Tag: Live Activities

Apple highlights Live Activities to developers. These questions include user experience, technical challenges, implementation details.

Apple Developer: 10 questions with the Live Activities team

Apple’s Live Activity framework is put to the test by developers during presidential elections in Brazil.

Developer shares story behind the app that was used to keep users informed on election counting progress. Overall, while having some limitations, Live Activity framework proves to be good tool for ongoing major events.

Reference: Developers prove the potential of Live Activities with an iOS app to track the Brazilian elections

Live Activities in iOS 16.2 will have more frequent updates option. Sport scores are also enabled for Live Activities by Apple TV app.

Also, Sleep Lock Screen widget is now available in iOS 16.2. It is also mentioned that Medication widget soon to be available.

tvOS 16.2 brings Siri voice recognition to Apple TV.

References:

• Live Activities to Get More Frequent Updates Option in iOS 16.2
• iOS 16.2 Beta Reenables Live Sports Scores on Lock Screen and Dynamic Island via Apple TV App
• tvOS 16.2 Beta Enables Siri Voice Recognition on Apple TV for Personalized Usage
• iOS 16.2 Beta Adds New Sleep Widget to Lock Screen
• iOS 16.2 adds new Sleep widget for your Lock Screen, Medications widget also coming soon

Apple releases major updates to iPadOS and macOS. iPadOS 16.1 and macOS 13 Ventura bring several notable features:

• Stage Manager on both macOS and iPadOS (currently limited to several iPad models);
• Weather app for both platforms;
• Shared iCloud Photo Library.

iOS 16.1, watchOS 9.1 and tvOS 16.1 are also released today. HomePod software is also updated to 16.1 version.

These updates also bring:

• Support for Matter smart home standard;
• Live Activities on iPhone;
• Clean Energy Charging in select US states;
• New Siri UI and features for Apple TV;
• A lot of other updates across the systems.

Interestingly, Apple Card Savings Account was not introduced with iOS 16.1. It is now expected to be added later.

Also Apple releases Safari 16.1 for older macOS releases.

iOS 16.1 brings support for SKAdNetwork 4.0. Update provides more details on ad performance, better analysis of web ads leading to App Store pages.

Xcode 14.1 gets second Release Candidate so far.

Beta download: Applications

Release notes: Xcode 14.1 RC2 Release Notes

Apple Newsroom:

• iPadOS 16 is available today
• macOS Ventura is now available

Apple Developer:

• SKAdNetwork 4.0 now available

References:

• Apple Releases tvOS 16.1 With Siri Improvements, iCloud Shared Photo Library, Matter and More
• Apple Releases New HomePod 16.1 Software With Matter Support
• Apple Releases watchOS 9.1 With Battery Life Improvements and Matter Integration
• Apple Releases iOS 16.1 With Support for iCloud Shared Photo Library, Matter, Live Activities and More
• Apple Releases iPadOS 16 With Stage Manager, Weather App, Desktop Class Apps and iOS 16 Features
• Apple Releases macOS Ventura With FaceTime Handoff, Continuity Camera, Stage Manager, New Apps and More
• iOS 16.1 Includes Several Improvements to SKAdNetwork for Advertisers
• Apple Delays Daily Cash Savings Account for Apple Card Users
• macOS Ventura: 50 New Features and Changes Worth Checking Out
• Safari 16.1 Brings Support for Passkeys, Web Push, Apple Pencil Hover and More
• Apple Shares More Details on iOS 16.1 Clean Energy Charging Feature
• iOS 16.1 Features: Everything New in iOS 16.1
• Stage Manager on iPad: How to use the polarizing new feature in iPadOS 16 [Video]

Apple prepares for iPadOS 16 and macOS 13 Ventura releases. This time there is one round of beta versions. Interestingly, no new watchOS beta is available yet. Also, no new Xcode beta is there.

No notable changes are reported in new round of betas.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Releases notes:

• iOS 16.1 Beta 5 Release Notes
• iPadOS 16 Beta 12 Release Notes
• macOS 13 Ventura Beta 11 Release Notes
• tvOS 16.1 Beta 5 Release Notes

While we're in the midst between iOS and iPadOS releases, we have couple of things to read during the release.

• Jordan Morgan provides overview of new concurrency model with completion handlers – Use Swift Concurrency with Completion Handlers;
  
  
• Leonardo Maia Pugliese provides developer productivity tips in Save Time With User Breakpoints in Xcode;
  
  
• iOS developer guide on the main aspects of Core Data by Natascha Fadeeva provides great overview on Core Data;
  
  
• Sarun W. covers SwiftUI view positioning in SwiftUI zIndex: Everything you need to know and also talks about view cycle in viewDidLoad() in SwiftUI;
  
  
• Aspect Fit Layout Guide by Keith Harrison explores UIKit layout engine;
  
  
• Antoine van der Lee explains typical concurrency issues in Deadlocks in Swift explained: detecting and solving;
  
  
• Majid Jabrayilov explains new Live Activities API in Displaying live activities in iOS 16;
  
  
• DocC Tutorial for Swift : Getting Started by Mina H. Gerges provides great overview of Apple's documentation tool.

And that is it. Have some rest, probably play with new shiny Apple Watch Ultra and come over next weekend for new articles.

Apple prepares for releasing iPadOS and release of iOS 16.1. New iPadOS beta is labeled as iPadOS 16 beta 8. Xcode 14.1 beta 1 is also published.

New beta has following:

• iPadOS 16.1 simulator now has option to enable Stage Manager
• Live Activities API are now available

Beta download: Operating Systems

Release notes:

• iOS 16.1 Beta Release Notes
• iPadOS 16 Beta 8 Release Notes
• watchOS 9.1 Beta Release Notes
• tvOS 16.1 Beta Release Notes
• Xcode 14.1 Beta 1 Release Notes

References:

• Apple Seeds First Beta of tvOS 16.1 to Developers
• Apple Seeds First Beta of watchOS 9.1 to Developers
• Apple Seeds Second Beta of Delayed iPadOS 16.1 Update to Developers
• Apple Releases First Beta of iOS 16.1 to Developers
• iPadOS 16.1 beta 2 now available as Apple aims for October release
• iOS 16.1 beta 1 now available as Apple continues rolling out new features
• First tvOS 16.1 and watchOS 9.1 betas available for developers

Yes, it's August already. iOS 16 is to be released in just over a month. Let's see what we have for this weekend to read.

• Experimenting with Live Activities by Ole Begemann will prepare you to use new iOS 16 API to improve notification experience;
  
  
• Sarun W. covers small but still important topic – How to change a navigation bar color in SwiftUI on iOS 16;
  
  
• Content transition in SwiftUI by Majid Jabrayilov explores new transitions in SwiftUI introduced in iOS 16;
  
  
• Natalia Panferova shares Adjust the direction of focus-based navigation in SwiftUI with details on focus system in SwiftUI and great article time formatting – Display high precision time with Duration and TimeFormatStyle;
  
  
• SwiftUI Gauges by Keith Harrison covers ways of displaying gauges in SwiftUI;
  
  
• Natascha Fadeeva publishes Supporting universal links in a SwiftUI application with details on SwiftUI app lifecycle;
  
  
• Get ready for Swift 6 with Sendable and @Sendable closures explained with code examples by Antoine van der Lee;
  
  
• Also, Sarun W. reminds on uses of underscores in Swift – Improve numbers readability with underscores;
  
  
• Good overview of barcode scanning by Leonardo Maia Pugliese – The Modern way to Scan Texts, QR Codes, and Barcodes in Swift.

And that is it for today. Have a great weekend!

Apple releases beta 4 for iOS/iPadOS 16, macOS 13 Ventura, watchOS 9 and tvOS 16. Most notable addition is support for Live Activities.

Live Activities and ActivityKit won't be included in the initial publicly released version of iOS 16, but will be publicly available in an update later this year. Once they're publicly available, you can submit your apps with Live Activities to the App Store.

Apple Developer

There are also updates on edit and unsend functionality in Messages:

• Unsend is available only for two minutes after messages was sent;
• Edited messages now show the log of edits.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Apple Developer:

• Live Activities now available in beta
• ActivityKit

Release notes:

• iOS & iPadOS 16 Beta 4 Release Notes
• macOS 13 Ventura Beta 4 Release Notes
• watchOS 9 Beta 3 Release Notes
• tvOS 16 Beta 4 Release Notes
• Xcode 14 Beta 4 Release Notes

References:

• Developers Now Able to Create Live Activities for iOS 16 Lock Screen With Launch of ActivityKit Beta
• iOS 16 beta 4 reduces time limit for unsending iMessages, adds new edit log
• Edited iMessages in iOS 16 Now Display Original Text, Undo Send Limited to Two Minutes
• Everything new in iOS 16 beta 4: Messages history, Lock Screen, wallpapers, & more
• iOS 16 adds new wallpapers for the Home app, and you can download them here
• Everything New in iOS 16 Beta 4 For Lock Screen, iMessage, CarPlay, and More