Category: iPhone software

Updating SceneKit WWDC 2013 slides for Xcode 7

Posted on by Hal Mueller

With recent changes to the AppKit headers, you need to make a couple of changes to the WWDC 2013 SceneKit Slides code to get it to build. There are some cool examples in that year’s talk/sample code that didn’t make it into 2014’s.

In the ASCPresentationViewController, switch from a method declaration for the -view superclass override to a property in the header, and specify @dynamic for that property in the implementation.

@property (strong) SCNView *view;

//- (SCNView *)view;

 

@dynamic view;

//- (SCNView *)view {

//    return (SCNView *)[super view];

//}

I also updated the .xcodeproj to current standards, and fixed a couple of int/NSInteger/NSUinteger mismatches.

I’ve submitted it to Apple as rdar://23829155. In the meantime, here are the diffs:

diff --git a/SceneKit_Slides_WWDC2013/Scene Kit Session WWDC 2013/Sources/ASCPresentationViewController.h b/SceneKit_Slides_WWDC2013/Scene Kit Session WWDC 2013/Sources/ASCPresentationViewController.h
index 7d66316..bb0e54f 100644
--- a/SceneKit_Slides_WWDC2013/Scene Kit Session WWDC 2013/Sources/ASCPresentationViewController.h 
+++ b/SceneKit_Slides_WWDC2013/Scene Kit Session WWDC 2013/Sources/ASCPresentationViewController.h 
@@ -55,7 +55,9 @@
 @property (weak) id <ASCPresentationDelegate> delegate;
 
 // View controller
-- (SCNView *)view;
+// Hal Mueller change: make this a property, @dynamic, to compile under Xcode 7/10.11 SDK
+@property (strong) SCNView *view;
+//- (SCNView *)view;
 - (id)initWithContentsOfFile:(NSString *)path;
 
 // Presentation outline
diff --git a/SceneKit_Slides_WWDC2013/Scene Kit Session WWDC 2013/Sources/ASCPresentationViewController.m b/SceneKit_Slides_WWDC2013/Scene Kit Session WWDC 2013/Sources/ASCPresentationViewController.m
index 46d9e00..1c914b6 100644
--- a/SceneKit_Slides_WWDC2013/Scene Kit Session WWDC 2013/Sources/ASCPresentationViewController.m 
+++ b/SceneKit_Slides_WWDC2013/Scene Kit Session WWDC 2013/Sources/ASCPresentationViewController.m 
@@ -91,9 +91,10 @@ typedef NS_ENUM(NSUInteger, ASCLightName) {
 
 #pragma mark - View controller
 
-- (SCNView *)view {
- return (SCNView *)[super view];
-}
+@dynamic view;
+//- (SCNView *)view {
+// return (SCNView *)[super view];
+//}
 
 - (id)initWithContentsOfFile:(NSString *)path {
 if ((self = [super initWithNibName:nil bundle:nil])) {
@@ -660,12 +661,12 @@ typedef NS_ENUM(NSUInteger, ASCLightName) {
 
 #pragma mark - Misc
 
-CGFloat _lightSaturationAtSlideIndex(int index) {
+CGFloat _lightSaturationAtSlideIndex(NSInteger index) {
 if (index >= 4) return 0.1; // colored
 return 0; // black and white
 }
 
-CGFloat _lightHueAtSlideIndex(int index) {
+CGFloat _lightHueAtSlideIndex(NSInteger index) {
 if (index == 4) return 0; // red
 if (index == 5) return 200/360.0; // blue
 return 0; // black and white
diff --git a/SceneKit_Slides_WWDC2013/Scene Kit Session WWDC 2013/Sources/ASCSlideTextManager.m b/SceneKit_Slides_WWDC2013/Scene Kit Session WWDC 2013/Sources/ASCSlideTextManager.m
index ce17c6f..cdc12a4 100644
--- a/SceneKit_Slides_WWDC2013/Scene Kit Session WWDC 2013/Sources/ASCSlideTextManager.m 
+++ b/SceneKit_Slides_WWDC2013/Scene Kit Session WWDC 2013/Sources/ASCSlideTextManager.m 
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ static CGFloat const TEXT_FLATNESS = 0.4;
 return self;
 }
 
-- (NSColor *)colorForTextType:(ASCTextType)type level:(int)level {
+- (NSColor *)colorForTextType:(ASCTextType)type level:(NSUInteger)level {
 switch (type) {
 case ASCTextTypeSubtitle:
 return [NSColor colorWithDeviceRed:160/255.0 green:182/255.0 blue:203/255.0 alpha:1];

iOS 6 maps are better for applications

Posted on by Hal Mueller

I’m very happy to see the new look brought to iOS maps via Apple’s switch to an in-house solution. Much noise has been made about the errors and the lost detail. I think the lost detail is an improvement.

The other night, a friend and I did a side-by-side comparison of my app HistoryPointer on iOS 6 and iOS 5 (bonus points if you can figure out where we were sitting). HistoryPointer displays a bunch of points of interest on a map (further details aren’t especially relevant). On the top is the HistoryPointer running on iOS 6 (with maps from Apple); on the bottom it’s running under iOS 5 (with maps from Google).

IMG 1009

Photo

To my eye, the iOS 6 version is much easier to read when you’re looking for the overlaid points of interest.There are fewer labels on the Apple map than on the Google map. The color scheme is less intrusive. There are some problems with label placement on the Apple map: State Route 99, for example, near the right-hand edge, is missing its street name (Aurora Avenue) on the Apple version even though other less important streets are labeled.

I see lots of potential in this move. There’s a control panel to adjust label size on map views. There’s obviously some dynamic label generation and pruning going on. I like the prospect of enhancements to MapKit to allow programmatic control of many of these parameters. Imagine what you could do with API to do these things:

  • adjust the size of (or omit!) certain kinds of labels.
  • control the orientation of the map to maximize the use of the screen space. North doesn’t always have to be up.
  • apply a custom color scheme, so that your overlaid data is easier to read.
  • omit certain kinds of features. Not everyone wants driving directions. There are many applications where the streets, highways, and manmade features are simply clutter.

Think about the possibilities. How would you like your app’s MKMapView to be different? File those radars! I have several of my own in mind.