The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an annual event that is eagerly awaited by all of us: technology enthusiasts and software developers.
At its WWDC23 edition, Apple unveiled exciting advancements and new developments in its key platforms.
In this article, we invite you to dive into an informative recap of WWDC23, where we will explore in detail the most important announcements of this important event.
SwiftUI
The most effective method to write code for multiple platforms that enhances code interface reusability. An excellent example of this is Crunchy Bagel’s Streaks app. They started by making widgets for iOS and then used them for their watchOS app, enhancing it with animations. Finally, return that code for their original iOS app.
SwiftUI allows you to adopt progressively and see its benefits in your existing apps. In turn, it can also be used to build the next generation of user interfaces. Another highlight is that it has added new capabilities in high demand. Here are some of them:
– Support for Pie Charts.
– Selection in Swift graphs.
– New API inspector.
– Extended MapKit support (including overlays, Look around, and more).
Most of these improvements focus on optimizing animations. This is a key area because it makes the applications easier to use and is generally used to give feedback to the user on some action.
Animations can be declared by default with spring-based motion with two simple parameters, duration, and bounce. In addition, your icons can also be animated.
SwiftData
Goodbye, Core Data.
This data management tool was born in the Objective-C era. For this reason, it fails to take the best advantage of all Swift’s new and improved features. As a result, the new SwiftData framework for data modeling and data management. It is built on top of the proven Core Data’s proven persistence layer but with a completely redesigned API for Swift. To use SwiftData in your models, you need to use the @Model macro.
With this simple notation, many functionalities are packaged.
Some of them are:
– Enable persistence.
– Synchronization with iCloud.
– Do and undo.
Then, you can customize these automatic behaviors through annotations with additional attributes. In addition, SwiftData uses the Codable protocol to understand structs and enums so you can model your data with the tools you already know. These types are modeled, allowing you to perform queries fastest and most efficiently, even in the most complex data structures.
AVCapture
Apple continues to bet on mobile photography. AVCapture is used by one-third of applications: from creativity to productivity, social networking, and even health applications.
This year, some improvements were introduced:
– Zero shutter lag: allows you to capture the exact moment when the picture is taken.
– Overlapping captures: dynamically adjusts the image quality when the shot is taken and very quickly:
– Deferred processing: for very high-quality images, it can be
background processing.
– The volume buttons will also be used for taking pictures.
– Increases the speed x3 between shots.
– HDR capabilities are available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
– HDR photos take advantage by capturing additional dynamic range to show content to show darker highlights and shadows more faithfully.
– Until now, standards only existed for storing and displaying video, not for video or photos. This is why Apple made a huge effort to carry out a specialization ratified by ISO (International Standard Organization).
– An API available for iOS, iPad, and macOS was incorporated. The same can be used on images, not only for photos.
Animation phase
SwiftUI’s new API for animations supports keyframing, making it possible to animate anything, including the new SwiftUI-based MapKit properties.
Keyframes, in turn, allows you to set multiple values at a specific time of the animation and let SwiftUI interleave the intermediate values in between.
Xcode Cloud
This continuous integration service helps you build, test, and share your app across all Apple platforms and is fully integrated with Xcode.
The updates that stand out in this section are:
– Built on iCloud: You can use Apple’s cloud infrastructure to download your builds, tests, and even code signing for distribution.
– Connects with Apple services such as Testflight and App Store.
– Twice as fast workflows.
– By distributing to TestFlight, you can now create and share test notes. This helps keep all users up to date on the latest enhancements.
– Xcode is 50% smaller in the Mac App Store, and all simulators can be downloaded on demand.
Swift-C++ Interoperability
The interoperability between these languages will make it possible to use Swift and C++ in the same project without any intermediate layer. You can share classes, functions, and even templates like vectors by setting a flag for the compiler.
SCREEN CAPTURE KIT
Nowadays, videoconferencing is part of everyday life. This is why it has been prioritized. For example, when a user reacts, it is possible to focus on them.
With this new kit, people can start screen sharing from the application of their choice. They can also select to share several apps at once and see a preview of what they share in the new Video Effects menu.
In addition, support for an external camera for iPad was released. Any USB camera can be connected and used within your iPad app.
Another great new feature is that a camera and microphone will now be available for a completely new platform: tvOS.
CUSTOM WORKOUT API
This new API for Apple Watch enables you to share fitness plans from your app.
Along with it appears CoreMotion API. With the latter, you will be able to capture the movements and the accelerometer with much higher fidelity, thus improving the analysis of the player’s swing in sports such as tennis and golf. In addition, this API will be available for all kinds of sports, including running.
This is an example of a graph produced by these APIs for further analysis of the information:
PRIVACY
Apple knows that privacy is a human right, and for this reason, it has focused on implementing improvements to the privacy of its users:
– Calendar: applications generally can read only some of the Calendar information. For this reason, new permission was developed so that applications can only add events.
– Photos: users can now give your app access to all their photos, or only the ones they choose, and your app needs.
Are you looking to develop an app for your business?
At ThinkUp, we are a digital product development company obsessed with quality and specializing in mobile apps and unique user experiences.
We create world-class digital products for startups and enterprises to transform and empower businesses.
