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:

Apple Pay launches in South Korea

After couple of months of rumors and reports, Apple now appears to launch Apple Pay in South Korea reported by Twitter user @aaronp613.

https://twitter.com/aaronp613/status/1637914101765603330?s=61&t=m4KRVBmCmwdpL9xh6r6dPQ
https://twitter.com/aaronp613/status/1637914101765603330?s=61&t=m4KRVBmCmwdpL9xh6r6dPQ

As of now several cards are reported to working.

Currently, you can add Apple Pay-enabled Visa, MasterCard, and domestic-only credit and debit cards issued by the following card issuers in South Korea: Domestic-only cards can only be added in the card issuer’s app.

– Hyundai Card

Some card issuers do not support some card types. This list will also be updated when a card issuer is added. Please contact your card issuer for support for your card.

9to5Mac

References:

Weekend good reads for Apple developers #2023/11

It's middle of March, summer is closer and closer. We've got eleventh pack of great articles for this year.

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

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:

Weekend good reads for Apple developers #2023/10

It's rainy here in California (which is unusual...) and our weekend is perfect to spend some time reading technical articles. Let's go.

And one more thing. Apple Treats podcast is back with new episode. Our guest is Natalia Panferova whose articles you've already read.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLcF_fxErRw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLcF_fxErRw

Updated pricing is now available for all app purchases

Apple is continuously implementing pricing tier updates announced in December. Now these update are applicable to app prices, all in-app purchase types.

On May 9, 2023, pricing for existing apps and one‑time in‑app purchases will be updated across all 175 App Store storefronts to take advantage of new enhanced global pricing. Unless developers explicitly update their price tiers for all storefronts, updates will be applied automatically based on US storefront prices. Developers are encouraged to update prices themselves.

Apple Developer: App Store pricing upgrades have expanded to all purchase types

App Store Connect: App Store Connect API 2.3

Swift teams announces X509 certificate and ASN.1 libraries

Swift team announced availability of swift-certificates and swift-asn1 projects. These projects target operations with X509 certificates (which are commonly used in TSL connections) and ASN.1 data type definition language.

Swift ASN.1 provides routines for DER serialization and deserialization.

Swift Certificates provides routines for X509 parsing, chain building, validation and OCSP resolution.

GitHub:

Swift team: Introducing Swift Certificates and Swift ASN.1

Beta 3 for iOS 16.4 and other platforms is available, addresses developer account questions

Apple publishes beta 3 for iOS/iPadOS 16.4, macOS Ventura 13.3, watchOS 9.4 and tvOS 16.4. No corresponding Xcode beta is published.

Apple now addresses question raised by developers on how to use developer Apple ID to get beta on the device. Users could pick separate Apple ID to install beta software on the device.

Apple also now warns users that Rapid Security Response might be incompatible with some applications.

Researches also noticed that future Car Key implementations could solely rely on UWB and drop support for NFC.

watchOS 9.4 beta addresses issue on Apple Watch Series 6 (44mm model) incorrectly estimating total battery capacity.

Beta download: Operating Systems

Release notes:

References: