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Filed under: Developer, Features, Apple, Mobile Minute, iPhone

Mobile Minute: iPhone APIs are like life - they're full of compromises

Two weeks ago we saw the first wave of third party applications for the iPhone. But because Apple has yet to open up the device and provides an API (Application Programming Interface) for software developers, making third party applications right now is not for the faint hearted or even regular developers. A couple of weeks ago in MacBreak Weekly, Leo Laporte called for Apple to open up the iPhone immediately and he could not see any reasons preventing that happening. What Mr. Laporte, and most pundits, seems to imply is that providing an API is a straightforward process. Publish the API online and let the developers use it, right? If only it were that simple.

An API is a contract between the provider (Apple) and the consumer, who in this case is the software developers. As with any contract, once it is published, a level of trust is established between the provider and the consumer. This means the provider describes the functionality accessible by outsiders in the API, and that functionality will work as advertised. The consumer has to depend on the provider to keep their word so the consumer can develop applications base on that functionality.

But establishing an API also means restricting internal development freedom for the device. It is no longer simple to rework a particular function to provide better capability or performance without substantial testings to ensure the existing APIs are not broken. There are a few ways to deal with this situation.

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Filed under: Developer, Macintosh, Web services, Apple, Social Software

Dev Chair : Create a Tumblr widget using Dashcode


Back in December Apple released a beta version of Dashcode, a programming environment which makes it easy to develop OS X Dashboard widgets. The problem with Dashcode is that there is not much information on how to use it available on the internet. Even the documentation that comes with Dashcode provides only the most basic information and does not currently link back to Dashboard documentation.

Meanwhile, we like Tumblr here at Download Squad. It is great for posting quick snippet of content onto a blog-like web page without the need to compose a full length blog post. Tumblr provides a great bookmarklet to make this process even easier. You just click on it to post the current web page in your browser to Tumblr, or you can select some text which becomes a quote on your Tumblr.

Last week, I realised that Tumblr makes an ideal candidate for a Dashboard widget! So I decided to combine these two ingredients and see how easy it is to make a Tumblr widget using Dashcode.

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Filed under: Fun, Internet, Features, Macintosh, Apple, Commercial

How to make your own Dashboard Widget with Dashcode

DashcodeMaking your own Dashboard Widgets for Mac OS X is nothing new, but making your own Widgets using the Dashcode Developer Beta changes the entire process. Apple has taken the ease of use of Xcode and whittled it down to scale, providing all the tools necessary to quickly and easily develop your own Widgets. In this How To I'll show you how to go about creating a Download Squad RSS widget. Follow along if you like, but by all means feel free to improvise.

This is a very simple How To and is not intended to teach you how to code a Widget from scratch, but to show you how easy it is with Dashcode to create one. If you would like to find out more about developing Dashboard Widgets, check this guide on Apple's site.

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Filed under: Developer, Apple

Apple Dashcode widget developer

apple dashcode widgetsSo you're a Mac user? And you like widgets? Well, you should be happy to know that Apple recently released a developer beta of Dashcode. Dashcode lets any Mac user create a widget using a drag and drop interface. If you like code, you can use that as well, but Dashcode is sorted with a set of pre made templates you can hack and customize. These include a web feed, timer, podcast, photocast, and a gauge. Creating the widget takes only a few minutes, and they are compatible with Mac OSX 10.4 Tiger.

This widget development environment is built into the Leopard 10.5 operating system, but can be downloaded for developers now. Hurry, because the Dashcode beta will not function after July 15, 2007.

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The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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