iOSDev UK: Adapting Content for Apps

Dave Addey & Alyson Fielding, Agant Ltd, @daveaddey & @alysonf

• Why an app?
  • Can you do something with it in dead time?
  • It’s always there when you need it
  • Would you use it yourself?
• Preparing content
  • content definition lets you split up content into small pieces
• iPhone vs iPad
  • use cases are different
  • e.g. full page illustrations just don’t work on an iPhone — universal app just doesn’t show them
• network content:
  • assume no network and make as many things possible as you can
  • then download & cache what you need when network becomes available
  • same goes for submitting stuff — add it to a queue and submit it when a network becomes available
  • e.g. QI app submit a fact
  • provide the app bundle with some initial content to get started
  • if you have information always show it — but show how old it is

content formats

• HTML
• Property list
• Custom XML
• NSAttributedString
• Core Data store
• SQLite database
• bundled media files
• text files — e.g. QI facts to rate
• PDF
• e.g. QI app
  • books came as ePub (HTML)
  • needed tidying, but was very useful
  • errors could be spotted & fixed directly
  • however, not the right format to put in the app
  • used script to transfer into NSAttributedString
  • better presentation
  • better layout for images & text
  • better pagination
  • content definition really helped
• e.g. Malcolm Tucker
  • email views driven from plist
  • Aly edited directly in XCode and rebuild to check
  • email content in HTML
  • attachments in PDF
• e.g. Arsenal app
  • already had a CMS for the website
  • beginning of project — defined an API
  • tweaked the API throughout development, but had something to work from right at the beginning

Helping content experts

• work hand in hand with them from the beginning
• make sure they have a real device that they’re using every day
• try to let the content expert able to make their own build of the app as they change the content
  • anyone working on the content has XCode installed and knows how to build it
  • they also have access to check stuff back in
• let them play with your toys — it’s fun!
• put the content in with the development

stats

• 2.7 million stations are picked from UK Trains picker every month (~88k per day)

Q&A

• testing
  • looking to do more
  • UI testing is a bit of a faff, but is possible