Book Image

iPhone User Interface Cookbook

By : Cameron Banga
Book Image

iPhone User Interface Cookbook

By: Cameron Banga

Overview of this book

The incredible growth rates for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad have pushed consumers to a new “App” economy, with developers racing to the platform. Mobile touch-centric interfaces vary greatly from traditional computing platforms, and programmers as well as designers must learn to adapt to the new form-factor.The iPhone User Interface Cookbook offers a complete breakdown of standard interface design on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. You will learn the tools behind the trade, how to properly utilize standard interface elements, and custom UI tricks that will help your work stand out on the App Store.The book is designed to be a complete overview of interface design on all iOS platforms, offering insight and an inside look into app design. A variety of topics are covered, starting with an overview of tools for the app interface designer, touching upon popular interface components such as the Tab Bar, and offering suggestions for complex game interfaces. Whether you’re new to the platform or a seasoned developer with numerous applications in the App Store, this book strives to teach everyone simple and easy to implement tips for iOS interface design. Regardless of skill level, the iPhone User Interface Cookbook offers a detailed breakdown of all things interface design.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
iPhone User Interface Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
PacktLib.PacktPub.com
Preface
The Importance of Direct Manipulation
If you need a stylus, you blew it

Making an app usable without location data


Location services provided by the GPS, cellular tower, and WiFi triangulation methods available in iOS are wonderful inclusions in any project, allowing us to create an app where users aren't required to enter such redundant information when looking for a hotel or restaurant.

But there will be times when we can't rely on location data in our application. If our user is on an iPod touch, or on an iPhone that cannot find a tower with which to gather a GPS signal, we'll be left without a way to gather location information.

In this recipe, we'll plan out ways to optimize our location-based application when we're unable to determine where our user exactly is.

Getting ready

For this recipe, an iPod touch or Wi-Fi only iPad device would be useful to have on hand. To simulate a lack of location service data on these devices, we can simply turn WiFi connectivity off and use the application. Without this, the device will be unable to grab any data.

How to...