The iOS Weekly Brief – Issue #14
Your weekly dose of Apple dev updates: new AI in iOS 26, concurrency-safe code, and tools to supercharge your workflow.
🆕 What’s New
iOS 26: All the New Apple Intelligence Features
iOS 26 quietly brings a wave of Apple Intelligence updates worth your attention. Live Translation, Visual Intelligence, smarter Wallet tracking, and on-device AI models for devs, there’s a lot to explore even without the new Siri (coming in 2026). I recommend checking out all the new AI features to see how they can enhance your apps and daily use.
📚 Must Read
Playground Macro: Running Code Snippets in Xcode’s canvas
Xcode 26’s new Playground macro lets you run and preview code snippets right inside your Swift files, no need for separate playgrounds. It’s perfect for experimenting with logic, testing UI tweaks, or debugging in real time using the canvas. A must-have for boosting your development workflow.
NotificationCenter.Message: A New Concurrency-Safe Notification Experience in Swift 6.2
Swift 6.2 introduces NotificationCenter.Message, a modern, type-safe, and concurrency-friendly alternative to the old string-based notification system. With compile-time checks and main/async actor isolation, it eliminates threading issues, typos, and fragile casting. If you’re adopting Swift concurrency, this new API is a game-changer.
🛠️ Toolbox
Top 10 Developer Tools Apple introduced at WWDC25
Apple went all-in for developers at WWDC25, introducing tools like on-device Foundation Models, ChatGPT in Xcode, and the long-awaited SwiftUI WebView. This top 10 roundup highlights the biggest breakthroughs, from true alarm apps with AlarmKit to smarter localization and spatial magic in visionOS. If you’re building for Apple platforms, this list is your cheat sheet to the future.
🍬 One More Thing…
Adding Icon Composer icons to Xcode
Xcode 26 introduces a smarter way to manage app icons with the new Icon Composer tool, no more juggling asset catalogs. Build stunning icons with layered effects and edit them directly inside Xcode. Learn how to streamline your icon workflow and avoid common pitfalls with alternate icons and older iOS versions.
🗳️ Weekly Poll
🗓 Upcoming Conferences
July
15-18 — MacAdmins Conference (State College 🇺🇸)
September
2–4 — Swift Island (Texel 🇳🇱)
18-19 — NS Spain 2025 (Logroño 🇪🇸)
24–26 — FlutterCon Europe (Berlin 🇩🇪)
29–30 — Swift Connection (Paris 🇫🇷)
October
2–3 — ServerSide.swift (London 🇬🇧)
6–8 — SwiftLeeds (Leeds 🇬🇧)
24 — DevFest.cz (Prague 🇨🇿)
30–31 — Pragma Conference (Bologna 🇮🇹)
November
👋 That’s it for this week
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Until next Friday — keep shipping 🍏