While Android app development is a great way to get introduced to the development field, programming iOS apps for the iPhone and the iPad can be just as rewarding – if not more so – and is even necessary for your app to meet its full market potential. The most notable differences between developing for Android and for iOS lies in the development tools and the programming languages available for development on the platform. Apple also have very strict guidelines on what is and isn’t permissible for an app to be allowed into the app store, including design, content, and technical aspects of the code itself.
Perhaps the most important step in becoming an iOS developer is familiarizing yourself with Apple’s incredibly specific App Store Review Guidelines. Otherwise you may end up expending effort on an app that will never see the inside of the app store anyways. Every app is reviewed by Apple before it is allowed to be published for sale in their app store. Some common reasons for app rejection includes bugs and crashes that render the app unusable, incomplete information, misleading advertisement, and broken links within the app. Apple also blocks apps with content that could be considered adult in nature or political content.
Hopefully you’ve followed the link above and quickly reviewed what is and isn’t permissible in the Apple app store. If you’ve reviews the information and decided that your app can meet the expectations, that’s great! It’s time to get to the details of iOS app development.
First you need to set up the development environment. Apple provides all the tools necessary to begin developing for free. Firstly, you will need to download the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) called Xcode. It is a free download, but the software only runs on Macintosh computers. Apple also provides a great many coding frameworks that allow developers to easily accomplish useful coding feats such as encrypting information, saving data and passwords, and play audio and video – feats that would otherwise take much more time to code in.
Finally, before you start developing your app, you need to decide what coding language you will be writing your app in. While a type of Java is what Android is programmed in, Mac and iOS apps can be written in a number of languages. MostiOS developers use Objective-C to create their apps, but they can also be programmed in plain C, C++, Python-Objective-C, and RubyMotion. Apple has also developed a language unique to iOS and Mac called Swift. Here you can find an in-depth tutorial on creating your first iOS app from scratch, including a small introduction to Objective-C.
Developing for iOS is amazing – especially now with amazing languages like Swift and RubyMotion.
Sebastian Johnsson – developer and creator of Smartlend.se – compare and borrow money (låna pengar).
Developing apps for the iPhone and iPad is no more difficult than developing apps for Android devices. The only difference between the two lies in the details of the creation. While Apple may have more strict guidelines for apps to be included in the app store, the overall process is the same. Get the tools, learn the IDE, learn the language, and get developing!