Issue 448

Comment

Who was expecting a new way of having a mouse cursor interact with UI elements this week? I know I wasn't, but here we are with something brand new and unique for iPadOS.

If you don't know what I'm referring to, the best way to get up to speed is to let Craig Federighi show you how it works. Isn’t it beautiful? I think this is a perfect example of the saying that good design is obvious with hindsight. It was so obvious as soon as I saw it, but I could never have imagined it last week.

I can’t find the tweet now, so I'm not sure who said it, but I saw someone refer to it as a cross between the focus engine on tvOS and a traditional mouse cursor, and I completely agree. If there were a chef’s kiss emoji, I’d use it here.

Most of UIKit is going to work fine with it, but there are a couple of gotchas you should consider. You might also want to familiarise yourself with UIHoverGestureRecogniser which has existed since Catalyst/iOS 13 but is much more important as of yesterday.

By the way, I'm intentionally not talking about the situation the world is facing right now. I don't know what I'm talking about, so I'll keep my mouth shut. All I'll say is that I hope you're all taking care of yourselves, and your loved ones. ♥️

Tools

Proxyman

Brent Simmons talking about Proxyman. Like Brent, I value a well made native Mac app, and this is exactly that. It's also trivial to configure, 👍 even set up of certificates for the simulator is just a single click. So good.

Determining which frameworks use UIWebView

The UIWebView deprecation deadline is fast approaching. It's April for new apps and the end of the year for existing ones. Even if you're sure you're not using them in your code, have you checked the frameworks and libraries you rely on? Igor Kulman has a useful post with some techniques you can use to check you're in good shape.

Profiling and debugging your Combine code with Timelane

I linked to Timelane just a few weeks ago, but if you haven't had a chance to check it out yet then maybe this post from Donny Wals should inspire you. Donny has been doing lots of writing about Combine recently, so knows what he's talking about on the subject.

Code

Understanding Combine

Talking of Combine, long time Mac technical writer Matt Neuburg has put together this new guide to Combine. He describes it as a "mini-book", which seems reasonable to me given how comprehensive it is! We're fortunate to have so many wonderful resources to help us learn these new frameworks. 🙌

Introducing FetchImage

Along with every new UI technology comes the requirement to easily and quickly download, cache, and display images. 🍻 This component from Alexander Grebenyuk leverages Nuke, and has native support for low data mode too. Are you telling me I need to stop using imageWithContentsOfURL? 😂

A Look Into ArgumentParser

I linked to ArgumentParser a few weeks ago and when I did, I included a link to Federico Zanetello's post on the ultimate guide to Swift executables. He's now followed that up with an in-depth look at Apple's new library. 👍

Design

Designing App Icons

You're likely spending more time than usual at home right now, so why not take advantage of this kind offer from Michael Flarup to watch his excellent course on icon design? Even if you don't have firm plans to start designing icons, it's free for the next week, so what do you have to lose? It's also being uploaded to YouTube if you prefer to watch there.

Videos

App: The Human Story

Or, if you're in the mood for something that might suit sitting on the sofa and taking your mind off the troubles of the world, Jake Schumacher has also very kindly made rentals of his documentary free for the next few days. You should treat yourself to a slice of App Store history and spend an hour watching it.

Go to the store page, click to rent the movie, and apply this promo code during checkout. If you have any issues caused by being outside the US, drop Jake a DM.

Jobs

Lead iOS Engineer @ PayPal – At PayPal we're reimagining money. The Lead iOS Developer will help to build our Home Screen. You'll be working with a collaborative team, coding in Swift and Objective-C, and using our innovative technologies which give our customers a personalized and dynamic experience. Join us in democratizing financial services! – San Jose, CA

Lead Software Engineer @ WillowTree – As a Lead Software Engineer you’ll mentor a team of all levels in our new Ohio office. Your partnership and coaching skills will impact our teams, clients, and company. You’ll have clear oversight of how engineering runs day-to-day and you’ll influence project outcomes and team happiness. – Columbus, OH

iOS Developer @ Savvy – Savvy is a top creative agency and one of the first agencies to pioneer #remotelife back in 2009. Our work is regularly featured on the App Store and the industry as a whole. We have a great culture, generous benefits, and a fun, results-oriented atmosphere. – Remote within the USA

Intermediate iOS Developer @ Dr. Bill – Dr. Bill saves time for Canadian doctors by making medical billing delightful (OK... at least suck less). Join us as we accelerate our growth to dominate medical billing in Canada! – Remote, or Vancouver Canada

Mobile Senior Software Engineer @ SmartThings – Did your things make you go “wow” today? At SmartThings, we are dedicated to making every home a Smart Home - and as the IoT platform of Samsung, with millions of users and connected devices, we are well on our way. We strive to create an easy-to-use, secure, and above all intelligent IoT solution for the home that delights our customers. Our fun, intelligent, and creative teams need your help. – Mountain View CA

Lead iOS Engineer @ TrueCoach – TrueCoach is a small but mighty company located in the heart of the greatest place to work and play in the country, Boulder, Colorado. We were also recently named one of the 50 Best Small Companies to Work For in Colorado. – Boulder CO

Is your company hiring? You'd really help me out if you let your recruiting/HR department know that they can post iOS development job listings for free on iOS Dev Jobs. Thank you. ❤️

And finally...

No more new features... 🛳🛳🛳

Issue 448 March 20th 2020