Weekend good reads for Apple developers #2023/22

Okay, I get it, it's weekend before the show. But why would you drop your routine? Let's go through some great technical and one fun article.

And, as promised, fun one – refresh your Apple history knowledge with WWDC 2023: The Pregame Quiz by Jordan Morgan.

Get ready for WWDC23 – next week will be definitely packed with new stuff we'll be learning the whole summer!

Xcode 14.3.1 RC is published

This Release Candidate seems to be bug fixing related. No significant new features are reported for this version.

Xcode 14.3.1 RC includes Swift 5.8.1 and SDKs for iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, tvOS 16.4, watchOS 9.4, and macOS Ventura 13.3. The Xcode 14.3.1 RC release supports on-device debugging in iOS 11 and later, tvOS 11 and later, and watchOS 4 and later. Xcode 14.3.1 RC requires a Mac running macOS Ventura 13.0 or later.

Release notes

Beta download: Applications

Release notes: Xcode 14.3.1 RC Release Notes

Developers will have to use Xcode 14.1 or newer to submit apps to App Store starting April 25

Apple will now require developers to use Xcode 14.1 or newer to submit apps to App Store. Requirements will be enforced starting April 25, 2023.

This update might affect existing CI/CD pipelines or apps being built with previous Xcode releases. Development teams now have a month to verify that codebases are compatible with modern SDKs and Xcode.

Apple Developer: App Store submission requirement starts April 25

Apple releases iOS 16.4 and other platforms, older releases receive security updates

Apple releases iOS/iPadOS 16.4, macOS Ventura 13.3, watchOS 9.4 and tvOS 16.4. HomePod software is also updated to 16.4. Apple also released Studio Display firmware update.

Xcode 14.3 receives RC 2.

Apple also releases iOS/iPadOS 15.7.4, macOS Monterey 12.6.4 and macOS Big Sur 11.7.5 with security fixes.

iOS

This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

  • 21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard
  • Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen
  • Voice Isolation for cellular calls prioritizes your voice and blocks out ambient noise around you
  • Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
  • VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
  • Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
  • Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent's device
  • Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home
  • Crash Detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models

iPadOS

This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes:

  • 21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard
  • Apple Pencil hover adds tilt and azimuth support so you can preview your mark at any angle before you make it in Notes and supported apps on iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation)
  • Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen
  • Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
  • VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
  • Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
  • Fixes an issue with Apple Pencil responsiveness that may occur while drawing or writing in the Notes app
  • Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent's device
  • Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home

macOS

This update includes new emoji along with other enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates for your Mac.

  • 21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard
  • Remove background option in Freeform automatically isolates the subject in your image
  • Photos duplicates album expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library
  • Transliteration support for Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu keyboards
  • New keyboard layouts for Choctaw, Chickasaw, Akan, Hausa, and Yoruba
  • Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected
  • VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app
  • Resolves an issue where Trackpad gestures may occasionally stop responding
  • Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent's device
  • Addresses an issue where VoiceOver may be unresponsive after using Finder

watchOS

watchOS 9.4 includes improvements to Apple Watch and brings features to new regions. 

  • Wake-up alarms are no longer silenced with cover to mute gesture to avoid accidental cancellations during sleep
  • Cycle Tracking with retrospective ovulation estimates and cycle deviation alerts now supported in Moldova and Ukraine
  • AFib History now available in Colombia, Malaysia, Moldova, Thailand, and Ukraine

Beta download: Applications

References:

Weekend good reads for Apple developers #2023/12

Weekend is here, so is another list of great reads.

And that is it for today. See you next week!

Apple publishes RC for iOS 16.4, other platforms and iOS 15.7.4 too

Apple soon to release iOS 16.4 and other platforms. Today Release Candidate is published. Xcode 14.3 RC is also available.

In addition to new platforms, Apple also publishes RC for iOS 15.7.4 including security fixes (no releases notes are available).

This update includes the following enhancements and bug fixes: 

- 21 new emoji including animals, hand gestures, and objects are now available in emoji keyboard 
- Notifications for web apps added to the Home Screen 
- Voice Isolation for cellular calls prioritizes your voice and blocks out ambient noise around you 
- Duplicates album in Photos expands support to detect duplicate photos and videos in an iCloud Shared Photo Library 
- VoiceOver support for maps in the Weather app 
- Accessibility setting to automatically dim video when flashes of light or strobe effects are detected 
- Fixes an issue where Ask to Buy requests from children may fail to appear on the parent’s device 
- Addresses issues where Matter-compatible thermostats could become unresponsive when paired to Apple Home 
- Crash Detection optimizations on iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models

Apple

Also, corresponding RC firmware for Apple Studio Display is available.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Release notes:

References:

iOS 16.4 gets another beta, other platforms too

Apple is now one step closer to releasing iOS 16.4 and other platforms. Beta 4 is available for iOS/iPadOS 16.4 , macOS 13.3, watchOS 9.4 and tvOS 16.4. Xcode 14.3 beta 4 is also published.

No significant features are announced in these beta versions.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Releases notes:

Second beta for iOS 16.4 and other platforms is published

Apple shares beta 2 for iOS/iPadOS 16.4, macOS Ventura 13.3, watchOS 9.4 and tvOS 16.4. Xcode 13.4 beta 2 is also available.

No significant updates reported for this round of beta versions.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Release notes: