For those of you that aren’t familiar, the default sound (low-res sample) is something like a trumpet from the Kentucky Derby. It’s odd, a bit annoying and almost every other game center game uses it.

Apparently up until iOS 5.0 you had no choice but to live with it. Thank You Apple for now allowing us to change the default sound! Not so much thanks for burying the instructions deep, deep in the documentation. I’m yet to actually find it in the docs and Google search returns nil.

I must give credit where credit is due – Jason Lust pointed this out over in the developer forums: Add a sound to the resources of your app bundle with the file name “GKInvite” of format “caf”, “aif”, or “wav”.

Yeah, that’s it. Add GKInvite.caf to your project. No code changes. It just works.

Their templates have become invaluable to iOS dev’s and are a must have tool for creating app mock-ups! They offer these to the developer community free of charge, so if you use it and want to says thanks like them on Facebook  & also follow them on Twitter.

Download the iOS 5 GUI PSD (iPhone 4S) from their site.

For those of you who are not already familiar with the templates by Teehan+Lax here are a few screenshots:

The full .psd template:

Full size Assets:

Even Notification Center:

Thanks guys!

You can only safely drop armv6 support if set your deployment target to iOS 4.3+  which runs on the iPhone 3GS/4,  iPod (3rd Gen), iPad/iPad2. Actually, anything after 4.3 can be set to Optimized armv7 but that’s a totally different blog post

Here’s a quick and dirty guide to get you armv6 support in your iOS projects:

1.) Go to Project -> Build Settings -> Architectures -> Architectures:

2.) Click on Architectures and select Other. . .

3.) select $(ARCHS_STANDARD_32_BIT) and click the (-) to delete it.

4.) Click the (+) sign and add armv6

5.) Click the (+) sign again and add armv7 then click Done

6.) Find your apps Info.plist file and delete the Key called Required device capabilities

I believe that’s it. At first I did all the above steps except for #6 and while reveiwing my app in iTunes Connect I noticed something odd:

I saw my Supported Architectures as planned but what I wasn’t counting on was the Required Capabilities. If armv7 is required it seems to me that support for armv6 would be futile? So i fired up xcode and this time I actually tried to build my app on an old iPod Touch. No joy   even though it was showing the correct Supported Architectures. I deleted the Required device capabilities Key from the Info.plist and bingo. I re-upped my binary and all seems right with the world:

If I’m doing something wrong please feel free to let me know I’d rather do things the preferred way plus id rather not spread incorrect information. Thanks!

The most recent version of their IAP Client Library changed the default download directory.

Downloaded content used to go into your applications NSDocumentDirectory directory.
Now by default content is decompressed into NSLibraryDirectory/ua/downloads/<product_id>/

Why the change? The answer lies in Apple’s new iCloud Data Storage Guidelines which state Data that can be downloaded again or regenerated should be stored in the <Application_Home>/Library/Caches directory. (Hopefully I’m not breaking the NDA by publishing this.) They don’t want iCloud backing up Terabytes of data for no reason. That makes sense. Unfortunately my app was coded to search the Documents dir for new content, so when I updated the Airship client library and tested it I was no longer seeing the new content in my app ;(

In my quest for answers I stumbled into UA’s IRC Channel #urbanairship on irc.freenode.net . (If you’re not familiar with internet relay chat or Freenode you should start here.) They suggested I try implementing the following delegate method into my code:

[UAStoreFront setDownloadDirectory:kUAOldDownloadDirectory withProductIDSubdir:NO];

This method decompresses content directly into the root of your apps Documents directory without creating any sub directories. It worked perfectly for me but I felt uneasy about submitting the app knowing that it was directly violating the new Data Storage Guidelines so I decided to dig a little deeper.

The real problem wasn’t with UA’s library it was with my apps codebase. I was searching for the new content by doing this:

-(void)AddAudioFilesFromDocDirecotry:(NSString *)type
{

	NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory , NSUserDomainMask, YES);
	NSString *documentsDir = [paths objectAtIndex:0];

	NSFileManager *manager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
    NSArray *fileList = [manager directoryContentsAtPath:documentsDir];

    for (NSString *s in fileList){
		if ([[s pathExtension] isEqualToString: type]) {
			[defItems addObject:[s stringByDeletingPathExtension]];
		}
    }

	fileList = nil;
	manager = nil;
	paths = nil;

}

I needed a way to search the new path  NSLibraryDirectory/ua/downloads/<product_id>/ so I did this:

-(void)AddAudioFilesFromDocDirecotry:(NSString *)type
{

	NSString *productDirectory = kUADownloadDirectory;

	NSFileManager *manager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
    NSArray *fileList = [manager contentsOfDirectoryAtPath:productDirectory error:nil];

    for (NSString *s in fileList){
		if ([[s pathExtension] isEqualToString: type]) {
			[defItems addObject:[s stringByDeletingPathExtension]];
		}
    }

	fileList = nil;
	manager = nil;
}

kUADownloadDirectory is defined in UAGlobal.h as:

#define kUADownloadDirectory [[NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSLibraryDirectory, \
NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0] stringByAppendingString: @"/ua/downloads/"]

So by using NSString *productDirectory = kUADownloadDirectory;  my AddAudioFilesFromDocDirecotry method was now checking the correct directory: NSLibraryDirectory/ua/downloads/ BUT remember there is still the small issue of the content being decompressed into a sub folder of it’s own name ( NSLibraryDirectory/ua/downloads/<product_id>)

This time I was able to use another available delegate method:

[UAStoreFront setDownloadDirectory:kUADownloadDirectory withProductIDSubdir:NO];

which the guys at UA were kind enough to provide. As you can see, this delegate method is setting the correct download directory (kUADownloadDirectory) AND it’s removing the pesky <product_id> sub directory (withProductIDSubdir:NO).

Now my app uses the most current IAP Client library and it conforms to Apples iCloud Data Storage Guidelines

From the Urban Airship Support Center:

For those of you that only need to access individual files you can use NSString’s stringByAppendingPathComponent to build up the path:

NSString *productId = @"YOUR PRODUCT ID";
NSString *filename = @"YOUR FILE NAME";

NSString* libraryPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSLibraryDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
// build the fill paths by appending ua and downloads to the base libraryPath
libraryPath = [libraryPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"ua"];
libraryPath = [libraryPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"downloads"];

// Append the product id:
NSString *downloadDirectory = [libraryPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:productId];

// now append your filename
NSString *fullPathToMyFile = self.filePath = [downloadDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:filename];

The reason I put this quick tutorial together is because I was trying to accomplish this very thing and after extensive googling was not able to find anything. I thought i’d find my answer in the phonegap google group but I was wrong. One person when asked how to setup Admob Ads actually replied “just use iAds, there’s a plugin for that.” There are many problems with that answer. One – maybe I don’t want to use iAds I want to use AdMob. Two – the iAds fill rate tends to be kinda low and I don’t want to loose income. Three – you must install the iAd phonegap-plugin which can be confusing and troublesome. Four – that solution doesn’t even attempt to provide a solution to the question. So without further adieu here’s my solution . . .

1.) Create your normal, everyday phonegap (1.0.0) project in xcode
2.) Import the GoogleAdMobAdsSDK folder and the required AdMob frameworks (I believe the only one that wasn’t already in the phonegap project was MessageUI.framework)
3.) In AppDelegate.h – implement <GADBannerViewDelegate> then #import “GADBannerView.h” & add  GADBannerView *bannerView_; to your @interface
4.) In AppDelegate.m –  #define MY_BANNER_UNIT_ID @”Your AdMob Publisher ID# Here”

Now the tricky part. This caused me to bang my head on the wall for
some time . . .

5.) Change your method webViewDidFinishLoad to this . . .

- (void)webViewDidFinishLoad:(UIWebView *)theWebView
{
    bannerView_ = [[GADBannerView alloc]init];
    [bannerView_ setDelegate:self];
    [bannerView_ setFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 320, 50)];

    // Specify the ad's "unit identifier." This is your AdMob Publisher ID.
    bannerView_.adUnitID = MY_BANNER_UNIT_ID;

    // Let the runtime know which UIViewController to restore after taking
    // the user wherever the ad goes and add it to the view hierarchy.
    bannerView_.rootViewController = self.viewController;
    [self.viewController.view addSubview:bannerView_];

    // Initiate a generic request to load it with an ad.
    [bannerView_ loadRequest:[GADRequest request]];

	// only valid if AdGap.plist specifies a protocol to handle
	if(self.invokeString)
	{
		// this is passed before the deviceready event is fired, so you can access it in js when you receive deviceready
		NSString* jsString = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"var invokeString = \"%@\";", self.invokeString];
		[theWebView stringByEvaluatingJavaScriptFromString:jsString];
	}
	return [ super webViewDidFinishLoad:theWebView ];
}

That’s it.

Some of you may be asking why we didn’t create the bannerView_ in the AppDelegates didFinishLaunchingWithOptions method? You can’t. That’s because the PhoneGap AppDelegate seems to create the webview, then the view controller, then it pushes the webview into the view controller which in turn calls webViewDidFinishLoad. This seems to be the key. We cannot access the viewController object until webViewDidFinishLoad has been called.

I’ve created a sample project which is also setup to load test ads. You can get it from here: AdGap

1.) Open your project and go to your projects Info Tab

2.) Under “Configuration” click (+) and select Duplicate “Release” Configuration

3.) Name this new configuration “Distribution”

4.) Go to your projects Build Settings

5.) Under Code Signing > Code Signing Identity – Find Distribution

6.) Under Distribution find “Any iOS SDK” and select your Distribution Provisioning Profile

7.) Now go to the Edit Scheme drop-down list and select your app + iOS Device

8.) After that from the same Edit Scheme drop-down select “Edit Scheme . . .”

9.) Find the Archive settings (which are set to Release by default) and expand them

10.) Select the “Archive” option that has a check mark next to it

11.) With this selection highlighted find “Build Configuration” on the right Choose “Distribution” from the drop down and click OK

*Optional* I like to do a “Clean” before making a distribution build. If you like select Product > Clean

12.) To create your Archive/Distribution Build select Product > Archive

If your project compiles without error the Organizer is opened to the Archives

13.) Now click “Validate . . .”

14.) Provide your iTunes Connect login credentials and click Next

15.) Select your application from the “Application” drop down
16.) Select your appropriate Distribution Certificate from the “Identity” drop down and click Next

* Hopefully no issues are found and your app is ready for submission. If not make the necessary corrections then recreate your Archive build and validate again.

17.) If no issues were found then click “Submit . . . “

18.) Provide your iTunes Connect login credentials and click Next

19.) Select your application from the “Application” drop down
20.) Select your appropriate Distribution Certificate from the “Identity” drop down and click Next

* iTunes Connect validates your app again (just incase you didn’t manually validate) and then uploads the binary

Sit back, Thats it.

You should receive a msg stating your app has passed validation and has been submitted to the App Store for further review!

Implementation in a native iOS app couldn’t be simpler . . .

	[[DTBannerManager sharedManager] addAdsToViewController:tabBarController];

I have an app that is built using the PhoneGap Platform. It’s not a complicated app.  It’s all .html, .css and javascript so PhoneGap was the obvious choice to use. I wanted to implement DTBannerManager into this project so I popped into the AppDelegate.h and poked around for a while. I dropped my code to instantiate the DTBannerManager into the application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: method and to my disappointment the ads were being received but were not being displayed.

After further review and a little help from a friend we discovered the issue. The PhoneGap AppDelegate seems to create the webview then the view controller, then pushes the webview into the view controller which in turn calls webViewDidFinishLoad. This seems to be the key. We cannot access the viewController object until webViewDidFinishLoad has been called. Hence we instantiate DTBannerManager like so . . .

/**
 Called when the webview finishes loading.  This stops the activity view and closes the imageview
 */
- (void)webViewDidFinishLoad:(UIWebView *)theWebView
{

    [DTBannerManager sharedManager].delegate = (id)self;
    [[DTBannerManager sharedManager] addAdsToViewController:self.viewController];

	// only valid if YourAppsName.plist specifies a protocol to handle
	if(self.invokeString)
	{
		// this is passed before the deviceready event is fired, so you can access it in js when you receive deviceready
		NSString* jsString = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"var invokeString = \"%@\";", self.invokeString];
		[theWebView stringByEvaluatingJavaScriptFromString:jsString];
	}
	return [ super webViewDidFinishLoad:theWebView ];
}

Now you think I’d be super stoked at this point right? Wrong. I discovered that upon clicking a Mobfox Ad the app would immediately crash. Turns out I left out the Other Linker Flags -ObjC & -all_load which are required for the Mobfox.framework. No problem, just add them right? Wrong. As soon as I did my builds were failing with a Duplicate symbol error on the file NSData+Base64.h. Apparently both the  phonegap.framework & the Mobfox.framework both depend on NSData+Base64.

Turns out that only the Mobfox.framework actually depends on it. My simple phonegap app had no use for it. I posted to the PhoneGap Google Group  and was re-leaved to find a simple solution. PhoneGap provides you everything necessary to compile your own custom version of the phonegap.framework. You can find the specifics in the FAQ #10. I just compiled a new copy of the framework minus the header file and any refrences to NSData+Base64.h. I deleted the pre-existing phonegap.framework from my project and imported my new custom framework and immediately the Duplicate symbol errors were gone and DTBannerManager was operating correctly – Mobfox ads and all.

This article is based off of PhoneGap for iOS version 1.0.0. You can download my custom phonegap.framework if you would also like to use DTBannerManager or Mobfox Ads in your phonegap project. I highly recommend DTBannerManager – it couldn’t be easier and besides it will increase your ad revenue! Get it and other great components from the Cocoanetics Parts-Store.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So the title of this post is “. . . Hiatus Over?” What does that mean exactly. I’m not entirely sure. I know what I want to do. I also know what I need to do. Herein lies the difficulty. I imagine I’m not the only indie dev to face this problem but since it’s my blog i will focus on me. Can I manage to take care of my responsibilities and still pursue my development goals? 2009 was an amazing year for Keyvisuals. I had over 3 million downloads between my 23 apps. Then Apple decided to make a clean sweep and rid the app store of adult themed apps and my app count went down to 18. That was just the first and most insignificant of my problems.

The next bump in the road was when the iPhone Development training class I organized had to be canceled. It was supposed to be a 4 day intensive training course led by iphone programming guru Jeff LaMarche. This was no pipe dream. Jeff had signed on, hotel was booked, marketing was done, materials were printed, hopes were high. The phrase “if you build it they will come” apparently only works in the movies. Due to low registration the class had to be canceled. I can only assume the shitty economy deterred people from signing up despite my offering discounts and keeping costs as low as possible. My goal had always been to make the class happen and to attend myself, not to make a profit. Oh well.

Next I had my own health issues that got in the way. But I digress. I said I would spare you the personal details and believe me it gets worse.

So here I am. 2010 is coming to an end. Can I pull Keyvisuals out of a death spiral? No one knows, not even me. I’m publishing my goal here publicly in the hopes that I will find motivation and inspiration to begin developing again. It would be a shame to waste the knowledge I have learned and an even greater shame to go back to work that is unchallenging and unfulfilling. Cross your fingers.

What is Easy APNs?
If you are a native iPhone application developer, you may have heard of the Apple Push Notification service (APNs). There are a lot of excellent online guides on how to get your application to receive remote notifications… but what about the other piece of the puzzle… ACTUALLY SENDING A MESSAGE?!?!

This very cool project is brought you by Manifest Interactive.

*NOTE: I was NOT able to get this up and running on GoDaddy Hosting for some unknown reason, but the same exact files worked flawlessly on (mt) MediaTemple