Yet another new fastlane tool arrived this week. Match proposes that you store all of the code signing assets you need in a separate (private) repository. It then automates the installation and configuration for your whole team. Is this the end of code signing problems? (Probably not 🙄, but it's an interesting approach.)
Goodbye Spotlight. Hello Raycast
Raycast takes the macOS Spotlight experience to the next level: Create Jira issues, manage GitHub pull requests, join Zoom calls and control your tools with a few keystrokes. Automate your everyday tasks with scripts and join a community packed with productivity nerds. Download it now.
Goodbye Spotlight. Hello Raycast.
Raycast takes the macOS Spotlight experience to the next level: Create Jira issues, manage GitHub pull requests, join Zoom calls and control your tools with a few keystrokes. Automate your everyday tasks with scripts and join a community packed with productivity nerds. Download it now.
I first linked to WTF Auto Layout back in August 2017. In this short video and accompanying blog post, Zev Eisenberg takes the tool to the next level by automating the opening of it on every constraint error. This is wonderful!
xcprojectlint: A security blanket for Xcode project files
Would you like to automate some consistency in your Xcode project files with checks for settings defined at the project level (rather than in an xcconfig), missing files and empty file groups? This tool does exactly that, and more. Also, I like the way it's described:
Provides a security blanket, ensuring neither your co-workers, nor git screw up your Xcode project file.
😂
You may have read Apple's advice to use the direct download page to download Xcode 13.2 due to an issue with the Mac App Store version.
Directly downloading Xcode is always the best way to install it, even when the Mac App Store version is working, so I thought I'd link to my tool of choice for automating the download. I can also recommend Xcodes, but I find xcinfo
downloads significantly faster.
In previous years, I’d have reached for Ruby (specifically rake) if I had to build a little helper tool or script that needed more than my limited knowledge of shell scripting. I wrote server code with Rails for a long time and still enjoy writing code with Ruby. It’s also great for knocking up little tools to automate repetitive tasks.
That’s changed recently, and it’s primarily down to one Swift package, swift-argument-parser. I built two small command line tools for some behind-the-scenes work on the Swift Package Index recently (1, 2) and used argument parser for both.
First of all, this package is seriously underselling itself. It should be named CommandLineKit or something that lets people know this is about much more than just parsing arguments. Making a tool that operates just how you’d expect any other command line tool to work is trivial. It’s fantastic. If you combine it with something like ShellOut you quickly find yourself with a powerful command line tool environment.
Secondly, it’s a great reminder that it’s easy to miss when a language you use regularly becomes significantly better at solving a problem. I had taken a quick look at argument parser when it first came out but hadn’t built anything with it and had missed what a step change it was for creating little utilities like these.
I hope this inspires a few of you to build your next utility with it! I don’t think you’ll regret it.
I wished for something like this when I mentioned ImageOptim previously, a tool to run through different PNG and JPG optimisation techniques and export an optimal set of assets. Sure enough, Oliver Michalak has put together an app which automates the process of analysing all image resources in an app and providing a quick and easy way to get the best optimisations out. I ran it against one of our image heavy apps and it had remarkable results with almost no change in the visual quality of the app.
First of all, thank you Felix for everything you have done (so far!) for the iOS community. I'd say fastlane is the most important open source iOS related tool today. Do you think there would be an App Store Connect API without it? I don't think it's quite that simple, but fastlane certainly showed Apple there was a huge demand to automate processes around the App Store.
Secondly, it sounds like fastlane remains in great hands. Google still have full time staff on it, and of course the community contributions continue every day. I'm sure it'll continue to thrive even without Felix. 😻
The simulator has come a long way recently, but many enhancements arrived as additions to simctl
, the command-line tool. I've linked to several apps recently that have built UIs on top of various bits of simctl
, but none that have done it quite so comprehensively as this new one from Curtis Herbert. It's not purely simctl
automation though, it's also simulator folder management, and a whole host of other everyday development helpers. Also, how could I not link to a tool where you can set a systemwide shortcut key for deleting your derived data. 😂
For full disclosure, I've had this app for a while now as Curtis asked if I would beta test it. Unfortunately, with being extremely busy with other things, I only actually managed to even take a look at it this week. Sorry for being the worst beta tester ever, Curtis!