Apple starts WWDC23 with huge announcements

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:

Apple Newsroom:

References:

New documentation portal for WebKit is available

WebKit team announces new documentation resource for developers.

New resource provides information on WebKit internals, its subsystems, security aspects and many more.

New portal provides following features:

  • Built-in search helps you quickly locate articles.
  • Documentation can be read offline and online.
  • Documents are authored in Markdown, allowing members to easily contribute. 
  • Theming matches your system appearance (Light/Dark mode).
  • Documentation is hosted on GitHub, allowing developers to submit PRs to make edits and review changes.

WebKit: Documentation

WebKit Blog: Introducing WebKit Documentation

Safari retakes second place in most popular desktop browsers

Apple Safari is now second most popular desktop browser.

Statcounter reports (at the moment this post was created):

  • Google Chrome – 66.13%
  • Apple Safari – 11.87%
  • Microsoft Edge – 11%
  • Mozilla Firefox – 5.65%
  • Opera – 3.09%
  • Microsoft IE – 0.55%

Statcounter: Desktop Browser Market Share Worldwide

References:

New round of beta for Apple platforms has started

Apple publishes first beta for iOS/iPadOS 16.4, macOS Ventura 13.3, watchOS 9.4, tvOS 16.4. This time operating systems are accompanied by Xcode 14.3 beta.

Developers will now be able to enable developer beta from Software Update on iPhones and iPads.

Apart from that new beta versions add support for more emojis.

iOS 16.4 brings support for Web Push to Apple's mobile devices.

A web app that has been added to the Home Screen can request permission to receive push notifications as long as that request is in response to direct user interaction -- such as tapping on a 'subscribe' button provided by the web app. iOS or iPadOS will prompt the user to give the web app permission to send notifications. The user can then manage those permissions per web app in Notifications Settings -- just like any other app on iPhone and iPad.

WebKit team

Also this beta works on Matter support for Apple platforms including Apple TV.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Release notes:

WebKit Blog: Web Push for Web Apps on iOS and iPadOS

Reference:

Mozilla and Google are working on non-WebKit browsers for iOS

Google and Mozilla made announcements that they're working on experimental browsers for Apple's mobile platform. As of now both companies stated that this work does not mean that they plan to release these browsers to general audience any time soon.

However, it seems that both companies are getting ready for a possible policy change allowing third-party browser engines to be used on iOS and iPadOS.

We abide by Apple's iOS app store policies, and are simply doing some exploratory work to understand the technical challenges for Gecko-based browsers on iOS if those policies were to change. We hope the day will come when people can freely decide to use the browser of their choice, including the opportunity to select the engine that underpins it.

Mozilla to The Register

This is an experimental prototype that we are developing as part of an open source project with the goal to understand certain aspects of performance on iOS. It will not be available to users and we’ll continue to abide by Apple’s policies.

Google to The Register

References:

Safari Technology Preview 157 is published for macOS Ventura

Apple publishes new technology preview for Safari.

‌Safari Technology Preview‌ release 157 includes bug fixes and performance improvements for Web Inspector, CSS, Rendering, JavaScript, WebCodecs, Web API, Media, Web Animations, HTML, Accessibility, Security, Privacy, and Safari Web Extensions. 

MacRumors

Now Safari Technology Preview works with macOS Ventura, but no longer compatible with macOS Big Sur.

Download: Safari – Resources

Release notes: Safari Technology Preview Release Notes

Reference: Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 157 With Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements

Weekend good reads for Apple developers, issue #48

Hey there! This week we have many great reads for the developers, so – buckle up!

This week we'd like to pay our respects to Ray Wenderlich and his portal. Now it has new name – Kodeco. It is still great source of useful content for developers and we'll even share couple of articles today.

That's a lot for this week. Have time for rest and some time to read something interesting!

Apple releases iOS 16, watchOS 9, also updates previous major releases and Safari for macOS

Monday morning brings new releases for Apple hardware.

These are updates available today:

  • iOS 16, watchOS 9 and tvOS 16 as new major releases
  • Xcode 14
  • HomePod software 16
  • iOS/iPadOS 15.7, macOS 12.6 Monterey with security fixes
  • Safari 16 for macOS 12 Monterey

Apple continues practice of offering both updates to current major release and brand new release.

Also, some features like Live Activities are not yet live in iOS 16 and expected later this year.

Apple Support:

Apple Newsroom:

References: