With the latest version of the Buffer iPhone app hitting the App Store it brings with it the ability to change each profiles schedule from right within the app. You no longer have to go to the web app to tweak the times within your schedules.
For a long time it has been one of the most requested features we’ve had from the very first version of the iPhone app and i’m personally excited like we all are at Buffer to finally have this in everyones hands.
Since starting iOS development I have been somewhat reliant on Interface Builder for setting up views within most of the apps I’ve developed. More and more I feel as if I’m committing a sin and should be hand crafting each view programatically.
I’ve been planning to rewrite the code behind the composer within the Buffer iPhone app. As I continue working on making the application Universal to bring in iPad support it feels like a good time to refactor/rewrite. It also feels like a good time to put a hold to my love affair with Interface Builder and brush up on creating user interfaces programatically.
I was recently in an Apple store and after playing around with their iPad Smart Signs which show off products throughout the store, it got me thinking about how iPads could be used in more stores.
Back in 2011 Apple introduced iPad displays to all of it’s Apple Stores, replacing the old cards encased in clear acrylic that used to sit alongside each product. The iPads are widely used throughout the store to display product info etc, not only for Apple’s products but other products like headphones and speakers.
Apple Store with Apple “Smart Sign” iPads – Photo by Florian Boyd
Various other stores are starting to make use of iPad’s with varying degrees of success, some people really get it. Some are starting to get it and others haven’t seemed to quite grasp the potential or the functionality the iPad can provide in stores.
Over 2 years ago I launched Magic Bean for iPhone, which has since then become Universal for both iPhone & iPad. Along with that the core functionality was included in a Mac application which became just as popular than it’s iOS counterpart.
Magic Bean allows you to stay up to date with you or your teams Beanstalk account. Beanstalk is a hosted provider for Git, SVN, Mercurial repositories and allows you to easily deploy sites using their rather nifty deployment features.
For a long time Magic Bean has been sat on the back burner while i’ve cracked on with developing Buffer for iPhone & Globbert. It was the main project I used to learn iOS development, since then I have gone on to create Buffer for iPhone v1 & v2 which have both given me a tonne more knowledge. Now it is time to go full circle and apply what i’ve learnt from building Buffer for iPhone to Magic Bean.
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I often get asked how to get started in iOS Development. I thought i’d try and get it written up and posted as a blog post incase it’s helpful for anyone. I started writing it and soon realised that it’s more of a “How I got started in iOS Development”, that said I hope it’s helpful to anyone who is thinking of diving into the world of iOS.
Everyone has their own prefered method to pick up new skills, you might night find my method as useful as I did/do. But I hope it is still useful to you in someway.
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