iOS App Sharing Implementation
Article Summary
Gernot Poetsch breaks down how iOS apps can leverage SoundCloud's connection API to share content across social networks without managing tokens yourself. This 2011 guide still offers valuable lessons on delegated authentication patterns.
This technical guide from SoundCloud's developer blog explains how iOS apps can implement social sharing using SoundCloud's connection API. Instead of managing OAuth tokens for each service, apps authenticate once with SoundCloud and leverage existing user connections to Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and Myspace.
Key Takeaways
- SoundCloud handles authentication tokens, apps just use existing connections
- Different sharing flows for public tracks (social) vs private (email)
- Machine tags enable geo coordinates and Foursquare venue IDs
- WebView pattern lets users create new social connections in-app
By centralizing social authentication through SoundCloud's API, iOS apps avoided managing multiple OAuth implementations and token storage across four different platforms.
About This Article
iOS developers had to add per-file sharing options while keeping the default connection settings from SoundCloud's website. They needed UI patterns that could display multiple social network connections and give users granular control over each one.
Gernot Poetsch's guide suggested using UITableView with UISwitch AccessoryViews to show connections. The post_publish field set the default state, and conditional deactivation logic handled Foursquare venue requirements.
Users could share public tracks to Twitter, Facebook Profiles, Facebook Pages, Foursquare, and Myspace all at once. Private uploads went to email addresses, and the system automatically detected SoundCloud accounts for internal sharing.