Chapter 14. Working with the Real World
Desktops, laptops, iPhones, and iPads are all physical devices and exist in the real worldâeither on your desk, on your lap, or in your hand. For a long time, your apps were largely confined to your computer, and werenât able to do much with the outside world besides instructing a printer to print a document.
Starting with iOS and OS X 10.6, however, things began to change, and your code is now able to learn about the userâs location, how the device is moving and being held, and how far away the computer is from landmarks.
In this chapter, youâll learn about how your programs can interact with the outside world. Specifically, youâll learn how to use Core Location to determine where your computer or device is on the planet, how to use MapKit to show and annotate maps, how to use Core Motion to learn about how the user is holding the device, how to use the printing services available on OS X and iOS to work with printers, how to connect game controllers into your apps, and how to manage the battery life of your device as a developer.
Note
Most of the technology discussed in this chapter works on both OS X and iOS. Some of the technology has an identical API on both platforms (Core Location, MapKit, and Game Controllers), some has different APIs on the two platforms (print services), and some is only available on iOS (Core Motion) or OS X (App Nap). Weâll let you know which technology is available where.
Working with Location
Almost every ...
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