TOKYO (MacHouse) – If you develop iOS applications, you should already know that customizing navigation bar looks is not that difficult. Customizing navigation bars and tab bars is quite confusing, though. Even for the same device and orientation, a UI size can differ, depending on the target iOS version.

Gekko is a desktop application that lets you design navigation bars and tab bars for iOS applications with ease. You can use your own image or pick one from a built-in library of 33 texture images to design a navigation bar or a tab bar image. Also, you can create color gradation maps with Gekko to design a UI image. Let Gekko export UI images for both the Retina display and non-Retina display. Use Gekko to generate Objective-C code so that you can reproduce the same looks of an UI image with iPhone Simulator and iOS devices.
 

Available at Mac App Store

Features

1. Design custom navigation bars (UINavigationBar) and tab bars (UITabBar), depending on the target device (iPhone 3.5 in., iPhone 4 in., iPad), device orientation, iOS version (iOS 6, iOS 7) and other factors.
2. Create color gradation maps. Let Gekko save your color gradation presets so that you can reuse them.
3. Export your color gradation maps as preset files so that you can share them with other users. Import color gradation maps that are creaed by other users.
4. Get access to a built-in library of 33 texture images.
5. Save a list of fonts as favorite fonts.
6. Make color adjustments on a UI image by controlling its hue, saturation, brightness, contrast and other levels.
7. When making color adjustments, the user can undo/redo changes as many times as the stack of actions allows.
8. Save progress by creating a project file. Double-click on a project file to resume progress.
9. Let Gekko export a UI image for both the Retina display and the non-Retina display at the same time.
10. Let Gekko generate Objective-C code for reproducing the same navigation bar/ tab bar looks on iPhone Simulator and iOS devices.
11. Trim the top corners of a navigation bar.
12. Languages: English only.
13. The application supports the fullscreen.
14. The application supports the Retina display.
15. Application file size: 141.5 MB
16. The application comes with a complete user’s guide written in English. (Choose Help > User’s Guide.)

System requirements

1. Mac OS X 10.7 (untested), 10.8 (tested), 10.9 (tested)
2. 64-bit system
3. A display capable of showing at least 850 x 770 points

Limitations

1. Each gradation map can contain as many as 50 color stops.
2. Graphic formats that Gekko can read as source UI images are BMP, GIF, JPEG, JPEG 2000, PDF, PNG, PSD, TIFF.
3. For now, the only manner of shading gradient colors is linear.
4. For now, the user can export one color gradation map at a time.
5. Gekko supports two iOS versions, iOS 6 and iOS 7, for now.

Version history

1.1.1 (August 25, 2014)

1. Fix: When the user exported gradation presets, the application could mingle one set of color gradation colors with others.

1.1.0 (June 13, 2014)

1. The user can now export multiple color gradation maps at a time.
2. The user can now delete multiple-selected color gradation maps at a time.
3. With ‘Open a project with the same font name when possible’ on in Preferences, Gekko will find the new position of a font if the order of appearance has change.
4. When the user opens a saved project, the title of the main application window will be renamed after it. And a status message will appear at the bottom-left corner that will last for 5 seconds.
5. Previously, the application saved color component values to recover color. Instead, the application now saves color objects as NSData.

User’s guide

Application user’s guide is available (only in English). Click here to access it online.






Trial/Demo version

Click here to download a demo version. This demo version is fully function except that UI images that you export will be watermarked.






Video tutorial

A video tutorial with text commentary is available in the form of a QuickTime movie. Click here. The data size is 249.2 MB, and the movie duration is 26 minutes and 8 seconds. The video dimensions are 1,440 x 900 pts.






Gekko is a product of MacHouse.