iOS for the Android developer [0.001]

Swift got released 2014. I got interested in developing iOS apps again. The Android ecosystem was getting very saturated and somehow, that’s good.

iOS as a platform always had this elitist vibe to it, owing to the fact that developing native iOS apps with any environment outside of the mac-os is a very very hard thing, trust me, I tried. Obj-C always rubbed me off wrongly, which is weird considering I have little problem writing the “brainfuck” language when I want to.

2014, I decided to re-enter the iOS ecosystem after writing Android apps for close to over 3 years prior and delving deep into Android’s skirt, I found writing iOS side by side wasn’t hard for me.

So, I started writing Swift and Java side by side. Building Android apps and replicating them on iOS while obeying both platform design guidelines.

Consequently, I have decided to write a few introductory notes for Android devs wanting to get a taste of Taylor Swift *coughs*.

So here goes part 0.001, I have no idea how long or how many posts I will have to write but I am open to ideas on entry points.

Getting Started

The first thing you want to do, for your own peace of mind is get a mac. Get a mac. Get a mac. Don’t worry, you can continue writing your Android apps with less stress in fact as Android Studio is supported on mac-os.

So, you’ve gotten a mac? Next thing you want to do is set it up. You’d need a considerably fast internet access with a lot of time to spare.

First, you need an apple id. Then you want to install “Xcode”, current version is 8.2.

This is where it gets fun, you have XCode installed….. Let’s run our first app, don’t worry, it won’t bite.

• Open XCode
• Click on the “Create a new xCode project” option

• You’ll be presented with the options below. We’ll be selecting the Single View Application option. Select that and click “next”

• After clicking “Next”, you’ll be presented with the view shown below. Fill the fields as defined below or get creative. Click “Next” again.

• XCode is going to ask where you want to create the folder for the project. You can pick any folder on your system. Although, I’d advice using a folder dedicated explicitly to iOS dev.
• xCode is ready to roll. (Quick note, coming from the world of Android Studio and things just “working”, you might get a little frustrated with xCode as time goes)

• For now, we’ll be dealing with just one file. The `Main.storyboard` file. Files with the extension `.storyboard` are storyboard files obviously. I’d be explaining in detail subsequently what they do and why they are dope. I’d take a trip down memory lane though, Netbeans had a similar concept for j2me apps then. Basically what you do with a storyboard is define relationships between ViewControllers (Just think Activities for now).

• As seen above, you have the Main.storyboard file open and you can see a ViewController has been added automatically. ViewControllers are generally linked with Swift equivalents, the same way you have your activity or fragment render your xml layouts, well not exactly the same way but ……
• So what we’d do now is build a quick “Hello World” app. Hopefully, it doesn’t grow sentient. 🤔

Youtube video made in a hurry.

A few things to note:

• I started the simulator with another project. So it was faster.
• You can always select other simulators. I used the iPhone SE because it fits my screen. I do all my testing on real devices. A habit I picked up writing Android.

There you go, if you have any question. Send me a DM on twitter @_fdamilola or send me an email fdamilola@gmail.com. I’d work on a new post soon. Ciao!