November 2012
1 post
3 tags
iOS Dev Center woes
Don’t you just love getting an Apple Developer email, clicking on the link to the web site, and having the site be down for several hours for maintenance? Come on Apple, you’re the masters of public relations and logistics in everything else — why can’t you coordinate your developer ecosystem a little better?
Every year at WWDC you tell developers that you love us. Why not...
October 2012
4 posts
Designing for iOS 6: add a Default-568h@2x.png
If you’re updating an iOS app to support the 4” tall screen of the new iPhone 5 and iPod touch (5th generation), all you need to do is design an appropriately sized default image. This is in addition to the regular Default.png for the original 320 x 480 pixel iPhone screen, Default@2x.png for the iPhone 4 (Retina display), and any iPad default images if your app is universal.
The...
NimbleKit 1.9.9 now available
NimbleKit is now on version 1.9.9 which supports iOS 6 and the 4” screen size of the new iPhone 5 and 5th generation iPod touch.
Additional release notes:
Improved iOS 5 support
Dropped 3.x support
Orientation and video issues fixed
To download, visit www.nimblekit.com.
Note that I updated NimbleKit to version 1.9.9 after updating my Xcode to 4.5.1, which requires OS X Lion...
August 2011
1 post
2 tags
July 2011
2 posts
1 tag
MIMA Summit 2011: The Digital Decade
I am honored to be speaking at the 2011 MIMA Summit on October 12 in Minneapolis. The title of my talk is Learning from Luther: Mastering the Second Mobile Revolution. Hope to see you there!
“The Web is a cross platform solution that worked. We have argued that the Web...”
– FunctionSource: Cross Platform Leverage: Not about write once run everywhere, not about native vs. Web (via johnallsopp)
June 2011
1 post
May 2011
2 posts
1 tag
“I thought this was an excellent walkthrough of the development process from...”
– M. Diaz
April 2011
7 posts
Xcode 4 and NimbleKit folder permissions
After installing Xcode 4 and NimbleKit 1.9.6, I could no longer test my apps on the iOS Simulator. Specifically, I was getting errors stating that I didn’t have permission to view various files located in /Library/Frameworks/NimbleKit. When I looked there, this is what I saw (above): a folder with a “do not enter” sign on it.
If you experience this problem, just Get Info for...
Xcode 4 Update
After a very busy March and early April, I’m finally catching up on the newest release of Xcode, the eagerly-awaited version 4. It looks incredible! But there’s one caveat: it’s not free anymore, as noted in my book.
Well, it is still free… if you are already a member of the iOS Developer Program. But now if you want to learn Xcode before making the $99 commitment to join the...
1 tag
“+1 for the book, “The Web Designers Guide to iOS Apps.” I got it on...”
– Mayakovski, NimbleKit Forum (April 13, 2011)
FirstTech iOS event on Apr. 20 has filled
As updated on FirstTech’s web site.
March 2011
8 posts
Acer: the opposite of Apple →
Acer’s Dual-Screen Iconia tablet shows just how badly some companies think.
Given Apple’s wild success with the iPad, the roadmap to compete has been clearly established for other tablet manufacturers. Thinner, lighter, beautiful, and affordable are all cornerstones of the iPad’s success. Most importantly, it is designed to clearly differ from a laptop.
So Acer’s...
South by Southwest Interactive: photos
Some photos from my trip to SXSW Interactive, including my iOS app design session and book signing. What a great conference, and Austin is a wonderful city! I was really honored to be there.
South by Southwest Interactive: slides
Slides from my mobile app design panel at SXSW Interactive.
February 2011
7 posts
“The False Dichotomy of Native vs. Web Apps”
– A blog post by the author about the inherent value of content, and how that effects its distribution via the Internet.
1 tag
Tutorial: Troubleshooting App Testing in Simulator →
If you are downloading sample code from this web site, this tutorial expands on some important concepts from Chapter 3 (“Testing and Building Your App Binary”, pp. 38-41). I hope you find this helpful and effective when testing an app in Xcode’s Simulator.
If you have suggestions or see anything to correct, please contact me. Thanks!
2 tags
Universal app sample code
On pages 133-138, I provided an example of a universal app — a video player app that runs full-screen on both small iOS (iPhone and iPod touch) and large (iPad) devices, from the same app installation. But because this example uses NKVideoPlayer, much of the heavylifting is done for us already because in this case the native iOS video player interface automatically resizes to the device for...
1 tag
“Well written, concise, and just enough information.”
– G. Brett
1 tag
“I purchased this book to learn how to program with NimbleKit for the iPad and...”
– James R.
January 2011
8 posts
1 tag
“Doing a directed study with @nonabel and we’re going to use...”
– A. Tank
Chapter 3 download (sample icons)
Many thanks to Wesley, a reader who contacted me asking where the sample icons download is (mentioned on page 34).
Well, the files were just sitting right here on my Mac, of course! =(
I’m very sorry that I forgot to upload those in December, as I’m sure there are others of you out there wondering where they were, too.
The chapter 3 download is now on the downloads page. Thanks...
1 tag
“If you are a web designer/developer, you know how important it is to move into...”
– M. Nichols
1 tag
Reviews
Note that I’m starting to assemble a collection of reviews and mentions of my book from Twitter here on the book’s Tumblr site, and I’m also linking to any reviews that I find elsewhere, too (such as on Amazon).
Thanks for any feedback that you choose to share in those ways, or however else you wish to comment on the book. And if you want to be sure that I notice your review or...
1 tag
“Je viens de finir de lire The Web Designer’s Guide To iOS Apps de @klayon....”
– P. Matte
1 tag
“He approaches his topic with a genuine desire to share what has worked well for...”
– P. Rader
December 2010
4 posts
Sample code update
I’ve been trying to get all of the sample code from the book onto this site. Thank you for your patience if you have been waiting for anything!
Today I added Chapter 6. Note that there are minor code revisions from the book version, due to an update of NimbleKit to version 1.9.4 that changed how map annotations need to be coded for the map to render properly.
(visit Downloads to get the...
November 2010
4 posts
2 tags
Smashing CSS, by Eric Meyer
Call me foolish for using this space to promote other people’s books as much as my own. But I sincerely want to impress upon you that the latest lessons about CSS — especially those about CSS3 — can be applied to designing iOS apps built with NimbleKit. This is because Apple’s iOS devices support HTML5 and CSS3 very, very well, so it’s a great, safe environment for you to...
CSS3 For Web Designers, by Dan Cederholm →
Note that the lessons you can learn in Dan’s new book apply to designing iOS apps with NimbleKit! I bought my copy today. =)
simplebits:
For the fourth time in my life, I’ve written a book. It’s titled, CSS3 For Web Designers and it’s available today in paperback and ebook formats from A Book Apart. I couldn’t be more excited, seeing this little green thing launch after months of...
Page layouts: done
I turned in my last batch of comments and corrections for the page layouts to my development editor tonight, all 240+ pages. After final adjustments, the book goes to the printer on November 15.
Perhaps then it will finally feel real to me. Believe it or not, it still doesn’t… but don’t let that keep you from pre-ordering! =)
October 2010
2 posts
