Apple Developer Weekly #226 iPlayground Call for Papers!
And seeking sponsors and more staff
From 13
iPlayground has new updates. Call for papers, sponsors, and more staff. I've included all relevant links in the first news item.
Additionally, iPlayground recently added an official Threads account. If you're using Threads, feel free to follow them.
Last week, I saw many people on social media mentioning they got waitlist spots for WWDC in-person attendance. If you got one and want to connect with others who are going, I can help create a group chat. Just reply to this email.
13 on April 21, 2025
👀iPlayground 2025 Call for Papers and Sponsorship Opportunities
Taiwan's iOS developer conference iPlayground has officially opened its call for papers. We welcome you to submit your proposals and share your experiences and insights!
The event date hasn't been finalized yet, but the target is to hold it in summer, earlier than usual.
On another note, the organizers are actively seeking sponsors.
The Program Committee is also looking for more staff members. Applications are welcome.
Please stay tuned to iPlayground's Twitter and newly created Threads accounts for updates.
🛠️iOS 18.4.1 Officially Released
Mainly fixed two CVEs.
🧪Apple Releases & News
Only a few bug fixes.
📦Swift Subprocess Open Sourced
Swift has released a new open-source project called Subprocess, a cross-platform (macOS, Windows, Linux) interface framework for launching external subprocesses.
This isn't a tool that typical app developers would use, but it gives us a glimpse into Swift's cross-platform ambitions.
🎒Apple Education Video: iPad in the Classroom
Apple Taiwan's education website has posted a video showing how an elementary school in Taiwan uses iPad to assist teaching. The video features many scenes and appears to be carefully produced.
Actually, I first saw a 3-minute educational case video on Apple Japan's YouTube channel, which included a few seconds of footage from a Taiwanese classroom, before finding the full Taiwan version.
📺Two Apple Ad Short Films──Mac does that series
Low Glare highlights the Nano Texture display, which is available as an option for MacBook Pro with M4 series for the first time:
Up to 24 hours features a guy who lost his charger, but it seems it'll be a while before he notices:
⌚️ Get Active with Apple Watch── 4/24 Event Preview
On April 24, Apple Watch users are encouraged to close their Activity rings to earn a special Global Close Your Rings Day limited-edition award.
While this is clearly an Apple Watch marketing campaign, as a heavy user and developer who relies on Apple Watch for exercise and health tracking, I'm all for it.
💭My Hopes for Xcode by fatbobman
Fatbobman shares his many expectations for the next version of Xcode.
Even though alternative development tools exist, I still personally prefer coding in Xcode. Yet, due to shortcomings in its features and user experience, my day-to-day usage of Xcode has noticeably declined. My earnest hope is that Xcode experiences a substantial leap forward, reclaiming its position as developers’ preferred choice—not merely because it is bound by Apple’s ecosystem.
I wonder if readers feel the same way?
📚Nil Coalescing E-books on Limited Time Sale
Former SwiftUI engineer Natalia Panferova has written e-books SwiftUI Fundamentals, Swift Gems, and Integrating SwiftUI into UIKit Apps which are currently on limited time sale.
I really like the website Nil Coalescing that she co-founded and all of its SwiftUI content. I almost always want to retweet their new articles, as they serve as both writing and technical learning resources for me.
The limited-time discount should only last until this afternoon, with the discount code BDWK25. Don't miss out!
➕iOS Developer+ Recent Content Updates
I continue to write for the iOS Developer+ paid column (written in Traditional Chinese). Here are some recent articles, feel free to subscribe and support.
🚲The Stolen E-bike of the Mind: A recent conversation with family about AI development led to an interesting discussion, which inspired this short article.
🪧Status Update: Book Progress, New Website Testing, and New Ideas: Discussing several important progress points and ideas, including recent writing status, new website, content integration plans, and several directions still under consideration. Feel free to try out the new website and give me some feedback.
⌨️Learning SwiftUI Chapter 4: Declarative Syntax──Practice with Real Objects: Teaching you a new way to learn SwiftUI: not starting from app interfaces, but from physical objects around you, practicing how to describe their appearance and structure with SwiftUI, like sketching with code. This kind of practice helps you become familiar with SwiftUI's layout syntax and component decomposition logic.
🤔More API Design, Less Design Patterns: Some engineers like to discuss architecture and design patterns early in development, even citing various principles. This article isn't against these practices, but rather approaches from another angle, discussing a capability I value more in practice and how I practice it.
🐣iOS Development Completion Project Seeking Feedback
I'm considering starting a new paid column (free for students) specifically aimed at iOS development beginners, Vibe Coders using AI tools, etc., to fill in some knowledge gaps that AI can't teach.
Since the content would be relatively simple and not very helpful for senior developers, and I have other plans, I haven't decided whether to proceed with it yet.
If you're interested, feel free to like and share this tweet or Threads post.
📣Job Board
@riddle_ling's freelance post, feel free to check it out
If you have iOS development-related job openings or resumes you'd like to post in the Developer Weekly, please see About.
↖️Last Week's Highlights
If you haven't had time to read last week's content, here are the highlights:
13 Weekly received its first sponsor, provided by Proxyman, a developer tool I really love. I also reported on what Proxyman's name actually means
I wrote a long review of try! Swift Tokyo and provided links to the talk videos. Also shared about their clever name tag design!
Some pitfalls in macOS 15.4
A ChatGPT app that can run on iPhone 3GS
That's all for this week's Apple Developer Weekly. Feel free to like❤️, comment💬, or reply✉️ to share your thoughts.
Welcome to join iOS Developer+ membership for more exclusive advanced iOS knowledge and experience sharing.
If you'd like to sponsor this newsletter, please check out this page. For one-time donations, you can buy me some apples🍎 through Buy Me a Coffee. Thank you.