iOS Can 3rd party app utilise native iOS functionality in native apps?

[Omega Mac]

Hi, really appreciate if someone can give me and quick and simple insight.

When looking at app dev and features already catered for within iOS how much access does a third party app have to utilise.

Say you want to call on the drawing feature in notes or the camera within your custom app. How does this work? What can you get at? Are all or only some of iOS functionality natively available to third party apps.

In my example I'm assuming form usage that the camera is (how instagram is based around the camera functionality) but Notes being an APP as opposed to hardware, has a drawing feature is perhaps different because of this? (I haven't seen it this from day to day usage.)

--- and/or what about the similar feature when you screen grab on iOS 11 - the picture now drops to the left and you can annote and add notes before it's saved, is this iOS calling up the Notes feature but only iOS is allowed privilege to use this functionality in another place within iOS?

Maybe there is a shortlist to answer my question of available resource hardware/software based in there of primary function (as opposed to hidden technical stuff that end users ever sees!) perhaps someone knows an online source?

Thanks in advance! I hope that's clear enough.

 

[bjet767]

Ok easy part first:

You can draw like the notes app.
You can draw on pictures.
You can call the camera and take pictures. I haven’t tried the new camera features yet, but maybe someone has and will post about it

Hard part:
One has to learn to code and which objects do these things.

Check out the App Store and you will find some really good camera and picture apps doing what you have asked. That is the best way to find out if it’s possible.

 

[Omega Mac]

I won't be coding. I merely needed to know if a programmer can call on all that's been developed in iOS to grab and serve existing iOS functionality in a 3rd party app where context calls for such features, i.e. avoid re-inventing the wheel feature by function!

Thanks for the reply.

 

[firewood]

Almost all of Apple's apps are closed source. If you want to do stuff like those apps, you will have to re-write the code to do so, except for the stuff that's done inside iOS public Libraries/Frameworks. There is no short answer as to what's in the Libraries and what you will need to (re)write. Just a zillion pages of iOS developer documentation.

 

[Omega Mac]

Ok thanks for that - If we take drawing with your finger.

Does an in app feature such as that require novel code or can it call an existing iOS library?

 

[firewood]

Ok thanks for that - If we take drawing with your finger.

Does an in app feature such as that require novel code or can it call an existing iOS library?

There’s plenty of iOS example code and tutorials of drawing based on touch to be found by searching online. The quality of those examples varies widely from bad to good, and from succinct to long winded.

 

[Omega Mac]

Ok, thanks.