Apple on Monday released Xcode 11.3.1 with bug fixes and improvements, including reducing the size of dependency files produced by the Swift compiler, which can improve incremental build times and disk usage for targets with many source files. Full release notes are posted on Apple's developer website.
As with Xcode 11.3, version 11.3.1 supports developing apps for iOS 13.3, iPadOS 13.3, macOS 10.15.2, watchOS 6.1, and tvOS 13.3.
It has been nearly one month since Apple seeded new betas for its software platforms, which is an unusually long time. The first betas of iOS 13.3.1, iPadOS 13.3.1, macOS 10.15.3, watchOS 6.1.2, and tvOS 13.3.1 were seeded on December 17, but no further builds have been made available since then.
Apple always stops seeding betas over the holidays, but the cycle usually resumes in early January, including January 7 in 2019, January 3 in 2018, and January 9 in 2017, so there is a bit of a delay this year.
On an Xcode-related note, Apple has reminded developers that, starting April 2020, apps submitted to the App Store must use an Xcode storyboard to provide the app's launch screen and must have an interface that supports any display size. Apple also strongly encourages supporting multitasking on iPad.
Apple:
Apps should look great on all models of iPhone and iPad, regardless of display size or aspect ratio. With features like Xcode storyboards and Auto Layout, your app’s interface elements and layouts automatically fit the display. As announced at WWDC19, starting April 2020, apps submitted to the App Store must use an Xcode storyboard to provide the app’s launch screen and must have an interface that supports any display size.
Support for Multitasking on iPad is strongly encouraged. Adding support for multiple windows, and adopting Multitasking capabilities, including Slide Over, Split View, and Picture in Picture, will ensure your app delivers a modern and complete experience on iPadOS.
Apple says it has addressed an Xcode bug in the storyboard canvas that could cause the development tool to crash.
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I don't mind requirements that say your app has to look good on all devices. TO THIS DAY I sometimes download an app on my iPad and it turns out to be an iPhone-only app that's scaled up. This is something we shouldn't have to deal with.Apple really is ridiculous with these arbitrary requirements. I can’t wait for the day when they are forced to allow side loading of apps.
What I do have issue with are the other app store rules regarding content. Stuff like banning vaping apps, porn apps, emulators, etc... This is Apple taking a moral stance when morals differ between individuals.
Yeah, I’ll gladly take the end of letterboxed and/or scaled apps over some crusade against “arbitrary requirements.”Apple really is ridiculous with these arbitrary requirements. I can’t wait for the day when they are forced to allow side loading of apps.
A launch screen as a storyboard is preferable for the developer given the litany of window sizes an app must support between iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads (while I don’t know the exact number, it’s well into the dozens at this point for an app supporting all devices and Slide Over and Split View on the iPad). It also implicitly discourages the use of the launch screen as a splash screen, is far better futureproofed for new devices, and more.
As for supporting Auto Layout, Apple’s been increasingly strongly recommending, and now requiring, developers update their iOS apps to use Auto Layout since WWDC 2012. If done correctly (which for most apps isn’t that hard), this means that as iOS devices’ screen sizes and multitasking features evolve, all the work that is required of a developer is to recompile their app. Even before this requirement was announced it was blatantly obvious that it would one day be a requirement to anyone with a functioning brain. Not if, when. They will have had almost 8 years to get with the program, and at this point the work they’ve had to put in to not use Auto Layout almost certainly far exceeds that required to have just switched over, which is why the overwhelming majority of apps already support Auto Layout.
But no, it’s just an arbitrary requirement.
var body: some View {
List {
HStack {
Button("OK") {
print("OK")
}
Button("Cancel") {
print("Cancel")
}
}
}
}
}
SwiftUI is still not quite there. :confused:
(Tapping either button prints both "OK" and "Cancel")
Emulators are not entirely banned from the iOS/iPadOs App Store. They are just neutered because Apple does not allow functionality to allow programs to be loaded unless they are included within the emulator app. For example:What I do have issue with are the other app store rules regarding content. Stuff like banning vaping apps, porn apps, emulators, etc...
Jupiter ACE (iPad only)
ZX81 (an app that I wrote)
Spectaculator
iAltair
to list a few... Unfortunately, given the Apple Developer Guidelines I think emulator apps will always be unpopular on this platform and we're unlikely to ever see an "Emulators" store category.