I'm developping an ios (3.1.3) application to manage contacts, tasks, activities, etc. These models are managed by core data and it works very well. Now I want to make all these items searchable in the spotlight search bar in iOS.
Is that possible?
And if so, how to code it? I found the "Core Data Spotlight Integration Programming Guide" but it's not suitable for iOS and I don't find any document or tutorial related to what I want.
Any ideas, suggestions? or full solution! :D
Thanks in advance!
This will be possible from iOS 9 onwards.
Apple just released a CoreSpotlight framework at WWDC 2015, and with integration its possible to search contents within third party apps and much more.
Documentation
You cannot integrate your application with Spotlight in iOS for now, there's no API to do it.
You can file a radar and wish an new Spotlight API in iOS 5?
Global search spanning all apps was a core feature of PalmOS going way back to PalmOS version 2.0, if I recall correctly. Yet even today, Apple's iOS Spotlight Search still only supports the built in apps provided by Apple.
It is shameful that Apple hasn't opened this up to developers yet - it would make Spotlight so much more useful on the iPhone and iPad.
You can now do it with iOS9 Search.
https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/releasenotes/General/WhatsNewIniOS/Articles/iOS9.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40016198-SW3
Related
I am currently building an iOS application with flash CS5 and I would need some help with a couple of the features:
Is it possible to add in-app purchases? If yes, how does that work?
Is it possible to add iAd advertising to the app? If so, how? If not, is there any good alternative that works with flash?
How can I save data from within the app so it will be there eaten if the user restarts the app and even the device (like for a headboard and such)?
Any help is highly appreciated!!! :D
If it were a few months ago. Then answer would be an unequivocal no. However, presently, the answer is "perhaps" (or if you are an optimist, "probably"). With the release of Air 3.0, it now supports Native Extensions. These extensions are native code that have a wrapper API around them so that they can be compiled in with and called from an Air application.
In fact, I decided to look around real quick while researching for this answer and found a repo where it looks like somebody has implemented in-app purchases via a ANE. But I haven't tested this extension personally, but it may be a good starting point to see how it is implemented.
The reason you wont find too much information about ANE's yet is because they were only recently supported in the Air 3.0 update that happened last month. They are currently unsupported in Flash CS5 (or 5.5) or Flash Builder 4.5. They are supported in Flash Builder 4.6, which is currently in a closed beta. But you might be able to sneak in still, and it should be released soon.
The biggest "drawback" is that these extensions need to be developed in the native format for the device you are targeting. So that means, if you want to make an iOS extension, then you are writing it in Objective-C and xcode on a mac.
Pretty much the same answer as before. It should be possible with a ANE. But I haven't found any examples of anybody doing it yet.
It is very simple to save data/state to the device. You'll want to look into the SharedObject.getLocal() method if you want to the LSO. Or you can just use low-level File writing. Check out File.applicationStorageDirectory. For sensitive information that should be encrypted into into the EncryptedLocalStore class, which I believe is supported on iOS but not on Android.
All of these should provide a good way for you to persist data between application sessions.
With AIR 3 you can now use native extensions to call into the native platform code to achieve the functionality not provided by AIR Actionscript APIs. To answer your questions.
in app purchase. I have a sample at http://code.google.com/p/in-app-purchase-air-ios
iAd. I have a sample at http://code.google.com/p/iad-air-ios/
As others have already answered use local shared objects.
Is it possible to make use of google Maps street view in iOS 5 ipad programming With annotations and other features of mapkit
Click on What's New in iOS » iOS 5 » MapKit.
If there is no mention of a new API for that feature, or if the framework is not even listed, then it hasn't been added. This answers all questions about new features in any framework of any iOS version.
You should try apple developer forums as iOS 5 is currently under NDA.
It's available in Maps, but wether it's accessible as an API which I think you're asking, I don't know, expect an answer from someone who has downloaded the beta SDK.
Good luck !
Three questions for iPhone developers using Google Analytics within their apps for tracking use of their apps:
Will using Google Analytics cause us to be in breach of the terms and conditions of the Apple SDK 4 for developers?
If the answer to #1 is YES, then what are we -- as iPhone developers -- allowed to use to track usage of our apps?
Has anyone who is using the iPhone SDK 4 built their apps that included the Google Analytics library and found it not to work? I'm being told by my developer that it doesn't work when you build with a Base SDK set to iPhone Device 4.0 and and an iPhone OS Deployment Target set to iPhone OS 3.0.
Thanks in advance!
Answers to your questions:
Yes, with the current API and data collection it looks like it is not compliant with the terms of the SDK. I am using both Flurry and Google in my apps because they offer different feature sets that I need. While Flurry has been very vocal that they are working with Apple to resolve the terms of the SDK, Google hasn't said a peep. So, I'm nervous about using Google but not Flurry, because I think Flurry will change their data gathering if Apple presses hard enough. In any event, I have made sure that I can rip out either analytics service quickly if Apple rejects my app.
My understanding is that it's fine to collect your own device data, as long as you don't report it to others. You especially don't want to share any data that would hint at new devices. That's what got Flurry in trouble. Just remember that you are under NDA with Apple, so anything not publicly announced is between you and Apple. There are also rules about what you do with Device IDs, so make sure you understand those as well.
I am using Google analytics on iOS 4, with deployment target set to 3.0. While I no longer have a device to test against 3.0, it is deployed on the AppStore and seems to be working. (No crash reports)
Louie, I encourage you to take a look at Localytics, our app analytics service. Our service is real-time, we don't sell data to third parties and we release the source code to our libraries.
We also have an updated library that works better with the multitasking or fast-user switching in iOS 4: http://www.localytics.com/blog/
Check out www.flurry.com - they have an awesome service!
They allow you to add "events" so you know not only how many times the apps been downloaded, opened, removed... but you know what buttons and areas they are navigating to once the app is open.
If your app uses core location, you can even see where the users are on a map. Very cool!
Good luck my friend!
I just read this annoucement about Apple lifting restrictions on its third-party developer guidelines with direct implications for Adobe’s Packager for iPhone.
http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2010/09/great-news-for-developers.html
I just want to know what kind of applications can be built using this packager?
Can I build applications using Flex/Actionscript and convert to iphone apps using this packager?
What effect do you think it might have on programming apps using Objective-C?
Some of your points seem to ask for opinions but most of your questions would best be served with their FAQ. http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Packager_for_iPhone:Developer_FAQ
IMHO for this one
What effect do you think it might have on programming apps using Objective-C?
Fewer people will attempt to learn Objective-C and may also not start using Xcode.
Update 10/24/2011
It would seem that adobe moved the link, so here are some others to get you going:
http://blogs.adobe.com/cantrell/archives/2010/09/packager-for-iphone-refresher.html
Developing for ipad
http://blogs.adobe.com/flashplatform/2010/01/building_ipad_apps.html
Developing for iOS using Flash Professional
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/logged_in/abansod_iphone.html
How to use Adobe's iPhone Packager without an Apple Developer Subscription
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-use-Adobes-iPhone-Packager-without-an-Appl/
is iPhone 3.0 SDK significantly different that I cannot use any books that were meant for iPhone 2.0 SDK?
Programming is pretty much the same?
Generally as everyone said above, changes to UITableView and few other items. 2.0 books still will be a great way to start.
Generally skip over any chapters with sound there is a new framework called AVAudioPlayer which makes playing sound sooooo much easier.
3.0 added a lot of extra frameworks which are real cool.
CoreData which is quite complex but
can be used for storing complex data.
MapKit has been added which allows
you to add google maps into you
application. It also features reverse
GeoCoding which means you can give
the map your lat,long and it will
give you an address which is way
cool.
Now you can interact with the user
iPhone Music Library and play
their music in your app.
You can also access the proximity sensor
cut/copy/paste,
video
shake gesture
push notification
in-app purchasing
.
The iPhone 2.0 books should give you the basic idea of how to structure your code, however you will miss out on some of the nice new things such as the availability of CoreData. A few things have changed with some of the controls such as UITableView, however you will get deprecation warnings from the compiler if you try to do things the old way.
The language is the same, with the addition of some new classes and a few changes to old ones. Your 2.0 books will be fine. If you're not using new features that were added in 3.0, there's almost no difference.
So far the biggest difference I found in terms of features that were available at 2.0 is changes made to Table views, specifically to table view cells. Apple added a lot of nice features that are commonly used every where that you had to write yourself. In 3.0 some of those are given to you.
So my advice is don't worry about using 2.0 books but when you start working on something also consult the SDK's documentation to see if there are any interesting things not mentioned in the book (I guess that would be a good advice even if the SDK didn't change).