Issue 720

1^st August 2025

Written by Dave Verwer

Comment

One of the signature features of the App Store is that we get to read metadata about apps before we use them, unlike when we use a website. Yes, yes. I know I’m being a little optimistic to say people read App Store listings, but at least the information is there if people are interested.

Coming later this year, that metadata is expanding and you’ll see Accessibility Nutrition Labels on store pages. They will tell you whether an app supports VoiceOver, Voice Control, dynamic text sizing, dark mode, colour blindness features, and much more. Natascha Fadeeva actually wrote up a guide on all the different labels you’ll be able to apply this week, so give that a read if you’re not up to speed on them yet.

But could there be more metadata on App Store pages in the future? I felt inspired to write this after reading Giselle Katics‘ latest article, “Building for hate: Designing for deception”. The whole article is worth a read, but this piece stood out to me:

To fight back, the European Commission is preparing the Digital Fairness Act, a legislative proposal targeting deceptive patterns, personalisation, contracts, and influencer marketing. A 12-week public consultation is set to begin in spring 2025, with the Act expected to be proposed in 2026.

The legislation is still in development, but if passed into law, it will focus on eliminating dark design patterns, unfair contract terms, and algorithmic manipulation.

I know some of you will disagree with what I’m about to say, but I still believe that a major benefit of the App Store is that there is a level of trust that apps won’t scam or trick customers. That said, there has been widespread and sustained criticism that Apple do not go far enough and/or are not effective enough at preventing scams and dark patterns in apps on the App Store. I certainly agree that there’s lots more work to do in this area.

Would legislation help? I don’t feel qualified to answer that question, and the most well-meaning legislation can sometimes have unintended effects, especially in tech. However, I can immediately see some potential problems. Is an algorithmic timeline classed as “algorithmic manipulation”? Is that enough to be “against a law” or does it just mean consumers need warning? It could easily turn into a minefield.

This brings me back to “nutrition labels”, though. I’d love to know up front if an app used an algorithmic timeline, for example. Could we see more metadata added to App Store pages with well-defined rules around what constitutes a dark pattern? That certainly sounds interesting.

It’ll be interesting to see how this legislation turns out. I am hopeful that it won’t end in more battles between Apple and the EU, given that it shouldn’t get in the way of business models. 🤞

But will anyone actually read them? 😬

– Dave Verwer

Code

SwiftUI for Mac 2025

I eagerly await Sarah Reichelt‘s annual look at how the latest SwiftUI changes affect macOS, and I’m happy to report this year’s post is great! She covers icons, Liquid Glass, web views, rich text, menus, toolbars, performance in long lists, and concurrency. It should be required reading for anyone with a SwiftUI macOS app.

SwiftUI Search Enhancements in iOS and iPadOS 26

I’m so glad the search APIs are easier to use in SwiftUI than they were in the early days of UIKit. I still remember the trauma of seeing twenty different search implementations on a UITableView. 😱 What’s the current state of making your application’s data searchable? Natalia Panferova has everything you need to know.

Approachable Concurrency in Swift Packages

Keith Harrison:

In Swift 6.2 Apple is introducing a new more approachable way to use Swift Concurrency. It starts with the assumption that you start by running your app’s code on the main thread and only move work to a background thread when needed.

That sounds like a sensible approach to concurrency for the vast majority of apps. I’m happy to see this feature come to Swift.

Books

Swift Concurrency Course

This new course from Antoine van der Lee is a practical look at Swift concurrency. It starts with async/await and tasks, then covers @Sendable and other more advanced topics. It wraps up with chapters covering testing concurrent code, memory management, and also includes information on the Swift 6.2 concurrency features, like approachable concurrency.

For full disclosure, Antoine sent over a review copy of the course.

Jobs

Senior Software Engineer, iOS @ Doximity – Doximity, the medical network used by over 80% of US clinicians is seeking a talented Sr iOS Software Engineer to join our remote-first team! If you’re an expert in Swift with a strong understanding of TCA, and eager to make a real impact on healthcare, we want to hear from you. – Remote (within US timezones)

Sr iOS Developer @ Hero Assistant – We seek to build the most ambitious iOS app ever created. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join a rocket ship early, backed by world-class investors, and already proven by tens of thousands of users who rely on Hero every day. – On-site (United States in CA)

And finally...