iOS Newsletter
Hi folks,
The holidays are almost here! Many of us spend this time tinkering with code, but maybe it’s also worth taking a break and enjoying some offline moments? If you need a little nudge, check out DoNilDisturbPlugin by Marin Todorov - it didn’t get old.
Jokes aside, it’s been an amazing year for the iOS community and for our newsletter. The community keeps growing at an exciting pace, and we’re committed to keeping up: sharing articles we love, every week, with passion.
This week, Apple released iOS 26.2 and Xcode 26.2, bringing alarm support in Reminders and customizable Lock Screen time opacity. Haven’t updated yet? Now’s the time - App Store Connect requires submissions built with the new SDK.
And for the curious, iOS 26.3 beta 1 dropped on Dec 15, alongside betas for iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS. Dive in if you want a sneak peek at what’s next!
In this issue, we’re exploring Swift Configuration 1.0’s debut, digging into SwiftUI scene management for macOS apps, and discovering how MetricKit opens doors to deep performance monitoring beyond Xcode Organizer.
Stay sharp, stay curious, and enjoy this week’s picks!
Swift
Swift Configuration 1.0 released
Swift Configuration 1.0 just dropped — and it’s one of those “why didn’t we have this before?” moments. Read the release post by Honza Dvorsky.
SwiftUI
Stanford CS193p - Developing Apps for iOS
Every year, Paul Hegarty updates this legendary course, making it the perfect entry point for anyone starting their iOS journey. You’ll dive into SwiftUI fundamentals - from building views and managing data flow to creating animations and developing across devices. A must-watch for newcomers and anyone feeling a bit nostalgic.
SwiftUI Group Still(?) Considered Harmful
Is Group still harmful in SwiftUI? Chris Trott revisits the longstanding rule about lifecycle modifiers and discovers surprising behavior changes across iOS versions.
Understanding scenes for your macOS app
Building macOS apps and confused about when to use WindowGroup vs Window? Alfonso Tarallo explains SwiftUI’s six scene types and their specific use cases.
SwiftUI: Create An Apple Wallet Pass and Make An App To Distribute it
Want to add wallet passes to your app? Itsuki walks through creating passes step-by-step—from generating manifests and signatures to bundling them into .pkpass files and distributing via AddPassToWalletButton.
ContextMenu
Long-press menus on iOS—what makes SwiftUI’s ContextMenu so handy for building clean, power-user interfaces? Wesley de Groot breaks down the design patterns that make context menus a smart choice for interactive apps.
Concurrency
Task.sleep() vs. Task.yield(): The differences explained
Not sure when to use Task.sleep() versus Task.yield()? Another great post from Wesley de Groot clears up the confusion, explaining the difference between fixed-duration suspension and voluntary control yielding.
Framework
Monitoring app performance with MetricKit
Xcode Organizer only scratches the surface of app performance monitoring—but how do you get the real data? Majid Jabrayilov shows how MetricKit unlocks comprehensive diagnostics and performance dashboards.