July 26, 2008
iPhone Coverflow
I’v been doing some consulting this summer during the break between semesters at the university. In this capacity I developed a version of coverflow in JavaScript for hybrid applications. I can’t share the code or pictures of it running without violating contracts.
I can share with you the approach.
Most of the examples you find on the web of how to do are cross platform implementations and so use way to much JavaScript for them to be functional on the iPhone. Since hybrid iPhone apps will only be running on the iPhone we can take advantage of some of the great capabilities of WebKit.
WebKit ships as the UIWebView class for hybrid applications or as safari for web apps. Included in the version on the phone are CSS transitions and transformations. The great thing about these two capabilities is that they are hardware accelerated and so run incredibly faster than JavaScript implementations of the same capabilities.
So what you do is use transitions to change the size, opacity, location, etc. of the images that need to be displayed and then apply transformations to make them move. There are many examples on the web of how to apply each of these items in other ways so it shouldn’t be to difficult to figure out how to put together a coverflow implementation on your own.
Use transitions and transformations as much as you can and minimize the amount of JavaScript. This will make your implementation run as fast as possible. It will not be as smooth functioning as the native implementation in iTunes but it is very functional.
Good luck and have fun.
July 16, 2008
Installing the QuickConnect iPhone plugins
Based on requests for information it seems I have not stated how to install the QuickConnect Xcode and Dashcode plugins.
Assuming you have installed the developer tools put the QuickConnect iPhone Hybrid Application folder in the folder:
HardDrive\Developer\platforms\iPhone\Developer\Library\xCode\Project Templates\Application
To install the dashcode plugin right click on the Dashcode application and select ‘Show Package Contents’.
Copy the TemplateQuickConnectiPhone.wdgtTemplate folder into the Contents\Plugins folder.
July 14, 2008
QuickConnectiPhone beta 4 released
QCiPhone continues to stabilize and harden. The latest changes included fixes that allow you to map a command to a View Control Function without having a matching mapping to a Business Control Object. This should allow you to make UI changes without doing any database or server data pulls. It works great with applications that are using Lists in the UI.
Also fixed is a defect that caused a failure if you mapped the ‘default’ command to a Validation Control Function.
I think we are getting close to a Release version!
Look at some of the older postings for ideas on how you can install and use this framework.
Prototyping iPhone Applications
It is amazing how easy it can be to prototype iPhone applications. While this could be done with pencil and paper, drawing applications, presentation applications, etc. the easiest way I have found is using Dashcode.
Dashcode’s drag and drop interface builder and the ease of adding in JavaScript to make is semi-functional is fantastic.
I got a prototype done for an application I am creating with multiple data inputs and displays in a matter of hours.
Dashcode is the best prototyping tool for the iPhone that I have been able to find.
Teton Technical 