Learning by Inspecting and Analyzing Apps

We discuss how to learn by inspecting and analyzing App Store applications with a simple set of instructions. We will look at how to use jailbreaking for education purposes -- on this specific case a way to inspect the view hierarchy of applications, allowing you to see how other developers solved a problem, or how some feature was implemented.

Joao Prado Maia is the founder of the Houston iPhone Developers Meetup, and the principal at Ipanema Labs LLC, a mobile development consulting company specializing on iOS and Android implementations.

Transcript

1. Learning by Inspecting and Analyzing Apps Houston iPhone Developers Meetup February 17th 2015 João Prado Maia, Ipanema Labs LLC © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 1
2. Me • Building apps since 2008 • Freelancing full time since 2011 • Principal at Ipanema Labs LLC • Full time freelance iOS developer out of The Woodlands © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 2
3. Meetups • Founder/Organizer of Houston iPhone Developers Meetup • Organizer of Houston PHP Users Group since 2005 © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 3
4. Knee Cap • Early 2009 • First app on store, simple SQLite structure © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 4
5. HAR (client) • Early 2010 on iPhone, 2011 as Universal app • Single developer on this application • Really big and complex application, mirroring features available on HAR.com © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 5
6. Houston Living (client) • Mid 2013 • Single developer on this application • Universal app from the start © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 6
7. New HAR (client) • Launching in a couple of months • Single developer on this application • Complete redesign of the app (and website) © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 7
8. Learning by Inspecting and Analyzing Apps (aka Jailbreaking is Useful Sometimes) • Usually a pain to support when dealing with bugs in jailbreaking mods © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 8
9. Initial Setup (1/3) • Jailbreak your device • Protip: use a backup device • Use Cydia to install OpenSSH, vim and Cydia Substrate • Login as root and change the default password ("alpine") • Install Reveal on your Mac © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 9
10. Initial Setup (2/3) • Copy the Reveal framework and dynamic library to the device cd /Applications/Reveal.app/Contents/SharedSupport/iOS-Libraries scp -r Reveal.framework \ root@192.168.1.18:/System/Library/Frameworks scp libReveal.dylib \ root@192.168.1.18:/Library/MobileSubstrate/DynamicLibraries © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 10
11. Initial Setup (3/3) • Create a configuration file on device for Cydia Substrate: • This step will be repeated as many times as needed, to add new apps to inspect vim /Library/MobileSubstrate/DynamicLibraries/libReveal.plist { Filter = { Bundles = ( "<App Bundle ID 1>", "<App Bundle ID 2>" ); }; } killall SpringBoard © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 11
12. Finding Apps • Built in applications: cd /Applications ls • Third party applications: cd /var/mobile/Containers/Bundle/Application find . -maxdepth 2 -type d -ls © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 12
13. Demos • App Store • Flipboard • Twitter • Tweetbot • Any suggestions for apps to inspect? © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 13
14. Apple App Ids (1/2) • iTunes Store: com.apple.MobileStore • App Store: com.apple.AppStore • Safari: com.apple.mobilesafari • Mail: com.apple.mobilemail • Music: com.apple.Music • Phone: com.apple.mobilephone © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 14
15. Apple App Ids (2/2) • Weather: com.apple.weather • Stocks: com.apple.stocks • Compass: com.apple.compass © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 15
16. Third Party Apps • Flipboard: com.flipboard.flipboard-ipad • Twitter: com.atebits.Tweetie2 • Tweetbot iPhone: com.tapbots.Tweetbot3 • Tweetbot iPad: com.tapbots.TweetbotPad • Instagram: com.burbn.instagram • Facebook: com.facebook.Facebook © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 16
17. Jailbreak Mods • Simulate different GPS location within specific apps • GPSCheat, Fake Location, etc • Control your device remotely through VNC with Veency © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 17
18. More information • Reveal app ($89.99) - http://revealapp.com/ • Alternative: Spark Inspector ($49.99) - http:// sparkinspector.com/ • Super nice "live mirror" feature, also has a notification monitor that can be useful in some cases © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 18
19. Contact • João Prado Maia - jpm@ipanemalabs.com • Reach me at (936) 718-1376 • Website at http://ipanemalabs.com • Twitter: @joaopmaia © Ipanema Labs LLC, 2015 19