WWDC 2024 has come and gone, which appears to occur faster and faster annually, and in its wake are quite a lot of movies to take a look at. There have been so many movies this yr, Apple began releasing them Monday evening after the Platform State of the Union, so that you knew it was going to be a packed week. It could be unimaginable to cowl all the brand new materials in a single article. Nonetheless, between the Keynote, the Platform State of the Union, and a few choose movies, listed below are some belongings you positively want to take a look at. These are in no explicit order, however all are must-watches in the event you’re an Apple developer.
Swift
Swift 6 is the massive change this yr, though you possibly can fortunately undertake the brand new protected data-race security conformance at your individual tempo, module by module, because of compiler’s Swift 6 language mode choices. Along with utilizing Swift on embedded units, improved C++ interoperability, and non-copyable sorts, two actually cool gadgets stood out.
Absolutely Static Linux SDK for Swift
Now you can cross-compile your apps for Swift on Linux and embody the Swift libraries as a completely static element of your app. This implies the vacation spot doesn’t have to have Swift put in. This may be nice for deploying issues like internet service apps over to a Linux system.
Typed Throws
Now you can used typed throws to get higher suggestions on precisely what error is caught. For instance:
enum MyError: Error {
misTyped, whatWasIThinking
}
func foo(string: String) throws(MyError) -> String {
//.....
throw MyError.misTyped(string)
}
do {
let response = attempt foo(string: "Good day world!")
} catch {
//the error right here is of kind "MyError" as a substitute of simply "Error"
}
For extra on Swift this yr, you’ll want to take a look at What’s new in Swift, and for extra on migrating your challenge to Swift 6, take a look at Migrate your app to Swift 6
SwiftUI
SwiftUI acquired a good variety of updates this yr, as ordinary. Listed here are a number of the issues that stood out.
View Is now on the @MainActor
You not have to mark your views with @MainActor as a result of the View protocol now has that ornament. That’s one much less line of code to write down!
The Magic Floating Tab Bar (or Is it a Sidebar?)
One thing that’s already getting a blended response is the brand new tab view type:
struct TabBarExample: View {
var physique: some View {
TabView {
Textual content("Tab 1")
.tabItem {
VStack {
Picture(systemName: "1.circle")
Textual content("Tab 1")
}
}
Textual content("Tab 2")
.tabItem {
VStack {
Picture(systemName: "2.circle")
Textual content("Tab 2")
}
}
Textual content("Tab 3")
.tabItem {
VStack {
Picture(systemName: "3.circle")
Textual content("Tab 3")
}
}
}
.tabViewStyle(.sidebarAdaptable)
}
}
This may end up in one in all two pictures, relying on whether or not you desire a floating tab bar on the high (assume visionOS) or a conventional sidebar (assume NavigationSplitView):
I haven’t had an opportunity to play quite a bit with this one, however as with all paradigm-breaking issues, there’s often a little bit of disagreement in the neighborhood about it. We’ll see how this one shakes out!
New Modifiers for Presentation and Zooming
For views represented in a sheet, a brand new modifier helps you to specify web page, type, or customized sizing:
.presentationSizing(.type)
And to get a pleasant zoom in animation when bringing views to the foreground, a brand new pair of modifiers might help you:
.navigationTransition(.zoom(
sourceID: merchandise.id, in: namespace))
///....
.matchedTransitionSource(id: merchandise.id, in: namespace)
}
For extra on SwiftUI this yr, you’ll want to take a look at What’s new in SwiftUI.
SwiftData
SwiftData didn’t have an enormous replace this yr like some have been hoping, however it did get some very crucial updates to assist with efficiency and queries. This yr, Apple added the flexibility to specify distinctive constraints with the #Distinctive macro and generally listed fields with Index. With only a few strains of code, you possibly can add these options to an current @Mannequin:
import SwiftData
import Basis
@Mannequin
class KodecoArticle {
#Distinctive([.name, .dateWritten, .author])
#Index([.name], [.dateWritten], [.author], [.name, .dateWritten, .author])
var identify: String = ""
var creator: String = ""
var content material: String = ""
var dateWritten: Date?
var dateUpdated: Date?
init(identify: String, creator: String, content material: String, dateWritten: Date? = nil, dateUpdated: Date? = nil) {
self.identify = identify
self.creator = creator
self.content material = content material
self.dateWritten = dateWritten
self.dateUpdated = dateUpdated
}
}
The #Distinctive line states that entries are distinctive on that mixture of properties, and the #Index line lists which properties, or mixture of properties, are added as additional metadata to the mannequin so it could actually carry out quicker queries.
Apple additionally unveiled different new options for SwiftData, equivalent to utilizing your individual customized information retailer! For extra, take a look at What’s New in SwiftData.
Frameworks That Are In all places
There have been two robust examples of frameworks that have been gaining parity and energy over many if not the entire platforms Apple offers. There’s quite a bit to cowl right here, so right here they’re together with hyperlinks to the WWDC movies.
App Intents
Over the previous few years, App Intents has turn into a serious participant in terms of surfacing your app’s options; whether or not or not it’s to shortcuts, Siri, or widgets.
This yr, App Intents will get one other improve as a result of it’s the mechanism to hook your app into Apple Intelligence. For extra, you’ll want to take a look at What’s new in App Intents, Carry your app’s core options to customers with App Intents, and Carry your app to Siri.
RealityKit
Through the years, RealityKit hasn’t been very uniform throughout the platforms, making it laborious to deploy the identical app to completely different Apple {hardware}. That modifications this yr, as RealityKit has quite a lot of new cross-platform APIs throughout all the assorted platforms — visionOS, macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. For extra, take a look at Uncover RealityKit APIs for iOS, macOS, and visionOS.
Swift Testing
Along with shifting the open supply Swift parts to the swiftlang group at GitHub, Apple has formally included Swift Testing in that household of libraries. Swift Testing is a brand new method of testing in Swift (however complementary to XCTest), introducing extra “Swifty” syntax to your take a look at code. Right here’s a fast instance:
import Testing
struct WWDCTests {
@Check func testExample() async throws {
let worth = 2
#anticipate(worth + worth == 3)
let value2: Int? = nil
_ = attempt #require(value2)
}
}
After importing the Testing framework, you embellish your checks with the @Check attribute. This implies you not want to call your take a look at strategies so they begin with “take a look at”. I’ve added a couple of issues to check. The primary makes use of the #anticipate macro, which replaces the household of XCTAssert calls and checks to see whether or not the situation inside is true. The subsequent code block checks that value2 shouldn’t be nil earlier than continuing through the use of the #require macro. See what Xcode says when the take a look at button is clicked:
In the suitable gutter, you see indications that the expectations failed. For the primary one, in the event you hover over the error, a “Present” button seems that you may click on to get extra particulars, as proven within the screenshot. This allows you to dive into why precisely the examined code failed.
This appears to be like to be quite a bit cleaner than XCTest (though you should utilize each in your checks!), and I can’t wait to start out utilizing it. For extra about Swift Testing, take a look at Meet Swift Testing.
