Showing posts with label iphone dev. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iphone dev. Show all posts

iPhone User Interface Design Projects Review

iPhone User Interface Design Projects
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy iPhone User Interface Design Projects? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on iPhone User Interface Design Projects. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

iPhone User Interface Design Projects ReviewLove it or loathe it, the iPhone and iPod touch have been a stunning success, largely due to the App Store -- over 100,000 apps at current count. It is, by all accounts, the largest gold rush to invade the application development scene since ... well, ever. Apps that pay attention to design and usability stand out from the rest of the detritus, and quickly become a success.
"iPhone User Interface Design Projects" devotes a single chapter to each of ten developers/designers who've stood out from the crowd. They talk us through their thought processes and workflows, their failures and ultimate successes. You can teach someone to write code, but can you teach something as subjective as interface design? Apple's "Human Interface Guidelines" document goes some way to achieving this goal, explaining what users expect from an iPhone app's interface, and how the various controls behave and interact. The HIG is an essential reference and fits the bill perfectly for most use cases, but doesn't offer insights into more creative interfaces. "iPhone User Interface Design Projects" augments the HIG by bringing the authors' experiences into the discussion. They explain what worked and what didn't - there's nothing like learning from other people's mistakes.
A common thread throughout the book is that design and usability is an iterative process - very rarely will your first design concept reach the App Store. Though the individual authors refer to it differently - wireframing, prototyping, mock-ups, etc. - you get a sense for the importance of knowing what the interface will look like and how it will behave before committing it to code. The book's technical reviewer, Joachim Bondo, contributes a chapter on the design of a prospective Google news reader. Refreshing in presentation, this isn't a post-development retrospective. As he explains in the chapter's introduction, he has a few ideas in his head, and he fleshes the designs out as your read along. You don't get to see the final interface, but that's not the point. What you do get is insight into his design decisions. Bret Victor presented the excellent "Prototyping iPhone User Interfaces" at WWDC '09, and Bondo's narrative is very similar in content.
Though I enjoyed (almost) all ten contributions, Chapter 7, for me, was the highlight of the book. Chris Parrish and Brad Ellis cover - in great detail - often overlooked concepts of user context and application flow, and the undeniable value of prototyping and specifications. Parrish and Ellis rightly won an Apple Design Award at WWDC '09 for "Postage", a visual and highly intuitive postcard creator, and they approach their chapter with similar attention to detail.
The odd-one-out is Ju'rgen Siebert's detailed discussion of typefaces, the implications of their usage on small-scale devices such as the iPhone, and a walkthrough of his "FontShuffle" app. As informative as the history and anatomy of typefaces was for me, I didn't see how it specifically related to the very restricted set of fonts on the iPhone. Siebert even goes so far as to mock up a Contacts screen with a font that isn't available on the device, suggesting that the screen's readability has improved as a result. I don't disagree; however, the iPhone's fonts are baked-in, and unless you want to implement a custom glyph rendering routine, it's a pointless argument on a closed device. This chapter represents a missed opportunity, in my opinion. I was initially looking forward to reading about the author's choice of available fonts under different scenarios, but was ultimately let down.
Where the book falls short is in its use of black and white screeenshots throughout. We're talking about the design of applications which are displayed on a full colour device. Colour clearly plays a very large part in the design of any user interface, so cheaping out with black and white screenshots was a mistake. What's even more unforgivable is that the downloadable eBook (which isn't free) doesn't have full colour plates! Come on, Apress! I think given the context of the book, we'd be prepared to pay a bit more for colour.
Who's this book for? Everyone who develops or designs for iPhone, novice to expert alike. Even if you've had success on the App Store, I guarantee there's something in here for you.iPhone User Interface Design Projects OverviewFollowing the best-selling Beginning iPhone Development, iPhone User Interface Design Projects is the first book dedicated to designing and implemented great user experiences on the iPhone. The iPhone has quickly become the coolest new platform for application development, and developers with all levels of experience and from all development environments are eager to learn how to do it. Not only is there money to be made for developers selling great-looking iPhone apps, but it's just a hell of a lot of fun for everyone involved

Want to learn more information about iPhone User Interface Design Projects?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
Read More...

Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps Review

Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps ReviewHere's why: it's not only a great guide to what makes iPhone apps successful, but what will increasingly be the way to make successful software for any platform. Josh does a fantastic job of getting the reader into the right mindset for creating successful apps.
This is an interface, big-idea, that's why that design works book, not a coding book. Nor is it a "how to market your iPhone app book". That said, the interviews alone with designers of big important iPhone apps about how they really designed those apps is worth the price many times over.
Warning: you will probably spend more on buying apps Josh uses as examples of what he is talking about than you will on the book itself - I guess the skills he developed writing his last book, "Best Iphone Apps: The Guide for Discriminating Downloaders", gave him five star ability for picking great to awesome apps.
Also, while I almost never buy anymore actual paper books, this one is worth it - the color, gloss stock, painstaking layout and content structure would not be done justice as a .pdf.
I could write a longer review, but I'd rather go back to reading, re-reading, mulling and thinking about the what Josh covered in this book. Can't wait for the iPad book!Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps Overview
So you've got an idea for an iPhone app -- along with everyone else on the planet. Set your app apart with elegant design, efficient usability, and a healthy dose of personality. This accessible, well-written guide shows you how to design exceptional user experiences for the iPhone and iPod Touch through practical principles and a rich collection of visual examples.

Whether you're a designer, programmer, manager, or marketer, Tapworthy teaches you to "think iPhone" and helps you ask the right questions -- and get the right answers -- throughout the design process. You'll explore how considerations of design, psychology, culture, ergonomics, and usability combine to create a tapworthy app. Along the way, you'll get behind-the-scenes insights from the designers of apps like Facebook, USA Today, Twitterrific, and many others.

Develop your ideas from initial concept to finished design
Build an effortless user experience that rewards every tap
Explore the secrets of designing for touch
Discover how and why people really use iPhone apps
Learn to use iPhone controls the Apple way
Create your own personality-packed visuals
Ten Tips for Crafting Your App's Visual Identity
Choose a personality. Don't let your app's personality emerge by accident. Before you start designing, choose a personality for your app. The right personality for the right audience and features makes an app irresistible and creates a bonafide emotional connection. Tapworthy designs have the power to charm and beguile.
Voices (left) has a Vaudeville personality appropriate to a funny-voices novelty app. iShots Irish Edition (right) creates a gritty dive-bar ambience for its collection of drink recipes.

Favor standard controls. Because they're commonplace, the standard set of controls is sometimes dismissed as visually dull. Not so fast: commonplace means familiarity and ease for your audience. Conventions are critical to instant and effortless communication. Before creating a brand new interface metaphor or inventing your own custom controls, ask whether it might be done better with the built-in gadgetry.
A coat of paint. Standard controls don't have to be dreary. Use custom colors and graphics to give them a fresh identity. This technique requires a light touch, however; don't distract from the content itself or drain the meaning from otherwise familiar controls.
Wine Steward uses standard lists (known as table views in iOS) but creates a vintage ambience by draping a backdrop image across the screen. The app adds a parchment graphic to the background of each table cell, making each entry appear to be written on an aged wine label. The burgundy-tinted navigation bar maintains the app's wine flavor.

' You stay classy. Luxurious textures applied with taste increase your app's perceived value.
' Keep it real. Realistic lighting effects and colors create elements that invite touch and create an emotional attachment. They also provide subtle guidance about what your audience can interact with.
' Borrow interface metaphors from the physical world. Lean on users' real-world experience to create intuitive experiences. People will try anything on a touchscreen, for example, that they'd logically try on a physical object or with a mouse-driven cursor. Besides these practical benefits, using an everyday object as an interface metaphor imbues an app with the same associations that folks might have with the real McCoy--a shelf of books, a retro alarm clock, a much-used chessboard, a toy robot.
' Don't be afraid to take risks. Make sure your interfaces are intuitive, sure, but don't be afraid to try something completely new and different. Designers and developers are hatching fresh iPhone magic every day, and there's still much to explore and invent. While you should look hard at whether you might accomplish what you need to do with standard controls, it's also worth asking, Am I going far enough?
The app icon is your business card. The icon carries disproportionate weight in the marketing of your app, and it's important to give it disproportionate design attention, too. Be descriptive more than artistic. Make your app icon a literal description of your app's function, interface, name, or brand.
Use a dull launch image. Disguise your app's launch image as the app background for a faster perceived launch. Always cultivate the illusion of suspended animation when switching in and out of your app.
Be kind to new users. Provide simple welcome-mat pointers for first-timers. Beware of more complex help screens; they're warning signs of an overcomplicated interface.

Want to learn more information about Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
Read More...

Beginning iOS 4 Application Development Review

Beginning iOS 4 Application Development
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy Beginning iOS 4 Application Development? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Beginning iOS 4 Application Development. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Beginning iOS 4 Application Development ReviewBeen using this book for a few days now, and i must say its a great resource. Been thru 5 chapters in random order so far. i have read a bunch of iphone os programming books and this is definitely is my top 5. Every chapter, is just broken down into intricate details. The author has done a great job in explaining complex topics that might dazzle beginner programmers and made it very presentable to the user. i know i said its a great beginners book, but there are advanced topics that are covered like implementing push notification to bluetooth or running background applications. the best part of this book is manner in which they start of the topics and break everything down into details that makes the user understand. i highly recommend this book.Beginning iOS 4 Application Development OverviewThe ideal starting point for creating apps using iOS 4
Written by an experienced Apple developer and trainer, this full-color reference serves as an ideal jumping point for creating applications for Apple's iOS 4 that runs on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. In addition to in-depth coverage of the iOS SDK, the book walks you through the various core aspects of iPhone and iPad development. You'll learn how to take advantage of the tools provided by XCode and you'll benefit from a solid introduction to Objective-C, which allows you to have a smooth transition to iPhone development from another platform.
Offers a solid foundation for creating applications for Apple's iOS 4
Covers all the new features of iOS 4 and provides a new applications template for developing iPad and iPhone apps
Addresses the new PopoverView for iPad apps
Shows how to develop background applications, which is one of the new features in iOS 4

Beginning iOS 4 Application Development is your ultimate resource for creating applications for Apple's iOS 4.

Want to learn more information about Beginning iOS 4 Application Development?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
Read More...

iPhone Game Development: Developing 2D & 3D games in Objective-C (Animal Guide) Review

iPhone Game Development: Developing 2D and 3D games in Objective-C (Animal Guide)
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy iPhone Game Development: Developing 2D & 3D games in Objective-C (Animal Guide)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on iPhone Game Development: Developing 2D & 3D games in Objective-C (Animal Guide). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

iPhone Game Development: Developing 2D & 3D games in Objective-C (Animal Guide) ReviewUnfortunately, this book does not meet up to its potential. The main issues I have with it are the code examples and example applications.
* The book does NOT provide complete step-by-step walkthroughs of operations (although, they are generally 'good enough').
* The book does NOT contain complete listings of the project code text. This is a BIG problem.
* The source code is available on SourceForge, but it does NOT match the text in the book!!!
I have no clue why the persons modifying the files changed them so drastically.
So, be aware that there are serious issues regarding learning from this text. I can only hope that someone at O'Reilly sees the problem, and acts to fix it.
Edit : I have downgraded this book from two-star to one-star. The more I get into it the worse it gets. Typos. Coding errors. Misnamed classes, files, methods, member names; the list goes on. It is obvious that the authors of this book did NOT code the projects from the proofs they got from the publisher. It is unlikely that they even read the text of the code; some of the errors are so obvious that even a cursory read shows them up.
Edit #2 : It is now apparent to me that the authors of the Book and the Code are old C++ coders from way back. Anachronisms like 'Hungarian Notation' and other Microsoft C++ patterns are rampant. Misuse and misunderstanding of Objective-C and Cocoa Touch patterns and usages abound. You will learn a LOT of incorrect habits looking at this code and text. Beware.
You will spend more time trying to fix the errors in the book than you will spend understanding the concepts presented.
Get a different book on Game Engine Design and work your own iPhone compatible version from there.
It will be easier. A lot easier.iPhone Game Development: Developing 2D & 3D games in Objective-C (Animal Guide) Overview
What do you need to know to create a game for the iPhone? Even if you've already built some iPhone applications, developing games using iPhone's gestural interface and limited screen layout requires new skills. With iPhone Game Development, you get everything from game development basics and iPhone programming fundamentals to guidelines for dealing with special graphics and audio needs, creating in-game physics, and much more. Loaded with descriptive examples and clear explanations, this book helps you learn the technical design issues particular to the iPhone and iPod Touch, and suggests ways to maximize performance in different types of games. You also get plug-in classes to compensate for the areas where the iPhone's game programming support is weak.



Learn how to develop iPhone games that provide engaging user experiences
Become familiar with Objective-C and the Xcode suite of tools
Learn what it takes to adapt the iPhone interface to games
Create a robust, scalable framework for a game app
Understand the requirements for implementing 2D and 3D graphics
Learn how to add music and audio effects, as well as menus and controls
Get instructions for publishing your game to the App Store


Want to learn more information about iPhone Game Development: Developing 2D & 3D games in Objective-C (Animal Guide)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
Read More...

Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch and .NET/C# (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) Review

Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch and .NET/C# (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch and .NET/C# (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch and .NET/C# (Wrox Programmer to Programmer). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch and .NET/C# (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) ReviewGood introduction to MonoTouch-based developmement on iOS. Every code listing has a complete MonoDevelop solution available for download, so it is very easy to run and experiment with the listings included in the book.Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch and .NET/C# (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) OverviewWhat .NET C# developers need to enter the hot field of iPhone apps
iPhone applications offer a hot opportunity for developers. Until the open source MonoTouch project, this field was limited to those familiar with Apple's programming languages. Now .NET and C# developers can join the party. Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch and .NET/C#is the first book to cover MonoTouch, preparing developers to take advantage of this lucrative opportunity.

This book is for .NET developers that are interested in creating native iPhone applications written in .NET/C#. These developers want to use their existing knowledge. While .NET developers are always interested in learning, they also recognize that learning Objective-C and the specifics of the iPhone can be overwhelming. Those developers interested in MonoTouch will recognize that the cost of MonoTouch is easily made up by the ability to quickly target the iPhone using a language that they are already familiar with.

This book is designed for .NET developers that want to target the iPhone. It is designed to help you get up to speed with the iPhone, not to really teach you about the .NET Framework or C# language, which we assume you already know.

This book is designed with introductory material in Chapters 1 thru 4. You should read Chapters 1 thru 4 sequentially. These chapters introduce the MonoTouch product, the basics of developing with MonoTouch and MonoDevelop, and finally, the basics of presenting data to a user with screen and data controls and how to develop a user interface for the iPhone. Once you are comfortable with these concepts, you can typically move from one chapter to another and not necessarily have to read the chapters sequentially.

Chapter 1 "Introduction to iPhone Development with MonoTouch for C# Developers"This chapter looks at how the largest segment of developers can target the smartphone with the highest mindshare, and that the smartphone is growing faster in marketshare than any other device.
Chapter 2 "Introduction to MonoTouch"gives you a firm foundation in MonoTouch, MonoDevelop, Interface Builder, debugging, and deploying.
Chapter 3 "Planning Your App's UI: Exploring the Screen Controls"teaches you about creating your application's UI and specifically how the UI on the iPhone can differ from UIs that you might have created before. You also explore the Input & Value objects from the Interface Builder Objects Library.
Chapter4 "Data Controls" shows the Interface Builder Objects Library Cocoa Touch classes for Controllers, Data Views, and Windows, Views, & Bars.
Chapter 5 "Working with Data on the iPhone"looks at the SQLite database engine as well as strategies to store data off the device on a central server through SOAP and REST (using XML and JSON) without tying up the user interface.
Chapter 6 "Displaying Data Using Tables"looks at displaying information in a table, using tables for navigation, taking advantage of UITableView's built-in editing features, and adding a search bar to a table.
Chapter 7 "Mapping"covers CoreLocation and MapKit, using Location Services, and adding maps and geocoding to your application.
Chapter 8 "Application Settings"focuses on application settings, and looks at two aspects of settings for your MonoTouch app: the Info.plist and your settings bundle. It covers what settings you might want to set in your Info.plist and why, and then looks at what code it takes to read and use the settings that you save in the settings bundle. And it also takes you through the building of the settings that you might have in a social media-type application. Going through each step, you will examine the Root.plist inside the Property List Editor and see the settings dialog that will result from it.
Chapter 9 "Programming with Device Hardware" covers accelerometer device orientation, and proximity detection support, networking, and developing with battery life in mind.
Chapter 10 "Programming with Multimedia" discussing integrating images and the image picker, watching and recording videos, playing and recording audio, and using animation
Chapter 11 "Talking to Other Applications"discusses the ways you can use MonoTouch to talk to other applications on the iPhone, both Apple-built applications and those downloaded from the App Store. It also provides helpful ways of accessing the iPhone's Address Book and the iPod music library.
Chapter 12 "Localizing for an International Audience" first defines internationalization and localization, then shows displaying translated text and images, formatting dates, times, and numbers, then extracting text for translation.
Chapter 13 "Programming the iPad" the capabilities of the iPad are, what new APIs and controls have been introduced that you can use in iPad-specific applications, and how to build applications that can work on both iPad and iPhone devices.
Chapter 14 "Just Enough Objective-C" provides you with a reference and introduction to Objective-C that will help you acquire an ability to comprehend Objective-C which is something that will come in very handy.
Chapter 15 "The App Store: Submitting and Marketing Your App"discusses all things App Store. First, it talks about the process that you need to go through before you are ready to submit - this includes final testing with Ad-Hoc builds and a presubmission checklist. Next it addresses actually submitting to the App Store, and then finally what to do with your app after it's in the App Store. This chapter also touches on alternative monetization strategies such as ads or in app purchases.


Want to learn more information about Professional iPhone Programming with MonoTouch and .NET/C# (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
Read More...

iPhone SDK Programming: Developing Mobile Applications for Apple iPhone and iPod touch Review

iPhone SDK Programming: Developing Mobile Applications for Apple iPhone and iPod touch
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy iPhone SDK Programming: Developing Mobile Applications for Apple iPhone and iPod touch? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on iPhone SDK Programming: Developing Mobile Applications for Apple iPhone and iPod touch. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

iPhone SDK Programming: Developing Mobile Applications for Apple iPhone and iPod touch ReviewI bought this book after I'd gone through Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK (Beginning from Novice to Professional), hoping to get another set of useful skills and tools to use, such as a reference for XML & RSS, SQLite, and a little more depth on the collections objects such as NSArrays, etc. that was only brushed over in the Beginning iPhone Development book. Overall, this book does fill in some of those gaps, but it really doesn't stand well as a standalone iPhone programming book. I'm glad this is my second choice, because if it were my first I'd probably be more confused!
If you're building your foundation, this book may be worth your while.
My largest complaint about this book is actually the way the code is written out on the page. Instead of clear, Courier-font code blocks, the editors just stuck code in Times Roman font. Anyone who's ever read their share of programming books knows this just complicates life by making it harder to differentiate code from content and better recognize typos, etc. I hope they revise this and publish another edition of the book - it's extremely noticeable. Also, I think this book was pushed to market without double-checking that the graphic examples are copyright compliant, because instead of icons in some of the screenshots the author substituted ugly character graphics that just looked dumb.
Overall, this is an okay programming book. There are some nuggets of good information, but as a beginner's book it's too complex, nor does it have enough depth to be a compendium for an advanced programmer.iPhone SDK Programming: Developing Mobile Applications for Apple iPhone and iPod touch OverviewWith iPhone SDK Programming, developers have the expert guidance they need to begin building native applications for Apple's new iPhone 3G as well as the iPod touch. Inside, veteran mobile developer and Bell Labs scientist Maher Ali begins with a foundational introduction to Objective C and Cocoa programming, and then guides you through the building programs with Apple's iPhone SDK.

iPhone SDK Programming covers a wide range of topics, including:
The Objective-C programming language

Collections

Cocoa Touch

Building advanced mobile user interfaces

Core Animation and Quartz 2D

Model-View-Controller (MVC) designs

Table Views File management

Parsing XML documents using SAX and DOM

Working with Google Maps API

Consuming REST Web Services

Building advanced location-based applications

Developing database applications using the SQLite engine

Building Multimedia applications

Making use of the camera and video Working with the accelerometer





Want to learn more information about iPhone SDK Programming: Developing Mobile Applications for Apple iPhone and iPod touch?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
Read More...