Question

I try to figure out what -beginUpdates and -endUpdates is actually good for.

Adding and deleting rows should go inside this. But what else? When must I do it? And when is it a good idea to do it even if I don’t have to?

Answer 1

From the docs for UITableView beingUpdates:

Begin a series of method calls that
insert, delete, select, or delete rows
and sections of the receiver.

and:

Call this method if you want
subsequent insertions, deletion, and
selection operations … to be
animated simultaneously

To me, that answers your question precisely.