Show annotation in custom views - iphone

First off - I'm not using MapKit. I'm using my own controls for something entirely different. But the annotation view is something I'd like to mimmic. I've seen other applications with similar views to indicate state or actions on other controls. However, scanning through the class library I can't find a view already in the SDK. Do I have to create my own custom view that mimics this look and behavior or does the iPhone provide a standard way of showing these annotations?

You have to create your own (or find an open source implementation). The annotation views are actually drawn by the map view so they don't work outside of a map.

Well I couldn't find an open source solution so I built my own. To save anyone else the trouble, the source can be found at
http://github.com/appsinyourpants/Pants-Framework/tree/master/Classes/Views/

Related

Swift and Parse - PFQueryTableViewController loadingViewEnabled

Good day! I'm using Parse for my swift project, Specifically the PFQueryTableViewController but i want to change the loading view when i open the app. It doesn't look good in my background so i want to change its color and shadow. Also its UIActivityIndicatorView. Is it possible to change this things? Here is the Screenshot for it.
I tried searching for that method in ParseUI framework but i can't find it. I hope you can help me, Thanks!
Only the table controller is unique to Parse. The spinner is just a regular UI element. Thus, the iOS developer references are good places to look for this.
Try this link for the activity spinner:
This link shows information about the controller, which shows that it simply inherits from UITableViewController, and the cells/background can be styled accordingly.
In general, Parse tries to prefix its objects with PF.

iOS - QuickLook - How to open an object in QuickLook without a UIScrollView

Could anyone point me towards a resource which uses QuickLook to open a (preferably but not necessarily a pdf) file without using a UITableView?
I do have this example of using QuickLook but it uses a listview which I need to get away from.
http://robsprogramknowledge.blogspot.com/2011/02/quick-look-for-ios_21.html
I'm not sure how you plan to design your UI to open a file. I've used a few different ways, so I'll toss out some ideas. A UITableView is ideal for large amounts of files. A generic scroll view can also be used for a large number of files. I've used an alert view for an app that only generates one or two files. You could also use a view with document icons like the iPad Mail app. To get the document icons, use UIDocumentInteractionController. The WWDC 2010 DocInteraction sample code goes in great depth with how to use UIDocumentInteractionController.
As for opening the file, the Quick Look framework makes that easy. A simple, self-contained solution is to subclass QLPreviewController. Then, your subclass needs to conform to the QLPreviewControllerDataSource protocol and optionally the QLPreviewControllerDelegate protocol. Next, pass it an array of NSURLs pointing to your files. You can do this either through an initializer like -initWithFiles:(NSArray *)files or through a setter. From here, -previewController:previewItemAtIndex: just needs to index into the array to get the appropriate file to show. -numberOfPreviewItemsInPreviewController: just needs to return the size of the array. Once you have this class finished, you can use any UI design you like to push this view or present it modally.
Hopefully this is more clear than my tutorial you've been reading.
EDIT:
I have posted some code to Github that may help you. I have created a file previewer class as described above. I also posted a demo app that directly uses a QLPreviewController.

Create springboard like main view

Is there some sample code, or an easy way, to implement an application with as its first view something like Springboard?
What I am looking for is just a view with basic icons which after a tab on an icon tells the view-controller to push the view associated with the selected icon.
This in itself is not that difficult off-course (just putting images on a view), but is there an easy way to implement all the extra functionality as well (as e.g. moving the icons around (start 'vibrating' when when you push hold them), multiple pages etc.). The Facebook App seems to have this. It is probably not worth my while to write it myself, but it would be nice if there is something 'out of the box' to give the App a bit more of an iPhone feel.
Thanks in advance!
Facebook uses the Three20 library for its UI. The specific view used for the SpringBoard-like interface is known as TTLauncherView.
This is not an endorsement (I have yet to really check this out, and I may be too entrenched in using Three20 at this point to even bother), but here is another project that implements the springboard functionality: myLauncher on Github
You can use UICollectionView to create this
Look at this example
https://github.com/tularovbeslan/Springboard

android UI external libraries?

I'm starting with android, and the app I'm developing is gonna need custom widgets look (glossy buttons, animated backgrounds etc.),
I've googled for any external libraries to achieve this and did not find anything.
let me guess, the only way to this is by painly extending base view classes and overriding onDraw etc. ?
You need to explore View Styles. You can customize almost any view element. You might not need any external library that extends and designs custom buttons.
More ref:
http://blog.androgames.net/40/custom-button-style-and-theme/
http://www.androidworks.com/changing-the-android-edittext-ui-widget
I like this library quite a lot: https://github.com/cyrilmottier/GreenDroid
It includes:
Action bar
Quick action
AsyncImageView
and a lot of other things
It's easy to use and nice for quick developments.

iPhone: Is there a pre-made UISettingsView?

On startup, if the user hasn't done any setting of NSUserDefaults, I want my main view to do a flipside view that brings up the same stuff that shows up in the Settings app.
Is there an API for instantiating the same controller that Settings uses, or will I have to reimplement a table view and controller myself?
This website hosts the 'MySettings' API which is a nice toolkit that encapsulates various Settings features (switches, choices, etc) all in a declarative (plist-based) API.
You have to code the ui elements yourself if you wish to make the perferences available within your app. The utility template in xcode gives you a starting point by making a flipview available.
Check out Craig Hockenberry's Generic Table Views, which make it really easy to set up a Settings-like table view.