10 Basic Tips For iPhone Developers

Introduction

In iPhone Application Development there are two types of applications, they are:

  • Native app
  • Web app

Keep in mind that a web application runs in the browser, while a native application is installed on the iPhone.

Making a webapp for the iPhone is much like making a normal web site, but remember the following points.

1: Viewport

Remember that the viewport is not a window. It is just like a magnifying glass over a page. You can move the magnifying glass around and zoom in and out. A viewport is a rectangular area of screen space within which an application is displayed.

2: Hide the Address Bar

The address bar takes up a considerable portion of the tiny screen we must work within. You'll want to hide the address bar to display as much information on the screen as you can see, so that the user doesn't need to flick down.

3: Test App on iPhone and Browsers

Although our ultimate goal is to put our web app on the iPhone, testing it on normal browsers can be beneficial for developers. Always Keep in mind that Firefox may display things differently than Safari does, and Safari is also different from Mobile Safari. If you want to do it however then, develop in Dashcode, there are testing and debugging features that come with it.

4: Imitator a Native App if Possible

From a usability perspective, making your web app look like a native iPhone app means we can say just like copy. It is beneficial because users already know how to use an iPhone application.
For example: for navigation buttons on each page, make buttons large enough to tap.

5: Use Frameworks, Libraries and Tools 

It saves time and money.

6: Use Lists When Possible

Lists are a nice quick solution. For example, Contacts and Mail display information in the form of lists. Lists allow for easy navigation, they let you display many items on the tiny screen, and are easy to touch compared to pictures.

7: Minimize Horizontal Navigation

If possible, minimize the number of screens your users must navigate to in order to get the information they want. Having fewer pages to jump to means less redirecting and unnecessary loading by going backwards and forwards.

8: Make Your App Small and Fast

Remember that performance is critical in the mobile world, as a user may be on the EDGE network or just have a slow connection. So when we make app size larger it takes a long time to load. 

9: Have a Home screen Icon

Ensure to have a nice icon that people can see when they add your web app to their homescreen. Choose an interactive icon or make it  a 57×57 PNG file.

10: iPhone "Simulators" aren't Perfect

You will notice that iPhone simulator can sometimes yield different results than on the iPhone. This is true even when making native apps. This should actually be somewhat expected since the iPhone OS is different from the Mac OS and the iPhone architecture is different from a normal computer.  So check it at least one time on a real device.


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