‘Ask Apple’ is an interactive Q&A series for developers

Apple is introducing an interactive Q&A series for developers that will provide opportunities to connect directly with the company’s experts.

‘Ask Apple’ is an extension to Cupertino’s existing ‘Tech Talks’ and ‘Meet with App Store Experts’ initiatives. Apple says the new series will “provide developers with even more opportunities to connect directly with Apple experts for insight, support, and feedback.”

“We’ve been listening to feedback...

12 October 2022 | App Stores

The importance of being accessibility-first for effective UX design

Web design has seen a huge evolution in recent years, with accessibility and inclusion front of mind in the offline world impacting a more human side of software development. This means rethinking the approach to design, ensuring that the steps within processes address accessibility issues. Yet some tech companies are stuck in a previous era, before inbuilt product accessibility and their websites remain inaccessible to all users, particularly those with disabilities.

According to...

26 September 2022 | UX/Design

Xcode 14 beta practically confirms iPhone 14 Pro will get an AOD

The latest beta of Xcode 14 all but confirms that an always-on display (AOD) will arrive with the iPhone 14 Pro lineup.

AODs have featured on numerous Android devices since around 2016. Over in the Apple garden, the only device to feature an AOD is the Apple Watch (Series 5+)

Rather than have to fully wake up your display to obsessively check for information, AODs enable data to be seen at-a-glance.

AODs require very low refresh rates to preserve battery. The...

2 August 2022 | Development Tools

Snowflake Native Application Framework aims to help developers build and monetise apps

Piles of Euro notes.

Snowflake, the Data Cloud company has launched a Native Application Framework to empower developers to build, monetise and deploy applications.

Currently in private preview, developers can build applications and monetise them on Snowflake Marketplace, and consumers can securely install and run those applications, directly in their Snowflake instances, reducing the need for data to be moved. Snowflake is committed to providing its customers and partners with the best platform for...

20 June 2022 | App Stores

Android Studio will soon help developers fix broken UIs on Chromebooks

Android Studio will soon make it much easier for developers to fix broken UIs when their apps are used on Chromebooks.

Chromebook users have suffered from all sorts of issues since Google enabled support for Android apps. Many of these problems stem from how apps designed for Android respond when confronted with freeform windows and other desktop features.

The ‘Electric Eel’ release of Android Studio will bring with it the new Desktop Android Virtual Device...

9 May 2022 | Android

AWS Amplify Studio helps developers quickly build web apps

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced that its Amplify Studio visual development environment for web apps is now generally available.

Amplify Studio helps developers to build fully-customisable web apps on AWS with minimal coding. Until now, the solution has been in preview.

“Developers tell us that they want tools that help make them more productive when building on AWS without sacrificing the precision they need to deliver tailored experiences to their...

22 April 2022 | Cloud

Apps will soon need to be submitted to the App Store using Xcode 13

Apple has reminded developers that apps will soon need to be submitted to the App Store using Xcode 13.

From 25 April 2022, Apple will only accept the submission of apps that are built using the latest version of its IDE.

“iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS apps submitted to the App Store must be built with Xcode 13, which includes the SDKs for iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8,” wrote Apple on its developer site.

Apple goes on to tout how Xcode 13 enables developers...

16 March 2022 | App Stores

AWS launches Amplify Studio for low-code development

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched Amplify Studio, a low-code solution enabling developers to rapidly build cloud apps.

The solution extends the existing Amplify service for building web and mobile apps with a simple drag-and-drop interface.

Kurt Kufeld, VP of AWS Platform at AWS, said:

“Developers love using AWS Amplify because it makes it easier to build a scalable web application backend powered by AWS, and they often tell us that they wish that we...

3 December 2021 | Cloud

Google is ditching Material Design components on iOS

Google is ditching Material Design components on iOS in favour of Apple’s own UIKit.

Material Design was introduced by Google in 2014 with the aim of unifying the company’s products across platforms and form factors. It uses tactile surfaces, bold graphic design, and fluid motion to create beautiful, intuitive experiences for users.

https://youtu.be/Q8TXgCzxEnw

According to Jeff Verkoeyen, Engineering Lead for Google Design on Apple’s platforms, the company...

13 October 2021 | Developer

How SAFe improves software development and business agility

Track Runner

In recent years, many organisations have turned to agile methodologies to optimise their software development processes. And while the approach has been widely successful, some businesses - particularly larger enterprises - have experienced more difficulties than others in transforming their legacy approach into an agile mindset, culture and processes.

In response to these circumstances, the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) was designed to help large organisations successfully adopt...

13 July 2021 | UX/Design