02/16 - The Best iOS Development Links

The best iOS development links from February 2016.

News

• Apple adds server API to CloudKit, unlocking new developer possibilities for the iCloud service: “Apple has quietly added a server-side API to CloudKit, following an announcement on the developer news blog. This will enable developers to add a lot of functionality to apps powered by CloudKit, enabling developers to interact with the iCloud CloudKit database outside of user interaction with iOS, Mac or web apps.”
• Report: iPhone 7 will lose camera bump and antenna lines with cleaner design: “While reports have been circulating that Apple is considering using a rear dual-camera system on the expected iPhone 7 Plus later this year, a new report today claims that there’s another change coming to the iPhone 7 camera as well.”

Swift

• Swift: CGRect, CGSize & CGPoint: Many iOS developers have an Objective-C background, so that we are not always programming very “swifty”. This article explains how you should use CGRect, CGSize and CGPoint in Swift.
• Swift’s Break and Continue Statements: All you need to know about Swift’s break and continue statements.
• Name that Tune!: “One of the many jobs that we do as developers is naming. Coming up with simple descriptive names can be a daunting task altogether. As a new developer myself, knowing some of the Swift language characteristics is a good place to start.” 

iOS Development

• iOS 9: How to Peek & Pop A Specific View Inside a UITableViewCell: Probably you have already implemented the peek and pop functionality in some of your apps. But there is still a lot to learn about that topic. In this article, @NatashaTheRobot explains how to peek & pop a specific view inside a UITableViewCell.
• Firebase Tutorial: Real-time Chat: “It seems like every major app out there has a chat feature — and yours should be no different! However, creating a chat tool can seem like a daunting task. There’s no native UIKit controls designed specifically for chat, and you’ll need a server to coordinate the messages and conversations between users. Fortunately, there’s some great frameworks out there to help you: Firebase lets you synchronize real time data without writing a line of server code, while JSQMessagesViewController gives you a messaging UI that’s on par with the native Messages app.”
• Enumified TableView with Dynamic Prototype Cells in Swift: “How I refactored my app’s Settings screen code to be much more flexible and readable, while unlocking a more complicated TableView at the same time! Win-Win!”
• From Idea to App in 45 Days: Buffer created an internal app in just 45 days. Very interesting read!
• Introducing Freddy, an Open-Source Framework for Parsing JSON in Swift: A great new JSON framework.

On this blog

• Looking For Guest Bloggers: Are you interested in becoming a guest blogger on this site? Then read this post and apply!
• A Simple NSBlockOperation Example: Concurrency is a very interesting topic and there are many situations where you should use it in iOS development. Sometimes it is the only way to provide a responsive UI to the user. In Swift there is no language feature for concurrency yet. However, the iOS SDK provides you different concurrency APIs. In this post we’ll look at a simple example using NSBlockOperation.
• UIActivityIndicatorView: You use an UIActivityIndicatorView to indicate the user that something is going on. For example, that could be a calculation or a network request – basically everything that takes same time.
• February 2016: The Current State Of Swift: Recently there were some interesting reports and articles about the state of Swift. In this post we will discuss them and put them in perspective.
• The Grand Transition: Deciding to transition into a new career field can be paralyzing. The thought of learning new skills, meeting new people, or working in a new environment is overwhelming. Our brains are wired for safety. It’s this “wiring” that stops us from venturing into new realms of possibilities. We would rather drag through our daily grinds than start something new.
• iOS Developer Conferences In 2016: As an iOS developer you should go to conferences. It’s a great opportunity to learn new stuff and to get in contact with other developers. Also speaking on a conference is a great way to leave your comfort zone. This is a list of iOS developer conferences in 2016.
• How To Show And Hide A Date Picker From A Table View Cell: If your app needs a date and/or time to be chosen, sometimes it is best not to have the user segue to a different View in order to accomplish this. This tutorial will demonstrate how to show and hide a Date Picker contained in a Table View Cell.

References

Title Image: @ Gustavo Frazao / shutterstock.com