iOS App Development: Learn How to Create iOS Applications from the Scratch

Learn how to create iOS application or request the help by professionals

Preparation for your first app creation

To build your first application for iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system, you will require a knowledge of Objective-C, Xcode, UIKit and Cocoa to name a few. The purpose of this tutorial is to introduce you into the world of iOS app development and give a basic knowledge of the tools, technologies and languages you will need to create a quality app for iPhones and iPads. To start with, you will need to go to Mac App Store and install the latest version of Xcode - yes, to develop an iOS app you must have an Apple computer.

Becoming an iOS App Developer

Moreover, you should register for the iOS developer program if you want to run applications on your device rather than in not so secure simulator and publish them in App Store. The yearly fee is $99, however, if you are not sure whether you would like to seriously involve into building iOS apps, this is not obligatory. Our experts have made an overview of the tools that will help you get started in iOS app development.

Xcode

Xcode is an integrated development environment (IDE) with tools utilised by developers to build applications for macOS, iOS, WatchOS and tvOS. Xcode is more than a simple code editor: it incorporates a great variety of useful tools such as static code analysis (which can find bugs, including memory leaks, in the code before the compilation), excellent autocompletion support, and other debugging and performance instruments. Most iOS developers choose Xcode to write and compile code instead of using a number of disparate program to complete these tasks. Xcode is very convenient because it can be used for entire pap development.

Interface Builder

Interface Builder is an application that is a part of Xcode that enables a developer to build interfaces using graphical interfaces. You can drag pre-built elements including buttons, sliders, tab bars and icons onto the interface of the future app and then customise them using different settings and colour palettes. Interface Builder is also used to define what happens when a user performs an action with an object on the page and which element in particular handles it, in other word, it connects actions with targets, as well as sets object bindings and controllers.

UI Design

Not all developer use Interface Builder in their development workflow, especially the ones who build bespoke interfaces with custom object. However, our experts still recommend every prospective developer for Apple’s devices to learn the basics of Interface Builder and get acquainted with UIKit code that it generates. But go easy and do not count on Interface Builder too much, because it is essential to learn how to code interfaces from scratch, which is not possible if you use Interface Builder all the time. Interface Builder is a supplementary tool that allows you to create interfaces fast from ready-made component, but if you want to be an expert in iOS app development, you should know how to write user interfaces by hand.

iOS Frameworks

iOS frameworks are important tools for any mobile developer. Application program interfaces (APIs) and programs allow developers to easily create applications that run on iOS and Mac OS X. Apple supplies developers with dozens of frameworks that allow them to build user interfaces, encrypt valuable data, program networking code, create graphical content, play media content, take pictures, memorise input data and passwords, display web pages and so on.

Cocoa Frameworks

WIth all the frameworks provided by Apple, you begin the development process with a wide selection of tools and commands to build your application. Without these frameworks every development process will be like reinventing a wheel. Cocoa frameworks provide you with a lot of helpful resources that enable you to design complicated solutions with only a few lines of code. For instance, you can create an action to automatically find a file on the web by its URL address, parse it and upload it into a data structure - all in one line of code.

Other Tools for iOS

The tools described above are the primary ones to use for Apple development, but you should know that there are much more useful frameworks, environments and technologies available, you just have to find the ones that you like. If you want to start your app development project, it is high time you installed Xcode from Mac App Store and tried it out, poking around with different features and settings.

Benefits of a Mobile App

Mobile applications boast a wide functionality that offer many opportunities to both consumers and businesses:

Create a virtual extension of your business and stand out from the competition;
Keep up to date with the digital business environment of today, which has been drastically changes with the introduction of smartphones into our daily lives;
Stay abreast of the latest trends and evolve along with the ever-changing market;
An app provides you and your customers with endless opportunities for research and analysis - for example, you can compare prices of your competitors to set the prices on your products;
Gather information about your customers and competitors;
Reach out to a whole new audience of smartphone and tablet users.Smartphones are the primary tool that enables the customers to get information about businesses, so be where your customers are.

Programming iOS Applications

Do you have any knowledge of computer programming? Then this iOS development guide may be hard for you to understand. To learn if you know what is what in software programming, take a look at the following terms and explanations:

Function — var name = Mary.getName();
Variable — var x = 7;
Array — var things = array("good", "bad");
Conditional — if (x == 25).

The Basics of Coding

These are general computer programming terms utilised in JavaScript, one of the leading programming languages, so if you feel confused about what you have just seen, head directly to any JavaScript manual and scan through the basics. Another cornerstone of computer programming is C, so you have no idea what is a struct and what is a header file, our experts advise you to take a look into a C programming language tutorial and return to this article when you grasp the basic concepts of the language. When this is done, let us give you an insight into Objective-C.

125

Loyal Customers

200+

Mobile and web apps

90+

Long-term projects

Objective-C

Objective-C is the primary language for iOS native app development. Needless to say, there are dozens of languages you can write iOS app in, including pure C, C++, PyObjC, MacRuby, MonoTouch and much more, but we will not go into detail about them, you can find more info in the internet, if you are interested. If you do not want to use any of the languages mentioned above you can create a non-native app with the use of an app-building platform or build a web-based application, which is a website that looks like an application loaded in a mobile browser. Web-based apps are built on the basis of web technologies and languages like HTML5, JavaScript and CSS.

Characteristics of Objective-C

If you want to create a web-based app or a mobile website, there is no need to learn Objective-C, iOS development environments or any guides on app developer like this one. However, if your goal is to design a native application for iPhone, iPad or Mac, this article can be of a great help. Objective-C is an object-oriented programming language that is basically an addition to the C programming language. It adds Smalltalk-style messaging, inheritance, reflection and other crucial aspects to C. If you know Ruby or java, Objective-C’s syntax may seem confusing at first, but do not be afraid, you will get used to it. Because Objective-C is an extension of C, you can always get back to C in your code whenever you feel like it. Many iOS apps utilise primitive C data types and native C functions along with Objective-C functions and data types.

Build Your First iOS App

Now that you know the essential tools and the basics of Objective-C, do not waste time - launch Xcode and start building your first iOS app. There you will see a project waiting for you with some pre-made key files. One of the files is an app delegate, which determines the main setup of the application. You will see the line that says application: didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:, and that is where your app begins. That is where you first code will start, your user interface will be built and your first model objects will be created and utilised.