Objective-C Programming

Open Source: Massive Toolkit With Over 40 iOS Objective-C Libraries

There are so many useful open source libraries available for iOS devices.   I haven’t seen one with such a wide variety of uses as this toolkit.

With this toolkit there are over 40 useful open source (Apache licensed) libraries that you can use in your iOS apps.  All are useful, and the library is designed so that you won’t need to clutter your app by including a massive number of files – in most cases you only need to add a single class to your app in order to add the functionality.   You just need to add what you want to use within your app.

Tutorial: Objective-C Blocks (Closures) For Beginners

Not too long after support for blocks (or closures as they were originally named) was added into the iOS SDK I posted about a tutorial and set of examples on blocks.  If you were familiar with blocks from using them in another language such as Python or Ruby then you probably understood things pretty quickly with those examples.  If you are unfamiliar with blocks those examples should give you a good grasp of the basics.

Open Source: Drop In UILabel Replacement For Beautiful Text Easily

Not too long ago I mentioned a  great open source projects utilizing Core Text and NSAttributedString to replace the UITextView component for easily formatted editable text.

I’ve found a component that was designed to be a drop-in component for UILabel replacement that is very easy to use, and includes an excellent example basically showing everything you need to know.  No need to fiddle around with things,  if you just want to add some formatted text quickly this is a great solution.

Open Source: Easy Multistroke and Single Stroke Complex Gesture Recognition On iOS

If you’ve ever wondered how to code gesture recognition for complex shapes I’ve come across a couple of open source libraries that should be a great deal of help.  This goes well beyond finger swiping.

This library is based on the $1 gesture recognizer which I remember being discussed quite a bit a few years back because not only did it run efficiently,  but allowed you define the templates to recognize complex shapes very easily.   The $1 gesture recognizer only recognizes 1 single stroke from the user.  The $1 gesture recognizer was later expanded on to become the $N multistroke gesture recognizer.

Tutorial: Calculator App Style Glossy Buttons With Core Graphics

In the past I’ve posted about creating iOS style buttons mentioning this tool, and this library which allow you to draw glossy buttons similar to those found in most iOS apps.

The basic calculator app however has different buttons.  They have a rounded gloss at the top, and a steady gradient all the way down the button.  You may have noticed when using the app that when you press the buttons there is a much more noticeable effect as the button look seems to reverse giving the impression that the finger has caused the button to reverse.