I need to add this section into my application where the user would enter in a terminal command for example "killall SpringBoard" and when the user presses the button it would run the command. I know that if you use the System("") function you can run the terminal command. But how about from a textbox?
My next question is if it is possible to retrieve the result of the terminal command using NSPipe? If so how? Note I am using the phrase 'terminal command' since i'm not really sure what its called (If someone knows please tell me...). Basically the same thing as the commands in MobileTerminal...
Thanks,
Kevin
If you plan on submitting your app to the AppStore, it will never get approved with a feature set like that.
… how about from a textbox?
Rhetorical question: What do your views have to do with the system function?
My next question is if it is possible to retrieve the result of the terminal command using NSPipe?
Yes.
If so how?
Abandon the system function, and use fork and one of the exec functions directly. (There's no NSTask on the iPhone—not in the iPhone API documentation, anyway.)
Considering your plan is to kill the SpringBoard, I hope that you're targeting the jailbreak platform, not the App Store. Like greg, I would expect Apple to reject your app if you try any such thing. I can't even imagine why you want to do that.
Related
Could be possible use a background running app to control an apple tv?
I mean, using that app to execute the basic commands of an apple remote control.
My idea is to have a BLE device that sends commands to my apple tv, and then my background app translates those user commands (play, stop, volume up/down).
For example, imagine a tvOS app that receives commands from a micro:bit or Myo armband to control Netflix.
Thanks in advance!
Humberto
The short answer is yes.
However, the question is quite broad, because you're speaking of receiving input from devices (with no specific issues), and then doing "basic commands" (again no specific issues there either).
You might try looking at a specific portion of what you'd like to do and then posting a question about any problems should any arise.
Good luck.
Is there a way to bring my app to the foreground once a timer runs out? This is for a kiosk-type app that'll display some information at various points during user's session.
This is for an app that will only be installed on our enterprise devices, thus not be submitted to Apple for approval. I am also opening to exploring jailbreak options.
I'd appreciate any help/tips you guys can provide. Thanks.
Yes, you can technically use Xcode for jailbreak development (but you don't have to). If you want your app to be installed outside the normal sandbox, and in /Applications/, then you'd build with Xcode without code signing, fake code sign (or use self-signed certificate), and then copy/install the app to your device, using scp or something similar (maybe have a script for this).
You can google search on tools like "Theos", "Logos", or "iOSOpenDev", too. More here
Also, see this page for information about fake code signing with Xcode.
In terms of bringing an app to the foreground, there's at least a couple ways to handle that:
One would be to use Cydia to install the (free) utility open. With open, you can issue a command line call to open any app, by using its bundle ID (e.g. open com.mycompany.MyAppName). If you want to do this programatically, issue that command within a system() call:
#import <stdlib.h>
int returnCode = system("/usr/bin/open com.mycompany.MyAppName");
Another alternative is to see this answer by #WrightsCS. Make sure to read the comments, too, about where this goes.
Update: in terms of putting your app into the background, you can kill your app completely with either exit(0) or [[UIApplication sharedApplication] terminateWithSuccess]. Or, see this answer for a solution to programmatically simulate a home button press, which will send the app to the background without killing it.
You won't be able to use NSTimer, because timers don't fire while your app is in the background. However, you can use GCD blocks to run your background work, and make the system() call with open to bring you back to the foreground.
See this answer, probably scrolling all the way to the bottom of his post
or look at this similar answer, which was actually posted at the bottom of the question
Jailbroken options for bringing your app to the foreground:
Hook into SpringBoard using MobileSubstrate. You can find classes and methods with promising names, such as [SBApplicationIcon launch] and [SBApplication launch]. Another possibility is using SBSLaunchApplicationWithIdentifier() from the SpringBoardServices private framework.
Options for suspending the app:
You most likely can do this again by using MobileSubstrate to make SpringBoard close a particular app for you. Maybe you can simulate a home button click by calling [SBUIController handleMenuTap] or something similar.
I am developing an iPhone app, that will not be distributed on AppStores. I have tried to search for private api but no luck. When the user tries to quit the app, I want to prompt the user to enter the correct password so as to enable him to exit the app. How can I achieve this? Thanks in advance.
Cheers!!
It sounds like you need something similar to iOS "Kiosk Mode" as described in this answer:
Put an iPhone or iPad into 'Store Demo' mode
Using that description in conjunction with the following steps might achieve precisely what you want:
Have a "Quit" button
Show a password dialogue when it is pressed
If it was correct, read an out of bounds array location (or do whatever) to crash the app
With that config installed you'd get stuck in whatever app you launch next, though.
You can't! You'll have to password protect the launch instead.
If you want to prevent the user from quitting your app, you'll need to physically cover the home button. This isn't a bad solution if your goal is to do something like a kiosk or a point of sale system, where you probably want to mount an iPad in a secure enclosure to prevent tampering or theft anyway. There are quite a few such enclosures on the market in a variety of styles.
For a normal app, though, there's really no solution -- iOS isn't designed for whatever you're trying to do.
The only way I could think to do what you want (which is to prevent access to certain apps) would be to replace the SpringBoard application (this is the method used by Apple itself in the App store models of the iPhone and iPad that restrict the things you can do on the devices). #owenfi pointed at one way to do that without jailbreaking, but in general it is limited: you won't be able to "exit" the app, you will basically just be able to run a single app.
I want to make an app that runs in the background so that if a user is reading a web page or PDF file on an iPhone or iPad, he can mark some words, see the meaning of those words, and then have those words stored in the app's database. He can then afterwards look for the words which he has learnt and increase his vocabulary.
Does the iOS 4 API allow that? What are the limitations? Advantages? Disadvantages?
Thanks in advance
No is does not, you can only run voip. audio or navigation apps in the background.
Only one app can run at a time, and installing one app cannot effect any built in app. So no, there is no way to achieve what you are trying for here.
Your best bet is to instruct users to copy the word, open the app, and then you can snag whatever is on the clipboard then.
(Note there are multitasking APIs, but you still cant access anything outside of your app even if you convince the OS to let you run in the background for a little while)
Basically I am wondering if it is possible to run a console script (.sh) from an iPhone App. The script is written to download a program from a repository that I set up, respring, then after a set time delete the program and respring again, so it needs root privileges, and is interactive in that the user can set how long the program will be kept. I have the bash script written, and it works fine when called from mobile terminal, but is there any way to do this from within a (jailbroken) app (without using mobile terminal / SSH / Bossprefs)? Or is there an overall better way to achieve this?
Thanks
Jasarien is right here it is pretty resticted and as we all know that all apps are sandboxed. But it is not impossible since Objective-C is just build on C you can use
system("ls");
to execute a basic ls command and it works if you look in your gdb output. Altho you can also use popen to get the streams to app to work with the data.
Since you're working with a Jailbroken phone, you're pretty much unrestricted. Whether or not there's anything in the iPhone APIs that allows for script execution is another matter though. Also anything you do use will be unsupported, and is likely to change, stop working or be removed in a software update.
Also, you probably already know this, or don't care, but you won't get past Apple's review process for the App Store if you start running BASH scripts. Interpreted code is forbidden.
I would look up how to do it on OSX, chances are that'll be how it's done on the iPhone, but you probably won't find any iPhone specific documentation about it because it's not allowed on a "normal" iphone (one that is not jailbroken)
something you may consider is using NSTask if you want to get output and error messages from the shell.
Actualy
system('ls /'); gives a better result as system('ls');