Lock Unlock events iphone - iphone

How can I detect lock/unlock events on the iPhone? Assuming it's only possible for jailbroken devices, can you point me to the correct API?
By lock events, I mean showing or hiding the Lock Screen (which might need a password to unlock, or not).

You can use Darwin notifications, to listen for the events. From my testing on a jailbroken iOS 5.0.1 iPhone 4, I think that one of these events might be what you need:
com.apple.springboard.lockstate
com.apple.springboard.lockcomplete
Note: according to the poster's comments to a similar question I answered here, this should work on a non-jailbroken phone, too.
To use this, register for the event like this (this registers for just the first event above, but you can add an observer for lockcomplete, too):
CFNotificationCenterAddObserver(CFNotificationCenterGetDarwinNotifyCenter(), //center
(void*)self, // observer (can be NULL)
lockStateChanged, // callback
CFSTR("com.apple.springboard.lockstate"), // event name
NULL, // object
CFNotificationSuspensionBehaviorDeliverImmediately);
where lockStateChanged is your event callback:
static void lockStateChanged(CFNotificationCenterRef center, void *observer, CFStringRef name, const void *object, CFDictionaryRef userInfo) {
NSLog(#"event received!");
if (observer != NULL) {
MyClass *this = (MyClass*)observer;
}
// you might try inspecting the `userInfo` dictionary, to see
// if it contains any useful info
if (userInfo != nil) {
CFShow(userInfo);
}
}
The lockstate event occurs when the device is locked and unlocked, but the lockcomplete event is only triggered when the device locks. Another way to determine whether the event is for a lock or unlock event is to use notify_get_state(). You'll get a different value for lock vs. unlock, as described here.

Round about answer:
Application will resign active gets called in all sorts of scenarios... and from all my testing, even if your application stays awake while backgrounded, there are no ways to determine that the screen is locked (CPU speed doesn't report, BUS speed remains the same, mach_time denom / numer doesn't change)...
However, it seems Apple does turn off the accelerometer when the device is locked... Enable iPhone accelerometer while screen is locked
(tested iOS4.2 on iPhone 4 has this behavior)
Thus...
In your application delegate:
- (void)applicationWillResignActive:(UIApplication *)application
{
NSLog(#"STATUS - Application will Resign Active");
// Start checking the accelerometer (while we are in the background)
[[UIAccelerometer sharedAccelerometer] setDelegate:self];
[[UIAccelerometer sharedAccelerometer] setUpdateInterval:1]; // Ping every second
_notActiveTimer = [NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval:2 target:self selector:#selector(deviceDidLock) userInfo:nil repeats:NO]; // 2 seconds for wiggle
}
//Deprecated in iOS5
- (void)accelerometer:(UIAccelerometer *)accelerometer didAccelerate:(UIAcceleration *)acceleration
{
NSLog(#"STATUS - Update from accelerometer");
[_notActiveTimer invalidate];
_notActiveTimer = [NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval:2 target:self selector:#selector(deviceDidLock) userInfo:nil repeats:NO];
}
- (void)deviceDidLock
{
NSLog(#"STATUS - Device locked!");
[[UIAccelerometer sharedAccelerometer] setDelegate:nil];
_notActiveTimer = nil;
}
- (void)applicationDidBecomeActive:(UIApplication *)application
{
NSLog(#"STATUS - Application did become active");
[[UIAccelerometer sharedAccelerometer] setDelegate:nil];
[_notActiveTimer invalidate];
_notActiveTimer = nil;
}
I know... It's kind of a hack, but it has worked like a charm for me so far. Please update if you see any issues that prevent this from working.

There is a prettier way of telling apart task switching and screen locking-originated applicationWillResignActive: callbacks which doesn't even involve undocumented features such as the accelerometer state.
When the app is moving to the background, the app delegate is first sent an applicationWillResignActive:, then an applicationDidEnterBackground:. When the app is interrupted by pressing the Lock button or by an incoming phone call, the latter method is not called. We can use this information to distinguish between the two scenarios.
Say you want to be called back in the screenLockActivated method if the screen gets locked. Here's the magic:
- (void)applicationWillResignActive:(UIApplication*)aApplication
{
[self performSelector:#selector(screenLockActivated)
withObject:nil
afterDelay:0];
}
- (void)applicationDidEnterBackground:(UIApplication*)aApplication
{
[NSObject cancelPreviousPerformRequestsWithTarget:self];
}
- (void)screenLockActivated
{
NSLog(#"yaay");
}
Explanation:
By default, we assume that every call to applicationWillResignActive: is because of an active->inactive state transition (as when locking the screen) but we generously let the system prove the contrary within a timeout (in this case, a single runloop cycle) by delaying the call to screenLockActivated. In case the screen gets locked, the system finishes the current runloop cycle without touching any other delegate methods. If, however, this is an active->background state transition, it also invokes applicationDidEnterBackground: before the end of the cycle, which allows us to simply cancel the previously scheduled request from there, thus preventing it from being called when it's not supposed to.
Enjoy!

As of the time of writing there are two fairly reliable ways to detect device locking:
Data Protection
By enabling the Data Protection entitlement your app can subscribe to the applicationProtectedDataWillBecomeUnavailable: and applicationProtectedDataDidBecomeAvailable: notifications to determine with high probability when a device that uses passcode/TouchID Authentication is locked/unlocked. To determine if a device uses a passcode/TouchID LAContext can be queried.
Caveats: This method relies on the "protected data becoming unavailable" coinciding with the phone being locked. When the phone is using TouchID and the sleep/lock button is pressed then the phone is locked, protected data becomes unavailable, and a passcode will immediately be required to unlock it again. This means that protected data becoming unavailable essentially indicates that the phone has been locked. This is not necessarily true when someone is using just a passcode since they can set the "requires passcode" time to anywhere from immediately to something like 4 hours. In this case the phone will report being able to handle protected data but locking the phone will not result in protected data becoming unavailable for quite some time.
Lifecycle Timing
If your app is in the foreground there will be a noticeable change in time difference between the two lifecycle events UIApplicationWillResignActiveNotification and UIApplicationDidEnterBackgroundNotification depending on what triggers them.
(This was tested in iOS 10 and may change in future releases)
Pressing the home button results in a significant delay between the two (even when the Reduced Motion setting is enabled):
15:23:42.517 willResignActive
15:23:43.182 didEnterBackground
15:23:43.184 difference: 0.666346
Locking the device while the app is open creates a more trivial (<~0.2s) delay between the two events:
15:22:59.236 willResignActive
15:22:59.267 didEnterBackground
15:22:59.267 difference: 0.031404

in iOS 8, you lock the screen or push the home button, all of those make app push in background, but you don't know which operator result in this. My solution same with Nits007ak,use notify_register_dispatch to get state.
#import <notify.h>
int notify_token
notify_register_dispatch("com.apple.springboard.lockstate",
&notify_token,
dispatch_get_main_queue(),
^(int token)
{
uint64_t state = UINT64_MAX;
notify_get_state(token, &state);
if(state == 0) {
NSLog(#"unlock device");
} else {
NSLog(#"lock device");
}
}
);
As long as the app is running, in foreground or background. not suspend, you can get this event.
And you can use notify_token as parameter of notify_get_state to get current state anywhere, this is useful when you want know the state and the screen state don't change.

If passcode is set, you can use these event in AppDelegate
-(void)applicationProtectedDataWillBecomeUnavailable:(UIApplication *)application
{
}
- (void)applicationProtectedDataDidBecomeAvailable:(UIApplication *)application
{
}

Just import #import notify.h before using this code. enjoy!!
-(void)registerAppforDetectLockState {
int notify_token;
notify_register_dispatch("com.apple.springboard.lockstate", &notify_token,dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^(int token) {
uint64_t state = UINT64_MAX;
notify_get_state(token, &state);
if(state == 0) {
NSLog(#"unlock device");
} else {
NSLog(#"lock device");
}
NSLog(#"com.apple.springboard.lockstate = %llu", state);
UILocalNotification *notification = [[UILocalNotification alloc]init];
notification.repeatInterval = NSDayCalendarUnit;
[notification setAlertBody:#"Hello world!! I come becoz you lock/unlock your device :)"];
notification.alertAction = #"View";
notification.alertAction = #"Yes";
[notification setFireDate:[NSDate dateWithTimeIntervalSinceNow:1]];
notification.soundName = UILocalNotificationDefaultSoundName;
[notification setTimeZone:[NSTimeZone defaultTimeZone]];
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] presentLocalNotificationNow:notification];
});
}

From a lot of trial and error, discovered monitoring the blank screen, lock complete and lock state events gives a consistent lock screen indicator. You'll need to monitor a state transition.
// call back
void displayStatusChanged(CFNotificationCenterRef center, void *observer, CFStringRef name, const void *object, CFDictionaryRef userInfo)
{
// notification comes in order of
// "com.apple.springboard.hasBlankedScreen" notification
// "com.apple.springboard.lockcomplete" notification only if locked
// "com.apple.springboard.lockstate" notification
AppDelegate *appDelegate = CFBridgingRelease(observer);
NSString *eventName = (__bridge NSString*)name;
NSLog(#"Darwin notification NAME = %#",name);
if([eventName isEqualToString:#"com.apple.springboard.hasBlankedScreen"])
{
NSLog(#"SCREEN BLANK");
appDelegate.bDeviceLocked = false; // clear
}
else if([eventName isEqualToString:#"com.apple.springboard.lockcomplete"])
{
NSLog(#"DEVICE LOCK");
appDelegate.bDeviceLocked = true; // set
}
else if([eventName isEqualToString:#"com.apple.springboard.lockstate"])
{
NSLog(#"LOCK STATUS CHANGE");
if(appDelegate.bDeviceLocked) // if a lock, is set
{
NSLog(#"DEVICE IS LOCKED");
}
else
{
NSLog(#"DEVICE IS UNLOCKED");
}
}
}
-(void)registerforDeviceLockNotif
{
// screen and lock notifications
CFNotificationCenterAddObserver(CFNotificationCenterGetDarwinNotifyCenter(), //center
CFBridgingRetain(self), // observer
displayStatusChanged, // callback
CFSTR("com.apple.springboard.hasBlankedScreen"), // event name
NULL, // object
CFNotificationSuspensionBehaviorDeliverImmediately);
CFNotificationCenterAddObserver(CFNotificationCenterGetDarwinNotifyCenter(), //center
CFBridgingRetain(self), // observer
displayStatusChanged, // callback
CFSTR("com.apple.springboard.lockcomplete"), // event name
NULL, // object
CFNotificationSuspensionBehaviorDeliverImmediately);
CFNotificationCenterAddObserver(CFNotificationCenterGetDarwinNotifyCenter(), //center
CFBridgingRetain(self), // observer
displayStatusChanged, // callback
CFSTR("com.apple.springboard.lockstate"), // event name
NULL, // object
CFNotificationSuspensionBehaviorDeliverImmediately);
}
To have the screen lock indicators run in the background, you need to implement background processing calling the following upon app launching.
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
self.backgroundTaskIdentifier =
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] beginBackgroundTaskWithExpirationHandler:^{
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] endBackgroundTask:self.backgroundTaskIdentifier];
}];
[self registerforDeviceLockNotif];
}

If your app is running and the user locks the device your app delegate will receive a call to 'application Will Resign Active:'. If your app was running when locked, it will receive a call to 'application Did Become Active:' when the device is unlocked. But you get the same calls to your app if the user gets a phone call and then chooses to ignore it. You can't tell the difference as far as I know.
And if your app wasn't running at any of these times there is no way to be notified since your app isn't running.

The simplest way to get screen lock and unlock events are by adding event observers using NSNotificationCenter in your viewcontroller. I added the following observer in the viewdidload method. This is what i did:
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
selector:#selector(applicationEnteredForeground:)
name:UIApplicationWillEnterForegroundNotification
object:nil];
Then I added the following selector to the viewcontroller. This selector will get called when the screen is unlocked.
- (void)applicationEnteredForeground:(NSNotification *)notification {
NSLog(#"Application Entered Foreground");
}
If you want to detect the event when screen gets locked, you can replace UIApplicationWillEnterForegroundNotification with UIApplicationDidEnterBackgroundNotification.

Related

How to determine if an app is returning from a phone call or resuming from background?

I make phone call from my application using:
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:#"telprompt://XXXXXXXXXX"]];
When the user ends the call, the default Apple-provided Phone app goes to the background and my application resumes focus. This happens automatically.
Now here's what I want: I'd like to call a method every time (and only when) the user returns from a call.
I tried calling this method from applicationWillEnterForeground: or applicationDidBecomeActive: but these callbacks are fired at other times when the application is being launched from the background state(which I dont want).
I'd like to determine if my application is being launched from the background state or if it is returning from a phone call so I can perform a certain task only in the former case and not latter. Any ideas?
----EDIT----
Here's how I finally did it:
See: CallStateDisconnected only detected for incoming calls, not for calls made from my app
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
[self listenForCalls];
}
- (void)listenForCalls {
self.callCenter = [[CTCallCenter alloc] init];
self.callCenter.callEventHandler = ^(CTCall* myCall) {
NSString *call = myCall.callState;
if([call isEqualToString:CTCallStateDialing]) {
//do ur stuff
}
};
}
You Can use telephony framework, Which provides you call states to determine the state of phone.
You can find out detail from here:
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/NetworkingInternet/Reference/CTCall/Reference/Reference.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40009590
Why not save a flag indicating that your app sent the user to the phone call. When your applications becomes active, if the flag is set, do the return from phone call method.
ex.
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] setBool:YES forKey:#"DidStartPhoneCall"];
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:#"telprompt://XXXXXXXXXX"]];
Then something like,
-(void)applicationDidBecomeActive {
BOOL activeFromCall = [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] objectForKey:"DidStartPhoneCall"]
if(activeFromCall && [activeFromCall boolValue] == YES) {
// do your method
}
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] setBool:NO forKey:#"DidStartPhoneCall"]; // reste flag
}

User taps on UILocalNotification: Can it pass data to the app?

I am creating a local UILocalNotification and displaying it to the user as a banner. Is it possible to set it up so that when the user taps it and returns to the app, the app will receive some kind of data on the specific kind of notification it was? I want to open a specific view controller in the app. I think the best way would be to essentially send a URL to the app, or is there a way to get access to the UILocalNotification so that I can test which kind is was and do the right action?
To get data from the local NSUserNotification that is passed to an iOS app, all that you need to do is implement the following method: - (void)application:(UIApplication *)application didReceiveLocalNotification:(UILocalNotification *)notification.
The problem is, this is called both when a local notification is posted when the app is in the background (i.e. when the user taps on the notification and then returns to the app), and also if the app is in the foreground at the time when the local notification fires (it is on a timer, after all). So how should one figure out if the notification was fired when the app was in the background or foreground? It's pretty simple. Here's my code:
- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application didReceiveLocalNotification:(UILocalNotification *)notification {
UIApplicationState state = [application applicationState];
if (state == UIApplicationStateInactive) {
// Application was in the background when notification was delivered.
} else {
// App was running in the foreground. Perhaps
// show a UIAlertView to ask them what they want to do?
}
}
At this point you can handle the notification based on notification.userInfo, which holds a NSDictionary.
ust implement the NSUserNotificationCenterDelegate and define this method:
- (void)userNotificationCenter:(NSUserNotificationCenter *)center didActivateNotification:(NSUserNotification *)notification
Example:
This is what I did in a "notifier" application.
- (void) userNotificationCenter:(NSUserNotificationCenter *)center didActivateNotification:(NSUserNotification *)notification
{
NSRunAlertPanel([notification title], [notification informativeText], #"Ok", nil, nil);
}
- (void) userNotificationCenter:(NSUserNotificationCenter *)center didDeliverNotification:(NSUserNotification *)notification
{
notifications=nil;
[tableView reloadData];
[center removeDeliveredNotification: notification];
}
When the notification is activated (click by the user) I just inform the user with a panel (I could use a hud window).In this case I immediately remove the delivered notification, but this is not what happens usually.The notification could stay there some time and be removed after 1/2 hours (it depends on the application that you are developing).
1 - Define some class in your project to implement NSUserNoficationCenterDelegate protocol (documented here)
#interface someObject : NSObject <NSUserNotificationCenterDelegate>
{
- (void)userNotificationCenter:(NSUserNotificationCenter *)center didActivateNotification:(NSUserNotification *)notification;
}
2 - Set an instance of the object defined #1 as the delegate of default notification center.
[[NSUserNotificationCenter defaultNotificationCenter] setDelegate: someObject];
Now you will get called on didActivateNotification any time the user taps/clicks on the notification. You will have the original notification you created. So any information that you need should be available to you.
If you want/need special information (other than notification title, message, etc) you will probably need to set additional application specific information in your notification before you schedule it to be sent. For example:
NSUserNotification* notification = [[NSUserNotification alloc] init];
NSDictionary* specialInformation = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys: #"specialValue", #"specialKey", nil];
[notification setUserInfo:specialInformation];

How to create a custom alarm which can be set for random days in a week without using local notifications?

I have studied some of the following questions, that are::
1.) How to set alarm for selected days in iphone?
2.) iPhone alarm using repeated local notifications
3.) How to set the alarm in iPhone and save in local notification?
but they all are using local notifications. I am facing problem with local notification as I have to use three buttons on an Alarm View which are: Snooze, Ignore and Okay. I have to perform custom actions on each button click.
Please help me with this stuff.
Suggestions accepted.
Thanks in advance.
Kuldeep.
In you app delegate...
- (void) presentWidget: (NSString*)theDisplayedText {
BOOL widgetIspresent = [WidgetVC widgetIsCurrentlyPresented];
if (!widgetIspresent) {
WidgetVC *widgetVC = [[WidgetVC alloc] initWithNibName:#"WidgetVC" userInfoString:theDisplayedText bundle:nil];
widgetVC.modalTransitionStyle = UIModalTransitionStyleFlipHorizontal;
widgetVC.userInfoStr = theDisplayedText;
[mainScreenManager presentViewController:widgetVC animated:YES completion:nil];
}
}
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
UILocalNotification *localNotif = [launchOptions objectForKey:UIApplicationLaunchOptionsLocalNotificationKey];
if (localNotif) {
NSLog(#"Recieved Notification didFinishLaunchingWithOptions %#",localNotif);
NSString *theDisplaytext = [localNotif.userInfo valueForKey:#"someKey"];
//here we have to handle whatever notification was pressed - that might also be an old aready passed one
//this all is checked when the widget opens - it will show if the notification is OK or too old
[self presentWidget: theDisplaytext ];
} else {
//so we started the app normally, not via local notification
[self presentWidget];
}
return YES;
}
// Handle the notificaton when the app is running
- (void)application:(UIApplication *)app didReceiveLocalNotification:(UILocalNotification *)localNotif {
// Handle the notificaton when the app is running
NSLog(#"Recieved Notification didReceiveLocalNotification %#",localNotif);
NSString *theDisplaytext = [localNotif.userInfo valueForKey:#"someKey"];
[self presentWidget: theDisplaytext];
}
You need a way to start the UIViewController for the widget, I just created a mainScreenManager helper.
So on the widgetVC you have your "Snooze" and "OK" while the "Ignore" is just the ignoring of the notification itself.
Hope this gets you on an usable track...
ps I ported my app from Android to iPhone, that's why I used the name "widgetVC" for this screen. On Android it is implemented as a widget. Hope no iPhone lover feels offended :-)

didReceiveRemoteNotification when in background

These kind of question has been asked a number of times but i have some specific situation going on.
When my application is active and I receive a PUSH message i'm successfully able to parse the custom payloads and such.
However when my application is in the background and the PUSH arrives the user has to click on the 'View/Open' button in order to get the didReceiveRemoteNotification called and the didFinishLaunchingWithOptions is called after that.
I need to have my application decide if they have to prompt the user with an UIAlert when in the background or suppress the push message based on some local settings.
Any help would be appreciated,
You app needs to handle all the possible push notification delivery states:
Your app was just launched
Your app was just brought from background to foreground
Your app was already running in the foreground
You do not get to choose at delivery time what presentation method is used to present the push notification, that is encoded in the notification itself (optional alert, badge number, sound). But since you presumably are in control of both the app and the payload of the push notification, you can specify in the payload whether or not there was an alert view and message already presented to the user. Only in the case of the app is already running in the foreground do you know that the user did not just launch your app through an alert or regularly from the home screen.
You can tell whether your app was just brought to the foreground or not in didReceiveRemoteNotification using this bit of code:
- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application didReceiveRemoteNotification:(NSDictionary *)userInfo
{
if ( application.applicationState == UIApplicationStateActive )
// app was already in the foreground
else
// app was just brought from background to foreground
...
}
You have to do several things in order to manage the received push notification when the app is in background.
First, in your server side, you have to set {"aps":{"content-available" : 1... / $body['aps']['content-available'] =1; in the push notification payload.
Second, in your Xcode project, yo have to habilitate "remote notifications". It is made by going to the project's target -> capabilities, then enable the capabilities switch, and check the remote notifications checkbox.
Third, instead of using didReceiveRemoteNotification, you have to call application:didReceiveRemoteNotification:fetchCompletionHandler:, this will allow you to do the tasks that you want in the background, at the moment of receiving the notification:
- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application didReceiveRemoteNotification:(NSDictionary *)userInfo fetchCompletionHandler:(void (^)(UIBackgroundFetchResult))completionHandler
{
if(application.applicationState == UIApplicationStateInactive) {
NSLog(#"Inactive - the user has tapped in the notification when app was closed or in background");
//do some tasks
[self manageRemoteNotification:userInfo];
completionHandler(UIBackgroundFetchResultNewData);
}
else if (application.applicationState == UIApplicationStateBackground) {
NSLog(#"application Background - notification has arrived when app was in background");
NSString* contentAvailable = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#", [[userInfo valueForKey:#"aps"] valueForKey:#"content-available"]];
if([contentAvailable isEqualToString:#"1"]) {
// do tasks
[self manageRemoteNotification:userInfo];
NSLog(#"content-available is equal to 1");
completionHandler(UIBackgroundFetchResultNewData);
}
}
else {
NSLog(#"application Active - notication has arrived while app was opened");
//Show an in-app banner
//do tasks
[self manageRemoteNotification:userInfo];
completionHandler(UIBackgroundFetchResultNewData);
}
}
Finally, you have to add this notification type: UIRemoteNotificationTypeNewsstandContentAvailability to the notifications settings when you set it.
Apart from this, if your app was closed when the notification arrived, you have to manage this in didFinishLaunchingWithOptions , and just if the user taps on the push notification: The way of do it is:
if (launchOptions != nil)
{
NSDictionary *dictionary = [launchOptions objectForKey:UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey];
if (dictionary != nil)
{
NSLog(#"Launched from push notification: %#", dictionary);
[self manageRemoteNotification:dictionary];
}
}
launchOptions is != nil when you launch the app by tapping on the push notification, if you access it by tapping on the icon, launchOptions will be == nil.
I hope it will be useful. Here it is explained by Apple.
Pass content-available = 1 with your payload, and will invoke didReceiveRemoteNotification even in background. e.g.
{
"alert" : "",
"badge" : "0",
"content-available" : "1",
"sound" : ""
}
One thing to keep in mind, when your push message arrives at the user's iPhone and they click "cancel", except for the icon badge number (they'll be taken care of by the OS), there would be no way for your in-the-background app to know about this push event and take any further actions.
Word of warning
I think your app logic is basing behavior on custom data in your push notification. This is not what push notifications are intended for. What you should alternatively do on didbecomeactive in your application is just ask your server for the data you need and was sending as payload anyway, and rely on that instead of your payload.
Because the documentation also states that as best practice. Because Apple does not guarantee your push notification from being received 100% of the times anyway.
Important: Delivery of notifications is a “best effort”, not
guaranteed. It is not intended to deliver data to your app, only to
notify the user that there is new data available.
However, if you want to have some indication of whether for instance the badge has been changed without relying on a user opening the app by clicking on the badge you could something like this:
A. you add a (correct) badge number to the payload of the push notification sent by your server. It for instance could look like this:
{
"aps" : {
"alert" : "You got your emails.",
"badge" : 9
}
}
B. you keep track of that badge number persistently in your app, for instance by storing it in NSUserDefaults.
Then in applicationDidBecomeActive can compare the applicationIconBadgeNumber property of UIApplication with your previously stored badge count and see if it has been increased or decreased and do some updates based on that.
- (void)applicationDidBecomeActive:(UIApplication *)application
{
NSNumber *badgecount = [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] objectForKey:#"badgecount"];
if (!badgecount) badgecount = #(0);
if ([UIApplication sharedApplication].applicationIconBadgeNumber != [badgecount integerValue]) {
//store the new badge count
badgecount = [NSNumber numberWithInteger:[UIApplication sharedApplication].applicationIconBadgeNumber];
NSUserDefaults *defaults = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];
[defaults setObject:badgecount forKey:#"badgecount"];
[defaults synchronize];
// do some stuff here because it's different
}
}
As of recent iOS - I think 8 - if you've got remote notifications enabled as a background mode, one trick is to track whether you're entering the foreground as a flag.
#interface AppDelegate ()
#property (assign, atomic, getter=isEnteringForeground) BOOL enteringForeground;
#end
- (void) applicationWillEnterForeground: (UIApplication *) application
{
self.enteringForeground = YES;
}
- (void) applicationDidBecomeActive: (UIApplication *) application
{
self.enteringForeground = NO;
}
- (void) application: (UIApplication *) application didReceiveRemoteNotification: (NSDictionary *) userInfo fetchCompletionHandler: (void (^) (UIBackgroundFetchResult)) completionHandler
{
const BOOL launchedFromBackground = !(application.applicationState == UIApplicationStateActive);
const BOOL enteringForeground = self.enteringForeground;
if (launchedFromBackground && enteringForeground) {
// The user clicked a push while the app was in the BG
}
}

Intercepting Store Kit alert views

When one of my in-app transactions is completed, either because it is restored or because it is a successful purchase, Store Kit generates an alert view that displays a confirmation dialog box. In this current version it says "Thank You. Your Purchase was successful.".
Since my app should move to a different screen after a purchase is successful, I want to intercept that dialog box and not make the transition until it is dismissed by the user. The problem is that I don't seem to have any control over that dialog box. Anyone has any ideas of how to do it?
Thanks!
Don't try. Your payment delegate is notified when a purchase goes through--use that mechanism. Those alerts are part of the AppStore.app binary and aren't executed in your process, so you can't touch them.
You can use the fact that the app becomes inactive when those StoreKit alerts pop up:
Check UIApplication's activeState property after the purchase is finished if it's 'inactive', then delay your movement to a different screen until the state changes to 'active' again (monitor for UIApplicationDidBecomeActive notification).
'activeState' property is not supported on firmwares older than 4.0, but you can still track app state changes manually and know its state at any time.
I've tested this technique with iOS6, iOS7, and iOS8 and all seems fine.
- (void) activeShow;
{
UIApplication *app = [UIApplication sharedApplication];
if (app.applicationState == UIApplicationStateActive) {
[self finishActiveShow];
} else {
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
selector:#selector(becomeActiveNotification:)
name:UIApplicationDidBecomeActiveNotification object:nil];
}
}
- (void) finishActiveShow;
{
if (self.beforeShow) {
self.beforeShow();
}
[self.alert show];
if (self.afterShow) {
self.afterShow();
}
}
- (void) becomeActiveNotification:(id) sender;
{
SPASLog(#"UIApplicationDidBecomeActiveNotification: %#", sender);
// From https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/Notifications/Articles/NotificationCenters.html
// "In a multithreaded application, notifications are always delivered in the thread in which the notification was posted, which may not be the same thread in which an observer registered itself."
// So, it seems that we may not get the notification on the main thread.
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
[self finishActiveShow];
});
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self name:UIApplicationDidBecomeActiveNotification object:nil];
}