iOSing

UISlider: Biggering It!

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Posted On November 17, 2011 by John Slater in The Basics, Tutorials

In this tutorial we’re going to cover the UISlider, a grand bit of invention that allows you to output a value as you slide up and down. This user interface element is typically seen in apps with volume controllers such as the Music app or Spotify.

The slider allows the user to move up and down to a value without having to input a number but is also great for tactile responses like volume where the user can slide up to increase the volume or down to decrease it, simple stuff but a powerful element nevertheless.

We’re going to create a simple resizing app using the UISlider, the app will have one purpose, slide up to increase a box size and down to decrease it but it will give you an understanding of the element and how to read its responses.

UIColor: Understanding Colour in iOS

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Posted On November 14, 2011 by John Slater in The Basics, Tutorials

Something as trivial as changing a colour or adding a colour should be pretty simple to achieve, one that shouldn’t take long to do or much thinking. Sadly with iOS this isn’t as straight forward as you assume at first and because of this i thought i would throw together a really simple tutorial explaining how colours work.

This really is the most basic tutorial i can think of, i mean i think someone who’d recently suffered a massive head injury could come to terms with UIColor on iOS after this tutorial. So lets get to it.

UISwitch: Lights On/Off

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Posted On November 2, 2011 by John Slater in The Basics, Tutorials

I’ve always found the best way to learn iOS Development is to simply find an aim or goal and then head towards it. This was the case with my very simple soundboard apps and even right up to my somewhat more complicated music quiz app. Personally i learn a lot faster by having an idea and just setting out to complete it, along the way i’m bound to learn things and i’ll get the results i want.

In these ‘Basics’ tutorials i hope to help new iOS developers create their first app, regardless of its standard and simpleness, and development an understanding of how certain elements and functions work.

Technology: iOS (Objective C)
Difficulty: Easy

iOS Icon Design: Preparing Photoshop

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Posted On October 26, 2011 by John Slater in Design, iOS Icon Design, Reference, Tutorials

In this series i want to cover the ins and outs of icon design. Although your app, it’s look and feature set are the most important things you shouldn’t let down the visual appeal of your app with a poor icon.

I’m a web designer by trade and i find myself judging things on aesthetics constantly and this includes iPhone apps. When i download an app to be displayed on my home screen i expect the same level of design as in the app, you won’t find a poor icon on my first page because of this.

I won’t go into too much details on Icon Guidelines just yet, i’ll leave this for the final post on this subject but it is important to ensure your icon looks as appealing your app its self, after all this is what entices people to open the app.

In this article we will cover the preparation for design within Photoshop. You can use any graphics program you wish to create your icons, some people choose Fireworks, some people choose Illustrator and some Photoshop. By preference i’ll use Photoshop CS5 for these tutorials.