[UIView setAnimationCurve:UIViewAnimationCurveEaseIn];

which tells the animation to kind of speed up as it progresses. In this case it gives the effect of gravity since the ball speeds up as it gets closes to the bottom. This is not accurate but it makes it look better for the purpose of this demo.

Movie should play here

AnimationExample Source Code October 2, 2008

Demo Movie.

ButtonAnimation Source Code
October 2, 2008

Below is the important part of the project. I’ve tried to comment where I feel it might be confusing. If something still is not understandable please let me know.

-(IBAction)fade:(id)sender{
	[UIView beginAnimations:nil context:nil];
	[UIView setAnimationDuration:0.6];  //The time in seconds the animation should last.

	[UIView setAnimationRepeatAutoreverses:YES];  //Does what it says.
	[UIView setAnimationRepeatCount:1]; // Only play the animation once

	[UIView setAnimationDelegate:self]; // This is required for the next line.

	// When the animation stops we want our program to know so it can do something else
	// Call fadeStopped when the animation completes it's cycle

	[UIView setAnimationDidStopSelector:@selector(fadeStopped:finished:context:)];

	// This is what we're actualy animating. We're changing it's Alpha value down to nothing
	// Which gives it a fade out/in effect.
	[button2 setAlpha:0];

	[UIView commitAnimations];
}

• Apple has the final say in what goes on the iTunes store. True.  It’s a sad truth but if someone over at Apple has it in for you or your company your great application might never see the light of day. Apple has the final say in everything that hits the app store and if they believe that there is even the slightest breach of their terms it will be rejected. So,  being a developer I can develop the best application in the world for you but if Apple does not feel it’s worthy of their store there is little to nothing I can do for you.
• It takes weeks for approval. Mostly True. This is true most of the time. Apple must be getting bombarded with hundreds of new apps a day not to mention updates and to keep iphone’s safe they have to review each and every one. Because of this it can take weeks for you app to be reviewed and if it’s rejected even longer.  I’ve heard stories of apps being approved in days and I’ve heard of stories of approval taking up to a month. As a developer once the application has been submitted there is nothing I can do to speed up the approval process.
• People leave bad reviews even if they’ve never tried your application. False. This used to be the case but it’s since been changed. When the App Store first went live anyone could leave a review on any app without even downloading it. This started an up-rising amongst the developers so Apple has since reversed their discussion and now a user must purchase/download your app before they can review it.
• Applications can run in the background. False. First, let me explain.  Apple has decided that apps sold on the iTunes store can not be run in the background and I personally think this was an excellent move. Why? Well, imagine you’ve download 10 new applications and they all want to run in the background. The iPhone is…in fact a phone and even though it’s pretty powerful for a handheld device it’s still limited. If you had all of these applications running it would slow down even the basic phone operations such as making calls, email and text messaging.  I’ve been through this, my Treo allowed apps to run in the backend and it was hell so I’m glad Apple has made this discussion. Does it hurt some apps…yes. This limits the types of apps that can be created but sometimes you have to compromise in order to have a stable safe device. So, if you plan on releasing your application on the iTunes store you CAN NOT RUN APPLICATIONS IN THE BACKGROUND. For you application to work it must be active and open.

I will add more as I see fit, if anyone wants something added or has a myth that needs to be busted please feel free to leave a comment below and I will add it.

Movie should play here

AnimationDemo1 Source Code
October 2, 2008

Here is the only section of code that really matters. Here you can see I setup the animation to flip depending on what page I’m currently on and then hide the current view and show the new one. The iPhone SDK takes care of the rest, it’s actually pretty cool.

-(IBAction)swap:(id)sender{
	//If you need to position anything and not have it animated add it before the beginAnimations block

	[UIView beginAnimations:nil context:nil];
	[UIView setAnimationDuration:0.6];  //The time in seconds the animation should last.

	// In Interface Builder I set the tag of the first button to 1 and the second to 2.
	// You could create seperate functions for both bottoms but in this case it's not needed.

	if ([sender tag] == 1){
		[view1 removeFromSuperview];
		[window addSubview:view2];
		[UIView setAnimationTransition:UIViewAnimationTransitionFlipFromRight forView:window cache:YES];
	}
	else{
		[view2 removeFromSuperview];
		[window addSubview:view1];
		[UIView setAnimationTransition:UIViewAnimationTransitionFlipFromLeft forView:window cache:YES];
	}

	[UIView commitAnimations];
}

• Shared Shopping List
  No brainier, we’ll see this one I’m sure(probably twelve of them). I want to be able to add something on my list and it shows up instantly(or within the hour) on everyone elses phone that has my list tied in. Father, mother, fiancee, they should all be notified when I add something and what it is. To make it even more unique, how about everyone but me can also see if someone else has purchased it. If my father picks me up that new Benz I want then he can check it off and it will show as purchased on the other phones. Great idea, get working now though because this requires a server side too
• What would it cost me to order it online?
  This app would be useful during the entire year but especially for me around xmas. If I go into a store and I see something that I want to get someone I want to know how much and how fast I could get it if I purchased it online. This would require a few tie ins to maybe Amazon and Shopping.com but it would be great to enter the name and see what it would cost if I could wait a few days.
• They have a deal!
  How about something that uses Locations Services and some social networking. Think of it like shouting, if you’re in the mall and a store is having a great sale you could shout all over the mall and tell everyone. Well, how about this but using your phone instead. If you find a great deal just enter it into your phone and it alerts everyone with X miles of your location that there is a deal there. Some precautions would have to be taken to avoid abuse but this would work great during the holiday season.

That’s it for now, I had a few more but it’s late and my mind is shot. If you have any other cool holiday season iphone app ideas feel free to leave a comment.

We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software.

Thanks to everyone who provided us constructive feedback on this matter.

This is GREAT news

This is great news for developers since we’re now free to talk about our work. Apple had the iPhone SDK locked down pretty tight and technically it was even illegal to mention you were in fact developing for the iPhone. Having a closed system like this limits development because if you have an issue(and who doesn’t) it’s hard to find help because everyone is scared of breaking the NDA. Anyways, it’s been lifted on released software so we are all free to talk about the released version of the SDK. Yay!