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

Configurations in, settings out


In designing iOS, Apple created a somewhat controversial and confusing design decision with regards to application settings.

iOS has been created from the ground up with the fundamental philosophy that instructional manuals and help menus are a design constraint of the past. This requires that our work be somewhat limited in feature set, in order to minimize the barrier of entry. To accommodate for this sense of minimalism, we must often limit the number of settings or configurations presentable inside of an app.

Through the developer SDK, Apple offered the ability for an app to store its configurable settings inside of the actual Settings application, as opposed to inside the application itself. So if the user needed to change a specific setting, they were required to leave the application, go to Settings, and make the appropriate change.

As one can imagine, this leads to a bit of user confusion. What's the best way to go about managing this and eliminating...