Issue 542

Comment

Thank you all for all your positive feedback on last week’s comment. It resonated exceptionally well with you all, even if it was a little depressing.

An interesting point came up a couple of times in the feedback, though. When companies move away from their original idea or customer base, doesn’t it leave space for new companies to come in and take “the low end” of the market again?

Yes, but doesn’t that make it even worse? It feeds an endless cycle of re-creating the same software to satisfy a segment of the market that doesn’t generate as much money as selling to huge companies. Ugh. 🤮

Some of that is inevitable in capitalism. Why wouldn’t a business always seek out bigger and better sources of income? But I think there may be something specific to the software industry, too. We’re never happy to call something “done” compared to many other sectors. Imagine asking, “Should we add a new floor in-between the first and second floor now?” in the final sign-off meeting of a construction project. Someone would quietly remove you from the room. 😂

Is the fact that software is so easy to mutate part of why this keeps happening? That’s something to ponder while you read this week’s links!

News

Update on dating apps distributed on the App Store in the Netherlands

Two new entitlements so apps may provide additional payment processing options for users. But only if you're writing a dating app, and only if it's on the App Store in the Netherlands. 🙄

If you'll allow me to quote myself from Issue 524:

It's likely that Apple will do nothing more than what is required

Unfortunately, it's playing out as I predicted. I also stand by saying that these lawsuits would only make things more complicated and, ultimately, worse.

The Swift Programming Language en Español

I was aware that the official Swift book had existed in a couple of other languages, but it's always worth celebrating a new one! Here's a Spanish version of the official language guide translated by Mauricio Paternina. 🎉

I'm on an 84-day Spanish streak in Duolingo right now. I wonder if I'll ever be able to read this version? Yo necesito estudiar Español muy. (I know my use of "muy" isn't right, but I don't know the word for "more" yet! 😬)

Tools

Screenshot individual panels and floating windows

I had to read this tweet from Robb Böhnke twice to realise he wasn't talking about ⌘⇧4 then space to select a window. This is ⌘⇧4, then space, then hold ⌘! I've wanted this functionality so many times! Try it in Xcode with the code completion dropdown. 🤯

BackLog

Have you ever had to talk someone through finding a debug message in Console.app? It's a powerful app, but it can be confusing to talk someone through using it. This utility from Matthias Gansrigler will be of more use to developers of macOS apps than iOS, but don't forget you can connect Console.app to your phone, too!

Hold It Right There

Daniel Jalkut follows up on this little hack from last week with another way to achieve the same convenience using his FastScripts app.

Maybe you don't have an excuse to buy the StreamDeck, after all. 😅

Code

Supporting async/await as a module owner

I liked Tjeerd in 't Veen's advice in this post about adding Swift concurrency support to your library to think about the external interface before the internals. It's still early for Swift concurrency, but when you start thinking about it, I'd give this a read!

Symmetric-key cryptography with CryptoKit

Natascha Fadeeva wrapped up a three-part series on CryptoKit this week, and it's well worth a read if you're interested in getting to grips with the framework. Start with her posts on public-key cryptography and hashing before this one if you want the complete picture!

Up to Speed

The structure of a Swift Package

I liked this post from Tiago Maia explaining the basics of creating a Swift package and understanding the manifest file. If you've never made a package before and have been wanting to extract part of an app into something reusable, this is a great place to start!

Videos

Apple's Latest Tech Talk Videos

Why not enjoy one or two of the latest set of Tech Talk videos from Apple. Some are more IT-focused than developer-focused, but I'm sure you'll find something to tempt you. Maybe "Tips for preventing common review issues"?

Jobs

iOS Engineer @ Scandit – You will play a critical role in making our core computer vision technology available on the iOS platform. You will be in charge of our App Store apps as well as our SDK, helping to create engaging user experiences around barcode and object recognition scanning with AR technologies. – Remote (within European timezones)

iOS Developer @ WillowTree Digital – WillowTree is North America's largest privately-held digital product agency. We partner with many of the world's most iconic brands to develop elegant, highly-functional mobile & web applications used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. We offer remote & hybrid-flexible & incredible culture – Remote (within US timezones) with some on-site work (United States in NC, OH, or VA)

iOS Engineer @ Bending Spoons – We leverage advanced native iOS technologies and break new ground with our own powerful libraries that make architecting and developing the highest-quality iOS apps as smooth and efficient as it gets. We’re looking for passionate iOS engineers (mobile+platform) to bring our apps to the next level. – Remote (within European timezones) or on-site (Italy)

iOS Developer @ Okta – The future is passwordless. Okta is revolutionizing how users authenticate on their devices with FastPass. The expert iOS team at Okta is looking for amazing iOS developers to help them define the future of identity. Apply today to embark on an exciting journey and give your career a boost! – Remote (within US timezones) with some on-site work (Canada or United States)

Principal Software Engineer @ Alaska Airlines – We are innovators and creators, striving to continually improve our award-winning technology in ways that make travel simple, enjoyable, and seamless.  We’re looking for a lead subject matter expert on native app development as we reimagine the Alaska App used by millions of our guests. – On-site (United States in WA) with some remote work (within US timezones)

Senior iOS Software Engineer @ ESChat – ESChat is the market leader in secure wireless Push-to-Talk communications supporting first responders, transportation, hospitality, logistics and more. Join our iOS team and work to support these teams in getting their jobs done faster, safer and more efficiently. – Remote (within US timezones)

Senior iOS Developer @ Komoot – You’ll team up with world-class iOS engineers and take over responsibility for our iOS app. Touching all parts of the iOS app, your work will make outdoor adventures easily accessible to our users. You’ll develop diverse features for navigation, routing, social interaction and content visualization. – Remote (within European timezones)

Why not also check out the other jobs that iOS Dev Jobs has available? Or, if your company is hiring, you can post jobs for free and get them in front of 11,000 Swift developers who are looking for work, or post a featured job and reach more than 70,000! Get started here.

And finally...

Want a guaranteed source of insomnia? 😬

Issue 542 January 21st 2022