Can my iphone app communicate with a connected computer?

Question

Preferably, this would be a computer connected via cable, but if there's a way to do it over wifi then this would also be useful. I'm wondering if it's possible to send messages between them?

Or if i had a mac app and an iPhone app, could I communicate between them over wifi or a usb connection, rather than using a server or something?

Answer 1

Connecting over WiFi is possible, cable connection however isn't possible (certainly not in the documented API) unless the phone is jailbroken.

For wifi you're just going to connect to a TCP/IP host/socket. Have a look at CocoaAsyncSocket. The computer would need to be hosting some sort of server software. This is how iTunes Remote and AirMouse work.