| Issue 113 | July 1st 2011 | Contact the Editor | How to Contribute |
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Go Native with LiveCode and iOS
LiveCode 4.6.2 has everything you need to make great iOS apps. We’ve partnered with MobGui to give your apps that distinctive iOS native look and feel. And for the first time you can now access hundreds of native APIs through the iOS externals interface. Give your end users a native experience with iOS and LiveCode. The Apple Human Interface Guidelines put it best:
With the recent launch of LiveCode 4.6.2 we’re bringing you some features and add- ons to let you do just that. A native iOS Look and Feel The first thing your users will see with your app is how it looks. Ever since Apple released the first iPhones and iPads, iOS apps have a consistent look that gives users the confidence that their app is an Apple Native app. Small details matter: rounded corners and reflective shine on your buttons, pure white background with appropriate alpha transparency and anti-aliasing for your navigation bars. Then there’s the sizing to remember: iPhone screens are one size, iPads another, and all the buttons, nav bars, title bars and controls should reflect these differences. It’s a lot to think about and a lot to code for, but getting all the subtleties just right is crucial in ensuring your end users feel confident in your apps. If only there was a quick and easy way to make sure that you get all these elements right for every iOS app you make. For the month of July MobGui is free with any new LiveCode iOS purchase or it can be bought as add-on from the LiveCode market place. Don’t forget that July is 3 for 2 month in the marketplace and MobGui is part of that offer too. Hundreds of features in one - support for iOS externals. It’s not just about the look of the app of course. As the Apple Human Interface Guidelines say “People expect to find iOS technologies in the Apps they use”. What does support for iOS externals mean? The SDK included in LiveCode 4.6.2 allows you to call native iOS APIs and write your own added functionality for iOS apps. If there is a feature which LiveCode for iOS does not currently provide, you can now write that feature in C, C++, Objective C or Objective C++ and incorporate that feature into your LiveCode built app. What sort of features can I add? Anything you can think of! There is no limitation to the number of APIs you can include via the externals interface. One LiveCode developer is already working on externals for video recordings, another is preparing an external to access the iOS clipboard. Externals could be used image processing, barcode scanning, getting map data and even interfacing with iTunes. LiveCode built apps just got a whole lot more fun! Community involvement We’re really keen to have as many iOS examples as possible available to the whole community. I’d love to hear about any projects you might be thinking of, or anything that you’re already working on. By sharing examples of externals we can save everyone the time of having to rewrite their own... and the whole community will benefit.
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