Category: Apple

Apple publishes Release Candidate for iOS/iPadOS 17.2, macOS Sonoma 14.2, watchOS 10.2 and tvOS 17.2.

Xcode 15.1 RC is also available for download.

iMessage Contact Key Verification is being added in this RC. Also RC fixes wireless changing for GM cars, as well as enabling Qi2 support on iPhone 13 and newer. Improvements for telephoto camera for iPhone 15 Pro is also reported.

Siri gets access to health data on iPhone and Apple Watch.

Apple also prepared RC for iOS/iPadOS 16.7.3.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Release notes:

• iOS & iPadOS 17.2 RC Release Notes
• macOS Sonoma 14.2 RC Release Notes
• watchOS 10.2 RC Release Notes
• tvOS 17.2 RC Release Notes
• Xcode 15.1 RC Release Notes

References:

• iMessage Contact Key Verification
• Here are the full iOS 17.2 release notes: Every new feature and change
• iOS 17.2 unlocks Qi2 wireless charging support on older iPhone models
• OS 17.2 Brings Qi2 Support to iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 Models
• iOS 17.2 improves Telephoto camera on iPhone 15 Pro, Apple says
• iOS 17.2 and watchOS 10.2 Allow Siri to Access and Log Health Data
• iOS 17.2 Fixes Bug Preventing Wireless Charging From Working in Some Vehicles
• Here are the new Weather widgets for iPhone with iOS 17.2
• Apple says iOS 17.2 fixes iPhone wireless charging problems in ‘certain vehicles’
• iTunes Movies and TV Shows app discontinued with new Apple TV update
• The Standalone iTunes Movies and TV Shows Apps Are Discontinued in tvOS 17.2
• Apple Eliminating iTunes Movies and TV Show Apps in tvOS 17.2

Swift community already started bringing Swift to embedded platforms. Now memory-mapped IO library is being announced.

swift-mmio is designed to provide safe and secure APIs for fundamental low-level operations required in embedded firmware development, such as reading and writing memory-mapped registers. Drawing inspiration from mmio libraries in languages like C++ and Rust, swift-mmio focuses on improving the correctness of code interacting with MMIO.

Rauhul Varma, Swift Forums

Library is available as Swift Package on GitHub.

GitHub: swift-mmio

Swift Forums: Introducing Swift MMIO

Apple announces that App Store review team will work through holidays, but review time might be increased.

The busiest season on the App Store is almost here! Make sure your apps and games are up to date and ready in advance of the upcoming holidays. We’ll remain open throughout the season and look forward to accepting your submissions. On average, 90% of submissions are reviewed in less than 24 hours. However, reviews may take a bit longer to complete from December 22 to 27.

Apple Developer

Apple Developer: Get your apps ready for the holidays

Counterpoint shares the report highlighting Q3 sales numbers for Apple Watch. Another take from the report is that Huawei is gaining Samsung's share in wearables segment.

Apple delivered its best-ever Q3 performance, with a 7% YoY increase in shipments. This achievement is particularly noteworthy given that the latest Apple Watch, a key product in their lineup, was released slightly later than the previous year. The strong shipments of the 2nd-generation SE model significantly contributed to the growth of the industry leader.

9to5Mac

Reference: Apple Watch sees best ever Q3 numbers, as Huawei hurts Samsung

Ongoing effort to emulate iPhone software on QEMU is now resulted in major milestone. iPhoneOS 2.1 (emulating iPod touch) is now available. In his tweet Martijn de Vos showcases the progress.

https://twitter.com/devos50/status/1720504769003843624

GitHub: qemu-ios

Reference: Developer shows progress on QEMU-based iPhone OS emulator, now running version 2.1

Multiple active exploits could affect iPhone use of Bluetooth.

Flipper Zero hacker tool could be used to trigger iPhone DDoS attack using Bluetooth signals by AirPods, HomeKit accessories, etc. These signals usually trigger popup on iPhone allowing to connect to headphones or perform other actions. Crafting these signals in a specific way could result in iOS restart.

Newly discovered BLUFFS attack could be used to impersonate devices and trigger disclosure of private information. It is not yet clear, if AirDrop is affected by this attack as it uses more than just Bluetooth to authenticate the device. However, it is still possible to hijack audio or other Bluetooth connection. Fix would require device manufacturers to modify security mechanisms of Bluetooth stack.

References:

• Flipper Zero can still crash iPhones running the latest version of iOS 17
• Bluetooth security flaws allow connections to be hijacked; AirDrop unlikely to be affected [U]

Apple's Tap to Pay framework is getting support in many countries. Now one of the major US airlines adopts framework to process in-flight purchases.

Alaska Airlines is teaming with Stripe to provide support for purchases and uses Tap to Pay on iPhone to accept contactless payments.

Reference: Alaska Airlines adopts Tap to Pay on iPhone for in-flight purchases

Following announcement of award finalists Apple now publishes App Store Awards 2023 winners. Apple lists winners as apps and games of the year for its platforms.

Apple also mentions trend of the year.

Apps are a reflection of culture, and in 2023, generative AI captured users’ collective imagination with its evolution unfolding in real time. Apps started integrating AI throughout the year in a variety of ways. Although many features are still in their infancy, they gave users a chance to see, firsthand, the technology in action and come to their own conclusions about the benefits and risks. In addition to this year’s App Store Award winners, App Store Editors across the globe have highlighted a collection of generative AI apps that exemplify the Trend of the Year. Read more from App Store Editors.

Apple Newsroom

Apple Newsroom: Apple unveils App Store Award winners, the best apps and games of 2023

Apple Developer: App Store Award winners announced

References:

It's December already. And we're getting our last installments of good reads in this year.

• Francesco Perchiazzi explores spatial computing development patterns in Embracing Extended Reality: visionOS challenges;
  
  
• Create an AsyncStream from withObservationTracking() function by Natalia Panferova is about merging new observation framework with structured concurrency;
  
  
• Natascha Fadeeva continues his series on SwiftData – How to store images in SwiftData;
  
  
• Mastering MapKit in SwiftUI. Basics is Majid Jabrayilov another good take on using maps in SwiftUI;
  
  
• Antoine van der Lee gives overview of Swift language development process – Swift Evolution: Reading and learning from proposals;
  
  
• Matteo Altobello explores SwiftUI app lifecycle in Accessing the app life cycle within a SwiftUI app;
  
  
• Create Your Own Step Counter SwiftUI App in 5 Minutes by Leonardo Maia Pugliese is a great guide on how to build full app on SwiftUI;
  
  
• And another take by Matteo Altobello on animations in RealityKit – Play an animation in RealityKit.

And this is it for today. Next week we'll have more great articles to read.

Apple releases iOS/iPadOS 17.1.2 and macOS Sonoma 14.1.2. No new features are added, update brings security fixes and stability updates. Fix targets issues with WebKit.

References:

• iOS 17.1.2 and iPadOS 17.1.2
• macOS 14.1.2
• iOS 17.1.2 & Sonoma 14.1.2 updates stop browsers from leaking personal data
• iOS 17.1.2 and macOS Sonoma 14.1.2 patch 2 actively exploited vulnerabilities
• Apple Releases iOS 17.1.2 With Security Fixes
• Apple Releases macOS Sonoma 14.1.2 With Bug Fixes
• Apple releases iOS 17.1.2 and macOS Sonoma 14.1.2 security updates