Issue 627

15^th September 2023

Written by Dave Verwer

Comment

I hope you’ll forgive me for skipping my commentary in today’s issue. I’ve been unwell the last few days, and while I’m feeling good enough to do the rest of the newsletter, I’m confident you wouldn’t want to read anything my fever-addled brain would produce today. I’ll be back with commentary next week.

I do have links for you, though!

Dave Verwer

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News

We have dates! This coming Monday for iOS and friends, and the following Tuesday for macOS Sonoma. Submissions are open for all platforms, and I wish you all good luck getting featured if you’ve been working on this year’s new platform features!

Is this the ultimate soft-launch feature? I like that you could make an app available in one or two countries and for pre-order in others. It’s also great that this comes with API support alongside the feature launch. I’ve said it before, but I love that Apple is taking App Store Connect API updates so seriously. 👍

Tools

This Linux-only (for now, at least) tool from the SSWG will be a great help for installing, removing, and switching between Swift toolchains. It’s early days, but I’m happy to see this.

Code

Chris Eidhof’s latest article is so good. First, he goes over two easy-to-understand rules to keep in mind when working with view representable and SwiftUI. Then, he demonstrates them with a real-world example. That’s my kind of blog post! 👍

With the release of this year’s new platforms, it’s always a good idea to consider what features from previous releases you may have dismissed implementing last summer. One of my favourite features of iOS 16 was Live Activities, and right on time, Marco Guerrieri is ready with a refresher on creating one.

Like Jordan Morgan, I was so happy to see auto-generated asset constants in this year’s SDKs, but you’re out of luck if you use Objective-C, right? That’s not the case, as Jordan explains.

This is a fun project from Topher Hickman for developing Swift packages inside Swift Playgrounds for iPad. Who even needs Xcode for iPad?

Business and Marketing

Great advice from Matt Massicotte:

Getting noticed is incredibly difficult, but a soft launch has big advantages, and I think it should be the default.

It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.

Books

Tjeerd in ’t Veen’s new book is not yet complete, but what is available in early access already looks great. It’s not a book about code, and what you’ll learn will apply to any platform, but whether you’re interviewing for an architect role or doing day-to-day work in that area, you’ll learn something.

For full disclosure, Tjeerd sent me a review copy of the book.

Jobs

Senior iOS Engineer @ Luma AI – We are a small AI research and product company working on new kinds of creative tools for 3D. Our mission is to democratize the 3D experience for all. iOS at Luma is at the center of the product universe. We are growing the iOS team from 1-4, please reach out if you’re interested! – On-site (United States in CA) with some remote work (within US timezones)

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)

Are you hiring? You can post your open positions on iOS Dev Jobs for free, so what are you waiting for?

And finally...

Was this you a few hours ago?