Tag: ARKit

Weekend good reads is here with another pack of interesting articles to go over this weekend.

• Natalia Panferova covers SwiftUI hierarchical colors support for backgrounds in iOS 17 – Hierarchical background styles in SwiftUI;
  
  
• Structural type system in Swift is explored by Alex Ozun – Greater type safety with Structural Typing in Swift;
  
  
• Custom Traits and SwiftUI by Keith Harrison is about updates to traits system in iOS 17 and its use in SwiftUI and UIKit;
  
  
• David Smith shares nice approach to make smooth animations for analog clocks – Calculating a Smooth Clock Hands Animation;
  
  
• Visual effects in SwiftUI by Majid Jabrayilov is all about applying transformations to views in SwiftUI;
  
  
• Pasquale Vittorosi provides hints on how to better support VoiceOver in your app – Preparing your App for VoiceOver: customizing the Sort Priority;
  
  
• Domenico De Luca continues topic of accessibility focusing on visual elements – Ensure Visual Accessibility: Glyphs, Icons and Shapes;
  
  
• Adding custom gestures to an AR application with SwiftUI by Matteo Altobello covers augmented reality gestures in SwiftUI.

And that is it for this week. See you next time!

It's almost halloween here, but our regular list of great reads is not spooky at all!

• Quentin Zervaas goes through Focus Filters API to allow all to respond to user's current needs – Showing Relevant Data Using Focus Filters;
  
  
• Introduction to bash scripting for iOS developers by Natascha Fadeeva will make you better shell users;
  
  
• Natalia Panferova navigates through logging changes in Xcode 15 – Filtering logs in Xcode 15;
  
  
• Improving app settings management is covered in User Defaults reading and writing in Swift by Antoine van der Lee;
  
  
• Generating Random Numbers Elegantly in Swift by Jordan Morgan explores random generators in Swift;
  
  
• Pasquale Vittorosi goes through VoiceOver and other accessibility traits in Preparing your App for VoiceOver: use Accessibility Label;
  
  
• Domenico De Luca continues accessibility topic with Ensure Visual Accessibility: supporting the Large Content Viewer;
  
  
• Swift metatypes are not that hard to understand – Leonardo Maia Pugliese covers those in Swift Metatypes: What They Are and Why You Should Care;
  
  
• Holidays are coming soon, learn how to handle special pricing – How to run a holiday sale in App Store Connect for iOS subscription apps by Charlie Chapman;
  
  
• David Smith explains his design decisions in Design Evolution: Offline Map Downloader, and also great new series on visionOS – Introducing visionOS Fridays;
  
  
• Using the ARKit coaching view in a SwiftUI AR application by Matteo Altobello helps navigating users through AR apps.

Wrapping up for this weekend and see you next time in November!

With more details on Apple Vision Pro being available during WWDC23, developers found out that in current release of visionOS access to outward facing cameras will not be provided to third-party applications.

The only access apps could get is simulated camera with user's Digital Persona (and only if user approves access). This camera will act like front facing camera on iPhone allowing recoding of user's face reconstructed using ML model.

In order to build immersive AR experiences developers have to rely on ARKit entities and scene understanding capabilities.

Reference: Vision Pro keeping camera access under lock and key compared to iPhone and iPad

Apple started its annual developer conference with Keynote and Platform State of the Union. First day of WWDC is packed with announcements.

Mac hardware

Apple unveils MacBook Air 15" with M2, and M2 Ultra powered Mac Studio and Mac Pro. The new ‌MacBook Air‌ starts at $1,299. Prices for the second generation Mac Studio start at $1,999. Mac Pro starts at $6999.

MacBook Air 13" with M2 chip is now starting at $999.

iOS / iPadOS 17

iOS 17 gets new features focusing on communications and sharing. Contacts app is revamped with emphasis on photos and typography. Standby view is added for iPhone.

iPadOS has more customization for Lock Screen. Widgets now could be interacted with.

Also, AirDrop now has new experience when users hold their phones close to each other.

macOS 14 Sonoma

macOS 14 Sonoma now has "Game Mode" which improves performance for games, minimizes delays. macOS also gets interactive widgets that could be placed everywhere.

Safari gets a lot of privacy and security improvements. Improved support for web apps is announced.

watchOS 10

watchOS 10 brings support for widgets. New design language is introduced.

tvOS 17

tvOS 17 gets support for Continuity Camera hinting on new tvOS-powered devices with camera hardware.

Vision Pro and visionOS

Apple unveils Vision Pro mixed reality headset. Price is starting with $3,499, US sales are expected to start early next year. Other countries to follow later.

Device has 12 cameras, 6 microphone and many other sensors. Also, device has external display that could show user’s eyes (feature is called EyeSight). During FaceTime calls device will show face by using trained ML model and device cameras.

Vision Pro will be able to run iOS and iPadOS apps in windowed mode. Also, headset supports direct 3D experiences built using RealityKit, ARKit. Unity is also supported as development framework.

Windowed apps could be powered by SwiftUI which is updated to better support depth.

Apple to host labs in multiple cities for developers to try their apps on real device before public launch. Simulator is available as a part of development tools.

visionOS SDK is to be available later this month.

Agreements update

The App Store Review Guidelines, the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, and the Apple Developer Agreement have been updated to support updated policies and upcoming features, and to provide clarification. Please review the changes below and accept the updated terms as needed.

App Store Review Guidelines

• Added to 2.5.18: “Apps that contain ads must also include the ability for users to report any inappropriate or age-inappropriate ads.”
• Revised bullet point 11 of 3.1.2(a): “Cellular carrier apps may include auto-renewing music and video subscriptions when purchased in bundles with new cellular data plans, with prior approval by Apple. Other auto-renewing subscriptions may also be included in bundles when purchased with new cellular data plans, with prior approval by Apple, if the cellular carrier apps support in-app purchase for users. Such subscriptions cannot include access to or discounts on consumable items, and the subscriptions must terminate coincident with the cellular data plan.”
• Added to 4.1: “Submitting apps which impersonate other apps or services is considered a violation of the Developer Code of Conduct and may result in removal from the Apple Developer Program.”
• Revised 4.4: “Apps hosting or containing extensions must comply with the App Extension Programming Guide, the Safari App Extensions Guide, or the Safari Web Extensions documentation and should include some functionality, such as help screens and settings interfaces where possible.”
• Revised 4.4.2: “Safari extensions must run on the current version of Safari on the relevant Apple operating system.”

Developer Program License Agreement

• Purpose; Definitions; Sections 2.6, 3.2, 3.3.4, 3.3.38, 3.3.63, 5.1, 6.3, 6.6, 7, 7.3, 7.5, 7.6, 14.2; Attachment 7: Specified requirements and functionality for apps on visionOS.
• Definitions: Updated requirements for Corresponding Products.
• Definitions; Section 3.1: Specified requirements for universities and their Authorized Student Developers.
• Definitions; Section 3.3.62: Specified requirements for use of the Tap to Present ID API.
• Definitions; Sections 3.3.40, 3.3.64, 5.1, 10; Attachment 10: Specified requirements for use of mobile device management (MDM).
• Definitions; Section 3.3.65: Specified requirements for use of the iWork Document Exporting API.
• Definitions; Section 3.3.67: Specified requirements for use of the Sensitive Content Analysis Framework.
• Definitions; Attachment 3: Updated requirements for development of Passes.
• Section 3.3.9: Added requirements for use of third-party SDKs and certain APIs, clarified restrictions on use of data derived from a device.
• Section 3.3.42: Added requirements for use of certain Apple Pay APIs.
• Section 3.3.63: Specified requirements for providing a partially immersive experience in an app.
• Section 3.3.66: Specified requirements for the use of the Shallow Depth and Pressure feature.
• Section 6.7: Added information on App Analytics.
• Attachment 2: Clarified requirements for use of the In-App Purchase API.

Apple Developer Agreement

• Sections 4, 6: Updated requirements for access to and use of pre-release materials.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Apple Developer:

• WWDC23 schedule and lab requests now available Systems
• Xcode 15 beta now available
• What’s new in privacy on the App Store
• Updated agreements and guidelines now available
• WWDC23 Overview
• Updated agreements and guidelines now available
• Introducing Apple Vision Pro and visionOS
• Spotlight on developing for visionOS

Apple Newsroom:

• Apple introduces the 15-inch MacBook Air
• Apple introduces M2 Ultra
• Apple unveils new Mac Studio and brings Apple silicon to Mac Pro
• AirPods redefine the personal audio experience
• Apple announces powerful new privacy and security features
• iOS 17 makes iPhone more personal and intuitive
• iPadOS 17 brings new levels of personalization and versatility to iPad
• Apple provides powerful insights into new areas of health
• macOS Sonoma brings new capabilities for elevating productivity and creativity
• Introducing watchOS 10, a milestone update for Apple Watch
• tvOS 17 brings FaceTime and video conferencing to Apple TV 4K
• Introducing Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer

References:

• Apple announces new Mac Pro powered by M2 Ultra: PCI expansion, $6999 starting price
• Apple Announces New 'NameDrop' Contact Sharing Feature Coming in iOS 17
• Apple announces macOS Sonoma with aerial screensavers, Game Mode, and more
• Apple Announces macOS Sonoma With Desktop Widgets and More
• Apple Announces watchOS 10 With Widgets, Redesigned Apps, and More
• Apple Announces New Intelligent AirPlay Features With Hotel Room Support
• This is Apple Vision Pro, the mixed reality headset for spatial computing
• Apple Reveals 'Vision Pro' Headset and visionOS

It's already February... Well, we still have couple of interesting reads for you.

• Setup a 3D Chessboard With SwiftUI and RealityKit by Mark Lucking – nice intro into AR apps in modern era;
  
  
• Andrew Barba shares guide on Vercel, new solution allowing deployment of server-side Swift apps – Deploy server side Swift applications on Vercel;
  
  
• How to import Objective-C types as optionals or non-optionals into Swift by Natascha Fadeeva reminds developers on how to improve interoperability between Swift and Objective-C;
  
  
• Automatically run Swift code when your framework gets initialized by Marco Eidinger also finds good use of Objective-C in modern projects;
  
  
• John Sundell explains how to use scrollable views in SwiftUI – Observing the content offset of a SwiftUI ScrollView;
  
  
• Kasper Lahti covers styling in SwiftUI – Styling Components in SwiftUI;
  
  
• Xcode Simulator Directories Exploration by Antoine van der Lee is a great guide on iOS Simulator directory structure;
  
  
• Lee Kah Seng provides hints on keeping widgets up to date – How to Fetch and Show Remote Data on a Widget?;
  
  
• Mastering Error Handling in SwiftUI: A Guide to Presenting Errors by Leonardo Maia Pugliese guides developers on ways to respond to errors in SwiftUI application;
  
  
• Did you ever wanted to print incoming JSON in nice formatted way – Jordan Morgan got you covered in Converting Data into a Formatted JSON Swift String;
  
  
• David Smith continues his design notes diary series – Reasons for a Staycation Greycation and DND 21: Byte Compression for Watch Connectivity;
  
  
• Peter Meinertzhagen provides great hints on monetization – What’s the Best Way to Monetize Kids Apps?;
  
  
• We all get and give feedbacks, good article on how to make those better – How to Write Impactful Peer Feedback by Michael Katz.

And, in case you missed it – couple of books are available for free, maybe you'll find something useful there. See you next week!

Shopify shared great demo of RoomPlan SDK available in iOS 16.

https://twitter.com/StrangeNative/status/1547227797793284096

RoomPlan is used to virtually remove any furniture and show room as if it was empty.

RoomPlan SDK provides developer with instruments to easily scan the room and export measurements in USD or USDZ formats compatible with existing 3D modeling software.

Apple Developer: Introducing RoomPlan