iOS App Development Essentials

iOS App Development Essentials

 

Writing an application program would require a lot of work if you had only
the device to work with. The good news is that the iOS framework uses a
piece of software known as the operating system (OS), which provides device independent
interfaces to everything on the device (such as the file system,
sensors, and so on). The OS also provides a standard interface to computing
capabilities (such as for starting and stopping programs).
As a result, operating systems make writing and running applications easier, and
they’re especially helpful — in fact, essential — on mobile devices. Apple developed
and owns iOS, the operating system for its mobile products. Originally
called the iPhone OS, iOS was unveiled in 2007 for the iPhone and was later
extended to support the other Apple devices, as well as the Apple TV device.
Unlike, say, Linux, which powers Android, iOS is a single-user operating
system. That said, this and other limitations are artificial. At its core, iOS can
do nearly everything that Apple’s desktop operating system (OS X) can. For
a variety of reasons, including secrecy and a genuine desire for tight quality
control, Apple closely guards iOS, and only developers with special privileges
are given access to its internals.