Archive for October, 2008

How to write an XML parser app with the SDK

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
One of the easiest apps to write is one that simply pulls data from the web, thanks to how Apple set up their frameworks. In this post I’m going to walk you through fetching and parsing an XML file from the web in the iPhone SDK. What we want to make is something like this:

NSURL → Parser.m → NSDictionary

Let’s start off with an example URL. For this blog post, I’m going to create an app that searches for gas stations near a zip code. I’ll be using Yahoo’s Local Search API, a very handy little framework that spits back local business results when given a zip code (or GPS coordinates, ;)).
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Chuck Norris Contacted Us

Thursday, October 16th, 2008
Well, sorta.

I’ll try to hold off on jokes till the end…

I got this email from Chuck Norris’s legal team. Apparently there was an app on the iTMS that violated his copyright or something. Check it out:
From: “Lodge, Deborah” Subject: Unauthorized Use of “Chuck Norris” Date: Wed, October 15, 2008 6:36 pm To: joe at iphonexe.com Dear Joe: We are lawyers for Carlos Ray Norris, a/k/a Chuck Norris, the famous actor. Please see the annexed letter regarding the unauthorized use of Mr. Norris’s trademark and publicity rights on certain software available through the website iphonexe.com — specifically the software trivia game “Are You Tougher Than Chuck Norris”. I look forward to your prompt response. Sincerely, Deborah Lodge


Anyways, I deleted the app from our listings for her and went on my way. They were nice enough people. I’m only posting this because I figured you guys would get a kick out of it.

A roundhouse kick
- Joe

SlayerStats Brings Halo 3 Stats to iTMS

Thursday, October 16th, 2008
A week ago I ported Halo3X to the iPhone (it was pretty easy, I just had to swap out the interface really), and uploaded it to the app store for $0.99/download. Now you can finally view Halo 3 Stats on your iPhone! Probably the most useful feature (one that would probably go unnoticed) is that the app caches the last gamertag - so you can close the app and reopen it.

You can view more details/download the app here.

Screenshot after the break.

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Daily iTunes Apps RSS Feed

Saturday, October 11th, 2008
rss feed

Check it out here.

The feed is updated every night around midnight and shows the 15 most recent apps on the store.

Has the Economy Deterred App Devs Yet?

Thursday, October 9th, 2008
Answer: no.

Take a look at the number of apps added to the app store every week. Last week 718 apps were added/updated in the store - which currently has around 4500 apps. Wow.




The people who enjoy and are good at making iPhone apps will continue to do so.

Now if only we could get our hands on some financial data…
- Joe