On the iPhone, there is a standard convention for editing lists. You have the list, above that there is the Edit button and the + button. You click on the Edit button and the list changes slightly notifying the user of change of status.
Does Windows Phone 7 have some type of a standard convention for editing lists? It seems every app implements their own.
There are UI design guidelines published and maintained by Microsoft for Windows Phone development:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=220811
I'm not sure it will mention "standards" per se. However, the Phone's built in applications (Hotmail, People, etc), all tend towards a common way and a podcast from Metro designers on Silverlight TV advised to behave similarly to the provided apps.
What I've tended to notice is:
Add button above the list or on the app bar.
Edit button inside the item itself on the app bar.
Delete button on the app bar with checkboxes (Hotmail), or delete by holding down to get a context menu.
In the August Silverlight Toolkit, there's a control which mimicks the way emails/etc. are deleted on the device:
http://silverlight.codeplex.com/releases/view/71550
Unfortunately, I think not. There are some general guidelines here on the subject, but nothing concrete. It boils down to "Be consistent, but unique".
The latest Silverlight Toolkit (requires Mango) has a control for doing this similar to how the rest of the phone does it - but there is nothing stopping you for doing it your own way if that's what you prefer.
Related
I'm curious, is the standard "Share" dialog you see throughout a lot of iOS apps a standard SDK dialog or is everyone just mimicking the ones that Apple created for their apps like Safari? Or perhaps everyone is using ShareKit?
For instance, on iPhone you get a nice 3/4 modal dialog which does a vertical cover appearance, containing a bunch of shiny buttons:
While on iPad you see a "speech bubble" type dialog appear:
This seems too standard across apps to just be coincidence/people ripping off the look and feel.
The situation you presented in this specific case is caused by the fact that on iPad, the UIActionSheet is always presented within a popover controller, and on the iPhone it displays as in your example, withouth a Popover Controller (which is only available on the iPad)
I've written my own code for sharing using Facebook's SDK and the iOS5 Twitter integration so I've never used it but I believe there is a library you can use called ShareKit that will create the action sheets and sharing capability that you'd like. The "up-to-date"/"2.0" (I believe the original is no longer maintained) version is available here:
https://github.com/ShareKit/ShareKit
Apple provides the tools to make UI objects. The one you are looking at is "UIActionSheet".
Developers can bind methods to the tap events of the actionsheet.
Apple encourages developers to keep a consistent UI in order to make the overall use easier on the user.
Check out the Apple Human Interface Guidelines.
link
This morning I had a look at my blog on my iPhone and noticed that when I view a specific page a Reader icon comes up next to the URL in the address bar:
When I press it, I get an interface like this:
This functionality was completely unintentional (I wasn't even previously aware of it) but I think really nice, so I want to try and implement it intentionally on a few other pages on my website (and other sites that I work on).
How do I work with and enable this feature?
You don't need any work on your site. This is build-in feature on iOS Safari.
I am asking this question mainly to know if what I want to do is possible. I don't think there is an app that does it and I've been meaning to learn objective C, but it may not be possible.
I want an app that serves as the ONLY way (at least, the only easy way) to launch another app. So in an ideal world, you have MyApp, which lists app A, B, and C. A B and C are not visible on the normal browser, but can be launched from within my app.
Possible? Not?
Not possible. And its most likely that such a functionality will never make it into the official SDK.
What you're trying to do isn't really possible. It isn't possible (with the official development kit) to create iOS applications that don't appear on the home screen.
It is possible to launch other applications, though -- one common approach is to set them as URL handlers for private URL schemes. This can be used to pass information between applications. (However, trying to use this as access control won't work, because Apple will likely reject an application which can only be opened "correctly" by another app.)
Depends on your definition of App.
You can just have a master app which creates the illusion of being an app launcher by "opening" subroutines. Imagine like the old facebook iphone app for example
NO
Well... This has been done for years on the Cydia store with some custom menus but we wont get into that here...
Using the official SDK I think there are protocols to allow you to open an another application but pressing the home button for example will always go back to the default screen. I think ever if you were able to get it working, there is no chance it would be accepted into the App Store on grounds of it not doing anything the phone already does.
By all means look up jailbreaking and using the custom tool chain but you won't be able to sell this through Apple unfortunatley.
I am about to create a light version of an app of mine.
My idea is to have the same application and limit its functionality. For example: suppose my application allows 4 modes of operation. The lite version would contain the first mode unlocked and then, if the user selects one of the other modes, show a message saying these other modes are just available in the full version. Then a BUY NOW button would be provided.
Is this possible to do? I mean, is it against Apple rules?
That's not OK. See https://developer.apple.com/iphone/news/archives/september2009/
"Only display the UI for what your "Lite" version will do. Grayed out menu commands, "more track/car choices" you can see but not select, etc. makes your "Lite" version feel more like a commercial than a product, and an annoying and ineffective one at that."
So you can only display the mode the application actually contains. You can have an 'Upgrade to Pro' screen that lists the modes available in the full application but you can't have the same UI and the buttons to nothing.
Limited functionality applications are fine, but a time limited or use limited application is not.
Also, iPhone development questions should be posted on stackoverflow.com
Having a light version of your application that is for free is a common pattern. You should opt to use the same codebase for both applications as this will significantly reduce your development overhead.
Disabling certain features can be easily done via plist configuration or checking the bundle identifier which will be different for your light/full version. Combine this with an automated build process and there is almost no friction.
You can allow users of your light version to buy the full version via an In-App-Purchase. Here's the Apple docs on that.
NeilInglis has it right. In addition, I would suggest spending 10 bucks and download both the lite and full versions of some of the most popular apps. That will show you how to manage light versions.
In my app, I want to give the user the opportunity to add some comments to a listed item.
Rather than showing a "add comments" button, I want to show a little icon.
Being lazy, but also, using the visual language of a Mac user, I would like to use the the icon of the TextEdit application.
What would Apple think of this?
Obviously, I could design something myself, but that is another topic.
I would absolutely stay away from this. Since apple runs the approval process for iPhone apps they might reject your app for infringing on what would probably be copyright or trademarked work.
From a visual perspective, I do not think the TextEdit icon would be best for an "add comments" icon. It seems too general. I think your best bet would be to design something yourself or find a royalty free image online.
Apple rejected an update to my application because this icon (center), drawn by a designer for me and having no copyright whatsoever by Apple, depicts an iPhone.
I wouldn't push your luck. Stay far away from Apple's IP.
I believe this would be copyright infringement unless you had written permission from Apple. They have a copyright and trademark policy posted.
Yes!!! You CAN use their icons and they encourage it:
https://developer.apple.com/ios/human-interface-guidelines/graphics/system-icons/
System Icons
iOS provides lots of small icons—representing common tasks and types of content—for use in navigation bars, tab bars, toolbars, and Home screen quick actions. It’s a good idea to use these built-in icons as much as possible because they're familiar to people.
Provide alternative text labels for icons. Alternative text labels aren’t visible onscreen, but they let VoiceOver audibly describe what's onscreen, making navigation easier for people with visual impairments.