Issue 593

20^th January 2023

Written by Dave Verwer

Comment

There’s a bit of everything in this week’s issue! From server-side Swift, through SwiftUI, into Metal, to watchOS, right through into a short but sweet post on icon design and shipping apps.

That’s a wider variety than I can remember in a long time. 😳

Dave Verwer

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Code

When Apple introduced Advanced Data Protection at the end of last year, I didn’t write about it as I didn’t feel I had much I could add to the announcement, which was everywhere! That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have implications for app developers, though, and Jaanus Kase has written up his findings on how it interacts with CloudKit. 👍

Would you like to dabble with some server-side Swift but maybe don’t need a complete application stack like Vapor? Pol Piella Abadia has a wonderful post on setting up a serverless Swift function using WASM and Compute. There’s plenty to learn here. 👍

I’ve never worked on a (serious) watchOS app, so I was surprised to hear Alexander Weiß say that there were three different ways to send messages between a phone and a watch. What are they, and why would you use each one? Read on to find out!⌚️

If you want to make your SwiftUI app a little more dynamic with a few subtle animations, should you reach for animation or withAnimation? Natascha Fadeeva has just the post for you.

I don’t often link to many articles on Metal, but when I do, it’s usually a post from Warren Moore, and this time it’s many posts from Warren! He started posting a “Thirty Days of Metal” series a little while ago, and while he never quite made it to 30 posts, 29 is good enough for me. He covers so much ground in these articles! 🤘

Design

The most important point (in my opinion!) is in the first image in this post from Yves Jannic, where he reveals that he designed the app icon that took his app to its first million downloads in PowerPoint. Icons matter, but shipping matters so much more.

Videos

More conference videos! This week from Do iOS in November last year. That should keep you busy this weekend!

Jobs

iOS Engineer @ Major League Baseball – Launched in 2001 as the tech arm of Major League Baseball, MLBAM is renown for creating mobile experiences that baseball fans love - and we are just getting started! – On-site (United States in CO or NY) with some remote work (within US timezones)

Senior Swift (iOS) Developer @ Nord Security – iOS developer has an essential role in growing the NordPass product and a lot of freedom to make an impact. There is plenty of space for experiments and constant improvement. You would be a part of a very ambitious and enthusiastic team which gives a lot of support and encouragement every day. – Remote (within European timezones)

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)

Is your company hiring? If you’re looking for some amazing talent to help you work towards shipping your apps, you can post any Swift (or Objective-C!) position for free over at iOS Dev Jobs.

And finally...

Do you fancy a trip back in time via some 40-year-old source code courtesy of the wonderful Computer History Museum? 👨‍💻

Note: Be aware that if you download the source code, you’ll need to enter an email address and that they won’t only use that email to record who downloaded the code. After downloading, I also found myself on their regular mailing list. I unsubscribed without much fuss, but it’s a bit naughty.