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Ask HN: Tools for iOS app prototyping/wireframing

4 points by nnd 12y ago

I'm looking for a tool to do wireframing and fast prototyping (including interactive previews) with templates for native iOS widgets. What do you reckon are the best ones? I've tried Fluid UI and Blueprint (iPad app) - both really solid.

jefflinwood 12y ago
XCode's Storyboard works better than you would think, especially if you're just at the wireframing stage and not necessarily worried about getting all of the design elements in there. There are a few things (like Page view controllers) that don't lend themselves well to Storyboard-as-mockup, but overall it's a pretty good solution. Use static prototypes with your table view controllers to simulate multiple table cells, for instance. On the down side, it's not as easily shareable as an HTML-based prototype that some of the mockup tools will create.
- bennyg 12y ago
  This. It seriously frustrates me when I see new wire framing tools pop up for iOS since just using Xcode will be about the same speed (if not faster) to set something up with and its now something a developer (or yourself) can just modify without rebuilding everything. I'm a fan of pencil and paper sketches to begin and then code after that. Xcode makes it so easy to visually design things that I don't even mock things up in Illustrator or PS any more. And this is coming from someone who has a graphic design degree and works as a professional software (mostly iOS) engineer.
drewcon 12y ago
I use proto.io and really like it. It's got the templates you're looking for, but can also do some pretty advanced (for a prototyping tool) animations and UI logic using variables.
nthState 12y ago
I made Flux, it's an animation transition designer for iOS, you can get a free trial from www.nthstate.com/Flux
mietek 12y ago
Check out Flinto — no templates, but excellent for adding interaction to hand-drawn wireframes and prototypes.
mattquiros 12y ago
There's a WWDC session where Apple designers use Keynote to prototype iOS apps. It's actually impressive--you can fake the animations and interactions to be really close to the real thing. https://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2014/#223 https://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2014/#223
MalcolmDiggs 12y ago
For lightweight storyboarding I use Lucidchart (they have a set of iOS-specific icons and such which save a little time, but nothing fancy). For full-color clickable demos I've had a lot of fun with invisionapp.com That being said, several clients of mine have preferred balsamiq.com, I'm not sure why exactly, they just found it easier to use.

4 points by nnd 12y ago

jefflinwood 12y ago

XCode's Storyboard works better than you would think, especially if you're just at the wireframing stage and not necessarily worried about getting all of the design elements in there. There are a few things (like Page view controllers) that don't lend themselves well to Storyboard-as-mockup, but overall it's a pretty good solution. Use static prototypes with your table view controllers to simulate multiple table cells, for instance. On the down side, it's not as easily shareable as an HTML-based prototype that some of the mockup tools will create.

bennyg 12y ago
This. It seriously frustrates me when I see new wire framing tools pop up for iOS since just using Xcode will be about the same speed (if not faster) to set something up with and its now something a developer (or yourself) can just modify without rebuilding everything. I'm a fan of pencil and paper sketches to begin and then code after that. Xcode makes it so easy to visually design things that I don't even mock things up in Illustrator or PS any more. And this is coming from someone who has a graphic design degree and works as a professional software (mostly iOS) engineer.

drewcon 12y ago

I use proto.io and really like it. It's got the templates you're looking for, but can also do some pretty advanced (for a prototyping tool) animations and UI logic using variables.

nthState 12y ago

I made Flux, it's an animation transition designer for iOS, you can get a free trial from www.nthstate.com/Flux

mietek 12y ago

Check out Flinto — no templates, but excellent for adding interaction to hand-drawn wireframes and prototypes.

mattquiros 12y ago

There's a WWDC session where Apple designers use Keynote to prototype iOS apps. It's actually impressive--you can fake the animations and interactions to be really close to the real thing. https://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2014/#223 https://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2014/#223

MalcolmDiggs 12y ago

For lightweight storyboarding I use Lucidchart (they have a set of iOS-specific icons and such which save a little time, but nothing fancy). For full-color clickable demos I've had a lot of fun with invisionapp.com That being said, several clients of mine have preferred balsamiq.com, I'm not sure why exactly, they just found it easier to use.