TabBar app or Navigation Bar App?

Question

Hi, i have recently started working on iPhone but i am completely confused which application is best for the programming.. i mean TabBar Application, Navigation based app or window based . As we generally need all tab bar and navigation bar in our application In that case which application i should use??? Please explain it.

Cheers

Answer 1

The need for a TabBar, NavBar, or Window based application is mostly subjective. This will depend on:

1. How you want the application to look
2. Whether or not you need the functionality of the nav and tab bars

Window only applications are typically the EASIEST to implement, at first, but do not provide the necessary functionality that many people are use to. Window/OpenGL based applications are ideal for games that require "full screen."

TabBar applications are perfect for applications that have several main "sections." Akin to a website that has "blog", "products", and "contact us", you can have many sections with the TabBar.

NavBar applications let you stack up additional views, one at a time, that you can transition to as necessary. A typical implementation of this is a "drill-down" menu.

Good luck!

-Kevin

Answer 2

If you are wondering which user interface element to use, I recommend reading the "Navigation Bars, Tab Bars, Toolbars, and the Status Bar" section of the iPhone Human Interface Guidelines.

If you're asking which application template to start from, it doesn't really matter. You won't be locked into a particular type of application if you start from a particular template. You can even start multiple templates, and copy across the relevant code and interface elements that Apple provides for you to combine functionality.