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Dec 24, 2018 - Here are the best free and paid dictation software products, with tips for using them. Memos, emails, speeches, and other writing using only your voice. Apple Dictation (iOS, macOS); Diction.io (Web); Dragon by Nuance.
Dear Lifehacker,
I have a little background in coding, but I'd like to make an iOS app. I'm just not sure where to get started or what tools I need. Where do I start?
I have a little background in coding, but I'd like to make an iOS app. I'm just not sure where to get started or what tools I need. Where do I start?
Sincerely,
App Store Amateur
App Store Amateur
Dear ASA,
Learning to develop for iOS is kind of a two-pronged process. If you don't know how to code at all, you can find plenty of resources here. If you're versed in coding, you'll need to get familiar with Apple's development tools and their guidelines. Apple's known to restrict apps for all kinds of things, so it's good to know what you can and can't do before you start.
Learning to develop for iOS is kind of a two-pronged process. If you don't know how to code at all, you can find plenty of resources here. If you're versed in coding, you'll need to get familiar with Apple's development tools and their guidelines. Apple's known to restrict apps for all kinds of things, so it's good to know what you can and can't do before you start.
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We're not going to walk you through the entire process of making an app, that's far too much information for this post. However, we will get you set up with the coding environment, point you to Apple's guidelines, and give you a few resources to help you learn Apple's different languages for iOS.
Xcode, Swift, and the iOS SDK
Apple's IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for both Mac and iOS apps is Xcode. It's free and you can download it from from Apple's site. Xcode is the graphical interface you'll use to write apps. Included with it is also everything you need to write code for iOS 8 with Apple's new Swift programming language. It's also only available for Mac, so if you plan on making iOS apps, you'll need to be running OS X.
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While Apple's pushing Swift pretty hard these days, you can program iOS in any number of languages, including Objective-C. Which you decide to use it really up to you, but here are a few guides, classes, and tutorials to get you started:
- Start Developing iOS Apps Today: This is Apple's official starting guide. It walks you through setting up Xcode, structuring your app, implementing everything, and submitting it to the App Store.
- Introducing Swift: Apple's new programming language, Swift, is made specifically for iOS and Macs. It's supposedly much easier to work with and use, so if you're totally new to iOS development it's a good place to start. It works with and is similar to Objective-C (which you can also use if you prefer).
- Apple's Development Videos: Apple includes a ton of videos from WWDC teaching you various parts of development. They're a great resource for learning industry tricks and getting to know the basic toolset you're working with.
- Ray Wenderlich's Tutorials: If you want to make games, Ray Wenderlich's tutorials are a great place to start. He covers all kinds of thing beyond games too, so you're bound to learn something about Swift and Objective-C even if you'd prefer to make a productivity app.
- Apple's API Capabilities: Apple has a ton of different APIs to access app extensions, Touch ID, Photos, HealthKit, and more. Familiarize yourself with these so you can integrate more advanced features into your app.
- Code School's iOS App Development class: You can get a grasp on the basics of iOS development for free through Code School's intro classes.
- Stanford's iOS Development Classes: Stanford has a set of free classes to learn iOS development. It's still only available for iOS 7, but most things you learn should transfer over nicely to iOS 8. Chances are they'll have an updated class for iOS 8 in the near future.
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That should get you set up with your development tools and give you a good grasp on how things work on iOS.
Apple's App Store Review Guidelines
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It's no secret that Apple's App Store Review Guidelines are incredibly specific. Apple has a very specific view of what apps they'll allow in the store, so it's useful to get to know their rules before you even try to make your app. If you don't, you might spend your time making something that Apple won't allow into the App Store.
When you finish your app, you'll submit it to the App Store and it'll be reviewed based on a content, design (more on that in the next section), and technical details. So, head to the Review Guidelines page and get to reading. Apple also has a list of the common reasons apps get rejected here. Typically, it's because of crashes, broken links, advertisements, or incomplete information. Apple's also known to block apps that include any type of adult or political content.
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Read more ReadLikewise, many of Apple's APIs have their own set of review guidelines. So, if you're going to integrate your app with HealthKit or Apple Pay, it's good to get to know those as well. Here they are:
It's good to keep in mind that Apple tends to be very conservative with their app review process. Chances are, if you're making something even remotely risque, it will be rejected, so be mindful of that before you start making your app.
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Apple's Design Guidelines
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Beyond Apple's review guidelines, they also have a set of design and interface guidelines. Apple wants all the apps in their store to have some type of consistency, and while this doesn't have to mean good design, it does mean apps use the same basic UI elements.
To get a grasp on this, check out Apple's Human Interface Guidelines page. Here, you'll find the basics of what they're looking for in both apps and icon design. They also have a set of Do's and Don'ts that distill that massive guide down a little bit so it's easier to get started.
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Thankfully, Apple doesn't leave you totally in the dark on how to make a well designed app. Here are a few resources to get help you design something worthwhile:
- Designing Great Apps: Apple collected together some of the best talks from WWDC about design to help you get started with designing an interface.
- Designing a User Interface: Apple put together a guide for designing interfaces in iOS 8 using the built-in tools of Xcode.
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You can also find plenty of resources online to help improve your design chops, or check out our guide.
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Register for GitHub and TestFlight
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Unless you're some kind of super genius, you probably don't want to create your app in a bubble. Instead, it's good to get other people to look at your code and invite beta testers to try your app out.
GitHub is the go-to for software versioning and collaborative work. Once you register for GitHub, it's incredibly easy to link Xcode into it so everything you do is saved and accessible by other people on your team. If you need a little help setting up GitHub, their guides walk you through the process.
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Read more ReadLikewise, beta testing is also incredibly easy in iOS 8. Using TestFlight, you can simply invite users to your team so they can test your app. They'll just need to download the TestFlight app.
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Developing for iOS is really all about familiarizing yourself with Xcode. Once you're comfortable there, you can write your app in a wide variety of languages or take a stab at learning Swift. As you move along to actually writing that app, you'll certainly need to dig up answers to more specific questions, but the tools above will get you started on the right path.
Good luck,
Lifehacker
Lifehacker
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This app is only available on the App Store for iOS devices.
Description
Ginger ‘… allows users to send better texts and higher quality writing’ - **Techcrunch**
Start writing better and faster with Ginger’s revolutionary writing app!
Ginger's writing app offers you a better way to write in English. Get everything you need to quickly compose high-quality text that amplifies your message, everywhere you write.
Tap into Ginger's powerful editing tools to quickly review your text for any grammar, spelling and punctuation issues with the world’s leading proofreader.
**SMART SPELL CHECKER**
Ginger’s spell checker is like nothing you have seen before! Unlike other spell checkers, Ginger’s spell check will not interfere with your writing. Simply finish typing what you want to write, see our suggestions and choose whether you want to accept them or not. No muss, no fuss.
**ADVANCED GRAMMAR CHECK & SYNONYMS **
Try writing ‘He wants his teddy BARE’ in Ginger – see what happens! Ginger is the only writing and editor app that knows how to correct your grammar quickly and efficiently. After you have perfected your grammar with our proofreader – improve your vocabulary with our thesaurus and find new ways to express yourself.
GINGER PAGE FEATURES
• Advanced sentence rephrasing – Discover alternative ways to write your text.
• Personal Dictionary – Add slang, names, locations and other words for a personalized Ginger writing experience.
• US/UK dialect - Choose to express yourself with either US or UK English
• Quick share – Quickly share your text to your favorite apps.
• Translator -- Translate between more than 50 different languages.
• Contextual Synonyms and Definitions.
• Phrase of the Day – Get fun tips to spice up your English, share them with your friends!
• Text Reader – Human voice text to speech.
• Favorites – Use Ginger Cloud to sync across devices and save templates to reuse later.
• Share your text – Easily export your text to any writing or social app.
• Optimized for Tablet workflow – Special 2 pane view
Install Ginger Page writing app today and start expressing yourself better TODAY!
Start writing better and faster with Ginger’s revolutionary writing app!
Ginger's writing app offers you a better way to write in English. Get everything you need to quickly compose high-quality text that amplifies your message, everywhere you write.
Tap into Ginger's powerful editing tools to quickly review your text for any grammar, spelling and punctuation issues with the world’s leading proofreader.
**SMART SPELL CHECKER**
Ginger’s spell checker is like nothing you have seen before! Unlike other spell checkers, Ginger’s spell check will not interfere with your writing. Simply finish typing what you want to write, see our suggestions and choose whether you want to accept them or not. No muss, no fuss.
**ADVANCED GRAMMAR CHECK & SYNONYMS **
Try writing ‘He wants his teddy BARE’ in Ginger – see what happens! Ginger is the only writing and editor app that knows how to correct your grammar quickly and efficiently. After you have perfected your grammar with our proofreader – improve your vocabulary with our thesaurus and find new ways to express yourself.
GINGER PAGE FEATURES
• Advanced sentence rephrasing – Discover alternative ways to write your text.
• Personal Dictionary – Add slang, names, locations and other words for a personalized Ginger writing experience.
• US/UK dialect - Choose to express yourself with either US or UK English
• Quick share – Quickly share your text to your favorite apps.
• Translator -- Translate between more than 50 different languages.
• Contextual Synonyms and Definitions.
• Phrase of the Day – Get fun tips to spice up your English, share them with your friends!
• Text Reader – Human voice text to speech.
• Favorites – Use Ginger Cloud to sync across devices and save templates to reuse later.
• Share your text – Easily export your text to any writing or social app.
• Optimized for Tablet workflow – Special 2 pane view
Install Ginger Page writing app today and start expressing yourself better TODAY!
What’s New
Ratings and Reviews
2.5K Ratings
Must have for students ??
I had to write a school paper and this app helped me create and turn in an error free paper! I used it in school a couple times but I had never used the actual app before. I've seen many advertisements about Ginger and I kept thinking “this app can’t do all that, it’s all for the ad”. Seeing the app actually work, I was surprised at how good it was. It spell checked all my writing in seconds and even gave me many different ways to write the same sentence.
I think that PAGE grammar checker really helps with my writing. I tend to make a lot of simple mistakes but after I got this app I definitely had fewer grammar errors?! Even at my age, it made me realize how often I misspell certain words. One thing that I really like about this is that if you make an error, it will correct the error, but also give an explanation of why something should or shouldn't be used. When I’m texting someone it corrects things for me, it even adds punctuation if I forget to.
Overall I think that everyone needs this app. I believe that it can be very useful to encourage young writers, help with school assignments, or even business professionals. I like that it’s free, quick, and easy to download and use.
I think that it’s amazing so far and I get everything I want from it. Keep up the good work! ?
I think that PAGE grammar checker really helps with my writing. I tend to make a lot of simple mistakes but after I got this app I definitely had fewer grammar errors?! Even at my age, it made me realize how often I misspell certain words. One thing that I really like about this is that if you make an error, it will correct the error, but also give an explanation of why something should or shouldn't be used. When I’m texting someone it corrects things for me, it even adds punctuation if I forget to.
Overall I think that everyone needs this app. I believe that it can be very useful to encourage young writers, help with school assignments, or even business professionals. I like that it’s free, quick, and easy to download and use.
I think that it’s amazing so far and I get everything I want from it. Keep up the good work! ?
Absolutely a great tool and my new best app!
I’ve just downloaded and used Ginger first time to polish a report I wrote. It makes magic and it works smoothly. Every section of the app works, as it promised. Even this feedback I wrote, I checked and processed through Ginger. As well, it’s a great app, it is smooth with iPad pro’s split screen function. I used it side by side with Pages and again, no problem, nothing, nada! As an ESL professional, I think Ginger became my permanent writing tool. Nevertheless, I will continue to monitor and update my review. I’m curious about those one-star reviews and why they had a problem with Ginger. For now, 5-star for the app, kudos for the developers and yes, solid recommendation for all curious prospective users. Yes, it’s worth the five bucks I spent. Go ahead and try it yourself.
Developer Response,
Hi dear user.
We are so happy to read that you are able to benefit from our app like many other users.
This is a proof that the app works and does what is promises to do. We are always working on updates, bug fixes so no one is left behind.
Thank you for your support, rating and feedback.
Cheers,
The Ginger Team.
We are so happy to read that you are able to benefit from our app like many other users.
This is a proof that the app works and does what is promises to do. We are always working on updates, bug fixes so no one is left behind.
Thank you for your support, rating and feedback.
Cheers,
The Ginger Team.
The Only Text To Speech I Use
Ginger is the first text to speech app that I actually use. The deal breaker for all the others? They ignore punctiation and sound like a single never ending run on sentence. This makes Ginger understandable. She mispronounces some words. The way she pronounces 'detention' is strange. Sometime she pronounces words like 'read' wrong for the context. These errors are rare and do not make the app unusable. I find it very annoying that when I hit my power button and put my phone in my pocket, Ginger stops speaking. I believe this prroblem comes from Apple's iOS rather than the app. I have Syri set to a male voice, because a female seems so misogynistic. Ginger offer's no choice, but she is the only text to speech app I understand, so I keep her.
Developer Response,
Hi Randy,
The voice settings for Ginger are based on your device voice settings.
If you have updated the app to the latest version you will find that when tapping on the speaker icon a new menu appears from the bottom of the app allowing you to control the voice speed as well as choosing a different voice from the voices you have enabled on your device.
The voice settings for Ginger are based on your device voice settings.
If you have updated the app to the latest version you will find that when tapping on the speaker icon a new menu appears from the bottom of the app allowing you to control the voice speed as well as choosing a different voice from the voices you have enabled on your device.
Information
![Free writing software for apple Free writing software for apple](https://images.techhive.com/images/article/2015/04/tinyword-100577421-large.png)
Requires iOS 9.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese
Family Sharing
With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.