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Best Resources In iOS Development – November 14th, 2011
Welcome to another edition of the best resources in iOS development listing recent resources featured on this site in order of popularity.
Once again iOS 5 tutorials continue to top the list along with some excellent libraries and a quick tip on using Xcode 4.
Here are the resources:
Tutorial: Easy Face Detection With Core Image In iOS 5 (Example Source Code Provided) - An example project and tutorial showing how to implement the new face detection feature included within the Core Image API in iOS 5.
Tutorial: Using URL Schemes To Open The Settings App To A Specific Page In iOS 5 - A guide to utilizing the undocumented URL schemes add in iOS 5 that enable you to open the settings app to a specific section.
Library To Quickly Turn A Map Kit MapView Into A 3D Augmented Reality Map View - A very interesting library with a free license option that allows you to convert an existing MKMapView into an augmented reality 3D view.
Open Source: Library For Stacking Customized iPad UIViewControllers - Library for creating beautiful customized stacking controllers on the iPad.
Advanced iOS App Logging For Easier Desktop And Even In-App Debugging - A couple of excellent tools for detailed logging, including a library that allows for in app logging and console debugging.
Tip: How To Bring Up The Memory Browser In Xcode 4 - A quick tip on how to bring up the memory browser in Xcode 4.
Open Source iOS Color Picker Components Roundup - A listing of color pickers including solutions that have been testerd to work in the iPad’s UIPopOver.
Using Core Image Filters In iOS 5 On A Live Video Feed - A tutorial with a very interesting example project demonstrating the use of many different core image filters on live video.
Source Code To Cocos2D Puzzle Game Previously Listed In The iOS App Store As “What’s Hot” Is Released - The open source release of a previous hit game in the app store.
Solving Issues When Converting A Project To Use ARC (Automatic Reference Counting) - An excellent guide on ARC including some excellent details on solving the issues that can occur when converting a non-ARC project to use ARC.
Tutorial: Easy iOS Databases With SQLite and FMDB - A step-by-step guide on using the open source SQLite wrapper FMDB for performing CRUD operations on a SQLite database.
Thanks for reading, please bookmark and share this post!
©2012 iPhone, iOS 5, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.
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Source Code To Cocos2D Puzzle Game Previously Listed In The iOS App Store As “What’s Hot” Is Released
On the open source apps list (now at 58 apps) I have listed several great games, and there are other game examples using Cocos2D.
Earlier today I found about another game being open sourced also created with Cocos2D that looks like a great example for anyone looking to create a Cocos2D game, especially if you’re looking to learn how to use/create your own custom level editor.
Here’s a video created by the game’s creators demonstrating the game in action:
This game is iLabyrinth and has been listed in “What’s hot” in all the app stores, and in “New and Noteworthy” in all the app stores.
Included with the source code is a level editor, you can find the Github repository here.
Thanks to the guys at UD7 for such a generous contribution to the community.
I’ve also added another app known as “Dollar Bets” and you can find all the apps on the open source iOS apps list.
©2012 iPhone, iOS 5, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.
.Best Resources In iOS Development – August 1st 2011
Another great week has gone by for iOS developers, and the upcoming release of iOS 5 is coming closer.
There was a definite increase in the number of great resources shared this week, and it was difficult to pick and choose which to feature on this site.
This week’s resources include a massive collection of useful iOS libraries that is really a must bookmark, a library created to replace Three20, a free augmented reality sdk – that actually works well – and more.
Here are the resources shared in order of popularity:
Open Source: Massive Toolkit With Over 40 iOS Objective-C Libraries - An excellent collection of useful categories, wrappers, and libraries that had already been used in a number of apps prior to release. If you are doing any Objective-C development for iOS devices then you will probably find something in here to save you time.
Open Source: Well Documented Three20 Replacement Library - A great start on a library created to provide the same functionality that exists within the Three20 library, but with thorough documentation a top priority.
News: Free Augmented Reality SDK For iOS Released By Qualcomm - An amazing AR SDK that had only been available for Android devices. Works extremely well, and can even track 3D objects.
Open Source: iOS Scene Graph Library 3D – Free 3D Graphics Engine - An open source 3D graphics engine with a very impressive feature set, and excellent tutorials.
Open Source: Text Adventure Game Framework – Make Some Interactive Fiction - An easy to code, well documented, object oriented framework created specifically for text adventure games.
Open Source: Sudoku Solving App Using Computer Vision - An app featuring some impressive use of the OpenCV project to perform OCR, and puzzle finding.
Tutorial: Creating An Evernote Style Button Activated Keyboard - A tutorial demonstrating how to duplicate the same sliding and stretching animation as in the Evernote app.
Tutorial: Masking Sprites In Cocos2D With CCRenderTexture - Demonstrates showing how you can use Cocos2D’s image masking capability to perform effects on your images.
Open Source: Social Networking, Sharing And Activity Tracking Library - A library that allows you to add in a social network just for your app that includes social network sharing and activity analytics.
Open Source: Easy Image Gallery With HTML/CSS Complete With Swipe Support - A useful library that allows you to automatically generate a full featured image gallery which can be used on a website or embedded within a native app using a framework such as Phonegap.
Thanks for reading, please bookmark and share this post!
©2012 iPhone, iOS 5, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.
.Best Resources In iOS Development May 16th 2011
The best resources in iOS development covers resources which have been listed on this site.
This latest edition features sample games written with the Corona SDK, and HTML5. Open source libraries allowing for user interface enhancements. Tutorials on Game Center, Xcode 4, and more.
Especially noticeable has been an increase in the number of people looking for information on using Apple’s Xcode 4 ide. For this reason I have created the Xcode 4 tutorial and guide page where I will be listing the most useful Xcode 4 information which I come across.
Latest edition here: iOS Development Resources
Open Source: Fruit Ninja Type Example Game With The Corona SDK – Sample code for a fruit cutting game made with the Corona SDK.
Open Source: Orbium Game (HTML5 Based – Available on iPhone/iPad) – Source code for a complex puzzle game written to run in your web browser.
Open Source: Simple Drop-In In Line Browser View Component – Great component for those looking to show web pages within their apps with essential features such as page titles, forward/back buttons, and more.
Open Source: iPad Style UIPopover Clone For iPhone – Add popover’s into your iPhone apps for increased interactivity.
Tutorial: Game Center Basics – Leaderboards And Achievements – Tutorials for beginners to Game Center covering the essentials for working with Game Center leader boards and achievements.
Tutorial: Multiplayer Game Using Game Center – Tutorial featuring the creation of a simple game using Cocos2D, and adding multiplayer functionality using Game Center.
Xcode 4 Review And Feature Guide – A review of Xcode 4 that also acts as a great guide for those looking to understand the added features in Xcode 4.
Open Source: Game Center Achievement Notification Popup Generator – Drop-in library allowing you to add achievement notifications styled to look like other Game Center notifications.
Microsoft Releases iOS Library For Bing Maps – Microsoft has released a library allowing you to add Bing maps into our iPhone and iPad apps.
Tutorials: Xcode 4 Beginner Screencasts – Great set of screencasts from the Pragmatic Programmers for beginners to the Xcode 4 ide.
Thanks for reading, please share and bookmark this post!
©2012 iPhone, iOS 5, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.
.Open Source: Orbium Game (HTML5 Based – Available on iPhone/iPad)
Received word about an interesting puzzle game that has been open sourced. It is currently available in the app store and runs on the iPhone/iPad (along with Android, and Palm versions).
What makes Orbium interesting is that this is actually an HTML5 based game, and the app store version runs through the Phonegap framework — and it runs well. The game runs smoothly while animated and beautiful which really shows that the iOS devices and Mobile Safari have come a long way in running html5 apps. There are quite a few games listed on the open source iOS apps list, but this is the first HTML5 based game.
Here’s a video of the game in action:
Because the game is HTML5 based you can test it in your browser here:
http://bni.github.com/orbium/
You can find the Github for the game here:
https://github.com/bni/orbium
The homepage where you can find links to the different versions available is here:
http://jsway.se/
Overall, it is interesting if you want some insight into HTML5 game development.
©2012 iPhone, iOS 5, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.
.iPhone Game Physics Tutorial: Radial Gravity
Physics can be a great way to enhance your game.
The problem is that implementing physics in your game can be extremely challenging, but I found a couple of great examples showing how to enhance an iPhone or iPad game using radial gravity with Box2D.
The examples are from Nick Vellios, and as you can see in the example above they show how to implement radial gravity on an object so that other objects are drawn towards it (much like how planets are drawn to the sun).
The examples include:
How To Add Radial Gravity To Box 2D
Radial Gravity w/ Box2D SOURCE
And a third example on inverse radial gravity (think of objects exploding in all directions)
Bombs With Box 2D and Cocos2D
Cocos2D is used as the rendering engine in the examples.
By the way, can anyone remember the name of the nifty puzzle game that used radial gravity and won numerous indie gaming awards about 12 years ago? (yeah i’m stretching)
Thanks for reading, if you like this please share it!
©2012 iPhone, iOS 5, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.
.Open Source iPhone Apps List – Real App Store Code Examples!
Welcome to the sixth iteration of the open source iPhone and iPad apps list. A For those that have seen similar listings on other sites using the exact wordings, and links below welcome to the source for the original list. Also included are some open source iPad apps, and universal open source iOS apps.
It can be tough to learn how to develop, especially when it comes to finding complete examples. That’s why I put this list together. Each of these open source iPhone apps is not just open source, but has been in the app store, and all but one are in there right now. So if you’re looking for an example of some real apps here they are.
Last Update: 1/9/2012
If you are looking to add a list to your site rather than simply copy this list why not write a post about your favorite apps from this list, and link back to this page? I’ll even give you a link back in the form of a trackback.
The Open Source iPhone Apps List
Here is the open source iphone app list in alphabetical order:
1. 2012 Olympics - App displaying timetable for 2012 Olympic events. (iTunes link) (source code)
2. ABC 123 – Sequence memorization game. Utilizes Cocos2D. (iTunes link) (source code)
3. AntiMapLog - An app for recording your own data (location, time, etc.) over a period of time. (iTunes link) (source code)
4. Barcode Scanner - An example app that is part of the Zxing barcode reader project. (iTunes link) (source code)
5. Battle For Wesnoth – Fantasy themed turn based tactical RPG game available on several platforms and now the iPhone/iPad. (iTunes link) (source code)
6. Bubbsy - Cocos2D based game using Box2D fixes and Tiled level creation. (iTunes link) (source code)
7. Camlingual - App that can read and translate signs using sophisticated OCR. (iTunes link) (source code)
8. Climbers - 2D finger dragging climbing game created with Cocos2D. (iTunes link) (source code)
9. Colloquy – Conversion of the most popular Mac IRC client to the iPhone. (iTunes link) (source code)
10. ComicFlow – Beautiful comic book reader for iPad. (iTunes link) (source code)
11. Countitout - A generic counting app. (iTunes link) (source code)
12. Diceshaker - Dice rolling simulator designed for role-playing game enthusiasts. (iTunes link) (source code)
13. Dollar Bets - App for recording personal bets placed with your friends. (iTunes link) (source code)
14. Doom Classic - Classic 3D first person shooter. (iTunes link) (source code)
15. Dozuki - Interactive repair manual app from the guys at iFixit. (iTunes link) (source code)
16. Ecological Footprint - Calculate, display, and record your ecological footprint. (iTunes link) (source code)
17. Edgy - App for demonstrating the basics of OpenCV and the iPhone. (iTunes link) (source code)
18. Edhita - iPad text editor with file transfer support and browser previewing. (iTunes link) (source code)
19. Fosdem- Calendar app for the Fosdem open source conference. (source code)
20. Freshbooks – Open Source iPhone app that enables usage of Freshbooks web invoicing software from your iPhone. (iTunes link) (source code)
21. Frotz - Open Source interactive fiction app with support for the Z-machine format. (iTunes link) (source code)
22. Gas Guide - Guides for helping medical students study built from the Gas guide source. (iTunes link) (source code)
23. Gorillas – Classic Worms/iShoot turn based shooter type game converted to iPhone from basic. Utilizes Cocos2D. (iTunes link) (source code).
24. iLabyrinth - Puzzle game written in Cocos2D requiring you to navigate through increasingly difficult labyrinths. (iTunes link) (source code)
25. iStrobe - Turns the iPhone 4 flash into a highly configurable strobe light. (iTunes link) (source code)
26. Last.fm – Software that enables usage of the Last.fm platform for personal radio stations. (iTunes link) (source code)
27. Mobilesynth - A monophonic synthesizer designed for live performance. (iTunes link) (source code)
28. Molecules – Allows you to view 3D models of molecules and manipulate them through touch. (iTunes link) (source code)
29. Mover – Allows you to transfer stuff from one iPhone to another by “flicking” it to the other device. (iTunes link) (source code)
30. Mugician - iPad music synthesis app being used by various musicians in real life gigs. (iTunes link) (source code)
31. Natsulion - A basic twitter client converted from mac. (iTunes link) (source code)
32. NevoChess – A Xiangqi game. (iTunes link) (source code)
33. News:yc - A hacker news client. (iTunes link) (source code)
34. NowPlaying – Allows you to check local theater listings, and check rotten tomato ratings. (iTunes link) (source code)
35. Packlog – Backpack journal client. (iTunes link) (source code)
36. PlainNote - Simple Open Source Notepad. (iTunes link) (source code)
37. PocketFlix – Find movies, and manage your Netflix information. (iTunes link) (source code)
38. Prey - Anti-theft tracker featuring on-demand and push notification activation. (iTunes link) (source code)
39. Puff Puff – Beautiful underwater 2D game utilizing Cocos2D and Openfeint featuring unique physics based gameplay. (iTunes link) (source code)
40. reMail – E-mail client featuring ultra-fast search. Removed from app store, but source made available. (source code)
41. RobotFindsKitten – Port of a very silly “classic” ASCII game. (iTunes link) (source code)
42. RPI Shuttle Tracker - App for tracking bus positions around the RPI campus. (iTunes link) (source code)
43. Sci-15 HPCalc – Calculator app based on classic scientific HP-Calculator. (itunes link) (source code)
44. SpaceBubble – Space game featuring core graphics, and accelerometer usage. (itunes link) (source code)
45. Star3Map – Augmented reality star and planet charting application. (itunes link) (source code)
46. Stockfish Chess – A chess game featuring extremely effective AI . (itunes link) (source code)
47. Sudoku Resolv - Sudoku solving app using computer vision. (itunes link) (source code)
48. Task Coach – Personal to-do list and task manager. (itunes link) (source code)
49. Tilt Monster - iPhone game written with the Corona SDK that reached top 25 in the app store. (itunes link) (source code)
50. Travel Advice UK - App featuring worldwide travel advice provided by the UK Governemnt. (itunes link) (source code)
51. Tux Rider – iPhone port of the extremely popular, and beautiful 3D Tux Racer game. (itunes link) (source code)
52. Tweejump – Platform jumping game inspired by Icy Tower. Utilizes Cocos2D. (itunes link) (source code)
53. Tweetee – Enhanced version of the Natsulion Twitter Client. (itunes link) (source code)
54. Tweetero – Basic twitter client with image uploading. (itunes link) (source code)
55. ViralFire – Unique game where you are a dodging blood cell. (itunes link) (source code)
56. Wikihow – A reader app for the popular how to wiki site. (itunes link) (source code)
57. Wikipedia – Official Wikipedia app for iOS devices. (itunes link) (source code)
58. Wolfenstein 3D Classic Platinum – If you haven’t heard of Wolfenstein post below so we can say a prayer for you. (itunes link) (source code)
59. WordPress – Client for managing WordPress blogs. Also has an iPad version. (itunes link) (source code)
60. Xpilot – Simple massively multiplayer arcade shooter from the early days of the internet. (itunes link) (source code)
61. YourRights – Pocket database containing a summary of your legal rights. (itunes link) (source code)
62. ZBar – A barcode reader open source iphone app. (itunes link) (source code)
Check them out if you are working on something similar or think they might have a feature you could use there’s no reason to re-invent the wheel. Always make sure you understand the licenses as many of these open source iPhone apps are GPL and require that you open source your app.
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Know Any Other Open Source iPhone Apps?
If you’ve found or have released an app that you would like added to the open source iphone apps list then please mention it in the comments.
©2012 iPhone, iOS 5, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.
.7 Free And Worthwhile Press Release Sites For App Promotion
Press releases can be a good way to get free buzz for your app, the idea with a press release is that you write it, and it gets picked up by some large relevant sites or aggregated by many smaller ones. I’ve seen it work wonders for some. I was reading through a few messages on app promotion, and it seems that many developers are falling into one of the older internet scams of paying for submission to free press release sites. Most free press release sites are not worthwhile. These costly services will typically offer free submission for hundreds of press releases. Some are even worse, charging for submission and then simply placing your press release on a single complete insignificant press release site.
Below are 7 free sites that you can quickly, and easily send your press release to as far as article pickups (if you want to check the effectiveness of these sites, put one unique sentence in each submission). These are the ones that seem to be the most effective and all 100% free:
http://downloadjunction.com/ – Software download site that also offers press releases
http://www.pr-usa.net/
http://freshnews.com/
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/
http://www.clickpress.com/
http://usprwire.com/
http://www.freepressreleases.co.uk/
Despite what I said about some pay press release services, there are some good premium press release services. If you’re looking for the best in press releases, I’ve seen many swear by PR Web and MarketWire. I’m really not sure how worthwhile these are for smaller niche apps, but if you’re really looking to leverage press releases you will want to check them out.
At the very least if you’re paying for a service make sure they guarantee you inclusion into Google news.
Whatever you do don’t make press releases your whole marketing plan like many app makers do, they are just a small piece of the puzzle.
If anyone has tips on submitting press releases for Apps I would love to hear about it.
– Update:
One other press release site that I forgot to mention is http://prlog.org which is definitely a place you will want to submit to. I’d suggest only submitting there by hand, as from what I understand they have a mechanism to detect auto-submissions, and it’s such a good free resource that I wouldn’t risk it.
©2012 iPhone, iOS 5, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.
.5 Great Open Source Cocos2D Projects To Learn From
I’ve mentioned the excellent Cocos2D open source 2d iphone game engine many times. The engine itself comes with many examples of the different features available, but something that comes up frequently is that people want some example games to look at it. Here are 5 terrific examples.
1) Gorillas – I’ve mentioned this game before, it’s a great example of a "Worms" type game, and has been around on many different platforms.
2) ABC 123 – A sequence memorization game. This game is really cool, letters appear, and you have to memorize the correct sequence by destroying bubbles that pop up.
3) TweeJump – This is a very nice platform jumping game. You jump from one platform to the next, if you remember the game Icy Toweres, this is similar.
4) Thrown – A Physics puzzler, not the best graphics, but an excellent coding example for Cocos2D that also utilizes the Chipmunk physics engine.
5) Grabbed – A dragging game example from the same author that created Thrown, and also utilizes Chipmunk.
Sapus Media, who started the Cocos2D iPhone project has an extensive source code example which is of their app "Sapus Tongue" you can check it out here, it’s not free, but these guys have put in so much into Cocos2D that I mention it here.
The book iPhone Cool Projects contains an example of a minigolf game that was created in Cocos2D.
And of course you can find the Cocos2D iPhone google code project itself here.
©2012 iPhone, iOS 5, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.
.Finally Another iPhone Development Book Worth The Read
After being extremely disappointed by the iPhone Games Projects book from the same publisher, I was a little hesitant to check out their latest book, iPhone Cool Projects. I thought that it might be another "cash in on the iPhone craze" book. Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised.
iPhone Cool Projects is my new favorite for iPhone books. As many of you who read this site know, I’ve been a fan of Beginning iPhone 3 Development, but I felt that I got much more out of iPhone Cool Projects than I did from my first of read Beginning iPhone Development, and that’s saying alot since I’ve advanced so much further in iPhone programming.
What I really like about this book is that they give you actual projects not just the usual junk based on source code available from Apple for free. These are some of the projects within the book:
Formic – A Frenzic Style Puzzle Game
SphereNet – A collaborative networked game where you move around spheres
Minigolf – A simple mini golf/air hockey type game built with Cocos 2d (excellent Cocos 2D intro here)
These are just a few of the projects, click here to read the full details on the book. I don’t want to spoil everything here, but you will be pleasantly surprised as the authors manage to make some very boring and more advanced concepts like threading and streaming audio interesting.
I have to say that I’m very pleasantly surprised, and although I’ve been working on iPhone development every day for the last 6 months or so I did learn quite a bit going over this book, and I’m going to go through it again this week.
If you’d like to checkout iPhone Cool Projects please click here.
©2012 iPhone, iOS 5, iPad SDK Development Tutorial and Programming Tips. All Rights Reserved.
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