create hardware for iphone to connect with external device. arduino?

Question

hi i need to create a simple connector. I think i may need to create an arduino board that will take data from the application and then transmit them to an external device.

Answer 1

In order get get access to the APIs necessary to develop apps that use the dock connector to talk to external hardware, you have become a member of Apple's Made for iPhone program. It's not a particularly simple process.

You're better off designing a device that can use WiFi to talk to the iPhone, then you can use the standard networking APIs and don't need any special permission from Apple.

EDIT: This answer is 5+ years old now. It's still true that you need to be in the MFi program to use the dock connector. However, at this point, most of the time Bluetooth 4.0 is the easiest way to make hardware that can communicate with a custom iPhone app.