iOS & Android Development

So, after many days of using DDMS to poke around the Emulator subsystem I saw the way the new com.android.browser activity interacted with the data. I’ve took a TestCase code (which is like PhoneGap for Android, but stripped donw with only the WebView component), and hacked around with the old stickies example so that I can get it to work. So, here’s the steps to do it: Step 1: Create a WebView, similar to the one in the PhoneGap source. Step 2. Get the webSettings, and set the Database Path. The path should be the path to your databases, which will be /path/path/your_package_name/. Joe@Nitobi

Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) largely removes the burden of manual memory management, not to mention the chore of tracking down bugs caused by leaking or over-released objects! Despite its awesomeness, ARC does not let you ignore memory management altogether. This post covers the following key aspects of ARC to help you get up and running quickly. Reference Counted Memory: Quick Revision How Automatic Reference Counting Works Enabling ARC in Your Project New Rules Enforced by ARC ARC Qualifiers – Declared Properties ARC Qualifiers – Regular Variables Migrating Existing Projects to ARC Including Code that is not ARC Compliant Should I Use ARC? The Long Weekend Website

Access your Mac from any computer with the use of VNC. This article describes the process of setting up a VNC server on your Mac, and how to access it from afar. Remote Desktop on your Mac for Free VNC Server VNC Client

useful/amusing bits of software for the top-right of your screen super OS X menubar items

Badges in iOS are the de-facto way to communicate new/unread information to users. The SDK allows for setting badges on tab bar items and on the main .app bundle icon. But what if you want to set a badge on a toolbar item? There is no official way to make a badge on a toolbar item, even though you as a developer may want to incorporate a badge. Introducing BarButtonBadge.h, the custom class to easily set a badge on a UIBarButtonItem. The usage is simple and understandable. BarButtonBadge

One of the coolest features of the iPhone SDK is an application’s ability to “bind” itself to a custom URL scheme and for that scheme to be used to launch itself from either a browser or from another application on the iPhone. Creating this kind of binding is so simple, its almost criminal not to use it in your application! iPhone Developer Tips App Scheme Directory How to register for a specific or custom file type Apple Developer

Storyboarding is an exciting new feature in iOS 5 that will save you a lot of time building user interfaces for your apps. To show you what a storyboard is, I’ll let a picture do the talking. Ray Wenderlich

Just 5 days after its official launch, iOS 5 is already up and running on 1 out of every 3 compatible devices. TechCrunch

While voice control has been part of Android since the dawn of time, Siri came along and ruined the fun with its superior search and understanding capabilities. However, an industrious team of folks from Dexetra.com , led by Narayan Babu, built a Siri-alike in just 8 hours during a hackathon. TechCrunch

Google Phone Gallery

This is a quick update to my iOS device and OS version stats as reported by Instapaper 3.0. Marco.org

Core Data Editor lets you easily view, edit and analyze applications‘ data (the application has to use Core Data). Core Data Editor is compatible with Mac and iOS applications and supports XML, SQLite and binary stores, visualizes all relationships and is able to edit the data and generate Objective-C code for the data model! Mac App Store

SourceTree is the easy to use GUI for Mercurial and Git, made for your Mac! One tool for Mercurial and Git repositories Collaborate with Subversion servers too See your GitHub, Bitbucket and Kiln projects in SourceTree Friendly diff views let you see file changes immediately Quick Look support, even on historical changes Undo or stage / unstage changes down to a line level Commit, revert/reset, branch, merge, tag, transplant/cherry-pick, blame Intuitive views: file status, history log (with graph) and history search Create and apply patches with automatic helpers Stash / shelve support, and much more! Mac App Store

With Alien Dalvik 2.0, the majority of Android apps can run unmodified using Android Package (APK) files, says Myriad. That means app developers could, in theory, write apps using in a single standard and run them across all platforms. In theory, of course. Something tells us that Apple won’t allow Android applications running on its iOS devices anytime soon. (RIM, however, might be interested.) TechCrunch

Die Webanalyse-Firma Webtrekk registrierte im dritten Quartal für Apples iOS-System einen Marktanteil von 78,4 Prozent bei der mobilen Internet-Nutzung in Deutschland. sueddeutsche.de

If you want to ship high quality code, you should invest in more than one of formal code review, design inspection, testing, and quality assurance. Testing catches fewer bugs per hour than human inspection of code, but it might be catching different types of bugs. Kevin Burke

„Die Ergebnisse zeigen deutlich, dass Nutzer ein großes Interesse an qualitativ hochwertigen Zeitungsangeboten auf den mobilen Endgeräten haben“, unterstreicht Hans-Joachim Fuhrmann, Mitglied der BDZV-Geschäftsleitung. Und für diese Angebote seien sie auch bereit, Geld auszugeben, im Schnitt acht bis neun Euro im Monat. Fast jeder zweite iPhone-Besitzer gab an, für journalistische Inhalte auf seinem Gerät zu bezahlen. Bei den iPad-Besitzern liegt die Bereitschaft noch deutlich höher (81 Prozent). dpa

Im Internet kursiert ein Tool für gejailbreakte iOS-Geräte, das die In-App-Kaufanfragen der Apps abfängt, ehe sie den Apple-Server erreichen. Heise Security

Looking for the right mobile Framework? Compare all major Frameworks and choose the one that fits best. Markus Falk

Rich CSS3 ads for every mobile platform. Captivate your audience. Engage your customers. Standards-based animation has never been so easy. With the power of Sencha Animator, use CSS3 animations to build the next generation rich-media ads. Animate text and images with smooth transitions, design buttons with gradients, and embed analytics. All backed by the strength of web standards. Whether it’s zooming through space, challenging foes to kung fu, or showing off your latest line of amazing products, Sencha Animator elevates your creative experience and deploys on all of today’s most popular devices. Complete output control. Animator’s output is clean and human readable. Designers unfamiliar with web programming can leverage CSS3, while advanced users have complete control over the output. Better design experience. Superior results. Animator gives artists the freedom to design and fully deliver on innovative ideas, generate better customer engagement, and drive higher client RO...

Animations and interactive graphics for iOS devices, Android phones and your Desktop. With Purple, you will create beautiful HTML5 animations with ease. Purple animations can be viewed on mobile devices and on your Desktop. Import assets directly from graphics applications like Adobe® Photoshop® or Pixelmator and start creating at once! Preview animations made with Purple directly on the iPad device and make your apps, magazines, games and websites even more exiting. Purple is available in the Mac App Store. Purple