iPhone Development Blog

Although the iPhone 4 has been on the market for over a year now it is still proving to be wildly successful, easily outselling the majority of its rivals on a like for like basis. Apple announced this month that in the three months from the start of April it shipped over 20 million iPhones across the globe, proving that this is one brand that is not going to be ousted from the top of the market in the near future.

It has also emerged in recent days that the fifth iPhone is likely to arrive at the start of September. Delays due to component shortages which were caused by the Japanese earthquake back in March have forced Apple to exchange its usual June launch for a new iPhone for a later date.

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer was quoted as saying that while revenues dropped 12 per cent year on year in the third quarter of 2011 the firm is hoping that a new product launch in September will help it to recoup any lost income.

The reason for the drop-off was of course as a direct result of the iPhone 5 having its release date rescheduled . While Oppenheimer would not explicitly say that the firm`s revenue will increase in the autumn as a result of a new iPhone arriving, it is being seen as heavily implied by many in the media.

The iPhone 5 is likely to bring a handful of new features to the table when it eventually does launch, although few can agree on what precisely this might entail. A dual core processor is almost a cert given that rivals including the Samsung Galaxy S2 and HTC Sensation already have dual core chips onboard. A larger four inch display is also being rumoured to be a key feature, bringing the Retina Display of the iPhone 4 onto a larger form factor.

There are counter-rumours which suggest that Apple might be launching an iPhone 4S this September, with only a few minor changes made over its predecessor, rather than completely reimagining the handset that has won them millions of sales.

Part of the inspiration behind this move might be problems with overheating processors which were rumoured in the last few days. Apple is not exactly in a rush to get the iPhone 5 to market given the continuing dominance of the iPhone 4. However, it is clear that the iPhone forms a key part of its revenue stream and that a real boost could be gained by launching a new handset on the same annual schedule as it has kept since the original arrived back in 2007.

Hi All,

Thanks to the loverly people over at live.gdgt.com I bring to you the full break down on the latest iPhone OS, and may I say that it is absolutely amazing. Thank you Apple for listening to what people want
So without any more hesitation here is the full conference as posted on gdgt.com

10:03AM – Steve!

Read More

Hi All,

Now here is what I’ve been waiting for, Apple are having another talk on April the 8th, this time about OS 4.0. I will be trying to watch the talk via a live feed, if that isn’t possible I will post the conversation about 10-15 after it finished (or in sections during the talk) based on the live comentary from live.gdgt.com.

So what has currently been confirmed so far about OS 4.0, well, rumours about the Multitasking support seems to becoming more of a reality now which is great news. The thing that makes me wonder is how exactly will they enforce the quality of applications with multitasking. At present some apps take up a lot of memory and some even have pretty bad memory leaks. If these apps were allowed to run in the background, think of the effect on the iPhones performance in all the other areas. I personally think they are going to run more stringent tests with the App submissions if the app is going to support multitasking to ensure stability and performance.

My guess is that the multitasking support won’t be available to all apps unless approved by Apple (therefore all existing apps won’t be multitasking compatible). Along with the performance factors there is also the security issues of allowing apps to run in the background. One of the reasons why Apple didn’t include multitasking supports is due to the effect of malware and virus, such as bluetooth sniffers etc. This is why I think there will be more enforcement on application approvals (so possibly expect longer times getting apps approved).

I have also heard word of higher screen resolutions in the pipeline, not sure if this will be possible with the current iPhones on the market but definately for the next model (the 4g).

Hopefully OS 4.0 will see some improvements to the way Push notifications are handled to make them more user friendly. At the moment you have the issue of not being able to end calls if a notification is on screen and if you don’t respond to the notification with a set time (when your phone is locked) it doesn’t always seem open the application it is related to. Plus if you miss what a notification said, tuff, there isn’t anyway of viewing it again.

People are still hoping on a revamped interface (nice homescreen etc) and the one thing that I have seen mentioned around the place is the support for folders and grouping icons. This will make things much easier to manage and find (even if it does take a few extra second to navigation in a few folders, better than scrolling 8 screens )

Leave a comment if you’ve heard anything I’ve not mentioned or just say what you are hoping makes it in.

Anyway, let’s all get ready for the big chat on Thursday when all will be revealed

Hi All,

Apple have officially invited developers to start submitting their apps to the AppStore to have the reviewed in time grand opening of the iPad App Store  on the 3rd April.

If you want to get your app ready for the launch make sure you submit your app to Apple by the 5pm (PDT) on the 27th March or you will miss the launch date.

Here are the basic rules to ensure your app is ready for launch day.

• Build and test your app using the iPhone SDK 3.2 Beta 5. You will not be able to submit your app if you use an earlier version of the Beta.
• Submit your app by 5pm (PDT) Saturday 27th March.
• If your app is selected for inital review you will recieve an email with more information about the final review.

So get testing if you want to hit the launch day, only 5 days to go.

*NOTE*    Make sure you submit your app early as you will probably only have access to the simulator, which will mean you won’t be able to hardware test, so prepare to fix bugs that may appear on the iPad version.

Hi All,

The latest iPhone/iPad SDK (version 3.2 beta 4) has added some nice new features to the XCode system. The latest feature sees the implementation of the ‘Validation Application’ function within the XCode Organiser that will run all the tests that Apple run when reviewing your application. This will allow you to run any tests for bug fixes before you submit your application.

Along with this comes the ability to share applications by converting the project into a .ipa file. This will allow you send a version to another user and all they have to do is double click the .ipa file to install the app using iTunes. The other user does need to have their device ID added to your development profile that signs the app or it won’t install.

3.2 will also see the implementation of the Submit Application feature that will allow you to submit your app to the App store from inside XCode. Now doesn’t this makes things a whole lot easier, no longer will you need to package your binary files. All you need to do, is select ‘Build and Archive’ from the XCode menu and the apple will be bundled into the Organiser for you, from here you can even chose to resign the app with your deployment profile if you built it using your development one.

Some nice features added there, definately makes life easier for me.
What do you think XCode is currently missing or would make your life easier?

Feel free to leave a comment
Matt

Hi All,

New rumours have emerged stating that the iPhone OS 4.0 (due for iPhones this summer) is set to allow multitasking; according to AppleInsider

The iPhone hardware already supports the ability of multitaskings, such as sending e-mails and SMS in the background and handling the phone system. The nike application also supports use in the background along with the obvious iPod functionality.

The reason why it has never been implemented so far is due to the security protocols set in place in the current OS. Background application support was never enabled to protect users for installing apps the could potentially install Malware and viruses onto the device (makes sense really).
Gizmodo states that the iPhone multitasking system may look similar to the expose system on Mac OSX. Personally I can’t quite see that happening due to the size of the screen on the iPhone, could work on the iPad mind (which is due for release on the 3rd April for you Apple users over the seas in the USA, over here in the UK we are set for a late April release). I reckon the iPhone version will look more similar to the simple ALT + Tab version or if they do go for the expose style, it will probably just display icons of the apps.

There is also talk of an improved gesture system (according to the SDK diggers out there) that will support long taps and 3 finger taps, however there is not word on the uses for these features. Not like the 3 finger tap is something new, it is already in place on the iPhone at the moment, just enable the zoom feature from the accessibility menu in settings.

What features are you hoping for in the new OS 4.0?

Leave a comment so we can get a little discussion going on

Matthew

Hi All,

An article over at iphoneworld.ca shows how Apples sales figures were a bit under estimated with their prediction of selling 7.2 million units being a bit lower than the actual result of 7.9 million. Apples sales figures show that their sales have increased by 100% compared to the same time last year. This impressive sales figure has raised their overall revenue by over 30% to an even more impressive $15.68 billion.

If Apple’s sales figures keeps on at this rate, especially with the the pre sales of the iPad already beating the pre sales of the iPhone, I find it hard to believe that Apple will be number 3 on the mobile list by 2013 as stated in my earlier post here

According to the article on iphoneworld.ca analysts are also warning that iPad launch this month will be -

“limited in size or potentially delayed by component shortage and production issues”

I wouldn’t mind seeing any new predictions for where Apple will be in the next few years based on these figures.

Hi All,

I was wondering today, everything you think of there seems to be an app for it whether it is from general health guidance to completely useless random stuff.

What apps are still yet to be made?

If you could have a perfect app for something what would it be and what would it do?

Maybe there is already an app out there that does what you want but just does it badly and there isn’t anything else.

Leave a comment so we can see what the App world is currently missing and you never know, mention it on here and someone may even decide to create it and submit it

So time to get the thinking caps on

Matt

Hi All,

Here is something that opens a few doors for new hardware potential. A collection of resources in the 3.2 SDK have been identified that could potentially allow Video Chat. A collection of package files named “AcceptVideo_SatFeb20_s1…2010.png” and “DeclineOrEndVideo_SatFeb…2010.png” have been identified along with links to VideoChat in the UI.

At the moment I can’t see any use for a video chat feature as the cameras on the iPhone are on the back and the iPad doesn’t even have a camera. Does open up new peripherals such as attachable cameras or maybe the iPhone 4G will have a camera on the front, finally.

Let’s see if anything else regarding this comes to light when they officially release os 3.2

Hi All,

It’s been a while since my last post so time for a run of some updates.

American telephony company AT&T has increased the download cap from 10mb to 20mb as long as you are using AT&T’s EDGE or 3G connection. Even though this  will allow you to download larger files and a few more apps from the App store you will still need a WiFi connection for some padcasts and larger newspapers such as the NYT.

I’ve not heard any word on any of the UK companies following this cap increase yet but no doubt 02 will probably do it first as they have been there the longest. Vodafone will probably be last to follow suite as they don’t even offer unlimited internet with their packages yet, which I’m quite suprised at.

For now everone not in America on AT&T are still stuck with the good old 10mb for now.

Matt