I have found the Big Nerd Ranch iOS programming book to be very good. http://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programming-Ranch-Guide-Guides/dp/0321821521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&

I have found the Big Nerd Ranch iOS programming book to be very good. http://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programming-Ranch-Guide-Guides/dp/0321821521/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353274273&sr=1-1&keywords=ios+programming http://www.amazon.com/iOS-Programming-Ranch-Guide-Guides/dp/... In relation to the criteria you raised the book is a good fit. - I understand most of the basic concepts, but cannot implement them via code I think this is particularly true with iOS programming. The book is more written in a tutorial / HowTo style (i.e. the book gives a step by step walkthrough to create an example program). Most importantly it specifies how to use the IDE to do GUI building. - I am a person that does really well when I have a set path Me too. Each chapter is an exercise designed to teach you some part of the iOS library. There about 30 chapters in the book and each chapter can be completed in about 2 hours.