iOS Creating iPad app for newspaper

[Steve-Jobs]

Hi,
I'm an art director in a newspaper and we'd like to design our iPad app. I did some research about writing apps. How hard is it to write and does it need any professional coding? We're a weekly newspaper and we don't need to update it every hour, and we want it to look and feel like reading newspaper.
Are there any blogs, reads, examples that you can suggest?

Thanks in advance.

 

[HowEver]

I don't mean to sound very cynical, but those are some pretty broad questions for someone who says that they have "done some research."

 

[Steve-Jobs]

Hi, thanks for the reply. Ok here is some more specific questions:
- Is Xcode and IOS 5 SDK work on same purpose.
- Do I need Adobe software for designing interface?
- Does Appcelerator’s Titanium works well and is it true that apple rejects apps that created by Titanium?

thanks

 

[saberahul]

1. You need xCode which integrates the iOS SDK
2. You need to know Objective C to be able to program your app
3. You do not need a third party interface app as xcode has one built in, although you would need something to design the logos and such

 

[Steve-Jobs]

1. You need xCode which integrates the iOS SDK
2. You need to know Objective C to be able to program your app
3. You do not need a third party interface app as xcode has one built in, although you would need something to design the logos and such

thanks for the reply... Do I really have to know Objective-C or can getaway with only Xcode? No problems with designing icons backgrounds etc, but it looks like Objective-C is hell of a work.
Also do I need to register with apple developer to download Xcode or is that something you have to do to publish the app at the app store?

thanks

 

[saberahul]

thanks for the reply... Do I really have to know Objective-C or can getaway with only Xcode? No problems with designing icons backgrounds etc, but it looks like Objective-C is hell of a work.
Also do I need to register with apple developer to download Xcode or is that something you have to do to publish the app at the app store?

thanks

In order to do anything with your app you need to know obj-C. You need to be able to define functions that take place once a button is pressed. If you do know any language, you may want to hire a developer to do this for you.

 

[Steve-Jobs]

In order to do anything with your app you need to know obj-C. You need to be able to define functions that take place once a button is pressed. If you do know any language, you may want to hire a developer to do this for you.

Thanks, I've been watching videos online all day. Looks like coding is going to take the whole work.I've never done Object-C before but there're videos on the net and books, do you think it's hard to develop something like this for someone like me? and how long it'll take to create it. Obviously I have to learn Obj-C first and using xCode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM-kubf-4ws

thanks

 

[seepel]

thanks for the reply... Do I really have to know Objective-C or can getaway with only Xcode? No problems with designing icons backgrounds etc, but it looks like Objective-C is hell of a work.
Also do I need to register with apple developer to download Xcode or is that something you have to do to publish the app at the app store?

thanks

Xcode is an application you use to write your code. Think of it like this, you can buy Microsoft Word, but you still need to know English(or another language) to write a document.

Based on the level of your questions, i suspect it will take quite a while before you are ready to produce a polished App. I don't mean to sound harsh, but if you don't have any programming experience there will be a lot of concepts for you to wrap your head around. It isn't easy to make an app, and it is even harder to make a polished app.

 

[MattInOz]

If your coming from a publishing background then is there a reason the Adobe or Quark tools to publish to Newsstand (and other Stores) don't suit your workflow?

 

[Steve-Jobs]

Hi,
I think we'd like to have an ipad app rather than publishing to newstand. But thanks for the idea anyway.
I think I'll give xCode a go to see how it works and what I can learn. Do I have register with Apple before or can I do that later. With the Obj-C I'll try to read as much as possible and start with basics. There's no rush.

Are there any articles, videos or examples or personal opinions that you can share, that'd be great..

cheers

 

[Steve-Jobs]

Also Do I need to learn cocoa as well as Obj-c?

 

[jnoxx]

I think you could use some library's like Leaves or something, just render a PDF of your magazine, load it in via Webservice, download it to local cache, bam, you got yourself a news paper client. Yes it will take a while for actually finishing such an app, if you want to make it bugless, does it need professional coding, well yeah, it sure does need some special hands watching out for the memleaks etc.
You will need to learn the LANGUAGE Objective-C, and the wrapper of Cocoa-Touch, also your IDE - Xcode, and so much more ^_-
You're in for a ride..

 

[1458279]

Just a sugestion: You might be best off to stop and look at apps that are out there that do something simular to what you want to do.

From what I've read so far, it sounds like the primary goal is to deliver content. Others have created apps that Apple rejected based on this model. In other words, if Apple thinks this is just an app that should have been a web-site or doesn't really offer what they want to see, they can reject the app.

You might want to go thru the docs from Apple and see if you are going down the right path.

A newspaper works pretty well as a web-site, what idea do you have that would be functionally different than a web-site? Remember, you can't just create an app and Apple must publish it, they have to approve of the app or it's all a waste of your time.

You might want to look into hiring a contract programmer / developer and see what this would cost, learning a computer programming lang is not for everyone and not the simpist of tasks.

 

[robbieduncan]

Adobe have some sort of publishing based way to create the sort of app you are talking about from their creative apps. I suggest this might be a better solution for you

http://www.adobe.com/products/digital-publishing-suite-family.html

 

[Steve-Jobs]

Thank you all, lots of things to learn. I'm confident with apple and PC computers but when it comes to programming and language it's hard work and I appreciate it.
It looks the main path I should follow as an art director is to design and create pages. What comes out from where how the content going to look like and what goes where (I assume that'll save us money instead of paying for a designer) and after that to sit down with a developer and go through every single page and let them write the codes.
Do you guys think it's doable? I haven't talked to any developers but I assume they'll charge you for writing codes and design cost is extra or do they come as a package?

thanks again...

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I've started looking at the developers websites, I feel bad not being able to do something myself instead of hiring someone, I know it's a hard job and you want a polised app but still that kind of stuff encourages me to learn. maybe I should and do it myself.

 

[mfram]

Really, you should be working with a professional developer. Stick to what you do best: design the layout and how you want the app to behave. Let the developer figure out how to get that done.

The best thing you can do to help the developer the most is to have clear, precise specifications. Drawings and written descriptions. This you can do yourself. If you have never programmed before, I wouldn't try to implement this on your own in a professional setting. It takes years of experience to write quality software in any reasonable amount of time, leave it to the experts.

 

[Steve-Jobs]

Really, you should be working with a professional developer. Stick to what you do best: design the layout and how you want the app to behave. Let the developer figure out how to get that done.

The best thing you can do to help the developer the most is to have clear, precise specifications. Drawings and written descriptions. This you can do yourself. If you have never programmed before, I wouldn't try to implement this on your own in a professional setting. It takes years of experience to write quality software in any reasonable amount of time, leave it to the experts.

I think I agree with you, leave it to professionals and still do what I do best... But I'd like to learn for future...
Can anyopne give tips about designing newspaper pages? I've been looking lots of examples but it'd be good to get opinions...

cheers