SOME USEFUL INFORMATION BEFORE YOU GET STARTED

You now have a good idea of the tools involved in iPhone and iPad application development. Before you go ahead and take the plunge, the following sections discuss some useful information that can make your journey more pleasant.

Versions of iOS

At the time of writing, iOS is in its fifth revision — that is, version 5.0. Its major versions are as follows:

  • 1.0 — Initial release of the iPhone
  • 1.1 — Additional features and bug fixes for 1.0
  • 2.0 — Released with iPhone 3G; comes with App Store
  • 2.1 — Additional features and bug fixes for 2.0
  • 2.2 — Additional features and bug fixes for 2.1
  • 3.0 — Third major release of the iPhone OS
  • 3.1 — Additional features and bug fixes for 3.0
  • 3.2 — This version release is for the iPad only.
  • 4.0 — Fourth major release of the iPhone OS. Renamed as iOS. This version is designed for the new iPhone 4 and it also supports older devices, such as the iPod touch and iPhones.
  • 5.0 — Fifth major release of the iOS. Supports new features like iCloud, iMessage, Twitter integration, Notification Center, etc.

For a detailed description of the features in each release, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_OS_version_history.

Testing on Real Devices

One of the most common complaints about developing applications for the iPhone and iPad is how difficult Apple makes it to test a new application on an actual device. Nonetheless, for security reasons, Apple requires all applications to be signed with a valid certificate; ...

Get Beginning iOS 5 Application Development now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.