5 Third Party iOS Libraries I Have Found Useful Lately
As I mature as a developer, I try to rely on other people’s code more an more. Why build something from scratch when a solution already exists that you can fit in your project. In Pocket MUD Pro, I used 13 3rd party libraries and am using quite a bit more in the project that I’m currently working on. I figured that I would share some of the libraries that I have been using so that it might save you some time in the future.
1. CocoaAsyncSocket
Link: https://github.com/robbiehanson/CocoaAsyncSocket
Many of my applications involve TCP or UDP networking. There is a lot of boiler plate code involved in every networked application, and CocoaAsyncSocket solves much of that for you.
2. Appirater
Link: http://github.com/arashpayan/appirater/
Hopefully, you have heard of this one or a similar library by now. It’s very challenging to get users to want to review your applications, let alone give you a positive review. AppiRater allows you to prompt a user to rate your application based on either number of launches or “significant events” which you specify.
3. Zip Archive
Link: http://code.google.com/p/ziparchive/
I try to ship small applications that download assets upon launch. A good way to send these assets over the wire is to zip them up and stick them on your server. I have written an article about this on iCodeBlog.
4. Quick Dialog
**Link: ** https://github.com/escoz/QuickDialog
Creating forms in iOS is pretty painful. It usually involves custom table cells and a lot of delegate nonsense. QuickDialog takes away some of this pain and allows you to easily create iOS forms. You can even design them using JSON.
5. TSMiniWebBrowser
Link: https://github.com/tonisalae/TSMiniWebBrowser
Often times, you want a quick and dirty browser in your application. I generally use it to point to in-app documentation or take the user to a page after tapping on a link. It’s quick and easy.
I hope you find some value in this list. I’d love to hear about the libraries you use frequently.
Happy Coding!
