Remember when they ruled the world and a lot of quiet evenings at home?
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What’s New in Objective-C and Foundation in iOS 7
The latest post on Ray Wenderlich’s ever-so-useful iOS development site at the time of this writing is What’s New in Objective-C and Foundation in iOS 7, which is the Reader’s Digest version of a chapter from their new iOS 7 by Tutorials book. It gives you a quick look at the following new goodies:
- Modules: “We’re all guilty of being lazy developers though, and nobody has time to tune their PCH [pre-compiled headers] file for each project they work on. That’s why modules were developed as a feature of LLVM.” For more about modules, see this video and these slides from the 2012 LLVM Developers’ Meeting.
instancetype: It’s the return type that replacesid(and the problems that come with it) in most cases.NSArray::firstObject: Arrays have alastObjectmethod, and finally, there’s afirstObjectmethod, which gets around the error you get when you try to access element 0 of an empty array.- Built-in Base64 encoding methods: Now you don’t have to go look for a third-party library or roll your own.
NSTimertolerances: Lets you specify how late a timer can fire after its scheduled time.- The
NSProgressclass: “In essence,NSProgressaims to deliver progress reporting throughout Objective-C code, neatly separating the progress of individual components. For example, if you perform a few different tasks on some data, then each task can monitor its own progress and report back to its parent task.”
NSBrief
NSBrief bills itself as “A brief Podcast for Cocoa Developers, discussing interesting developer-y topics” with 108 podcasts under its belt dating back to October 2010.
Among their recent podcasts are:
- 108: Phil Letourneau and Olivier Charavel talk about the Human Interface Guidelines for iOS and Mac OS X and what the document does for developers.
- 107: Michele Titolo talks web APIs, what to do when writing apps for them, and her work to encourage women in technology.
- 106: Kirk van Gorkom on his experiences in consulting and what he thinks is the future of indie consulting.
- 105: Pete Hodgson talks about the principles and practices of agile developers, and using his automated iOS UI testing tool, Frank.
- 104: Jean McDonald, a Partner at Smile on My Mac and the Founder of The App Camp for Girls, an initiative to help introduce girls to the dirty work of making iOS apps.
- 103: iOSDevCamp 2013 – a chat with organizer Dom Sagalla and developers at the dev camp.
My Appventure
My Appventure is Scotty Ruth’s blog chronicling the highs and lows of his experiences developing iOS apps. Lately, his blog has evolved into a podcast series. Here are his latest podcasts:
- 017: Mobile Design Tools – “I share a bit about my personal app design workflow, and I also review 3 great tools that can help you preview designs on your device in real time.”
- 016: Photo Editing with Aviary – “In this interview we discuss the Aviary SDK which enables developers to quickly add powerful photo editing features into their apps.”
- 015: Dave Klein: The Joys of CocoaConf – Today’s guest is Dave Klein, the lead organizer behind the oh-so nice CocoaConf conferences for iOS and Mac developers. If you’re looking for a high-quality conference closer to home, then you need to check out these events. CocoaConf travels the country and hosts regional conferences, making it much more affordable for Indie developers. CocoaConf focuses on quality and community, listen in to find out why I enjoy their events so much.”
- 014: Grab Bag: Clarity, App Annie, and More – “On today’s show I talk about how I use a service called Clarity to GIVE and GET professional advice over the phone. I also provide a quick update on Quotely.”
- 013: Xavier Veyrat: Cooking Up Apps with AppCooker – “Today’s guest is Xavier Veyrat, designer of AppCooker, an amazing tool to manage all of the pre-production work that goes into your app. Cook up interactive prototypes, icons, keywords, and even pricing models. If companies like Disney, EA and even Apple are using AppCooker to make their apps, then yeah… you might want to check this thing out!”
- 012: Jonathan Penn: UI Automation Jedi Master – “Today’s guest is Jonathan Penn, an Indie app developer, tech-talker, author and contract consultant. Jonathan has become an authority figure on the subject of UI automation and testing for iOS and he recently authored a book on the subject. Whether you’re working on an app idea, or you do consulting to pay the bills, there’s something for you to glean from Jonathan’s experiences on today’s lighthearted interview.”
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The Installation Fun Continues!
Now that I’m done installing all 1713 floppies of Windows 8, it’s time to install this game…
I’m in Tampa right now, which puts me well outside Rogers’ regular service area. Since I’m roaming, I always do a happy dance when this happens:
This article also appears in The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century.
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iOS 7 Development Tutorials Aplenty
Now that iOS 7 has hit the streets, the non-disclosure agreement that all registered iOS developers is no longer under effect. This means that all of us who’ve been playing with the various beta versions of iOS 7 and Xcode 5 can finally talk about them, as well as their APIs, and their experiences developing for Apple’s new-look operating system. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to talk about as many of the changes to Xcode and iOS as I can, as well as point you to other writers who are covering these topics.
Here’s a look at the iOS 7 reading I’m doing these days:
NSHipster on the New Goodies in iOS 7’s APIs
NSHipster bills itself as “a journal of the overlooked bits in Objective-C and Cocoa”, and it does a good job at that. As with Global Nerdy, they’re going to spend the next few weeks covering what’s new for developers in iOS 7. In this week’s installment, NSHipster covers the following:
NSDataBase64 encodingNSURLComponents– “Think of it as NSMutableURL.”NSProgress– “…a tough class to describe. It acts as both an observer and a delegate / coordinator, acting as a handle for reporting and monitoring progress.”NSArray::firstObject– We’ve got NSArray::lastObject, so why not this?CIDetectorSmile– Detects smiling faces within an imageCIDetectorEyeBlink– Detects blinking eyes within an imageSSReadingList– “Even though the number of people who have actually read something saved for later is only marginally greater than the number of people who have ever used a QR code, it’s nice that iOS 7 adds a way to add items to the Safari reading list…”AVCaptureMetaDataOutput– “Scan UPCs, QR codes, and barcodes of all varieties withAVCaptureMetaDataOutput, new to iOS 7.”AVSpeechSynthesizer– “iOS 7 brings the power of Siri with the convenience of a Speak & Spell in a new classAVSpeechSynthesizer..."MKDistanceFormatter– “MKDistanceFormatterprovides a way to convert distances into localized strings using either imperial or metric units.”
iOS 7 By Tutorials, by Ray Wenderlich & Co.
Ray Wenderlich’s site is one of the go-to resources for iOS developer tutorials, from the articles to the books produced by its writers, including their iOS by Tutorials series. They’ve just released the latest in the series, iOS 7 by Tutorials, a PDF book for intermediate and advanced developers that gets updated often and will feature 25 chapters and hundreds of pages of material. This edition covers features such as UIKit Dynamics, Text Kit, background fetch, and the new “flat” design of IOS 7. Highly recommended if you’ve become comfortable with iOS development and want to make the leap past the beginner level.
iOS 7 by Tutorials is available right now for US$54.00.
iOS Games By Tutorials, by Ray Wenderlich & Co.
If you want to get into iOS game development using Apple’s new game framework, Sprite Kit, iOS Games by Tutorials is for you! It’s aimed at developers from all levels, from beginner to advanced.
iOS Games by Tutorials is available right now for $54.00.
The iOS 7 Feast
One more Ray Wenderlich goodie, and this one’s free! It’s the “iOS 7 Feast”, a series of articles covering some of the new features in iOS 7, including:
Are You Lucky, and Will You Be in One of The Select Major Cities?
If you weren’t able to get to WWDC this year — and that’s most of you, given that it sold out in less time that it takes to order a fast food meal during the lunch rush — you’ve got another shot at seeing some up-close-and-personal iOS developer talks thanks to the iOS 7 Tech Talks, which will take place in the following cities and dates:
- San Francisco – October 8 and 9
- New York – October 15 and 16
- Tokyo – November 6 and 7
- Shanghai – November 12 and 13
- Berlin – December 12 and 13
- London – December 17 and 18
The first day in each city is designated “App Developer Day”, while the second is “Game Developer Day”. Presumably due to demand, if you want to attend, you can pick only one — you can’t attend both. Furthermore, each day in each city will be able to accommodate only 400 people, so there’s a lottery. If you’re an interested registered iOS developer (you have to be one to be eligible to attend), you should apply for the city closest to you, choose which day you want to attend, and you’ll have a chance to go. In order to qualify for the lottery, you have to apply by this Friday, September 27th at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. Eastern), so if you want to apply, apply now!
In Case You Can’t Make It to iOS 7 Tech Talks…
The good news is that Apple will post the videos from the talks on their Developer site. The bad news is that they won;t go online until after the last talk, which takes place in London on December 18th. Think of it not as a delay, but an early Christmas present!
In the meantime, you can always point your browser here at Global Nerdy, because I’ll be posting all sorts of useful iOS 7 developer stuff from various sources.
iOS Tech Talk Agendas
And now, the agendas for both the App Developer and Game Developer days…
App Developer Day Agenda
9:00 a.m.: App Developer Day Kickoff
Start the day with valuable recommendations for your iOS 7 development. Get inspired by the powerful new capabilities of iPhone 5s and gain key insights into creating next-generation apps on iOS 7.
10:00 a.m.: User Interface Design for iOS 7 Apps
iOS 7 sets a new standard for user interface design excellence and offers many opportunities for crafting immersive, delightful, and memorable user experiences. Discover how layering, tinting, Text Kit, motion effects, dynamics, and animation can make your apps more usable, unique, and intuitive.
11:00 a.m.: Architecting Modern Apps, Part 1
Learn the patterns that will help you quickly adopt new technologies and ensure that your app is taking full advantage of the latest devices and iOS capabilities. Dive into the details of moving to 64‑bit and see how your apps can tap into the Apple A7 processor.
12:00 p.m.: App Store Distribution and Marketing
Grab a quick lunch and dive into the business of marketing your apps on the App Store. Gain a better understanding of how apps get selected and featured on the App Store and key best practices for getting your app to a larger international audience. Learn how to align your marketing efforts and get details about the latest enhancements to iAd and iTunes Connect.
2:00 p.m.: Architecting Modern Apps, Part 2
See how technologies like Text Kit, Dynamics, and Auto Layout make it easy to build flexible, modern interfaces. Gain expanded control over your user interface with powerful new animation APIs to enable custom transitions.
3:00 p.m.: Integrating iOS 7 Technologies
New technologies in iOS 7 introduce many exciting opportunities for your apps. Learn to implement capabilities such as background downloading, silent push notifications, and iBeacon support. Gain valuable insights into how to use these cutting edge technologies while still supporting users who haven’t upgraded yet.
4:00 p.m.: Security and Privacy in iOS 7
Securing your users’ personal and business information has never been more important and honoring your users’ privacy is paramount. Learn the best and latest techniques for app security and privacy and find out exactly how to use the keychain, data protection, secure transport, and identifier APIs most effectively.
5:00 p.m.: Hidden iOS 7 Development Gems
With such a wide variety of frameworks and APIs to choose from in Cocoa Touch, it’s easy to miss some of the real gems. From tips for how to get the most out of Xcode 5 to harnessing the power of the Objective-C language to entire classes you might not have thought about using, everybody is sure to take away practical and useful tips and tricks to make developing iOS apps easier and more productive.
Game Developer Day Agenda
9:00 a.m.: Game Developer Day Kickoff
Start the day with valuable recommendations for your iOS 7 development. Get inspired by the powerful new capabilities of iPhone 5s and gain key insights into creating next-generation games on iOS 7.
10:00 a.m.: Advances in OpenGL ES 3.0
OpenGL ES provides access to the exceptional graphics power of the Apple A7. See how the innovations in OpenGL ES 3.0 deliver incredible graphics in games and other mobile 3D apps. Learn about advanced effects enabled by the latest API enhancements, and get specific tips and best practices to follow in your apps.
11:00 a.m.: Architecting Modern iOS Games
Learn the patterns that can help you quickly adopt new technologies and keep your games on the cutting edge. Understand how to use powerful constructs from UIKit to make your game feel at home on iOS. Dive into the details of moving to 64‑bit and see how your games can tap into the Apple A7 processor.
12:00 p.m.: App Store Distribution and Marketing
Grab a quick lunch and then dive into the business of marketing your apps on the App Store. Gain a better understanding of how apps get selected and featured on the App Store and key best practices for getting your app to a larger international audience. Learn to how to align your marketing efforts and get details about the latest enhancements to iAd and iTunes Connect.
2:00 p.m.: Developing 2D Games with Sprite Kit
Sprite Kit is a powerful graphics framework ready-made for developing 2D action games, platformers, puzzle games, and much more. Dive into the practical workflow of developing a 2D game and learn key details about the Sprite Kit API. Discover how to leverage built-in physics support to make animations look real, and learn about using particle systems to create essential game effects such as fire, snow, explosions, and smoke.
3:00 p.m.: Integrating iOS 7 System Technologies
Join us for a deep dive into new technologies in iOS 7 that can enable you to reduce your app’s bundle size, keep your apps in communication with your server, prevent game score tampering, and more. Gain valuable insights into best practices for building networked games. And protect your reputation by following best practices for security and privacy. Learn how to use these cutting edge iOS 7 technologies while still supporting users who haven’t yet upgraded.
4:00 p.m.: Integrating iOS 7 Game Technologies
Tap into essential technologies to enhance the gameplay experience. Discover new techniques for managing players and tracking scores through Game Center, and get expert advice about the best practices to follow in your titles. Learn about the Game Controller framework and see how to take advantage of exciting new modes of input by adding support for physical game controllers.
5:00 p.m.: User Interface Design for iOS 7 Games
Truly outstanding iOS games go beyond addictive gameplay and beautiful graphics by presenting players with interfaces that are thoughtfully designed and carefully implemented. Receive practical advice about UI design and platform conventions that will make your game even more enjoyable.