Mastering iOS 18 Development: Take your iOS development experience to the next level with iOS, Xcode, Swift, and SwiftUI

Cover....1

Title Page....2

Copyright and Credits....3

Contributors....5

Table of Contents....8

Preface....16

Part 1: Getting Started with iOS 18 Development....24

Chapter 1: What’s New in iOS 18....26

Technical requirements....27

Understanding iOS 18 background....27

Introducing Swift Testing....28

Introducing Swift Data Improvements....28

Unique value....29

History API....29

Custom data stores in Swift Data....29

Introducing zoom transition....32

Adding a floating tab bar....34

Having more control over scroll views....36

Observing the scroll view position....36

Observing items’ visibility....38

Changing the text rendering behavior....39

Positioning sub-views from another view....40

Entering the AI revolution....42

Summary....43

Chapter 2: Simplifying Our Entities with SwiftData....44

Technical requirements....44

Understanding SwiftData’s background....45

Defining a SwiftData model....46

Expanding the @Model macro....46

Adding relationships....49

SwiftData relationship deletion rules....50

Defining the inverse relationship....51

Adding the @Attribute macro....53

Going non-persistent with transient....55

Exploring the container....56

Setting up ModelContainer....56

Connecting the container using the modelContainer modifier....57

Working with ModelConfiguration....58

Fetching and manipulating our data using model context....59

Saving new objects....60

Fetching objects....61

Migrating our data to a new schema....65

Learning the basic migration process....65

Creating a version schema....66

Creating the migration stages and plan....67

Connecting the migration plan to our container....69

Summary....70

Chapter 3: Understanding SwiftUI Observation....72

Technical requirements....72

Going over the SwiftUI observation system....73

Conforming to the ObservableObject protocol....73

Explaining the problem with the current observation situation....74

Adding the @Observable macro....75

Learning how the @Observable macro works....76

Excluding properties from observation using @ObservationIgnored....78

Observing computed variables....79

Working with environment variables....82

Adding an environment variable by type....82

Adding environment variable by key....84

Binding objects using @Bindable....86

Migrating to Observable....88

Summary....89

Chapter 4: Advanced Navigation with SwiftUI....90

Technical requirements....90

Understating why SwiftUI navigation is a challenge....91

Exploring NavigationStack....91

Separating the navigation destination using the navigationDestination view modifier....92

Using data models to trigger navigation....94

Responding to the path variable....96

Working with different types of data using NavigationPath....98

Working with the Coordinator pattern....100

Understanding the Coordinator’s principles....100

Building the Coordinator object....102

Adding CoordinatorView....103

Calling the coordinator straight from the view....104

Navigating with columns with NavigationSplitView....105

Creating NavigationSplitView....106

Moving to three columns....108

Summary....110

Chapter 5: Enhancing iOS Applications with WidgetKit....112

Technical requirements....112

The idea of widgets....113

Understanding how widgets work....114

Adding a widget....114

Configuring our widget....116

Working with static configuration....118

Understanding the Timeline Provider for Widgets....118

Building our widget UI....123

Working with timeline entries....124

Adding animations....125

Customize our widget....127

Using the AppEntity in our Widget....130

Keeping our widgets up to date....131

Reload widgets using the WidgetCenter....131

Go to the network for updates....133

Interacting with our widget....134

Opening a specific screen using links....134

Adding interactive capabilities....135

Adding a control widget....137

Summary....140

Chapter 6: SwiftUI Animations and SF Symbols....142

Technical requirements....142

The importance of animations....143

Understanding the concept of SwiftUI animations....143

Performing basic animations....144

Using the animation view modifier....144

Using the withAnimation function....145

Bringing some life to our animations with spring animations....147

Performing advanced animations....148

Performing transitions....148

Executing keyframe animations....152

Animating SF Symbols....156

Modifying symbol colors....158

Localizing our symbols....160

Summary....161

Chapter 7: Improving Feature Exploration with TipKit....162

Technical requirements....163

Learning the importance of tips....163

Understanding the basics of TipKit....163

What do tips look like?....165

Adding our first tip....166

Dismissing tips....170

Defining the tip ID....171

Customizing our tips....172

Customizing our tips’ appearance....172

Adding actions....175

Adding tips rules....177

Adding a rule based on a state....177

Adding a rule based on events....180

Grouping tips with TipGroup....182

Customizing display frequency....184

Setting the max display count for a specific tip....184

Setting our tips’ display frequency....184

Summary....185

Chapter 8: Connecting and Fetching Data from the Network....186

Technical requirements....186

Understanding mobile networking....187

Handling an HTTP request....188

Basic HTTP request methods....188

Working with URLSession....189

Handling the response....190

Integrating network calls within app flows....198

Just-in-time fetching....198

Read-through cache....199

Incremental loading....201

Full data sync with delta updates....202

Exploring Networking and Combine....205

Summary....208

Chapter 9: Creating Dynamic Graphs with Swift Charts....210

Technical requirements....210

Why charts?....211

Introducing the Swift Charts framework....211

Creating charts....213

Creating BarMark chart....213

Creating LineMark charts....219

Creating a SectorMark chart....223

Creating an AreaMark chart....225

Creating a PointMark chart....227

Visualizing functions with Charts....229

Allowing interaction using ChartProxy....231

Adding an overlay to our chart....232

Responding to the user’s gesture....234

Finding the closest data point to the user’s touch....234

Conforming to the Plottable protocol....236

Summary....237

Part 2: Refine your iOS Development with Advanced Techniques....238

Chapter 10: Swift Macros....240

Technical requirements....240

What is a Swift macro?....241

Exploring SwiftSyntax....242

Parsing and AST....243

Setting up SwiftSyntax....243

Building our Abstract Syntax Tree....245

Creating our first Swift macro....250

Adding a new Swift macro....250

Examining our Swift Macros package structure....252

Declaring our macro....253

Implementing the macro....255

Handling macros errors....261

Adding tests....263

Practice exercises....266

Summary....266

Chapter 11: Creating Pipelines with Combine....268

Technical requirements....268

Why use Combine?....269

Going over the basics....270

Starting with the publisher....270

Setting up the subscriber....271

Connecting operators....272

Delving into Combine components....273

Creating a custom publisher....274

Working with Subjects....275

Creating a custom subscriber....278

Connecting the custom publisher and subscriber....281

Working with operators....281

Learning about Combine using examples....287

Managing UIKit-based view state in a view model....287

Performing searches from multiple sources....288

Validating forms....290

Summary....292

Chapter 12: Being Smart with Apple Intelligence and ML....294

Technical requirements....295

Going over the basics of AI and machine learning....295

Learning the differences between AI and machine learning....295

Delving into the ML model....296

Training the model....296

Apple intelligence and ML....297

Exploring built-in ML frameworks....297

Interpreting text using NLP....298

Analyzing images using the Vision framework....302

Classifying audio using the Sound Analysis framework....305

Performing a semantic search with Core Spotlight....307

Integrating custom models using CoreML....311

Getting to know the Create ML application....312

Building our Spam Classifier model....314

Using our model with Core ML....321

Where to go from here....323

Summary....323

Chapter 13: Exposing Your App to Siri with App Intents....324

Technical requirements....324

Understanding the App Intents concept....325

Creating a simple app intent....325

Running the intent with the Shortcuts app....326

Creating an app shortcut....327

Adding a parameter to our app intent....328

Returning a custom view....330

Having multiple result types....332

Adding confirmation and conditions....333

Formalizing our content using app entities....335

Conforming to AppEntity....335

Creating an Open a task intent....337

Chaining app intents....338

Integrating our intent to other intents....339

Adjusting our app intents to work with Apple Intelligence....343

Exploring the Assistant Schema....343

Creating AssistantEntity....346

Summary....349

Chapter 14: Improving the App Quality with Swift Testing....350

Technical requirements....350

Understanding the importance of testing....351

Learning the testing history in Apple platforms....352

Exploring the Swift Testing basics....353

Adding a basic test....354

Providing names to our test functions....357

Enabling and disabling tests....357

Tagging our test functions....359

Working with arguments....361

Managing our tests....363

Going over the testing structure....364

Grouping our test functions into test suites....365

Building test plans....367

Setting up a Scheme....372

Tips to write testable code....373

Writing pure functions....374

Separating your code based on concerns....374

Performing mocking using protocols....375

Summary....377

Chapter 15: Exploring Architectures for iOS....378

Technical requirements....378

Understanding the importance of architecture....378

Learning what exactly architecture is....380

Going over the different architectures....381

Separating our project into layers....381

Separating our project into modules....387

Combining the multi-layer architecture with modules....388

Building hexagonal architecture....390

Comparing the different architectures....397

By separation of concerns....397

By testing....398

By maintenance and scalability....398

Summary....400

Index....402

Other Books You May Enjoy....415

Elevate your iOS development skills with this comprehensive iOS 18 guide covering the latest changes and improvements in iOS SDK and Swift, while mastering practical techniques to become an exceptional iOS developer

Key Features

• Stay up to date with the latest changes and improvements in iOS SDK and Swift programming language
• Learn how you can improve user experience by focusing on customizing components and animations
• Get to grips with advanced topics such as SwiftData and high-efficiency applications through an in-depth discussion
• Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook

Book Description

Embark on a comprehensive iOS 18 development journey with Avi Tsadok, a veteran iOS developer and author of 4 books and over 40 tutorials and articles. A recognized public speaker, Avi has a knack for demystifying complex concepts and brings unparalleled expertise to the forefront of iOS 18 development education. This guide focuses on iOS 18 advancements, equipping developers with tools to maximize its potential.

This book covers essential topics for seasoned developers, including Swift, SwiftUI, Xcode foundations, and the latest iOS SDK updates. You’ll get to grips with optimizing performance and understanding advanced architectural paradigms. By implementing the newest iOS updates, you’ll also explore intricate animation methods and harness a new framework, SwiftData that replaces Core Data for having persistent storage. The book builds your proficiency in advanced networking with URLSession and shows you how to conjure stunning visuals and adopt sophisticated testing techniques. You'll explore the world of machine learning with Apple’s Core ML diving into built-in frameworks like NLP, vision, and sound analysis to train and integrate your own models into iOS apps.

By the end of the book, you'll possess skills to build exceptional apps, excel in advanced roles, and confidently tackle iOS development challenges.

What you will learn

• Develop functional iOS applications on the iOS platform
• Build intricate custom animations and UI elements
• Master data handling and persistence in iOS apps
• Utilize Combine for efficient data management
• Harness the power of the neural engine through CoreML
• Explore architectures and streamline programming with Swift Macros
• Improve engagement by adding Widgets and App Intents

Who this book is for

If you are an experienced iOS developer looking to enhance your mobile development skills, create exceptional applications, and excel in advanced positions, this book is designed for you. To derive maximum benefit from this book and ensure a strong understanding of the advanced content, it is recommended that you have a solid foundation in Swift, SwiftUI, and Xcode.