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News
There’s still time to meet with App Store experts
I really don't need to say anything else. The information is all in the title!
apple.com
Tools
dataTile
I don't know about you, but I still use a lot of print debugging. How do you make sense of a console full of a million print statements, though? Marin Todorov has a new app in beta that can consolidate console spam into charts and counters that make sense of it all. The launch blog post has more information, too. Looks really interesting.
underplot.com
How to manage build settings using Xcode configuration files
Are you using xcconfig files? Whenever I link to an article on them, someone emails me to say they hadn’t come across them before. Here’s Danijela Vrzan with a great article about using them to switch between staging and production servers. 👍
Code
TokenTextView
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve needed a text field that supports tokens, like this one from Chris Lee does. It uses mustache syntax for the tokens, and there’s a blog post explaining more if you want some background. It looks good.
swiftpackageindex.com
clipped() doesn’t affect hit testing
Good advice from Ole Begemann to be aware of how SwiftUI’s clipped modifier works with views that are interactive!
Create a Basic Shortcut using App Intents
Shortcuts are great, but if you ever wished to be able to drop down into Swift, then Jordan Morgan has some good news for you.
swiftjectivec.com
KMMBridge Samples
I’d imagine one barrier to adopting Kotlin Multiplatform on a larger iOS team is the need for everyone to suddenly need more tools and compilers installed to build the iOS app again. I liked the idea of this plugin that will allow KMM binary modules to be used by people without any additional tools installed. This quickstart guide is also worth a read. Michael Friend explains more.
touchlab.co
Business and Marketing
App Store Articles
As I looked at the App Store Award winners, I ended up browsing the site and came across this fantastic resource for marketing your apps. It’s a set of articles covering your product page, how people might discover your app, tips and techniques for user engagement, and how to take advantage of the App Store’s analytics data. I had no idea this existed!
apple.com
Books
Modern Concurrency on Apple Platforms
This new book from Andy Ibanez is great. After a quick look at legacy concurrency on Apple platforms, he dives straight into async/await, actors, and all the most modern techniques, all explained with practical examples. If you want to improve your skills in this area, I recommend you give it a look.
For disclosure, I asked Andy for a review copy of the book.
andyibanez.com
Jobs
Senior Mobile Engineer @ Emerge Tools – At Emerge you'll help build the future of mobile development and contribute directly to products used by many of the biggest mobile companies in the world. An ideal candidate would be passionate about the intersection of operating systems, runtimes, and developer tools. – Remote (Anywhere)
Senior iOS Engineer @ Doximity – Doximity, the medical network used by over 80% of US clinicians, is hiring passionate iOS engineers (fully remote!). Come be part of an amazing product team + work on an app that is constantly evolving. Use your skills (Swift, TCA, Combine) to be an integral part of our growing telemed feature. – Remote (within US timezones)
iOS SDK Developer @ Stream – Do you want to work on an open-source chat SDK used by hundreds of high-profile companies and startups that impact billions of users? If you are a product-minded engineer and care about software quality, apply on the link below. – Remote (within European timezones) or on-site (Netherlands)
Freelance Interview Engineer (US Only) @ Karat – We're dedicated to improving access in tech. If you are too, join us as a Karat Interview Engineer. As such, you'll conduct technical interviews of developers like you on behalf of our hiring clients (including Duolingo, Indeed, and more) using the Karat Platform and its data-tested questions. – Remote (within US timezones)
This week saw Apple announce the 2022 App Store Awards winners. Congratulations to everyone on that list! I hope your blue cubes are as beautiful as they look in the photos. 🟦
If your goal is to join the Apple Design Award or App Store Award winners, this is a great time to look at what Apple values in an app and plan out a route to put your app in a better position to get picked, because it’s certainly possible to do that.
Start with the basics. Make sure your app is useful, reliable, and well-designed, but it’s about more than that. Apple also values great accessibility, localisation, and making appropriate use of modern platform features. Have you done all that? The bad news is you just increased your chances of an award from 0% to slightly above 0%. 😬 What you need is a multiplier for all your great work.
The multiplier is letting Apple know about your app! Look at the winners and navigate through to their App Store listings. Apple had already featured the vast majority in App Store “stories”, and many have an Editors Choice badge, too. None of these apps has come from nowhere, and even if they haven’t been around for a long time, they got onto Apple’s radar quickly.
I can hear what you’re saying now … “But I don’t know anyone at Apple. How do I get my app in range of that radar you’re talking about?”
It’s not a secret. Apple have a page titled “Getting Featured on the App Store”! There’s a huge set of tips for ensuring your app is in great shape (better than my list above), and then there’s a section titled “Tell us your story” with a button. You know what to do… 😂
You have nothing to lose using that form every time you make a significant update to your app or can tell a new story about your app. If you can’t think of anything to say about your app, that’s something you need to work on, and not just so you get featured. Keeping active with marketing takes planning and lots of work.
So, take a good look at this year’s App Store Award winners. Learn from them and take inspiration from them, then tell Apple all about it, and maybe it’ll be your app on the list next year. 🤞
Dave Verwer