Issue 461

19^th June 2020

Written by Dave Verwer

Comment

The Thursday evening before WWDC is usually a hectic one for me. I’m generally trying to get this newsletter finished while throwing clothes into a suitcase so that I can board a 12-hour flight to California on Friday. I’m writing this on the Thursday evening before WWDC in 2020, and I’ve no concrete plans for tomorrow. 😬

It’s not news to say that this year’s event is going to be unlike any WWDC in history, but that doesn’t mean I’m not excited about it! I’ve done a full round-up of what’s going on below, so be sure to check that out.

Dave Verwer

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News

I’m not going to write a lot about this week’s App Store guidelines situation, but I will say a couple of things. I do think the rules are clear, but they are also a little weird and I’d love to see Apple re-evaluate them. Not as a snap decision related to this current crisis though. As Phil Schiller makes clear in the interview linked above, that decision is made. But while Apple says no rules changes are imminent, I do hope this fiasco (re)starts the process of them looking at these specific rules carefully. It’s been a source of ire to a lot of people for a very long time.

I think it’s also worth noting that I see the issues around the guidelines as something different to asking Apple to adjust their 30% cut. Yes, they’re related, especially in this situation, but I believe it’s worth keeping them separate when asking Apple to make changes.

UPDATE: I wish I had seen this tweet from M.G. Siegler before sending this week’s issue. He says what I’m trying to say so much better than I did.

Here’s the first official piece of virtual WWDC, the new developer forums. 🚀 I’m willing to give Apple a lot of slack on some of the issues. Those things are all fixable. What I’m hoping for is that these forums receive the attention they need inside Apple. I hope the employees and engineers are being encouraged and given time to help out, not just in this coming week but permanently. 🤞

WWDC

Here we go! 🚀 Things kick off this weekend with a bit of pre-WWDC trivia fun. Almost guaranteed to be chaos on Zoom, but I’m completely up for that, and will be there!

But what about watching the conference itself? Watch together with other members of the community at WWDC Together, or the WWDC Watch Party. The Watch Party site deserves a special mention for organising group get-togethers and “meet a developer” events throughout the week. Be sure to register and let them know how you’d like to participate.

Of course, the Apple Developer app arrived on macOS (I’m not saying I told you so, but… 😂). It’s got a few Catalyst shaped rough edges, but there are alternatives if you want an AppKit WWDC client. As the week goes on, there’s a group of people who’ll be organising notes and blog posts as they appear, and a few more over here doing the same.

It’s not all about sessions though, so don’t miss James Dempsey and the breakpoints LIVE-ish on Wednesday, or the try! Swift social when it’s all over on Saturday. Oh and if WWDC is all about the pins for you, you’re in luck!

I’d also like to congratulate all of the student scholarship winners! I loved browsing through your submissions. You’re all incredible. 🤯

I’ll finish with one final note. Lots of people have put enormous amounts of time and effort into preparing these sites and events. If you appreciate what they’ve done, then please be sure to reach out and thank them. Also, if any of these events turn out a little chaotic (it’s likely!), please bear with the organisers. I can promise they’re doing their best.

Is that it? Probably not, but that’s all I have!

UPDATE: There’s also an AltConf virtual happy hour on Monday after the keynote finishes. Grab a spot here.

Code

I don’t link to a lot of UI libraries here as it so often ends up being easier to write your own UI code. One notable exception to that rule though is calendar components. 😬 Here’s Bryan Keller with what looks like a comprehensive solution to a difficult problem that’s full of edge cases.

When in doubt, try?, try, and … catch? 🥃 Here’s Bruno Rocha with a great post on how he had preferred other solutions over try, and why he recently changed his mind.

I love how easy effects like this are to create with SwiftUI. I remember last year when looking over the framework for the first time thinking to myself “Blend modes are an interesting inclusion” and they are! Pavel Zak shows us something cool.

Are programming languages actually getting safer, and solving the problems that can plague older languages? I found this article by Max Anselm fascinating.

Design

Button design in iOS fundamentally changed with iOS 7 to use colour as an indicator of interactivity, and … well, that’s about it - just coloured text. Since then, button design has moved forward both in first and third-party apps. Background colours, pressed states, and even an occasional subtle shadow. Revolutionary! 😂 However, if you drop a UIButton into your iOS app, what do you see? Unadorned blue text. Tobias Renström aims to fix that.

This is a super interesting technique from Raul Riera. Did you know there was a user interface trait for the elevation of your view controller? If it’s presented modally, above another view controller (as standardised in iOS 13) then you can give it a different look. You learn something every day!

Books

“Functional programming” can be intimidating. If you’re new to it and are maybe put off by that article you read about monads and functors, you should give this new book by Daniel Steinberg a look. It’s a great way to get your head around the subject.

For full disclosure, I helped tech review parts of this book.

Jobs

Senior iOS Engineer @ Cochlear – Make a difference in the world with the apps you work on. Build apps for cutting-edge hearing implants, with Bluetooth LE connectivity, that allow users to control and manage their sense of hearing. Work with custom hardware and a strong focus on security to build all-native apps that you are proud of. Passion for the latest iOS tech is a must; come help us build great products. – Remote, or Sydney Australia

And finally...

So the virtual WWDC labs are about features? Let me show you this feature I found. 😂