I really enjoyed reading Riley Testut’s article “Thoughts on the App Store” this week. He talks about the legal challenges Apple are facing and how sideloading might be in the platform’s future.

His piece talks about the mounting pressure on Apple to deal with this situation and how he sees two possible options: Gatekeeper on iOS or expanded sideloading capabilities through developer accounts.

The first thing I’ll say is that even though I disagree with the conclusion in the article, I don’t have a problem with AltStore at all! The problems I have with sideloading are only significant when they start to leak into the mainstream, and I don’t think that’s the plan for AltStore. I still believe that more stores or easier sideloading potentially leads to a loss of trust in the iOS platform that’s hard to get back.

I don’t think we’ll see any movement on this issue from Apple unless they are forced to make changes. I also really hope they are not forced into making changes! I still firmly believe that even though what we have right now is far from perfect, it’s better than the alternatives.

Dave Verwer

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vettery.com

Offer your apps for pre-order even earlier

Six months is easily enough time to build and test a simple app, so technically you could start accepting pre-orders before seriously starting development.

Note: Please don't do this! I'm only kidding! 😂

apple.com

How to test push notifications

Implementing push notifications has become significantly more complex since Apple first introduced them. Khoa Pham goes over the new HTTP/2 API, authentication, how to receive notifications, and how to test everything. He also talks about his app built for exactly that purpose, Push Hero.

For full disclosure, while I am subscribed to Khoa's blog and found this post via his RSS feed, he did also contact me with a promo code for the Push Hero app after he published this post.

onmyway133.com

How iOS Apps Adapt to the various iPhone 12 Screen Sizes

It should have been a while since you've written any code for a specific device's screen, which is a good thing because Apple talked about a whole new set of screen sizes on iPhone 12 models last Tuesday. Here's Geoff Hackworth with his regular look at everything related to iOS device resolutions.

medium.com

Mastering transitions in SwiftUI

This is another wonderful post on SwiftUI from Pavel Zak, this time covering all sorts of transition animations. You could have a good go at implementing Keynote in SwiftUI after reading this. 🚀

nerdyak.tech

Handling loading states within SwiftUI views

Reading the title of this post from John Sundell, you might think it's a short post about how to use UIActivityIndicatorView. You would be wrong! It's a comprehensive article on everything related to asynchronous loading of data into a user interface, and how to make one system for your whole app rather than re-implementing it for every view controller.

swiftbysundell.com

Building Accessible iOS Apps

Accessibility is usability.

Rob Whitaker isn't the first person to say this, but that doesn't make it any less true! Here he is with a list of the most common accessibility issues facing apps, and how to solve them. 👍

medium.com

Tap to Navigate

At first glance, you might be tempted to skip over this article from Linzi Berry if you don't work directly with maps in your user interfaces. Don't! There's plenty here that applies to all aspects of app design. It's worth reading from start to finish. 🚀

medium.com

The most important feature is that it doesn't change

I'm not sure I completely agree with the premise that Nikita Prokopov puts forward here, but I do think there's something to it. There's certainly something to be said for moving a little more slowly, and carefully considering features before rushing in and implementing.

tonsky.me

Senior iOS Engineer, Engagement @ VSCO – The Engagement team is looking for a Senior iOS Engineer to work on a product that impacts millions of people around the world. You'll be innovating and creating ideas through experimentation and learnings that will lead to significant changes in user acquisition, engagement and revenue, collaborating with other developers who have a similar passion for both our users and creativity. – California, New York, or Oregon

But does it support 5G? 😅