7 Essential Books on Developing iPhone and Android Apps: For Beginners as well as Professionals
Believe it or not, we are in the middle of a Mobile App Revolution as the smartphone industry expands rapidly. More than 21 billion apps have been downloaded for Apple and Android devices, and the market is projected to generate $30 billion in revenue each year in the coming years. So, it’s not a crazy idea if you want to take advantage of the app boom by creating applications for the top mobile operating systems.
If you have an idea for a cool iPhone app but come from a non-tech background and don’t know how to create software applications, or if you’re hesitant to spend years learning complex programming languages, you’re in luck. You don’t need to learn any of those confusing things. Anyone can start making simple apps for the iPhone and iPad, and the book “iPhone and iPad Apps for Absolute Beginners“ by Rory Lewis, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Colorado, will guide you through the process. Using clear, everyday language and practical examples, this book will help you create your first iPhone apps. It cuts through the confusion and misinformation that often surrounds iPhone app development and provides straightforward, step-by-step instructions to help you get started.
Whereas, the book “iPhone OS Development: Your visual blueprint for developing apps for Apple’s mobile devices“ provides essential tips, tricks, and techniques for the development of the iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. This book touches every aspects from the key features of the Objective-C language, to hands-on tips for getting the most from the Apple SDK, to inside information about programming the touch screen, accelerometer, GPS, graphics, sound, and connectivity. This handy guide includes all the information a newbie needs to create his/her first application, as well as references facts for professional developers who requires distilled information about iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch technologies.
If you know working on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you already have the tools you need to build your own iPhone and android apps. With books — “Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript“, and “Pro Android Web Apps“, you’ll learn how to use these open source web technologies to design and develop apps for the iOS and android devices on the platform of your choice, without using Objective-C or Cocoa.
“App Inventor for Android: Build Your Own Apps – No Experience Required“ is a book that will help you creating apps for the Android platform, even if you have limited programming experiences. It offers a visual language that works on simple programming blocks that users can drag and drop to develop apps. Further, this handy guide proffers you a series of fully worked-out apps, completed with their programming blocks, which you may customize for your own use or can utilize as a initial step for developing the next killer app.
Smartphone users are largely indulged in applications that allow them to play, capture, and share media in a variety of new ways on their mobile devices. You can exploit this fact by creating such media oriented apps. For this, you can go through the book “Pro Android Media: Developing Graphics, Music, Video, and Rich Media Apps for Smartphones and Tablets“. It provides concise and clear instruction on how to make use of the media APIs made available through Android to create dynamic apps. In a language easy to comprehend, this book takes you from a simple means to gain access to the camera to complex video capture and sharing examples. It further covers sound, graphics, painting, and more –all that you need to make your app come alive.
Learn to create exciting, interactive 3D apps for the very hot devices of the time — iPhone and iPod Touch, with the Tony Mullen’s book “3D for iPhone Apps with Blender and SIO2“. This is the most handy guide to create 3D games and more by utilizing open-source Blender software and the SI02 game engine. Whether you’re a professional iPhone developer or a Blender artist, this book is for you.
I’ve managed to compile this list of books on Apps Development because I think I’m a real tech nerd. Oh yes, I do try my mind and hands, in my spare time, on developing my own mobile apps. The above mentioned books are my personal pick which I believe will help you, too.
Now, it’s your turn to share with me about your handy guide, if you’ve any. Please comment below!