http://icodeblog.com iPhone Programming Tutorials Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:43:38 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en There are some interesting rumors coming from the usual suspects, suggesting that Apple’s fall product update will not only bring the expected iPod refresh, but also a new Apple TV that may be called iTV. The interesting piece of that rumor is that the new set-top box may include the A4 processor and run on iOS 4.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/08/12/iphone-apps-for-the-tv/ Facebook has updated its SDK for iOSfor iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad apps. The big news is that this new SDK enables the use of the Graph UI amd allows authentication with OAuth 2.0.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/08/12/facebook-updates-sdk-for-ios/ I am not quite sure how often Flash has been discussed on the iPhone and how often we have seen prototypes running on it. Given the development of HTML5 as well as the memory and battery issues that come with Flash, Flash is turning out to be a nice-to-have feature and not so much a must have. But if you really must run Flash on an iPhone, now you can, thanks to Frash that runs on jailbroken iPhones. We haven’t tested it yet, but we thought you would like to know. If you run it, keep in mind that Comex says that Frash is not what you would describe as stable.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/08/09/that-flash-on-the-iphone/ Demo versions have always been a big part of software download stores on the Internet - just not so much for the App Store, which in the end, created an environment of “lite” versions and, if we believe Mashable, also software piracy. Piracy is unlikely to go away entirely, but there is now a new try before you buy section in the App Store that may discourage piracy somewhat. And, Apple quietly introduced Genius as a new feature for the App Store.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/08/06/ipad-app-store-gets-genius-try-before-you-buy/ This one seems to be a bit early. It isn’t quite Apple rumor time and it surely is not the time for a new iPhone to be discussed. Or is it?]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/08/04/is-it-iphone-5-time-already/ There are some now statistics out that indicate an extremely high product loyalty among iPhone users as well as impressive web usage that is most likely fueled by the iPhone 4.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/08/03/iphone-maintains-the-edge-in-web-usage/ Blackhat has started and not surprisingly, there is quite a bit of information coming out of Las Vegas that relates to the iPhone. Lookout revealed some results from its App Genome project, which analyzed about 300,000 apps that are available [...]]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/29/the-black-sheep-free-iphone-apps-snoop-contacts/ Way back when, when everyone was still complaining about Apple's lack of support for (3rd party) multitasking, there was a simple solution put in place. This solution was known as push notifications. Push notifications solved many of the issues associated with background processing. For example, when quitting the AIM application, the server could keep you logged in and send you a push notification when a new message arrived. You could then tap on a View button that would launch the app. This solution is great and all, but it still requires that you have an active internet connection. As of iOS4, Apple has introduced a new type of notification that can be scheduled to fire within the device itself. It requires no complicated server programming, or additional configuration with iTunes. I am talking about Local Notifications.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/29/iphone-programming-tutorial-local-notifications/ It may be a bit tough to keep track with Apple today, even at the accelerated pace we are used to. However, there have been a few interesting bits of information that we think you should be aware of and that surely impact your apps today and in the future. T-Mobile may be announcing its iPhone this week, iAds may be the income source you should be relying on and then there is the fact the U.S. law has now legalized the jailbreaking of smartphones under certain circumstances.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/26/jailbreaking-iads-t-mobile-and-you/ I believe the last time I heard this one was in March of this year. Back then, it was the Financial Times that said that T-Mobile might start selling the iPhone later this year or next year. Now it is Cult of Mac, which quotes a “highly paces source within T-Mobile” that there is an 80% chance that T-Mobile might start selling the iPhone in the third quarter of this year. We leave this one up to you to decide what 80% really means.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/22/it-just-won%e2%80%99t-go-away-iphone-coming-to-t-mobile/ So we know that the iPad is often criticized as a device that tries to be everything to everyone, but does not excel at any particular discipline. Amazon’s Kindle comes up as an example very often, in which the Kindle is described as the better specialized ebook reader as it has the better screen for reading and better battery life. However, we are also seeing first signs of a new development in ebooks where ebooks turn into multimedia apps that simply can’t run on a Kindle.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/21/ipad-ground-zero-for-enhanced-ebooks/ Apple will begin selling the iPad in 9 more countries on Friday. Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore will be added to the existing base, as Apple has been able to ramp its production to support new geographies.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/20/ipad-sales-estimate-jumps-81/ With all the hoopla surrounding the iPhone antenna issues, it’s easy to imagine that Apple may be losing some buyers to Android. There is enough confusion out there to suggest that a different smartphone may be a better smartphone right no]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/19/antenna-confusion-not-deterring-new-users/ Wired will be running an article in its upcoming August issue that will shed some light on the rather difficult relationship between Apple and AT&T. While it is always difficult to determine how accurate such reports are, the article promises to provide background information why AT&T seems to be falling of what the iPhone really would need.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/19/behind-the-scenes-of-the-apple-att-relationship/ ChangeWave has released interesting survey findings that indicate sharply rising demand for Apple’s iPhone over the next quarter.  The result contradicts some expectations that Apple may be gambling away its customer trust by ignoring the iPhone reception issues, but then [...]]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/15/iphone-predicted-to-see-huge-surge-in-demand/ BMW has been pretty quick to take advantage of iOS 4 and enable the new iPod Out new feature that was first described in April when developers noted an extended “iPod Accessory Protocol”. BMW said it is using the software [...]]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/13/bmw-first-to-integrate-ipod-out/ That may sound like a rather silly question and you may answer that it is a tablet, of course. But, if you think about it, the iPad can be many things to many people, depending on why it is purposed. And given the fact that Apple needs to carve out a market for it, it is likely that many buyers are using the iPad to replace something else. And that is the core of the question: What is the iPad – and what is it to most people? If you know the answer, you may have a good idea what apps you should be developing to target iPad users.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/12/what-exactly-is-the-ipad/ So we have heard about Apple’s ginormous advertising deals for iAd, but it seems that Apple’s deals reach through to developers as well. One developer, Jason Ting, said that his LED flashlight app (LED Light for iPhone 4), which is [...]]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/11/apple%e2%80%99s-huge-iad-payout/ iOS 4 presented a million billion new API’s by Apple’s count, but for this post I am going to show a quick demo of the new Assets Library API where you can now get to users photos and videos with [...]]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/08/asset-libraries-and-blocks-in-ios-4/ Most of us may scratching their heads over the question how to get some apps into the App Store in the first place. Mozilla, for example, is still hoping that its Home app is making the cut. Once you are in the store, it appears it’s a fair game and you can focus on marketing your app. But you can also do what Thuat Nguyen has done and get booted from the store altogether. And if you heard about Nguyen already then you might be upset, but, realistically, it was just a matter of time until we would see some fraudulent exploit.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/06/how-to-get-booted-from-the-app-store/ Vision Mobile has just posted one of the more impressive research reports and surveys that focus on mobile application development. This new report, called Mobile Developer Economics 2010: The migration of developer mindshare examines facts and emotions that guide developers these days in their efforts to make a living from app development. The survey included 400 developers across 8 platforms (iOS (iPhone), Android, Symbian, BlackBerry, Java ME, Windows Phone, Flash Lite, and mobile web.)]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/05/mindshare-migration-mobile-developers-care-about-revenue/ AT&T caused some waves recently when it simply canceled its flat fee wireless data plan and replaced with two plans that have caps, which, in some scenarios could get rather expensive for the user. Some analysts, such as Jack Gold from J. Gold Associates, have said that efficient data usage of apps may become a part of future wireless benchmarks.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/07/01/how-much-data-do-we-really-consume/ Apple will be rolling on its iAd service on Thursday and open up a potentially very lucrative revenue source for application developers as well as another revenue source for itself. It’s a high-rollers market now, but don’t expect mass advertisers to be playing ball just yet. ]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/06/30/iad-to-debut-tomorrow/ Google has just released a new version of its Doc Viewer, which enables iPhone users (and developers) to display various file formats right within the browser windows.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/06/29/google-docs-viewer-mobile-edition/ Earlier today, Apple sent out a note stating that it has sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s during the first three days of its availability. No other Apple launch has moved a similar number of units at launch. The original iPhone needed 74 days to hit 1 million, the 3G S sold 1 million units in 3 days and the iPad sold about 1 million units in a month.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/06/28/iphone-4-x-1-7-million-1105000000/ Consider this scenario. You in wonderland. Your app among 200,000 other apps in one store. Plenty of customers: More than 3 billion downloads confirmed. A great new iPhone with brisk demand. An iPad that is breaking sales records and is already beyond what many analysts had predicted initially. Soon there may be 100 million customers that are directly connected to the App Store as their only resource for software. You may already be thinking about an early retirement. Think again.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/06/25/planning-your-app-fortune/ Predicting the potential customer base for your application is not that easy. It has become clear that especially the iPad has become a moving target that should be taken seriously. Latest sales numbers are proof that it is worth your while to make sure that you app runs well on both the iPhone and the iPad. ]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/06/24/how-many-ipads-can-apple-sell/ It is not particularly difficult to figure that Apple will push this release hard. There is some competition out there and we expect Apple to step up the marketing game even more, which should create new ways to ride in Apple’s tailwind to market your application. Make sure you are ready for this opportunity. It’s a growing market that quickly rewards your creativity and innovation.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/06/23/ios-4-please-start-your-engines/ It is no secret anymore that Apple is shattering pre-sales records with the new iPhone. Apparently, more than 600,000 phones have been ordered in just one day. What is much more interesting, are the forecasts just how far this new phone can go. Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty thinks Apple may be able to expand its user base to 100 million iPhone owners and users. She believes that about 42 million fourth-generation iPhones could be sold by the end of the year.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/06/21/iphone-4-could-propel-apple-to-100-million-users/ Hey iCoders. As I posted earlier I recently made an iPad app called TweetMapper. I just put out a new release of the app with a big new feature. The app now has a scrolling timeline of the tweets it is seeing as they come in. In order to make this app I took advantage of the Twitter Stream API that is provided by twitter. This API creates a persistent connection between the Twitter servers and your application. We will essentially start a stream of incoming NSData object to an NSURLConnection that you create querying the stream. We will look into the different search parameters which can be passed into the request, the way in which our code responds to authentication requests from Twitter, and the logic we must use to ensure that the data we have received is a complete XML element and not chopped off.]]> http://icodeblog.com/2010/05/21/diving-into-the-twitter-stream/