Suggestions for resources to build my own iphone app

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Level 1

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Suggestions for resources to build my own iphone app

I need a very simple app that doesn't exist. I'm just going to build it myself. I'm having trouble finding resources to get started. At the moment, I understand I will likely use XCode or Swift, I need to buy an expensive apple dev subscription, and this will likely take longer to accomplish than i want/expect.

i dont need to monetize or distribute the app. i only need it on iphone.

What at minimum do i need to download/subscribe to? Any educational resources would be greatly appreciated.

Genuinely, I do appreciate any help in this matter.

I own an M3 Macbook Pro, iPad Mini, and iPhone 15 Plus, all updated OS.

iPhone 15 Plus, iOS 17

Posted on Mar 9, 2024 9:59 AM

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Answer 1

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MrHoffman

Level 10

154,975 points

Mar 9, 2024 11:32 AM in response to 8bitalex

You can develop apps locally on iPad using Playgrounds for free, and can use Xcode or Playgrounds on macOS for free. Xcode and Playgrounds on macOS can load and run the app on iPhone for free, as well. Those created apps will need to be rebuilt and reloaded from macOS periodically, and there are limits to how many apps can be loaded at once.

If you want to avoid having to reload the app periodically, or to be able to load more local apps, you’ll need a paid-tier membership, and will likely want to upload a hidden app into the app store. Only folks that have the app store URL can load the hidden app. You’ll still need to do occasional updates if (when?) Apple changes some dependency.

As for learning-related resources, here is another recent thread with some suggestions for where to learn programming more generally, and for ways to learn the Apple development tools: Not a developer - Apple Community

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Answer 2

Alancito

Level 7

30,716 points

Mar 9, 2024 12:32 PM in response to 8bitalex

8bitalex ~ If the app really is "very simple", perhaps its functionality can be accomplished via a custom shortcut:

Shortcuts User Guide for iPhone and iPad

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Answer 3

8bitalex Author

Level 1

4 points

Mar 10, 2024 9:41 AM in response to 8bitalex

@MrHoffman

Thank you sir. I'm glad to hear I can at least get started and perhaps survive for a while for free.

I've started with Playgrounds on macOS, but the app kept crashing during the first minutes of the tutorial.

The link to the other thread looks very valuable. I'll gladly start this journey reading the resources you posted there. Thank you for this showing me this path I can work towards. I believe this answers my question, although I'm sure as I journey, many more questions will arise. 🙂

@Alancito

I actually appreciate the link to the user guide for shortcuts because this has been a resource I've tried incorporating into workflows and never quite managed. However, for this project, I'm confidant that I need an app-level solution.

To add context to this "very simple app", firstly I work with computers often, but my programming knowledge mostly comes down to HTML I started teaching myself this year.

I play the trading card game Magic: The Gathering and I need an app with a database of cards that I can sort and filter. I also need to be able to create new lists of cards (decklist) by selecting them from the searchable database and adding them to a decklist.

It's kind of like creating an app with a large pre-existing list of groceries with data associated to each item in the list (approximate price, weight, nutrition facts) and an image, and then using that database to create a grocery list.

The data entry aspect of this task is intimidating as there are tens of thousands of cards, but I figured v1 would start with the most recent hundreds of cards released. Each card would need 8 pieces of data associated with it (name, cost, type, etc) plus 1 card image.

I started down this path because the app I had been using completely revamped its interface and also displays a lot of information irrelevant to my interests (USD prices, digital products, etc). I still haven't gotten used to the new interface and there are so many filter options and view options that I don't need.

tl;dr

I believe I have what I need to get started making my database app for my nerdy hobby

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Answer 4

MrHoffman

Level 10

154,975 points

Mar 10, 2024 10:07 AM in response to 8bitalex

This is centrally a fairly generic database app, with whatever sort of UI skin you want to implement.

On macOS, you can do this app using Filemaker Pro (or Filemaker 2023) though thar’s probably above your requirements, or can use LibreOffice Base (and a database), or another similar database.

If you want to do more UI work directly yourself, SQLite, MariaDB, PostgreSQL or such databases directly accessed within an app of your creation on macOS, or similarly an app using SQLite on iOS or iPadOS. (Or Apple CoreData, etc.)

Database choices for apps and database-providing apps on iOS and iPadOS are rather more limited than on macOS, though Airtable might meet your requirements.

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Suggestions for resources to build my own iphone app

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