Microsoft Bringing Windows and iOS Together with Open Source Bridge

Microsoft has recently revealed its effective tool for bringing iOS apps onto the Windows platform and is open sourcing this striking technology. But, this can be still considered as work-in-progress as some of the components are not ready yet. It is more commonly referred as Open source Windows Bridge for iOS apps, which is tailored for enabling iOS app developers to create Windows apps using the already existing codes and skills of Objective-C. 

For successful implementation, the bridge includes four key components:  
1)Objective-C Compiler: MS Visual Studio, now, will include a compiler that is conscious about the usage of Objective-C code and its verification (Compile) into a native Universal Windows app so as to enable most of the heavy lifting. To start with, only some early drops of the compiler binary will be provided through GitHub as the compiler will not be open-sourced. The compiler will later be shipped as Visual Studio 2015 update.

2)    Objective-C Runtime: The motto behind introducing Objective-C Runtime is just to provide you with language features including message delegation, dispatch and the automatic count of references.

3)    iOS API Headers/Libs: Designed upon the base APIs of Objective-C, this bridge is provided with a good ratio of iOS API compatibility.

4)    Visual Studio IDE Integration: lastly, this tool enables importing the Xcode project and unites the same with the Windows Developer Tools and SDK.

You might be wondering why this tool is referred as Bridge, not a port. This is due to the reason that the goal of the IOS Bridge is not just limited to running iOS apps on Windows. It is to help developers for writing great Windows apps rather, using much from the existing code and knowledge they have. It is definite that this iOS compatibility will tend to rise with time, and there is a lot more that you can do with the bridge.

The goal of IOS Bridge rests on three basic principles that drive the overall architecture and design of the bridge:

1)    Complete Windows API Access: Full access makes it quite easy to use Windows APIs within the code of Objective-C.

2)    iOS compatibility: This compatibility fosters developers to reuse as the existing iOS code as much as reasonably possible.

3)    No sandboxing: It implies that iOS and Windows APIs should be able to work together in a smooth and efficient manner.

The objective of releasing this open source tool (technically referred as Project Islandwood) is to elevate the number of apps available on the Windows store as this tool will serve as a source of encouragement for developers to come up with their iOS creations and port them over Windows platform.

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How to Achieve Apple Watch Compatibility for iPhone Apps?

The Apple watch has brought with it a new trend of inclination towards wearable devices. Apple predicts that it shall be able to sell at least 20 million units of the Apple watch this year. Almost 3000 apps specially designed for the Apple watch are already available. But what about those apps which were created before the Apple watch came into existence? Apps which are stand alones for the Apple watch are not practical, as they are mere extensions of the iPhone apps which we have used for years.

Now the question lies, how do you proceed? Well, the solution is not as difficult as it might seem to you. All you have to do is to visit Apple’s website and see the section of “watchKit apps”, and you shall be well versed with the basic techniques in no time. After all Apple always has been a good teacher, you will get step by step instructions on optimizing WatchKit apps. Here are a few highlights you might be interested in.

1. Synchronize your iPhone with the Apple watch
   First things you will need are an iPhone 5 or higher and iOS version 8.2 or higher. Thirdly you require a WatchKit app to run the Apple watch and the WatchKit extension to run the user’s iPhone. The WatchKit app is an essential basic as it is Apple’s platform for developing the Apple watch. It contains a storyboard and resource files which are required to manage the app user interface. The WatchKit extension provides a link between the iPhone and the Apple watch.
   The coolest thing about the Apple watch is its user interaction, as the app opens from the home screen itself and displays the complete interface of the app along with its multiple content screens.


2. Optimize and upgrade your WatchKit
   You will have to update the Xcode and the iOS SDK. That is, Xcode to version 6.2 which also contains iOS 8.3 SDK with WatchKit. The Apple website provides detailed information on designing the WatchKit app, including the guidelines of the Apple watch’s human interface.

Read Also: Developer Challenges for Apple watch Game Development


3. Apple’s design guidelines and templates
   Apple’s website is a great source of design resources for creating the WatchKit app, notifications and glance. It has a large collection of templates for interfaces, notification, glances and home screen icons. Some other features like specifications on control sizing, layout, icon style guide and text sizes.


4. Update app name and description
   Always remember to keep the name and description of your iPhone app and the WatchKit app the same. If your iPhone app includes a WatchKit app, notification or a glance, then you should update the info in the description and the "what’s new" section.


5. Updating app store meta data
   Always ensure that the Meta data includes the functionality of the Apple watch.


6. Creating icons that are similar
   The icons of your WatchKit should look similar to the iOS app icons, as it will make it easier for users the relevant connection.


7. Maximum screenshots
   You should upload the maximum screenshots (at least 5) of your WatchKit app and the iPhone app. Always remember that Apple is highly quality conscious, so keep the resolution of the WatchKit app to at least 312x390 pixels. Apple wants, that you should utilize the entire space available for screenshots. But do keep in mind that you have to keep both category screenshots separately.


8. App preview
   The app preview should have a video of your iPhone app and it should also be confined to your app. It would be wrong to show a WatchKitt app in the preview.


9. Sharing keywords
   The keywords that you exchange between your iPhone app and the WatchKit app should not exceed more than 100 characters. You must make the most out of what is available to you. So try avoiding common words such as watch, app, Apple watch etc.


10. The final app
    These are important instructions before you actually submit your app. Your app should comply with all the app review guidelines, including the build number and the version. They should be consistent all the way through.

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Weapons to Find New SEO Leads

Finding new clients for your business today is no longer, just a walk in the park. It can be time consuming with poor results at times. The bottom line is that every business needs clients or buyers to breakeven and make sure that it sustains itself. Changing customer demands and switching loyalties, keeps the marketing and sales executives on their heels to find new clients every day. In these crucial times businesses even don’t mind venturing into unknown territories to fulfil their means. Acquiring new SEO leads online has become the name of the game. Searching Google for business leads more often than not yields inaccurate results.

A lot of underground, if I dare may use the word have mushroomed up, ready to provide SEO leads at a price with email ID’s and contact details of perspective clients. Although a handful of legitimate ones also exist. It would not be wrong to say that such lead providers now form a complete industry. But a serious question mark raised in the context of such leads is that; can they be trusted? After spending a fortune to acquire them, will you get any new clients? After all you cannot be sure that the list you are buying has not been sold to your competitor.

 

Related Post: SEO 2015, where do we focus? 

So let us open up our arsenal of Arms and ammunition and short list the weapons apt to find new and reliable SEO leads and help our desperate client seeker friends.

1. Google alerts: Tie a worm on your fishing rod hook and drop it right in to the water, then wait for a fish to bite in to it. This is how Google alert works. Create a Google alert using keywords related to your business or needs and wait for a client who is desperately looking for what you are offering. Problem solved. Mission accomplished. To give an example, you are offering web hosting services and create a Google alert saying "cheap web hosting"; you shall be alerted when a discussion on the topic crops up.
2. Yellow pages: The old man still lives on. Unbelievable but true. I consider it as a faint reminder of an era gone by when it was the place to look for any business need. Although it may be much behind in popularity in comparison to Google now, but many old timers consider it reliable and as sacred as the bible. Advertisements are a common sight on yellow pages. Try hunting for an ad which matches with your requirement and establish contact directly.
3. Google AdWords: A very powerful weapon indeed, when it comes to SEO lead generation. This is one weapon which comes with spare bullets as well. It is especially helpful in targeting local businesses as it can target your ads to customers according to geographical areas. Moreover, you have to pay Google only if a customer clicks to visit your site of calls for an enquiry. All you have to do is to create your ad and specify the search terms and leave the rest to Google. Whenever a customer will key in those words, you ad will get listed. Customer support is another added benefit.
4. LeadJoint: LeadJoint is a website, although not the only one which enables SEO lead generation. If reviews and testimonials are to be believed, it has a good conversion rate. The USP of LeadJoint is that it highlights and focuses on those sites as well which have a low ranking on Google. Which means that it will provide more unique leads if compared to Google. Although LeadJoint is a paid service, it offers first 100 leads free of cost.
5. Craigslist:The last weapon from our arsenal, which is ignored by many when it comes to SEO leads. Craigslist is basically a classified advertisement website. These classified ads are divided into categories and sub categories. It also features area specific and localized ads. The downside of advertising on such sites that has always remained is the difference between the number of advertisers who are looking for and the ones who are offering services. The gap is far too much to fill.

After arming yourself with these powerful weapons you should not have any trouble in hunting down your clients. There are a whole lot of clients waiting for you. All you have to do is to keep the faith and keep hunting.

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5 Best Tools to Optimize Your CSS Codes

When finally your website is growing you have to work more in order to make your clients happy with your services. So with the increase in your business there will be an increase in the coding of your website’s code. You need to increase your CSS code as well. This will however complicate the things and at the end you will get messed up with plenty of bugs.

 

If all this is also happening to you then the time has come to audit your CSS coding. By auditing your CSS you will get to know about the portions of your CSS which is not well optimized. You can also lower the file size of the style sheet by removing the lines of your codes that will slow down your website’s performance.

 

1. CSS Lint: CSS Lint is a device that breaks down the CSS sentence structure focused around particular parameters that address for execution, availability, and similarity of your CSS. You would be astonished with the results, even can look for a number of warnings in your CSS. However, these mistakes will in the end help you settle the CSS syntax, and make it more effective. Moreover, you will become a superior CSS coder.
2. Type-O-Matic: Type-o-matic is a Firebug plugin to check for the text styles that are being utilized as a part of a site. This plugin provides a visual report in the form of a table, bearing text style properties, for example, the textual style family, weight, the size, shade, furthermore the quantity of times the text style is utilized as a part of the website page. With the help of the report table, you can streamline the text style use very easily, delete the things that are unnecessary, or join styles that are far too comparable.
3. CSS Dig: CSS Dig is a Python script and it works generally on your machine. CSS Dig will run an exhaustive checking in your CSS sheet. It will study and join properties e.g. all foundation shade assertions will go under the background area. This way you can very easily settle on choices focused around the report when attempting to regulate your CSS syntax e.g. you may discover color crosswise over styles with the accompanying color assertion. These color statements do same things. You should run with the #ccc or you can also use capital #ccc as the standard. CSS Dig can uncover this repetition for different CSS properties as well, and you will have the capacity to make your code be more reliable.
4. CSS Colorguard: CSS Colorguard is a comparatively a new thing. It's constructed as a Node module and it will run over all the platforms equally: Windows, Linux, and OS X. CSS Colorguard is a charge line apparatus that will advise you if you are using comparative colors as a part of your template; e.g. #f3f3f3 is really near to #f4f4f4, so you may need to consider blending the two. CSS Colorguard is configurable; you can set the similarity limit and also set the colors you need the tool to avoid. 
5. Dust-Me: Dust-Me is an extra for Opera and Firefox that will show you the unused selectors in your template. It will snatch all the templates and selectors that are found in your site and find which selectors are you really utilizing as a part of the page. This will be indicated in a report, you can then press the clean catch and it will clean up those vacant selectors and spare it to another CSS record.

Well these 5 special tools will help you in optimizing your website and making your websites run more smoothly.

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10 Superb Landing Pages for Your Mobile Applications

It is good if you are working day and night on your mobile application to make it a great success in the market but there is something more than that you need for your application to work properly and that is a successful landing page. When we talk about landing pages it can range from one screen pages to full fledge website but because everything is designed and made with a purpose, I will give you 3 things that a landing page have to do for your mobile application.

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What Apple Has To Guide To its iOS Mobile Application Developers?

IOS application developers are always with their breaths holding because of the new guidelines that Apple release each day. This mechanism given by Apple is actually superb but iOS developers are unable to find any logical clue behind all this.

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10 Spices for a Delicious Android Recipe

When you are planning to design a wonderful android application it is obvious that you cannot just start it like this only. You have to think a lot about the concept, about its designing and what your app will provide and lots of other things are there. So how are you going to start? Do you already have a plan or you are looking for a plan? Well if you do not have decided yet what all you are going to do then here are 10 special ingredients that will flavor your Android app like a perfect dish.  

Android app designing

So here are those special 10 spices that will add up to your Android app and will let you design a perfect mobile app: 

 1. A great idea When you are designing an application it is very important to have a great idea about what your app would work like? What all is the purpose of this application and why people should buy your app? What different quality are you offering to them that will make them fall for your application? 

 

 2. Program code Your program code needs to be robust i.e. strong and effective. When you are done with your intelligent and unique idea the next thing you need to work upon is your coding region. Keep this in mind that you are not giving the coding part to an inexperienced person. Because a person who is not experienced won’t code good and all your idea will go into vein. 

 3. Free version of your application When your coding is done the one thing that plays a very important role in marketing your application is introducing its free version. If you release a free version instead of a premium one half of your application is successful. Sometimes you need to think about popularity but not the money.

 4. An Ad-Free version Adding an Ad-free version for your application for which you can add a downloading fee. When people will find it how perfect your application is after using the free version which is supported by ad, then the chances are that they will definitely invest some amount of money in a premium add free version.  

5. Consistency When you create applications, make sure that your applications are not suffering from any common constituency issues that are plaguing a number of mobile apps today. In general you should develop application keeping in mind a list of devices that they are not supported by the customers and ensure your customers that there will be no crashes within your application.

 6. Specific Utility Rather than creating an application that is solving 10 problems you should design an application that can perform only a single function but perfectly. Focusing on specificity is more important than focusing on number of things.  

7. Design and Interface The next most important thing that you need to focus on is the design of the website and its interface. Even if your application is already of a superior quality and functionality chances are that it might lose because of its shady looks. So it is better that you make your application look good because the interface of your application plays a significant role in the success of your application.  

8. Usability Next thing that matters a lot is the usability of your application. It should be helpful to your users and should provide them with the solution they are actually looking for. There is no point of giving good graphics and interface if your application fails to give the exact solution. 

 9. Selecting the Platform We know there are a number of platforms available in the market. So whether you choose a native application development platform or you have chosen a modern platform like HTML5 make sure that your application has cross platform compatibility to make it useful on other platforms as well. 

 10. Marketing your application This is something you need to hire professional service persons that are highly skilled in marketing your apps online. Having a catchy name, attracting graphics and a classy icon will help you in your marketing strategy. Above it you can always use a crispy tagline for attracting your potential audience. So these are some useful ingredients that will definitely help you in designing a wonderful android application. Keeping all this in mind will guide you in framing an application that is useful for your users.

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