Issue 577

Comment

I had an email from Derek Lee this week informing me about his latest article on getting started with Kotlin Multiplatform. We also had KotlinSpeechFeatures by Raquib-ul Alam and Arjun Sunil added to the Swift Package Index a few days ago. It’s a port of some Python speech recognition features into Kotlin, but it’s also compatible with Swift through Multiplatform.

It’s no surprise people are using it, too. From what I understand, it’s most appropriate for sharing back-end code (models and logic) across an iOS and Android app, but honestly, I’m not 100% sure how far it goes. I’m pretty uneducated on the whole thing.

Yes, you can write Swift for Android, but I think it’s fair to say that JetBrains is promoting Kotlin as a language you can use with Apple platforms more than Apple is promoting Swift for Android development.

I’ve not written any Kotlin yet, but from every report I have seen, it’s a great language. So as part of my ongoing campaign against “purity” in software development, I should be better informed about it! I can’t promise to write an app using it, but I’m curious to learn more.

But I’m interested in whether it’s on your mind too, so I put together a super quick survey to check! It’s three yes/no questions, so it should only take 5 seconds to complete. There’s also an optional question where you can leave me any KMP blogs and resources you enjoy.

I’ll report the results back next week.

News

WeatherKit subscriptions now available

Just in time!

Tools

Performance-Profiling Swift on Linux

Sure, we all know how to start a profiling session using Instruments, but what if you’re working with Swift on the Server? Kelvin Ma shows us how to use perf on Linux to record, view, and interpret performance traces. After reading it, go and hug Instruments, would you? 😂

Code

An Introduction to ExtensionKit

When I first opened this post on ExtensionKit from Matt Massicotte, I thought it would be about App Extensions, but I was wrong! It’s about a new low-level framework coming to macOS with Ventura that enables developers to build flexible plugin systems. Matt has been working on adding it to Chime over the last few months and has kindly written up all of his experience in this four-part (1, 2, 3, and 4) series of posts.

Displaying live activities in iOS 16

Now that people have phones with a Dynamic Island in their hands, the number one question any app developer has will be, "How do I get my app up there?" Majid Jabrayilov has a quick guide, and the good news is that it's fairly straightforward!

Aspect Fit Layout Guide

I love that as the summer draws to an end we’re still discovering new bits of this year’s software releases. I’m happy that Keith Harrison came across this thread from Tyler Fox about safeAreaAspectFitLayoutGuide and wrote a great summary on his blog.

Replacing if let in Swift 5.7

If only we could convert all of our old, long-winded if let code to the shiny new syntax. Thanks to Junda Ong and Vasiliy Anisimov via this Twitter thread for the RegEx!

Jobs

Head of Apple Development @ Doist – Doists’ mission is to build the future of work. Come help us lead our Apple team and create some of the best productivity apps in the world. – Remote (within US, European, or Asia-Pacific timezones)

Senior SwiftUI Developer @ Confidential Client – Help us migrate our in-house SwiftUI FinTech B2B prototype app with a limited audience and limited complexity (~20 screens) into production. Our focus is on getting a working version out to our (very impatient) customers. Very interested in a longer-term relationship w/ the right contractor. – Remote (Anywhere)

Senior iOS Engineer @ Sendwave – We currently have a 4.6-star rating on Trustpilot — people put their faith in us to deliver their money quickly, securely, and affordably. And we’re pretty darn proud of that. – Remote (within US or European timezones)

Mobile Full Stack Engineer @ Expensify – Join our passionate team of top-notch engineers to solve a real-world problem, and help people spend less time managing expenses and more time pursuing their real goals. – Remote (Anywhere) with some on-site work (Australia, United Kingdom, or United States in CA, MI, NY, or OR)

iOS SDK Developer @ Stream – You will write and maintain our open-source SDKs that are used by hundreds of our customers and consumed by hundreds of millions of their users. – Remote (within US or European timezones)

macOS / iOS Developers @ Kagi Inc. – Orion browser is the newest macOS/iOS web browser ready take on the world! Create the future best browser on Apple devices with us. Flexible work conditions, remote work OK. Kagi Inc. がお届けする Orion ブラウザは、世界最新の macOS/iOS 用ブラウザです。私たちの目指す「Apple デバイス用の最高のブラウザ」を一緒に作りましょう。 – Remote (Anywhere)

Senior Software Engineer (iOS) @ Driver Technologies Inc. – Driver is dedicated to making life-saving driving technology available to everyone. We’re leveraging the power of computer vision and big data analysis to make collision alerts and driver assistance features available on common mobile devices. – Remote (Anywhere)

It’s no secret that companies are hiring more slowly right now, but plenty of people are still looking for something new, so it’s the perfect time to list an open position on iOS Dev Jobs. It’s free to post, too!

And finally...

You may think this is the coolest use of the Dynamic Island. It's good, but I think it's Hugo the cat!

Before you ask. Hugo is a "Pixel Pal" from Apollo's new Dynamic Zoo! 🐘

Issue 577 September 23rd 2022