Can an iOS app have no icon?

Question

Is it possible to create an app that does not appear in the Home screen, and allows another app to grab its resources (sounds, images, etc)?

I want to create a lightweight app (app #1) and upload it to the app store. Then I would like to be able to direct users to download an add-on (app #2) if they want that contains more images and sounds. Then app #1 would read these resources from app #2.

I'm trying to avoid having my own server to serve these images, and just have the App Store handle this for me. I know I can do this on Android, and was wondering if it's possible in iOS as well.

Answer 1

Is it possible to create an app that does not appear in the Home screen, and allows another app to grab its resources (sounds, images, etc)?

Not only can you not create an app that's hidden from the user, you also can't access the resources of one app from another. Each app lives in its own sandbox and cannot read (or write) into the sandbox of another app.

I want to create a lightweight app (app #1) and upload it to the app store. Then I would like to be able to direct users to download an add-on (app #2) if they want that contains more images and sounds. Then app #1 would read these resources from app #2.

The normal way to do something like that would be to host the resources you need on a server or just store them inside your app.

I'm trying to avoid having my own server to serve these images, and just have the App Store handle this for me. I know I can do this on Android, and was wondering if it's possible in iOS as well.

No, not possible.

Answer 2

If you are able to use the In-App Purchase system, then Apple will host this for you. From the docs, I'm not clear if this is iOS 6 only or is available for older versions (I haven't seen any reason it wouldn't work for older versions, but I haven't tried it).

Note that most iOS 6 specifics are under NDA, so please do not discuss them here until iOS 6 releases. This particular fact is public, however:

• https://developer.apple.com/technologies/ios6/
• https://developer.apple.com/appstore/in-app-purchase/index.html
• https://itunesconnect.apple.com/docs/iTunesConnect_DeveloperGuide.pdf

Answer 3

No it's not possible. You have to setup an icon and it will be displayed on the iPhone springboard.

Answer 4

No it cannot, why do you need one?

Answer 5

Sadly No in IOS but in android this is possible.

There can exist an app without an icon. But it can still be managed or removed in "Manage Application" under settings.

This is required in scenarios, like say I want this app to alert user when he is going out of region, using GPS in the background. I do not want any icon nor any user interface.