iOS What sort of menus do you prefer?

[Twimfy]

Hi all,

One of my apps (which was a semi-legal soundboard, long story) was noticed by the IP holders and they want to work with me to make it their official app for their product.

It drastically needs an overhaul seeing as I always tried to keep it looking non-official (there's an excuse for laziness if I ever heard one).

Anyway seeing as it's going beyond a few screens with buttons to play sounds, I was wondering if you guys had any favourite menu or navigation screens which I could research and emulate.

i.e. what works and what doesn't?

Do you have any favourites or any definite no's?

 

[ElectronGuru]

I love the new B&H app, but it's rather different than what you probably need. It might help to show links to a few different types.

BTW, congratulations on the gig, it shows the best way to get the job, showing that you can already do it!

 

[Twimfy]

I love the new B&H app, but it's rather different than what you probably need. It might help to show links to a few different types.

BTW, congratulations on the gig, it shows the best way to get the job, showing that you can already do it!

That is cool, probably a bit overkill but it's a start. I know it seems silly asking seeing as I've been an iOS dev for 4 years but truth be told...I don't really download many apps!

As for the job, yeah it's pretty cool, far better than being sued, it's just sad that I've kinda already saturated the market but they're gonna be giving me some exclusive content which they wanna launch as IAP so maybe I can make a few pennies out of it.

Right now though, my focus is just making it the best possible app it can be. I've found some nice example menus on a few sites but a lot of them are storyboarded...don't use storyboards and don't feel like learning any time soon.

 

[ElectronGuru]

Definitely find a mature example industry and download all the biggest hardware companion apps. See which ones you like why. And if you already have users, find out what they want!

 

[Twimfy]

And if you already have users, find out what they want!

That's the tricky part, looking at reviews, they're pretty much split down the middle.

A lot of them preferred the old days where it was just a simple tab bar controller which would get them straight to the sounds.

The rest like the new style I'm using (which is kinda like a windows metro layout)

 

[ElectronGuru]

That's the problem with change. It doesn't matter how much better the new way is supposed to be, someone will always prefer what used to be. If its not much work, give them the option to change back and forth. If its not practical, you'll have to decide: is it more important to bring in new customers or to keep the old ones happy.

 

[xArtx]

How many different practical UIs can a soundboard have?
http://www.google.com.au/search?um=....0..0.0....0...1c.1.26.img..4.0.0.GwlPlqZJquY

 

[waterskier2007]

Personally I am a huge fan of UITabBarControllers. They allow quick access to 5 different tabs (or more) and you can always have nav controllers within them. I also like that if you do choose to use nav controllers within them, a quick tap of the TabBar gets you back to the base NavigationController

 

[Twimfy]

Personally I am a huge fan of UITabBarControllers. They allow quick access to 5 different tabs (or more) and you can always have nav controllers within them. I also like that if you do choose to use nav controllers within them, a quick tap of the TabBar gets you back to the base NavigationController

Tab Bar was how the app started. I kinda got a little tired of them and how they looked but I can't fault the functionality. I might look into making a custom one.

 

[PriapusZA]

Tab Bar was how the app started. I kinda got a little tired of them and how they looked but I can't fault the functionality. I might look into making a custom one.

Not sure how the app looks - but maybe a Slide-out navigator like the FaceBook app has?

 

[Twimfy]

Not sure how the app looks - but maybe a Slide-out navigator like the FaceBook app has?

This is looking like the way to go, found something that I quite like.

Problem with the brand I'm involved in is there's no real theme to work from. They haven't agreed on a set of colours or font or visual style really and although they're re-releasing their DVD box sets to match up with the recent film release, I'm yet to see any of the artwork. There's a lot of red tape and some of the companies they work with don't seem too happy to give me anything yet.

If anyone is wondering, I'm talking about Alan Partridge. I won't drop the link though, I'm not here to spam.

 

[xArtx]

That's easy, if he's in radio you could simulate the sound board he uses.