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Build games for iOS, Mac, Android and Windows from one code base
The Marmalade SDK allows you to write 2D and 3D games from the ground up in C++ or Lua and deploy to iOS, OS X, Android, Windows and beyond, and all from a single code base. Our latest blog looks at how Marmalade simplifies the game development process while still giving you native performance, rich Xcode-based debugging and 64 bit support.
News
Xcode 6.3 and iOS 8.3 beta 2 Playgrounds
Another week, another iOS/Xcode beta. The changes to playgrounds are fantastic and this feature was the first on my wish list when I saw the playgrounds being introduced at WWDC. We've already seen some fantastic interactive documentation with the old playgrounds, I can't wait to see what people do with this. This beta also includes support for Xcode/TestFlight symbolicated crash reports and finally, Analytics in iTunes Connect!
“Must Fix for Next Release”
Great idea from Craig Hockenberry. I suspect that many of us have suffered from the situation of trying to ship a bug fix and receiving a rejection for something completely unrelated (I know I have!). I guess it's very slightly open to abuse, but I'm not sure it would be a big issue as your app would need to take care of the problem for its next release. As usual, I won't be holding my breath though.
Tools
Origami Live
Origami has been around for a little while now but this week saw the release of a major update. The big news is that you can now preview your compositions on device, which is fantastic as there's no substitute for how something feels when it's in your hands. They've also put some great work into new tutorial videos.
Code
MustOverride
Really useful little project by Nick Lockwood, by specifying that a SUBCLASS_MUST_OVERRIDE in a method, the app will crash on startup which is much better than having to wait until the method is actually called.
Awesome Swift
Fantastic collection of Swift resources by Matteo Crippa. I hadn't come across this before but it turns out it's a standard format which has been around for a while. You might also be interested in Awesome iOS or the other two Swift repositories (1, 2). It'd be great to see all of the Swift ones consolidated into one.
Swift Collection Protocols
Nate Cook (who's doing a great job taking over from Mattt at NSHipster) on collection types in Swift. It's interesting to look at how quickly his SortedCollection class comes together by simply implementing the various collection protocols.
Design
Designing for the Apple Watch with Briefs
Looking for something to help you mock up WatchKit apps? The folks over at MartianCraft have you covered with their new beta version of Briefs.
Design Principles
Melissa Mandelbaum with an introduction to the principles of design. This will be a little basic if you're already designing but sometimes it's nice to have a recap on the fundamentals if you're not doing this every day.
Business and Marketing
Selling Your App? 10 Questions You’ll Need Answered
After his recent experience selling an app Stuart Hall has written up a list of things to think about if you're thinking of selling an app.
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And finally...
The Apple Automobile
I'm embarrassed to say I dismissed this rumour so quickly, the Apple car is REAL!
Comment
So we have the date for the unveiling of the watch, March 9th and it will be streamed live. I'm looking forward to seeing how things have progressed since the last event. Here's hoping that the animated emoji's didn't make it into the final product...
In other news, it's possible that the iOS 8.3 beta will be a public release. Apple first tried this with some of the Yosemite betas last year and if they are planning the same with iOS, it must mean that they got what they wanted out of it. I do agree with Darren Jones that app reviews should be disabled on beta versions though.
Note: There are no solid sources on the rumour of iOS being made available as a public beta but it doesn't seem particularly far fetched so I thought it worth talking about.
Dave Verwer