Category: iOS

New website is available that indexes all Apple Special Events and provides search functionality.

So, any enthusiast could find all references to specific technology, feature or design choices and get to specific moment in keynote to follow Apple's view on said feature.

Context: Search All Apple Keynotes

Reference: This website lets you find specific moments of Apple events just by searching for keywords

Apple blocks Coinbase Wallet app from App Store due to NFT trading without use of In-app purchases.

Recent App Store Review Guidelines update forces apps to use Apple's mechanisms and treats NFTs as any other digital goods. Coinbase also could not update their NFT trading to use In-app purchases for now.

App Store: App Store Review Guidelines

Reference: Coinbase Wallet NFT Transfers Blocked From App Store

It is officially winter and here is new great pack of good articles for all Apple developers.

• Interesting observation by Christian Tietze on mutating functions that do not actually mutate the structure – Mutating Struct and State Observers: How the Latter Will Be Notified Even for 'No-Ops';
  
  
• Good deep dive into SwiftUI performance – SwiftUI is convenient, but slow by Alin Panaitiu;
  
  
• Series of articles on app design by David Smith – Design Notes Diary #1, Design Notes Diary #2, Design Notes Diary #3 and Design Notes Diary #4;
  
  
• Animated Background in SwiftUI by Leonardo Maia Pugliese is a great example of how to use animations to make apps more appealing;
  
  
• Majid Jabrayilov continues his series of articles on SwiftUI layout system – Building custom layout in SwiftUI. Caching.;
  
  
• Provide custom size for UIViews wrapped in UIViewRepresentable by Natalia Panferova helps improving usage of UIKit views in SwiftUI environment;
  
  
• Ole Begemann shares one caveat on view clipping in SwiftUI – clipped() doesn’t affect hit testing;
  
  
• Great tutorial on Shortcuts in iOS by Jordan Morgan – Create a Basic Shortcut using App Intents;
  
  
• Sheets in SwiftUI explained with code examples by Antoine van der Lee gives examples of sheet view presentations in SwiftUI;
  
  
• If you want to build your own build automation scripts, Developer guide on the App Store Connect API by Natascha Fadeeva will be a good start;
  
  
• CloudKit Console Act As iCloud Account by Keith Harrison provides hints on how to work with CloudKit data using specific account in CloudKit Console;
  
  
• Couple of interesting reads by Sarun W. – How to fix "The compiler is unable to type-check this expression in reasonable time" error and What is Swift If Case.

Have a great first winter weekend and see you soon!

Apple is widely known for making their devices accessible. All Apple platforms include settings to accommodate devices to users' needs.

New advertisement highlights these features and their impact on human lives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sX9IEHWRJ8

Reference: Apple Highlights Accessibility Features on iPhone, Mac, and More in New Ad

Car Key introduced several years ago is yet not widely adopted by car manufactures (in some degree due to chip shortages in recent years) and was iPhone only feature for some time. Now these electronic keys could be shared with Google Pixel phone owners and other Android phones to follow soon.

Reference: You can now share your car key in Apple Wallet with Android users, starting with Google Pixel

Man in Alaska used iPhone's Emergency SOS feature to get help while being stranded in cold weather. Apple's response center contacted local rescue teams. Man was found and rescued without injuries.

There are some limits to this feature too. Not all latitudes provide access to satellites.

Apple says that satellite connectivity might not work in places above 62° latitude, such as northern parts of Canada and Alaska, and Noorvik and Kotzebue are close to 69° latitude. 

MacRumors

Reference: Apple's iPhone 14 Emergency SOS via Satellite Feature Saves Stranded Man in Alaska

Apple publishes next round of beta versions for iOS/iPadOS 16.2, macOS 13.1 Ventura, watchOS 9.2 and tvOS 16.2. Still no new Xcode beta versions.

Not much is known on new features in this round of betas. Apple might be planning release soon.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Release notes:

• iOS & iPadOS 16.2 Beta 4 Release Notes
• macOS Ventura 13.1 Beta 4 Release Notes
• watchOS 9.2 Beta 4 Release Notes
• tvOS 16.2 Beta 4 Release Notes

Apple releases iOS 16.1.2 with improvements on wireless carrier compatibility and crash detection algorithm improvements for iPhone 14 models.

Reference: Apple Releases iOS 16.1.2 With Carrier Improvements and Crash Detection Optimizations

Apple warns developers that during holidays (December 23 to December 27) there are possible delays in app reviewing times.

There are no App Store submission closures this year though.

Apple Developer: Get your apps ready for the holidays

Apple announces App Store Awards 2022 winners highlighting notable apps and games in App Store. Winners are announced for all Apple platforms – iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS.

Apps getting the awards could be studied for best practices and approaches.

iPhone App of the Year: BeReal, from BeReal.

iPad App of the Year: GoodNotes 5, from Time Base Technology Limited.

Mac App of the Year: MacFamilyTree 10, from Synium Software GmbH.

Apple TV App of the Year: ViX, from TelevisaUnivision Interactive, Inc.

Apple Watch App of the Year: Gentler Streak, from Gentler Stories LLC.

iPhone Game of the Year: Apex Legends Mobile, from Electronic Arts.

iPad Game of the Year: Moncage, from X.D. Network Inc.

Mac Game of the Year: Inscryption, from Devolver.

Apple TV Game of the Year: El Hijo, from HandyGames.

Apple Arcade Game of the Year: Wylde Flowers, from Studio Drydock Pty Ltd.

Apple Newsroom: App Store Awards celebrate the best apps and games of 2022

Apple Developer:

• Congratulations to the App Store Award winners
• App Store Awards 2022