Question

I am interested in developing a front end to an existing database that could be used in iOS or more specifically on an iPad. I’m sure that it is entirely plausible, but would anybody have any good resources out there for putting this together? Don’t mind getting stuck into the coding side of things.

Also how do you roll out the app, do you have to make it available to the app store to install on multiple ipads? Can you directly load an app onto ipads?

I would prefer not to go down the route of creating a web site as the front end, as i would like to leverage in the ability to use the camera of the ipad.

Answer 1

• Start by downloading the developer tools/Xcode (available in the Mac App Store) and work yourself through some good tutorials (or buy a good book).
• When it comes to database frontends, I suggest you create a “hybrid” app – that means you really have a native app, but use WebView to display HTML/CSS – which is a lot easier for database work; also you can centralize most stuff onto the server. Especially when changes are made to the backend, you don’t have to check that every user has the ‘latest’ version. That way you still run a native app and have access to stuff like the camera or GPS.
• When enrolled in the iOS developer program, you can run your apps on up to 100 devices without having to go through app-review or the App Store (you register the device UDIDs with Apple). This is called “ad hoc” distribution and does what you need.