Missing XCode UI Elements

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10028018

by inside_world • 11 years ago

4 2 11 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Hello, I'm learning Swift in my spare time. Still pretty new at it (so forgive my ignorance in advance). Anyhow, I'm trying to build a library of custom UI controls in Swift. I know there are open-source projects out there but I'm trying to build something from scratch myself.

For example, I've used Visual Studio in the past and I wish there were Checkboxes, perhaps Dropboxes, ViewBoxes (which automatically resizes the content inside of them), Charts, etc.

What about you? Are there specific controls that you wish were available in XCode? Or cool ones you wish existed?

Your help would be very helpful in getting me started. Thanks :)

goondabba• 11 years ago

Charts might be something neat to have! But like you said, there are probably some good projects on github for that.

As for the other elements, there's a reason those are "missing". iOS already has UI elements that serve those purposes. Instead of checkboxes we have UISwitches. Instead of dropboxes, we have Action Sheets. For a good example, go to the Settings app on an iPhone and look through the settings; it's all form entry, but you won't find a checkbox or dropbox.

This is a conversation I've had with product managers and designers many times, and is part of the transition for people who are used to designing/developing for other platforms. For your app to look and feel like a native iOS app that users will intuitively interact with, it's best to stick to the system controls available. Or if you're making custom UIControls, to stick to the general behavior of the UIControl you're replacing. A checkbox on iOS would look fairly out of place.

inside_world• 11 years ago

Thanks you for your reply. It makes sense what you said. Although, I just want to clarify that I'm not only talking about visual elements. There's also UI elements for the purpose of presenting the data in different ways -- for example, Collection Views vs Table Views. Again, checkboxes and dropboxes were just arbitrary examples.

My goal is to try to fill avoid while continuing to learn Swift programming with a fun project. Thanks.

Missing XCode UI Elements

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