The iOS Weekly Brief – Issue #42
Hello Developer kicks off 2026, Dark Mode, SwiftUI motion and previews, agentic AI workflows, and testable side effects in Swift
🆕 What’s New
Apple kicks off 2026 with a fresh Hello Developer update, and it is a solid one. Between a dedicated SwiftUI activity in Cupertino, deeper conversations around Liquid Glass, and new Develop in Swift tutorials. It feels like Apple is doubling down on both design and developer education!
📚 Must Read
Dark Mode is one of those features that feels obvious, yet is still easy to get wrong. This article walks through Dark Mode in SwiftUI from the right angle: rely on system defaults first, use asset catalogs properly, and only reach for colorScheme when you really need custom behavior.
The State of Agentic iOS Engineering in 2026
This is one of the most honest takes on AI-assisted iOS development I have read so far. Thomas describes agentic engineering not as magic automation, but as a constant evolution of workflows where you work more, yet feel like you produce less friction.
Understanding Spring Animations in SwiftUI
This is a great practical guide on why spring animations matter and how to use them intentionally in SwiftUI. Letizia explains springs not as eye candy, but as a communication tool that makes interfaces feel responsive and human, especially for direct user interactions.
🛠️ Toolbox
Swift Effect is one of the more interesting experiments I’ve seen around side effects in Swift. It gives you a lightweight “effects and handlers” model that feels closer to do-try-catch than classic DI, so your app code can stay linear while I/O, networking, and concurrency become interceptable and testable.
🍬 One More Thing…
Preview traits are an underrated SwiftUI feature that can seriously boost your productivity. This video shows how to use built-in and custom traits to manage orientations, Dark Mode, Dynamic Type, and even mock network or SwiftData layers directly in previews.
🗳️ Weekly Poll
📊 Last Week’s Poll Results
How do you see Apple’s AI strategy today?
Top Answer: Long-term bet that will pay off
🗓 Upcoming Conferences
January
21–23 — iOS Conf SG (Singapore 🇸🇬)
February
10–12 — Arctic Conference (Oulu 🇫🇮)
March
April
12–14 — Try! Swift Tokyo 2026 (Tokyo 🇯🇵)
12–14 — Deep Dish Swift (Chicago 🇺🇸)
May
18–20 — Swift Craft 2026 (Folkestone 🇬🇧)
19–21 — MAU Vegas 2026 (Las Vegas 🇺🇸)
June
3–4 — MDevCamp 2026 (Prague 🇨🇿)
July
7–10 — MacAdmins Conference (State College 🇺🇸)
15–16 — Swift Rockies 2026 (Calgary 🇨🇦)
September
7–11 — Swift Island 2026 (Texel 🇳🇱)
October
7–9 — Next.App DevCon 2026 (Berlin 🇩🇪)
November
20–22 — SwiftSonic 26 (Nashville 🇺🇸)
👋 That’s it for this week
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Until next Friday — keep shipping 🍏