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The Swift Algorithms Book (pre-order for Swift 3.0)
Written for students and professionals, Swift Algorithms - 2nd Edition will blend modern code, illustrations and computer science to help you pass the technical interview or build your next app. Available for pre-order, readers can look forward to new essays, extended content and support for Swift 3.0. To reserve your copy, use coupon code THEROBOT at checkout to receive a 30% discount.
Swift Around the Web
Delivered in 13 hours: Git support for Playgrounds on iOS 10.
Unbelievable! Can't wait to see more magic now that we have a whole year to build things like this!
If you're interested in getting involved, I recommend taking a look at these great thoughts on Swift Playgrounds here.
Code
WWDC 2016 5 Minute Update: Opening Up iOS, Xcode Extensions, Apple Filesystem, Swift Playgrounds on iPad
Extensions, Extensions, Extensions! We can now extend our app into Siri, iMessage, and Maps. And there are now Xcode Extensions... Goodbye Alcatraz 😥
Get ready for a new app discovery system overlooked at Apple’s WWDC 2016.
I'm still shocked that the new iMessage Apps have their very own App Store. Oh, and they don't need to have an accompanying iOS App. This is seriously a HUGE new opportunity for all of us (including designers!). And there's more...
"The new iMessage stickers will allow anyone that downloaded the sticker from the Message app store to send the sticker to someone that does not have that sticker Message app on their device. This is called inline app attribution and it will be displayed with an option below the sticker to download the associated app."
Apple News
WWDC 2016 Videos
Amazing job from Apple on streaming all the WWDC sessions live this year and releasing the videos so fast. It let me focus on taking the time to meet everyone who was in town last week without worrying that I'd be missing out by not watching the sessions right away or having an official WWDC ticket. I recommend watching the "What's New in __" and "Introducing __" videos first to get the overview of all the new things and then diving in deeper.
Swift 3.0 Preview 1 Released!
It was super cool to see Swift Evolution proposal numbers listed on every relevant Swift slide at WWDC. And of course, I love seeing all the proposals that are included in Swift 3.0 listed here! If you're at all curious about why something is done the way it's done, you can read all about the decision!
In related news, Swift 2.3 is also out:
"The primary difference between Swift 2.2.1 and Swift 2.3 is that it is intended to be paired with Apple’s OS X 10.12, iOS 10, watchOS 3, and tvOS 10 SDKs. It also updates the underlying LLVM and Clang versions to match with those in the Swift 3 compiler."
Check out the migration guide here.
Design
iOS Human Interface Guidelines: What's New in iOS 10
The iOS Human Interface Guidelines have been updated for iOS 10. Must read and forward to designers!
The Elements of Stickers
Must read! Seriously, I wish I could copy and past the whole article, but here are some bits:
"What is surprising — especially when compared to the more mature messaging ecosystem in Asia — is that many people still tend to treat stickers (i.e., the ability to easily incorporate pre-set images into texts) as just-for-fun frivolity, when they’re an important visual digital language fully capable of communicating a nuanced range of thoughts."
"And sometimes stickers can convey what words cannot! This form of visual communication has become so popular in Asia — especially in China’s WeChat and Japan’s LINE — that it is not uncommon to see a deep thread of multiple messages without a single word. They’re not just for those crazy young kids. More notably, stickers are commonly used in professional, not just personal, chats as well. Not so frivolous after all. In fact, stickers are so core to the success of Line, that its CEO actually credited them as the “turning point” for that app. He shared that it took Line Messenger almost four months to find its first two million users … but after stickers were launched, it took only two days to find the next million. The company now makes over $270M a year just from selling stickers."
Random Cool Stuff
WWDC16: Bozoma Saint John
Warning: This song was stuck in my head for the past week. Must listen! Seriously, the best review of WWDC16!
"♫ Bozoma Saint John
I just wanna watch
Bozoma Saint John
Present everything ♫"
In Case You Missed It
Swift Language User Group WWDC Swift Panel 2016
I really enjoyed chatting about Swift's past, present, and future with @sandofsky (thanks for being the realist!), @ayanonagon, & @jesse_squires. Thanks @simjp for being a great moderator!
try! Swift NYC
I've been really enjoying chatting with the try! Swift NYC speakers at WWDC about potential talk topics now that we got all these new and shiny presents 🎁 from Apple. The talk topics will be finalized and released in the next few weeks, but I can tell you that there will be some really exciting ones around the new topics :)
Use code WWDC100 by this Friday to get $100 off! Hope to see you in NYC 🗽🎉
WATCH
watchOS 3 Key Takeaways from WWDC16 (Part 1)
SceneKit & SpriteKit are now available on the watchOS. That's HUGE!!
"Another noteworthy new feature in watchOS 3 is the ability to trigger background app updates. Previously you could work around this by doing some magic with background fetch on your iPhone & transferring the data via Watch Connectivity, but those days are gone. The way this works is that you’ll get a limited number of task objects that will allow you to wake your watch app up in the background and do any necessary update work. These can also be scheduled if you have an app that needs to be updated at a set time periodically."
App Launching on Apple Watch
Complications, Notifications, or Bust!
"A lot of people watching the announcements caught that one notable Apple Watch feature was omitted from the commentary. The App Launcher, or Honeycomb / Home Screen, wasn't mentioned in the keynote or subsequent discussion about how users interact with Apple Watch. The subtext is clear. I don't think Apple intends or expects people to interact with their watch by launching apps from the Honeycomb any more than we do."
Podcasts
Live From WWDC 2016, With Guests Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi
Great discussion with Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi about the things that didn't make it into the WWDC16 keynote... specifically everything around the massive new App Store changes.
Swift Code
- WWDC 2016 Sample Code - official sample code from WWDC16 sessions
- wwdc-downloader - WWDC 2016 video downloader script written in Swift - no external dependency.
- WWDC - The unofficial WWDC app for macOS
- BluePic - BluePic is a sample photo sharing application for iOS that shows you how to connect your mobile application with Kitura, Bluemix services, and OpenWhisk actions. Video here.
Swift Thoughts
I was having way too much fun embodying my inner Swift bird 🐥 at WWDC last week. I hope you had as much fun as I did! It was a pleasure catching up with friends from all over the world and making many new ones 👯
I really want to give a shout out to the Swift team for being so amazingly accessible last week 👏 From @clattner_llvm taking selfies with everyone who asked (including me 😁) to @dgregor79 patiently white-boarding and talking through potential solutions to issues with protocols with associated types (PATs) with me and several others. I only popped into WWDC for a bit on Friday, but I've talked to several friends who had stories of sitting down with the Swift team members (including @clattner_llvm) for as long as 30 minutes to an hour!
The biggest Swift announcement IMO is that Xcode 8 will support both Swift 2.3 and 3.0. One thing that @jamesdempsey mentioned in his musical AltConf talk was that everyone he's talked to has been happy with their decision about Swift - both those who adopted Swift on day 1 and those who have been waiting this long.
This is because we were all able to adopt Swift on our own timeline and comfort level. Xcode 8 having both Swift 2.3 and Swift 3.0 continues on with this - although highly advised, developers will not be forced to switch to Swift 3.0 on Apple's arbitrary schedule. We can still meet our deadlines and put in the time to upgrade during the slower times. This should give us all comfortable confidence in using Swift moving forward.
Oh, and there are now Swift Playgrounds on iPad!!! Love seeing cute tweets like this one of kids and adults actually using them already!
There are so many new things I want to learn and do now. Welcome to another year of fun learning and building 🚀