Issue 326

10^th November 2017

Written by Dave Verwer

Comment

Happy Friday everyone! We’re one week in to the iPhone X launch and I must admit I’m still on the fence as to whether or not I should upgrade, it seems as though those lucky enough to have gotten their hands on one are loving it though. In fact, I’ve lost count of all the animojis I’ve received within the past couple of days. 😜 Fun stuff.

<p>Vicc Alexander</p>

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News

Although apps can already offer introductory free trials for subscriptions, it’s nice to see Apple introduce support for reduced pricing in iOS 11.2. It’s always good to see more ways introduced to incentivize users to stick around longer (hopefully long enough to retain), while still pulling in some revenue. In fact, it was this same approach that allowed Spotify to reach tons of people a few years back with their “get 3 months for $0.99” deal. I’m curious to see how this will affect the subscription landscape in general.

Tools

Over the past 2 years, I’ve seen tons of great advice related to Swift compile-time optimizations, spread across dozens of articles. Although helpful, it was always quite difficult to look through all of my saved bookmarks and reference them. Happy to report that this may no longer be necessary as Arek Holko has put together a nice collection of tips and tricks on how to get the best build times. I’m definitely giving a few of these a try! 😎

If you’re one of the lucky few who have gotten their hands on the iPhone X, you’ve probably noticed that not all apps have been updated to look and/or function correctly on it. Joe Colantonio shares some insights on mobile testing and app development recommendations to help avoid this. Although I find this list a bit excessive (especially if you’re a small startup figuring out product-market fit), there are definitely a few key things in here that are a must.

Code

Chris Wagner does a fantastic job covering many of the mistakes developers make as a result of the dilemmas and issues they face when first starting out. In fact, I’m guilty of making many of the mistakes listed on here myself. As Chris notes, the important thing is to acknowledge that none of us are perfect. While this read is directed at new developers, I found this quite helpful. It reminded me that those of us with a bit more experience should use what we’ve learned to encourage rather than discourage.

There’s definitely no shortage of articles when it comes to iOS app architecture and patterns. However, I found Aleksandar Vacić’s piece quite refreshing. Rather than suggesting alternatives to Apple’s recommended MVC pattern, Aleksandar calls it how it is, and puts the “massive view controller” blame on developers themselves.

Say what you will, but I’ve always been a huge fan of MVC. Quite frankly, our team at Polly is doing just fine with it thanks to the proper use of delegates and the way we structure our code. However, whether you prefer MVC or an alternative, Aleksandar shares some useful rules of engagement for maintainable projects that will surely be helpful. 🙃

I side with Chris that relying on too many third-party libraries can lead to issues down the road, however, I still use a few. In fact, over at Polly, we use SnapKit and we absolutely love it. With that said, it’s always nice to try something new for a change. Chris Eidhof helps lends us a hand by showing us how to write less layout-code that is clearer and more concise, all without using any third-party libraries. It may look a bit complicated at first, but it’s definitely one way to approach it. 🤓

Design

Even after building Chameleon and explored everything from RGB and HSB to CIELAB color spaces, I never gave color management much thought. However, with the release of the iPhone X and newer devices with wider gamuts, it’ll soon be impossible to continue to get by without making design and branding mistakes. For example, what may look purple and vibrant in your sketch file could end up looking dull and blue on another device. Marc Edwards does a fantastic job explaining what he means by color management and shares a few details on how to ensure that your app’s colors are represented accurately across all devices.

Feather is a well-polished set of icons created by Cole Bemis. Although Feather isn’t necessarily new, it’s proven extremely helpful to me, so I figured I’d share. The best part is that it is open-source, meaning designers and developers everywhere can request new icons, or submit their own on Github. ❤️

Business and Marketing

Still working on updating your app’s screenshots for iPhone X or working on some marketing banners? Well, you’re in for a treat. Apple just released updated marketing material for all of their latest devices along with updated download badges and fonts. 🎉

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And finally...

Here’s some real-world inspiration… 😂