Question

Is it possible to create an app that does not appear in the Home screen, and allows another app to grab its resources (sounds, images, etc)?

I want to create a lightweight app (app #1) and upload it to the app store. Then I would like to be able to direct users to download an add-on (app #2) if they want that contains more images and sounds. Then app #1 would read these resources from app #2.

I’m trying to avoid having my own server to serve these images, and just have the App Store handle this for me. I know I can do this on Android, and was wondering if it’s possible in iOS as well.

Answer 1

Is it possible to create an app that does not appear in the Home
screen, and allows another app to grab its resources (sounds, images,
etc)?

Not only can you not create an app that’s hidden from the user, you also can’t access the resources of one app from another. Each app lives in its own sandbox and cannot read (or write) into the sandbox of another app.

I want to create a lightweight app (app #1) and upload it to the app
store. Then I would like to be able to direct users to download an
add-on (app #2) if they want that contains more images and sounds.
Then app #1 would read these resources from app #2.

The normal way to do something like that would be to host the resources you need on a server or just store them inside your app.

I’m trying to avoid having my own server to serve these images, and
just have the App Store handle this for me. I know I can do this on
Android, and was wondering if it’s possible in iOS as well.

No, not possible.