Issue 337

2^nd February 2018

Written by Dave Verwer

Comment

As February kicks off, your thoughts might be turning to possible WWDC announcements. It’s certainly getting close to the time when we may see dates and ticket plans for this year’s conference. I’d say it’s very likely going to be in San Jose again, but we know nothing more than that. Will we see “Marzipan”? A refocusing on quality and reliability in iOS 12 or something else?

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News

iTunes Connect has come a long way since I first began using it in 2010. However, the current upload flow has left a lot to be desired. If you’ve ever had to upload 50+ localized app previews, you’ve probably experienced the pain. Thankfully, developers can now use Transporter, Apple’s command-line delivery tool, to upload multiple app previews to iTunes Connect effortlessly. 🙌

Tools

If you need to include a complex, pre-formatted attributed string in your app then it can be a pain to write it all out in code. This tool lets you format a string directly in the browser and then copy/paste the attributed string code into your app. It has fewer features than Attributed String Creator but it’s easily accessible from any web browser, and it’s free too.

Code

I recommend checking out Promises if you hate the messiness that comes with nested async operations. Similar to PromiseKit, Google’s latest open-source framework helps simplify your code logic reasonably well. Not only does Promises feature 100% test coverage, but it also seems to perform a lot faster than related libraries.

After more than five years of mobile development, I’m still a fan of the MVC pattern & we use it in Polly. Although no design pattern is perfect, Pawel brings up some excellent points concerning MVC and shares a few tips on ways to prevent massive controllers from forming in the first place. Ultimately, my advice is to use what works best for you, regardless of what the hottest new trend is.

One of my favorite features of Swift is the level of flexibility you can achieve through extensions. With that said, too much flexibility can also be a bad thing. If you’re feeling a bit adventurous though, I recommend checking out Tyrone Advit’s detailed article on extending the Result type.

Design

Excellent write-up on the design process behind Flawless App’s latest Reduce app. Not only are there a lot of useful design links and resources sprinkled throughout the post, but if you’re a Sketch user, you can also download the app for free to optimize your large sketch files even further. 💪🏼

Color plays a really important role when it comes to an app’s branding. Unfortunately, color space isn’t something most developers think about when working on their apps. Erick Kennedy dives deeper into the topic and explains how the HSB color space can help benefit both developers and designers alike.

Business and Marketing

One of the biggest questions developers have asked themselves regarding iOS 11’s App Store redesign has been whether or not it has indeed led to an increase in downloads. As it turns out, Curtis Herbert’s recent experience with a “Today” feature seems to paint a pretty rosy picture.

Books

Whether you’re new to Swift, or just looking to brush up on your skills, Paul Hudson’s new book on design patterns seems like a good read. Lots of great stuff on writing cleaner, more maintainable code. You can also download 24-page sample to test the waters. 🤘

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And finally...

Fascinating behind-the-scenes iPad memories from when it all began 8 years ago… 📖