iOS Newsletter
Hi folks,
This week, the public betas for iOS 26 and other Apple platforms have landed, bringing the “Liquid Glass” design and new features to a wider audience. It’s an exciting time as we move closer to the official releases.
In this issue, we dive into practical SwiftUI tips, from mastering forms and understanding Spacer to implementing the new Liquid Glass sheets. We also explore how AI is shaping coding workflows and tackle challenges in icon design.
Enjoy this week’s selection of articles, and happy exploring!
Tools
Apple Design Resources
This page offers a wide range of official design resources for developers creating applications for Apple platforms. It includes UI kits, templates, and icon production materials for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS. Additionally, it provides access to various fonts, such as SF Pro and New York, as well as tools like SF Symbols and the Icon Composer.
Icon Composer - Tackling Challenges
This article by Fatbobman details practical challenges using Apple’s Icon Composer, including SVG code cleanup issues requiring manual text editor fixes, monochrome brightness calculation problems, layer limitations, Liquid Glass design trade-offs, and specific Xcode integration requirements for proper file placement outside the Assets folder.
macOS
Getting Started with SwiftUI Tables: A Beginner’s Guide
This comprehensive guide for beginners by Karin Prater explains how to use Table in SwiftUI. It covers creating and customizing tables, handling diverse data types, enabling row selection, implementing context menus, and sorting and filtering data. The guide also explains how to style tables and adapt them for different screen sizes across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.
SwiftUI
Everything You Should Know About Spacer
This article provides a deep dive into SwiftUI’s Spacer by Kyle Ye. It explains that there are four different types, though only one is a public API. It details the PrimitiveSpacer protocol which all spacer types conform to, and explains the internal sizing logic. Kyle recommends using the public Spacer API for all spacing needs, and controlling the expansion axis by placing it within an HStack or VStack.
Mastering Forms in SwiftUI: Sliders and Steppers
This article by Tiago Pereira explains how to use Sliders and Steppers in SwiftUI for handling numeric input within forms. It demonstrates that Sliders are useful for selecting a value from a continuous range, while Steppers are better for making incremental adjustments. Tiago provides code examples for implementing both components, including how to define value ranges and handle user interactions.
Presenting Liquid Glass sheets in SwiftUI
This article by Natalia Panferova explains the new Liquid Glass design for sheets in SwiftUI, introduced in iOS 26. It details how to achieve the new floating appearance and morphing transitions from a toolbar item. The summary covers using presentationDetents for the visual style and matchedTransitionSource() with .navigationTransition(.zoom) for the animation, including code examples.
Swift
Useful String Extensions
This article by Manu provides Swift String extensions for common tasks including case- and diacritic-insensitive string comparisons for search features, and demonstrates SwiftUI’s built-in automatic pluralization using inflection syntax in Text views.
AI/ML
Agentic Coding
This article discusses Chris Eidhof’s experiences with “agentic coding” using LLMs for SwiftUI development. It shares practical tips for using LLMs for prototyping, creating debugging tools, and understanding existing code. Chris cautions that for building quality software, a deep understanding of the code and frameworks is still essential, as LLMs can produce incorrect or inefficient code.