4 ms·

Customize iOS7 App Switcher with custom card view

92 points by macalicious 13y ago

ricardobeat 13y ago
I'm guessing Apple will shut this down. The thumbnails are there for the sole reason of you visually identifying the apps as you left them. If applications can change that snapshot at will then it becomes a mere gimmick.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
0x0 13y ago
It looks like the trick here is to hook into a global NSNotification called "UIApplicationWillBeginSuspendAnimationNotification", which is assumed to be "app will enter background", and then throw up a fullscreen UIView on top of everything. I think this is an undocumented notification, so it's possible other iOS versions will break this feature.
- quux 13y ago
  I can't find it at the moment, but I think there is a supported way to achieve the same thing. I remember it being mentioned at WWDC to allow apps to hide sensitive data in the UI before the screenshot for the app switcher is taken.
  - smackfu 13y ago
    Yes, 1Password does this. If you have it unlocked, and then switch to another app, then switch back, the thumbnail is the lock screen, even though that's not the last thing you had onscreen.
  - rguldener 13y ago
    Yes I remember that as well, all you have to do is set the UI you want to be screenshotted in the applicationWillEnterBackground notification/application delegate callback. This has been around since fast app switching (iOS 2.3 I think, the golden old days :)) but has gotten much more prominent with the new app switcher.
k-mcgrady 13y ago
Nice idea. Probably something Apple should be making available easily via the API as it could make the task switcher much more useful.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
jonesetc 13y ago
Interesting stuff, surprised the built-in apps don't do something similar to this. As an aside, is there anything similar to this for android? I've tried a fair bit of googling but can't find anything or the right search term.
- swanson 13y ago
  There is a method `onCreateThumbnail()`[1] that is supposed to allow you to do this, but it doesn't appear to work (reported bugs in 4.0-4.2). The best you can get at the moment is to blank out the thumbnail[2] (for security reasons) or opt out of being shown in the list [3]. [1]: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html#onCreateThumbnail(android.graphics.Bitmap%2C%20android.graphics.Canvas) http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.... [2]: http://commonsware.com/blog/2012/01/16/secure-against-screenshots.html http://commonsware.com/blog/2012/01/16/secure-against-screen... [3]: Use android:excludeFromRecents="true"
e28eta 13y ago
Maybe I'm too pessimistic, but I expected the example to be just the app's logo. Ie: oh, that's my Dropbox app because instead of the Dropbox UI, I see the big Dropbox logo (Nothing against Dropbox or their app). I also wonder if we'll ever see the app switcher card being used as advertisement space. A little less cynically: If you can redesign a screen in the app to remove clutter and highlight the important information for the user for the app switcher, why don't you do that in the app? Sounds like it might be a better UI design. Now, I can think of many reasonable counter examples, but I'd challenge you to spend more time on the app UI where your users spend most of their time.
- k-mcgrady 13y ago
  >> "If you can redesign a screen in the app to remove clutter and highlight the important information" It's not that simple. The problem isn't information density/clutter. When in task switching mode the screen is very small so just being able to make the most important information larger so it's easier to read is useful. Also, there may be buttons on screen that may be important features - but they aren't important in task switch mode as they can't be pressed so removing them and making more room for the content makes sense. It's like designing for a small screen device and a larger screen device. You can make useful features easier to access on the larger screen due to the extra real estate. That doesn't necessarily mean you're cluttering the UI.
- badman_ting 13y ago
  The switcher view is a) purely read-only, b) scaled down in size from the normal view. I think it makes sense for info to be presented differently in this case. When you make an icon smaller, you don't just take the existing design and scale it down. You also remove detail you can't afford to try to make the design clearer overall.
nsxwolf 13y ago
I'll wager Apple will shut this down or reject apps that do this. If you're going to do this you have to consider the ramifications of how stale the information on the card becomes over time. The example, showing a "Checked in since..." will become stale if someone checks in/out on another device. A real iOS 7 API to update these cards in the background would be a nice addition.
- smackfu 13y ago
  Yes, releasing an API for a feature that essentially has never been in an approved app is pretty risky.
- arrrg 13y ago
  The only legitimate use case to me seems not displaying possibly sensitive information.
  - ctdonath 13y ago
    That's a very big and sufficient use case, significant enough to warrant making this "concealment card" the norm unless there is a reason not to. Not the kind of thing you want a customer realizing after the fact.
    - nsxwolf 13y ago
      I think you lose a lot of context. The screen shots help you remember what you're doing. In most cases, I would rather see the last state my app was in.
      - ctdonath 13y ago
        You're missing the point. Several, actually. Sometimes screenshots are not acceptable - such as when they show Social Security Numbers, bank account numbers and contents, or NSFW stuff (imagine switching when AirPlay-projecting for a group during a meeting). Sometimes screenshots hang on for a long time in the switcher - the session may have expired, but the thumbnail is still there days later, showing wrong context. Sometimes the snapshot is just plain unreadable because it's scaled down, making it unusable even if you want to see it. The whole point of the parent's source code IS to provide app state info WITHOUT just snapshotting the screen or showing a bland logo.

92 points by macalicious 13y ago

I'm guessing Apple will shut this down. The thumbnails are there for the sole reason of you visually identifying the apps as you left them. If applications can change that snapshot at will then it becomes a mere gimmick.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

0x0 13y ago

It looks like the trick here is to hook into a global NSNotification called "UIApplicationWillBeginSuspendAnimationNotification", which is assumed to be "app will enter background", and then throw up a fullscreen UIView on top of everything. I think this is an undocumented notification, so it's possible other iOS versions will break this feature.

quux 13y ago
I can't find it at the moment, but I think there is a supported way to achieve the same thing. I remember it being mentioned at WWDC to allow apps to hide sensitive data in the UI before the screenshot for the app switcher is taken.
- smackfu 13y ago
  Yes, 1Password does this. If you have it unlocked, and then switch to another app, then switch back, the thumbnail is the lock screen, even though that's not the last thing you had onscreen.
- rguldener 13y ago
  Yes I remember that as well, all you have to do is set the UI you want to be screenshotted in the applicationWillEnterBackground notification/application delegate callback. This has been around since fast app switching (iOS 2.3 I think, the golden old days :)) but has gotten much more prominent with the new app switcher.

k-mcgrady 13y ago

Nice idea. Probably something Apple should be making available easily via the API as it could make the task switcher much more useful.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

jonesetc 13y ago

Interesting stuff, surprised the built-in apps don't do something similar to this. As an aside, is there anything similar to this for android? I've tried a fair bit of googling but can't find anything or the right search term.

swanson 13y ago
There is a method `onCreateThumbnail()`[1] that is supposed to allow you to do this, but it doesn't appear to work (reported bugs in 4.0-4.2). The best you can get at the moment is to blank out the thumbnail[2] (for security reasons) or opt out of being shown in the list [3]. [1]: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.html#onCreateThumbnail(android.graphics.Bitmap%2C%20android.graphics.Canvas) http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity.... [2]: http://commonsware.com/blog/2012/01/16/secure-against-screenshots.html http://commonsware.com/blog/2012/01/16/secure-against-screen... [3]: Use android:excludeFromRecents="true"

e28eta 13y ago

Maybe I'm too pessimistic, but I expected the example to be just the app's logo. Ie: oh, that's my Dropbox app because instead of the Dropbox UI, I see the big Dropbox logo (Nothing against Dropbox or their app). I also wonder if we'll ever see the app switcher card being used as advertisement space. A little less cynically: If you can redesign a screen in the app to remove clutter and highlight the important information for the user for the app switcher, why don't you do that in the app? Sounds like it might be a better UI design. Now, I can think of many reasonable counter examples, but I'd challenge you to spend more time on the app UI where your users spend most of their time.

k-mcgrady 13y ago
>> "If you can redesign a screen in the app to remove clutter and highlight the important information" It's not that simple. The problem isn't information density/clutter. When in task switching mode the screen is very small so just being able to make the most important information larger so it's easier to read is useful. Also, there may be buttons on screen that may be important features - but they aren't important in task switch mode as they can't be pressed so removing them and making more room for the content makes sense. It's like designing for a small screen device and a larger screen device. You can make useful features easier to access on the larger screen due to the extra real estate. That doesn't necessarily mean you're cluttering the UI.
badman_ting 13y ago
The switcher view is a) purely read-only, b) scaled down in size from the normal view. I think it makes sense for info to be presented differently in this case. When you make an icon smaller, you don't just take the existing design and scale it down. You also remove detail you can't afford to try to make the design clearer overall.

nsxwolf 13y ago

I'll wager Apple will shut this down or reject apps that do this. If you're going to do this you have to consider the ramifications of how stale the information on the card becomes over time. The example, showing a "Checked in since..." will become stale if someone checks in/out on another device. A real iOS 7 API to update these cards in the background would be a nice addition.

smackfu 13y ago
Yes, releasing an API for a feature that essentially has never been in an approved app is pretty risky.
arrrg 13y ago
The only legitimate use case to me seems not displaying possibly sensitive information.
- ctdonath 13y ago
  That's a very big and sufficient use case, significant enough to warrant making this "concealment card" the norm unless there is a reason not to. Not the kind of thing you want a customer realizing after the fact.
  - nsxwolf 13y ago
    I think you lose a lot of context. The screen shots help you remember what you're doing. In most cases, I would rather see the last state my app was in.
    - ctdonath 13y ago
      You're missing the point. Several, actually. Sometimes screenshots are not acceptable - such as when they show Social Security Numbers, bank account numbers and contents, or NSFW stuff (imagine switching when AirPlay-projecting for a group during a meeting). Sometimes screenshots hang on for a long time in the switcher - the session may have expired, but the thumbnail is still there days later, showing wrong context. Sometimes the snapshot is just plain unreadable because it's scaled down, making it unusable even if you want to see it. The whole point of the parent's source code IS to provide app state info WITHOUT just snapshotting the screen or showing a bland logo.