Countdown iPhone app similar to countdown widget?

Question

Hello all,
Our client has approached us to develop an iPhone app similar to the widget we just did, counting down the days/hrs/mins to a big meeting in October.
The widget was obviously dead easy, as we used the template that Apple so kindly provides.
Is there a similar template available for the iPhone, or could anyone point me in the right direction for creating something which at least seems relatively simple? But I'm a little stumped as to where to start. Any help getting started would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi Sub - There's no template that makes a countdown clock, nor can I think of an Apple sample app that's directly related. The DateCell sample might my helpful. Though it doesn't build a countdown clock, it shows how to use several of the classes that could be used in your project.
To find samples of countdown and alarm clock code, try a web search on keys like 'sdk iphone countdown clock sample code'.
As you'll gather from blogs and forum posts on this subject, you'll have a problem to solve if your client expects some alarm or notification when the zero hour approaches. Legal third party iPhone apps can't run in the background. So unless your app happens to be active when an alarm is needed, there's no way for the app to directly alert the user. The closest you can get to that is by using the new "PUSH" features. So there's another key word you might want to search on.
We might be able to help you more if you post more details about what your client expects the app to do, and what kind of UI you're planning. For instance, the sample at the above link shows how to use UIDatePicker as a calendar. UIDatePicker also includes a countdown mode that would be one way to anchor the UI without making your own shot clock.
If you want to post more details, please also include your skill level. E.g. whether you've ever built an iPhone app. Be sure to also let us know if you'll need to use PUSH, or any other feature that would require communication with a server.
Btw, does your client understand that the only legal way to distribute an iPhone app is by having it accepted for sale in the iTunes store? Several developers here have had to explain this to clients who want a private app which is only distributed to customers or employees.
So there's an overview of things to consider. There's probably going to be lots more to your project than just coding a UI with a countdown clock. But we can certainly help you with that part as soon as we know what that UI should look like.
\- Ray