Issue 626

Comment

I said last week that I don’t expect any big Vision Pro news in Tuesday’s event. However, after saying that, there is something that I’ve been wondering about since Apple previewed the device in June.

I’m not one for hardware rumours, but I went looking for them this week as I hadn’t seen any sign of one which I was convinced would appear - an iPhone camera layout capable of spatial video recording.

As I understand it, spatial/3D video recording needs two cameras that are approximately eye-distance apart, and all currently shipping models of the iPhone in landscape mode have space on the back to make that happen.

But I couldn’t find anyone predicting that kind of camera layout when I looked. Unfortunately for me, that probably means there’s a really simple reason it won’t work and that anyone with a little more knowledge on the subject could instantly debunk the idea. 😬 Am I missing something obvious?

Apple will have been thinking about this problem for a while, and now would be a great time to introduce cameras like this on some phones. The Vision Pro allows people to watch spatial video, but no other device in their ecosystem currently records it. They need people to have plenty of spatial video to drive sales¹ of visionOS hardware, and the iPhone 15 models are their first opportunity to make a move in that direction. By the time iPhones have had a way to record spatial video in addition to “regular” video for a few years, visionOS devices are much more likely to be mainstream. Doesn’t it all make a lot of sense?

So, I’ll go ahead and predict we see this kind of camera arrangement on the highest-priced phones in Tuesday’s event. I eagerly await being proven wrong! 😂

¹ Not necessarily sales of this Vision Pro model, but I’m assuming that over time, the price will reduce with a Vision non-Pro and as the hardware used in these devices becomes less bleeding edge.

Code

Shake to undo in a SwiftUI app

Shake-to-undo still doesn’t feel intuitive, even if it has been in iOS for over 14 years. It’s survived long enough that it’s probably not going away now, so should you support it in your app? Thomas Durand thinks so and has written this article on using the global undo manager alongside Paul Hudson’s onShake view modifier.

Unlocking Advanced Core Data Features in SwiftData

What happens if you’re using SwiftData and find yourself in a situation where it can’t quite do what you need it to do? fatbobman has a new library that allows access to underlying Core Data objects behind SwiftData elements. It’s clearly marked as experimental and could break at any moment, but it’s still interesting.

SwiftUI Sensory Feedback

SwiftUI haptics without dropping back to UIKit? Yes, please! Keith Harrison shows us how we can do this with iOS 17.

Videos

Introducing a Memory-Safe Successor Language in Large C++ Code Bases

Here’s John McCall talking at this year’s C++ Now conference. Why am I linking to a C++ video? Because it’s not a C++ video! It’s a fascinating look at the history and motivation behind Swift’s development.

There’s also a complete YouTube playlist from the conference if you want to explore more talks.

Jobs

Senior iOS Engineer @ sengaro GmbH – We offer an exciting position in Innsbruck (AT) with technical responsibility and conceptual refinements of our long-term products. They're used in the medical field by paramedics and docs to save lives every day. Become part of it and support people in emergencies! (proficiency in German required) – On-site (Austria) with some remote work (within European timezones)

Software Engineer, macOS @ Raycast – Build something you actually use. Ship every two weeks. No bureaucracy bs. Hack on ideas every Friday. Location-independent salary. Remote, UTC ± 3 hours. – Remote (within European timezones)

And finally...

You wouldn’t steal a car.
You wouldn't steal a television.
You wouldn’t ...

Issue 626 September 8th 2023