The Accounts and Twitter Framework on iOS 5
Adding Twitter support is something that makes quite a lot of sense for a number of applications. If you're in a news reader application you might want to let your followers know about an interesting article you just read. If you're in a conference schedule app, you not only want to let your followers know about the awesome talks you're listening to but you also might want to know which other talks other conference attendees are tweeting about to decide whether they are actually even more awesome than that talk you're stuck in...
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Code Generation 2011 – Don’t miss out!
Code Generation 2011 is just around the corner and if you haven't booked yet, you should hurry up - a few places are still available!
Quite a number of my colleagues at itemis have been busy preparing for this conference in the past few weeks. Besides working hard to hit the Eclipse Release Train milestone for Indigo on June 22nd, the Xtext team brushed up their hands-on sessions "Xtext Take I: Creating Code Generators with Xtend2" and "Xtext Take II: Crafting Domain Specific Languages with Xtext and Xbase". If you've been using Xtext, you're well aware of the power you have at your disposal with this tool. Xbase and Xtend2, however, take this experience to a whole new level. So make sure to mark your calendar for these two sessions!
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Using NSPredicate to Filter Data
Filtering data is one of the essential tasks in computing. With all the data available today, we need to apply certain limits and constraints to actually make it usable. What use is it to be able to scroll down a list of literally thousands of list items when you really care about one or two of them? Filtering and searching information make up a significant part of our work day - each time you use Google, you're applying a filter to the huge set of data we call the internet.
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Save a Tree, Put EclipseCon 2011 in Your Pocket
After the huge success of the mobile apps for Eclipse Summit Europe, we decided to provide mobile apps for EclipseCon 2011, too. So instead of using a printed copy of the conference program, you can browse the schedule on your smart phone - wherever you are! Read more
Appropriate Use of MapKit
I just had an app rejected because of violation of the Google Maps terms of service. While it certainly is kind of funny Apple rejects an app because you're violating Google's terms of service, I was wondering what in particular was wrong. Read more
What’s your number?
If you take part in a beta test for an iPhone app, the app developer will likely ask you to send him the UDID of your iPhone. If you've been asking yourself "what's this number, and where do I find it?", read on!
How to Use the Gyroscope of Your iPhone in a Mobile Web App
This week's release of iOS 4.2 for iPad and iPhone comes with some nice little features most people will not immediately become aware of as they're neither directly visible in the iOS UI nor are they mentioned in Apple's official release notes. You have to dig a little deeper to find them. One of them is a JavaScript API for the iPhone's gyroscope. Read on to see it in action and learn how to use it. Read more
Apple’s Updated Developer License – This Changes Everything. Again.
A few days ago, Apple made some small, but very important changes to the iOS Developer Program Agreement - a document which you must agree to before you can download the iOS SDK and start developing software for the iOS platform. These changes will drastically change the way we will build software for the iPhone, iPad and iPod and any other device that runs iOS.
Why Your Next App Should be Open Sourced
I've been doing all sorts of software development over the past few years, from closed-source in-house software for companies to closed-source product development to open-source frameworks and tools development to close-source app development.
Looking back on my experience with the various drawbacks and benefits of each of those development modes, I hereby recommend your next app be open sourced.
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Watching DVDs on your iPad
I've been wanting to watch DVDs on my iPad since I had it. As the iPad doesn't have an optical drive, you need to jump through several loopholes to get the trick done, but in the very moment you watch your first DVD on your iPad, something magical happens...
