versions (I haven't had much luck with the repository support in Xcode)
Distribute a beta version of the app to a group of AdHoc testers. This helps a lot. Getting the app in the hands of a few extra people really helps isolate usability issues and bugs that are hard for a single developer to find.
Repeat until satisfied and Apple approves :-)
I haven't done much with iPhone development, but its irrelevant. I wouldn't consider it any different from any other developmental process.
The process is different for each case, some have at it and others follow their development methodologies.
As one who is about to dabble in his first iPhone app, I don't think there is any one methodology that rules over any other. You can apply any of the techniques you mention to an iPhone app, just like any other development effort.
A key thing about iPhone apps, or any Apple related development effort, is that Apple sort of forces you to follow certain design guidelines. That is good in some ways (less to concern yourself with) and bad in others (restrictive).
Also, Objective-C and Cocoa Touch can also lend itself to certain ways of programming.
Now, specifically for me, as a sole developer, I will probably:
Jot down high level features of what I want to be included in the first version
Do an interface mockup (either on paper or with a software tool)
Jot down some key objects and functions (psuedo-code)
Set up a source control mechanism (I think this is key)
Start going at it
Possible repeat of any or all of 1-3 :-)
I prefer to start with small proof-of-principle projects to test out different capabilities of the device that I need for my final product. This is especially important on a mobile device like the iPhone, because hardware limits on memory, processing power, graphics, or display size can render some ideas impractical. It's best to know that your application won't work as you imagined after only a couple of days of playing around, rather than after a month of development.
John Geleynse and others at Apple advocate starting your design with a single sentence that describes your product and its intended audience, and building everything around that mission statement. I've found that this works extremely well for determining what features to incorporate or leave out of a product, particularly on the iPhone. Having a simple core product description at the center of your design is also extremely helpful when you need to explain this product to others in your later marketing efforts.
Aside from that, I've found that iterative development incorporating lots of testing and user feedback has worked for me on every platform I've developed for.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a site that potentially has some inspirational user interfaces for building my own iPhone Apps. It's straight forward to continually build out applications with the conventional UIKit widgets, but it does not set you apart from the competition. Some resources on how to build attractive interfaces is highly desired for inspiration. This is for someone with minimal Photoshop/Illustrator skills, but doesn't mind using sites such as iStockPhoto and working with custom views.
Apple is historically well-known for the user interfaces of its products and programs written for them, but in recent years it has come under fire for seemingly allowing its Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) to lapse. Some of the best Mac and iPhone applications are actually those that deviate from the HIG, but not so much that usability (or acceptance into the App Store) is sacrificed (see link text).
Examples of such innovative iPhone applications can be found in the iPhone app and web app showcases of Apple Design Award winners. These apps have been judged by Apple itself to be creative, inspiring, and exemplary of the iPhone platform's potential as a mobile computing device.
Go to your local best buy, game stop, or any other store with xbox360s, wiis and playstation 3s lying around. Play every single demo on these machines and rate them solely on UI experience. Triple A console games still lead the interface world in my opinion. Soft synths are a close second and also often have beautiful UIs (as Chris Schreiner pointed out). A quick trip through logic will give you a glimpse of apple's own work in that direction.
You might want to check out this article by Matt Gemmell about his process in designing the UI for his Favorites app.
10 Gorgeously Designed iPhone Applications has some very nicely designed apps.
I spent a long time getting this one together, it's a full list of every single ios inspiration / mobile css gallery I could find on the internet. Let me know if you find any others so I can add them!
http://www.kintek.com.au/web-design-blog/iphone-mobile-css-gallery-listing-ios-inspiration/
Maybe this will help: My source of inspiration comes from the software-synth domain. Circle from FAW comes to mind. Ableton Live is (in my book) something to look at.
Heres a good article about designing the Convertbot application. A very simple app that stands out because of its UI.
I hate to burst your bubble, but great design is not something you will get from finding a "site" to look at. Major universities have graduate design programs, that's the kind of place where some people learn to be great designers. Multiple courses and textbooks on design and all the related areas (art, architecture, psychology, biomechanics, etc., etc.) I've seen too many engineers, without at least some of this training, routinely suggest some really bad UI design ideas. Don't be another one of them.
Treat learning great design as something far bigger than finding a site (or learning another programming language, etc.), more like a multi-year endeavor, and you might have a chance.
Or find and team up with someone who's already an experienced designer.