Customizing UIImagePickerController under iPhone OS 3.0?

Question

In OS 3.1, Apple provides a way to overlay custom controls on the camera view (UIImagePickerController).

However, the properties and methods to do so weren't available in OS 3.0, and as far as I can tell, all you can do is hack the view hierarchy in 3.0.

So, I have a couple of related questions:

1) Is hacking the view hierarchy the only way to customize the view in 3.0?

2) Will Apple reject your app if you hack the view hierarchy?

3) What percentage of people have upgraded to v3.1?

This post provides some insight, but nothing definitive on whether Apple will reject an apps built to 3.0 that hack the view: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/561868/custom-iphone-camera-controls-not-using-uiimagepickercontroller

Answer 1

I haven't heard of Apple rejecting apps for hacking the view hierarchy but they advise against relying on such undocumented behavior.

Consider this - you're using the camera, so you're on the iPhone and not the iPod Touch. Since iPhone software updates are free, I would imagine that the overwhelming majority of people would have upgraded to 3.1. And if they didn't, perhaps they are the type of user that never would have purchased your app anyway.

Answer 2

Answers:

1) Is hacking the view hierarchy the only way to customize the view in 3.0?

Yes. That was the way to do it in 3.0 that was kosher with apple.

2) Will Apple reject your app if you hack the view hierarchy?

Apple approved apps that did this before 3.1. However I believe you should check the documents of the SDK they may have explicitly stated that you are no longer allowed to customize in any other way but what the SDK now provides.

3) What percentage of people have upgraded to v3.1?

A lot have upgraded to 3.1 by now because after all it included MMS and some other important features. Check out Pinch media and flurry analytics reports for some more specific data. You should not build for the absolutely lowest common denominator anyway. Remember that a lot of users when they want to get a new app get notified that they must upgrade their iPhone software. You will create a maintenance nightmare for yourself if you keep forking your functionality.