Issue 734

7^th November 2025

Written by Dave Verwer

Comment

I did not have Apple launching a web-based version of the App Store on my bingo card for this week, but here we are.

It’s a full, multi-region implementation of the App Store, with the “Today” view (including featured lists and events) and Apple Arcade. The only downside is that you can’t actually buy apps or games from it. 😬 The closest you’ll get is a link to the App Store if you’re browsing on a supported platform, or a share button if you’re on Windows or Linux.

Until now, smaller app developers have had a choice to make when launching a new app. Should you rely on linking directly to an App Store listing, assuming that everyone who clicks on it will have a device that will launch the store and show your product page? Or should you spend valuable pre-launch time building a basic website that has most of the same information on it that your App Store listing does?

There are, of course, advantages to building your own website for an app. You get control over the layout, information architecture, and analytics. You also get the chance to let people opt in to receiving email, either as customers or as potential customers before they make an App Store download. Those are all good reasons you might still like to build a website, but having your App Store product page available on the web is great as you get started.

It’s a nice step forward for the App Store!

– Dave Verwer

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News

I’m familiar with some of the UK and EU laws around child safety online, but I had not come across SB2420 until this week. It goes considerably further—requiring parental consent for every app download, purchase, and ‘significant change’ for anyone under 18. Apple has released new APIs to help developers comply, and, if you want to sell your apps in Texas, you’ll need to comply by January 2026. Luckily, there is a sandbox testing mode, because that’s not very far away!

Code

The Create with Swift blog from imaginary institute and the Apple Developer Academy in Napoli has been consistently publishing truly excellent articles on Swift and Apple platform technologies for years now. I don’t link to every one, but they are all worth reading. If you need an example, look no further than yesterday’s post from Antonella Giugliano on adding randomness where it might not be obvious.

Mark Szymczyk:

This article uses the new SwiftUI instrument Apple added in Xcode 26. If you are using an earlier version of Xcode, read the following article:

It really does what it says on the tin. It finds SwiftUI views that update most frequently and identifies what causes those updates. Instruments is, as always, super useful.

Gio Scalzo found himself curious about how coding agents work (not the models behind them, but the agent software) and decided to try to build one to demystify them! Read his article if you’re interested in learning how the experiment went and a bit about approximately how agents work.

Business and Marketing

I had to double take when I saw that Chris Wu’s first-ever conference talk was about time zones! That’s quite the topic to start with, Chris, but I’m so glad that you did, and that it inspired this fantastic write-up of your experience. ❤️ I hope it encourages some of you to submit a proposal to your favourite conference for a talk!

Videos

Speaking of Swift Leeds, the organisers finished posting all the session videos from last month’s conference. There are plenty of talks and a panel discussion to pick from. However, given the previous link, it’s worth noting that Swift Leeds had four brand-new speakers: Kim Gyuri, Erin Sparling, Oksana Shcherban, and, of course, Chris Wu, who you read about above.

Jobs

Senior QLab Developer (macOS) @ Figure 53 – We’re a small (18 person) company with unusually non-hierarchical structures and a dedication to enjoying our work and taking care of each other. We’re hiring a senior macOS developer to work on QLab, powerful software for the design and playback of sound, video, lighting, and show control cues. – Remote (within US timezones)

Senior iOS Engineer @ alba – We have a unique approach to identifying opportunities, entering markets, and scaling our products. This approach puts us on a fast trajectory for maximizing the reach and delight our products create. In just two years since our founding, our products have already been used by over 28 million users. – Remote (within European timezones) or on-site (United Kingdom)

And finally...

… “Borland” immediately evokes memories of a time long gone; a company that could have been more, but which consciously decided to crash and burn.