Grabbing call notifications in iOS7

Looks like there is not much in the way of documentation for how to do this so I am going to create one here.

Sometimes people get calls on their phone, I know this is crazy but it can happen. What you should do about it is up to you but how can you let your app know when this happens? Well I can help with that.

in your .h file, add the following.

#import <CoreTelephony/CTCallCenter.h>

@property (nonatomic, strong) CTCallCenter* callCenter;

you need to set the property as if you don't have anything holding on to the connection, it will disappear on your. Gotta love ARC!

in the .m file, here is your master method;

#pragma mark - phone call interrupts

-(void) setupPhoneNotification{

    float static playerVolume;

    self.callCenter = [[CTCallCenter alloc] init];

    self.callCenter.callEventHandler=^(CTCall* call)

    {

        

        if(call.callState == CTCallStateDialing)

        {

            //The call state, before connection is established, when the user initiates the call.

            NSLog(@"Call is dailing");

        }

        if(call.callState == CTCallStateIncoming)

        {

            //The call state, before connection is established, when a call is incoming but not yet answered by the user.

            NSLog(@"Call is Coming");

        }

        

        if(call.callState == CTCallStateConnected)

        {

            //The call state when the call is fully established for all parties involved.

            NSLog(@"Call Connected");

        }

        

        if(call.callState == CTCallStateDisconnected)

        {

            //The call state Ended.

            NSLog(@"Call Ended");

        } 

    };

}

And there you have it. Do whatever you need to do in the block, possibly send a trigger event or notifcation and then you are off to the races. Have fun!

How to create a subview that will be a popup on large devices and full screen on small ones in iOS 6 with ARC

Universal apps are becoming more and more necessary today. They are becoming more complicated as well. At least they don't hundreds of different size screens to deal with like android.

First you should have a subview that is the size of a standard smaller screen (itouch, iphone). We will call this "SearchViewController".  You might want to use a delegate to interact with the views but we won't worry about that in this exercise.

in the SearchViewController.m;

-(void) closeView{
    //all keyboard items should have "resignFirstResponder" attached to it here just in case
    [self.view removeFromSuperview];
}

in the MainViewController.h;

#import "SearchViewController.h"

@interface MainViewController <UIPopoverControllerDelegate>{
    SearchViewController *searcher;
}

in the MainViewController.m;

-(void)OpenSearch{

    static bool isSearchOpen = FALSE;

    //open up the subview for the search function. Open up as a mini view for the ipad and a full window view for the iphone.

    if (isSearchOpen == FALSE){

        isSearchOpen = TRUE;

        if (searcher == nil){

            searcher = [[SearchViewController alloc]init];

            searcher.delegate = self;

            if ([[UIDevice currentDevice] userInterfaceIdiom] == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone){

                CGRect frame = searcher.view.frame;

                searcher.view.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, frame.size.width, frame.size.height-88);

            }

        }

        if ([[UIDevice currentDevice] userInterfaceIdiom] == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone){

            //iphone

            [self addChildViewController:searcher];

            [self.view addSubview:searcher.view];

            [searcher didMoveToParentViewController:self];

        }else{

            //ipad

            popSearch = [[UIPopoverController alloc] initWithContentViewController:searcher];

            popSearch.popoverContentSize = searcher.view.frame.size;

            popSearch.delegate = self;

            [popSearch presentPopoverFromRect:CGRectMake(self.view.frame.size.width - 5,0, 10, 10) inView:self.view permittedArrowDirections:UIPopoverArrowDirectionAny animated:YES];

        }

    }else{

        isSearchOpen = FALSE;

        [self closeSearch];

    }    

}

-(void)closeSearch{

    //cancels the search and closes the search view

    if ([[UIDevice currentDevice] userInterfaceIdiom] == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone){

        [searcher.view removeFromSuperview];

    }else{

        [popSearch dismissPopoverAnimated:YES];

    }

    isSearchOpen = FALSE;

}

Done :)

How to Add a Reload or Refresh to the top of your view in iOS 6 with ARC

This has been around for a while but apple standardized it finally.

in the .h file of your tableview or collectionview or pretty much any view;

@interface myViewController : UICollectionViewController {

    //all your other declarations

    UIRefreshControl *refreshControl;

}

In your .m file, wherever you initialize the view;

if (self) {

    //other special setup items once you know your view exists

    refreshControl = [[UIRefreshControl alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, -44, 320, 44)];

    [refreshControl addTarget:self action:@selector(reload:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventValueChanged];

    [self.collectionView addSubview:refreshControl];

}

- (void) reload:(id) sender {

    //all your reload commands go here like [tableview reloaddata];

}

Different ways to differentiate between devices in iOS

There are many ways to figure out how to tell which device you are using, some are specific, some are general. They all serve their purpose. Here are some examples;

If you have a universal app and want to use a different nib for the ipad or iphone;

    NSString *nibName = [NSStringFromClass([self class]) stringByAppendingString:([[UIDevice currentDevice] userInterfaceIdiom] == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone)? @"-iPhone" : @"-iPad"];

    self = [super initWithNibName:nibName bundle:nil];

* note be sure and name you nibs correctly.

If you have some specific code the you want to perform on either the iphone or ipad;

if ([[UIDevice currentDevice] userInterfaceIdiom] == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone){

    //iphone code

}else{

    //ipad code

}

If you want a quick definition change depending on if it is an ipad or iphone;

    int total = ([[UIDevice currentDevice] userInterfaceIdiom] == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPhone)? iPhone_Total :iPad_Total;

iOS Creating Custom Delegates in iOS6 with ARC

So you want two Objects to talk to each other more than a little bit? Here is what to do by example.  Lets say we have our MainViewController and a new SearchViewController that you want a delegate attached to it. This is all you need to do.

In SearchViewController.h

@protocol SearchViewDelegate <NSObject>

@optional

@required

-(void)didAskToSearch:(NSString*)string;

@end

@interface SearchViewController : UIViewController {

}

@property (nonatomic, assign) id <SearchViewDelegate> delegate;

@end

optional has non-required methods and required of course has required methods. 

In SearchViewController.m;

    [_delegate didAskToSearch: [self searchRequestDetails]];

this is put anywhere in the code when you want it to send the information back to the other object. 

In the MainViewController.h;

@interface MainViewController : UIViewController <SearchViewDelegate> {

}

In MainViewController.m;

SearchViewController *searcher = [[SearchViewController alloc]init];

searcher.delegate = self;

#pragma mark - SearchViewControllerDelegates

-(void)didAskToSearch:(NSString*)string{

     //do whatever you want with the string results

}

When creating the object, make sure the tell the delegate you have those methods. Then you just have to create the methods as per it is required. 

Helpful link
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12020539/how-to-make-custom-delegate-in-ios-app

Programmatically Adding UINavigationController to existing app in iOS 6 with ARC

Whenever you build an app, you think you know how it should be structured. How are the views going to be layed out for the user to see. However, sometimes designs have to change (Mostly because the client keeps a moving target). How can you add that very helpful Navigation Controller into an existing app quickly and easily...

First, don't panic. It is actually quite easy. the guys at apple feel your pain and tried to make this as confortable as possible. 

In the AppDelegate.m;

    UINavigationController *navCtrlr = [[UINavigationController alloc]initWithRootViewController:self.viewController];

    [self.window setRootViewController:navCtrlr];

Where "self.viewController" is your existing viewController that has your first view. 

Done. 

Thats it. 

Ta Da!

now all you need to do is go through your code and turn the "addSubview" to this;

     [self.navigationController pushViewController:_detailViewController animated:YES];

Where "_detailViewController" is your next view in the stack you want to view. 

As you know, navigationController has a auto back button, but if you want to do it manually;

 [self.navigationController popViewControllerAnimated:YES];

or

 [self.navigationController popToRootViewControllerAnimated:YES];

if you want to go all the way back to the beginning. 

Other quick cosmetic items you can do is;

-(void) viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated{

    self.title = @"My Title";

    self.navigationController.navigationBarHidden = NO;

}

Which will let you change the title on the NavBar. And make sure it is not hidden.

- (void)viewDidLoad{

    [super viewDidLoad];

    [self.navigationController.navigationBar setBarStyle:UIBarStyleBlack];

}

Which will let you change the colour of the NavBar. 

There is a lot more that can be done, but I hope that gets you off the ground and in the right direction. 

Here is an add on that looks interesting;
iOS Open Source: Drop-Down Navigation Menu