An increasing number of iPhone apps uses in-app settings instead or in addition to settings accessible via the system Settings app. In a move to support the iPhone developer community, Edovia (Rocket Taxi, TouchPad) and FutureTap (Where To?) have open sourced their InAppSettingsKit framework.
The framework allows iPhone developers to include settings in their apps maintaining the same user interface known from system Settings. Developers may even choose a "hybrid settings" approach where the settings are accessible in-app as well as via the system Settings app.
"Many users simply don’t understand the mechanism and completely miss the settings if they’re only available in the system Settings app. So we hope for a broad adoption of InAppSettingsKit", says Luc Vandal, Edovia CEO.
Ortwin Gentz, FutureTap CEO, adds: "In-App settings make a nasty context switch obsolete. Users can change the behavior of the app more quickly and intuitively. We’re glad to support our wonderful developer community by open-sourcing this framework."
InAppSettingsKit is available as open source under the liberal BSD license and can be integrated without charge in any free or paid app. InAppSettingsKit is currently used in the following apps:
- Where To? – GPS points of interest (FutureTap)
- TouchPad (Edovia)
- NumPad – Wireless Numeric Keypad (Edovia)
- GasCubby – MPG and Car Maintenance (App Cubby).
