Remote Nib Loading for Fun (But Not Profit)

A while ago I noticed an interesting API for creating a UINib object from data:

+ (UINib *)nibWithData:(NSData *)data bundle:(NSBundle *)bundleOrNil

At the time I didn’t have a use for it, until this exchange occurred on Twitter:


The resulting exchange was very fruitful, including this gem from ex-Apple employee Michael Jurewitz:

So I wouldn’t recommend using this in a shipping application, but I wanted to see if it worked. I created a simple app that loads a nib from a website, then tries to initialize a view controller’s view using it. You can view the whole project on GitHub, but here’s the relevant code:

Would I recommend using this in a shipping app? Absolutely not, given Jury’s recommendations. But it is an interesting idea for enterprise, in-house, or jailbreak apps, and I can see the possibility for some very cool stuff to come out of it.

Published by

Jeff Kelley

I make iOS apps for Detroit Labs.