nsdatelimitnscalendarshazam

How to limit the use of an app during a month


I need some advice about how to logically proceed to limit the use of an app, I mean, as Shazam does: you can use it only for some times during a month, then you have to wait until next month for use it again. I'm doing it with Xcode and objective c.

How can I understand if the month is changed?


Solution

  • From a logical point of view, a basic method can be:

    use a structure like:

    struct run_time_for_month {
        int month;
        int minutes_left;
    } 
    

    and save in some option file (maybe with 0 as default).

    when the application start, load the structure, then check the month. If it is 0, then is the first run, so set

    month = current_month
    minutes_left = 100 (for example)
    

    and write it to the file.

    If the month is greater than 0, then you use this code (I write some pseudo code here)

    if current_month == saved_month then
        if minutes_left <= 0 then
             *** Running time for month ended ***
             *** Notify the user and exit the app ***
    else
        saved_month = current_month
        minutes_left = 100
    

    and save the file

    Now, while the application is running, every x minutes (with x = 5 or 10) and when the application is quitting you use this code (again, pseudo code here)

    minutes_left = minutes_left - x
    if minutes_left <= 0 then
         *** Time for month ended ***
         *** Notify the user and exit the app ***
    

    this a stripped down version of what I do in my code when I needed something like that, but again: I am not working with XCode and/or Objective C but with C++ so this can be only an idea.