The iOS Weekly Brief – Issue #71
Apple and the AI race, iOS 26.6, everything new in Xcode 27, code signing and provisioning, why AI broke code review, designing modular iOS architecture, SwiftUI glass buttons and blend modes
This week I’ve been thinking about...
There was an interview this week that confirmed something I have been saying for a while now - Apple could benefit from staying out of the AI race. While the rest of the world keeps going crazy over AI, Apple has stayed calm.
Funny enough, the same kind of calm does not exist on the other side of AI. The amount of code being generated keeps growing, but the number of developers doing code review stays the same, if not smaller 😬 It is something I also touch on further in this issue.
There is a lot more happening in iOS this week, so keep reading...
What’s New
Apple Will ‘Watch Everything Burn’ When AI Bubble Bursts - Ed Zitron
There is an interview this week in which a well-known AI critic explains why he thinks the whole AI industry is a bubble and what happens to Apple once it pops. His main point is that Apple stayed out of the race, and that decision might save the company when things fall apart for everyone else.
I have been saying that for a long time. I don’t think this was Apple’s plan from the beginning, though... I think Apple was late, and by the time it noticed, the race went crazy. As a result, there is a good chance Apple wins here, but not because it planned to.
Releases
Must Read
I am a huge fan of Xcode and I never understood why it gets such a low rating on the App Store 😅
AI made things a bit less rosy, since Xcode still lacks some features other IDEs already have, but this release still brings a lot of great stuff, especially around AI and fast prototyping. I really like the prototyping part, it is not just for engineers, even product managers could use it to quickly put together a prototype with AI. This article covers everything in one place, so I recommend checking it out.
Understanding code signing and provisioning in iOS
If you work in a feature team at a large company, this topic probably never comes up, but if you are at a small company, you usually deal with certificates and releases yourself. Even if that is not your situation right now, I recommend taking a look. You never know when you might start your own project or join a startup, and this knowledge will be useful for you.
AI Broke Code Review. Here’s How to Rebuild It
Not gonna lie, this is a problem. Coding is fast now, but specs could be better, and AI fills gaps with something that sounds ok but is not accurate or doesn’t even make sense. We produce more code, sometimes worse code, while the review process and resources stay the same.
My personal advice: keep pull requests small. Small changes are easier for AI to implement, and they statistically get reviewed and commented on more often than large ones, which people approve with an “LGTM” comment.
Designing The Perfect Modular Architecture
Jacob Bartlett breaks down modular iOS architecture using everything he learned across 10 years of building apps.
Architecture is very important, especially now that the focus in engineering is more about design rather than writing code. I recommend everyone spend time understanding the key aspects of architecture, and this article can really help you with that.
Quick Read
Changing the shape of glass buttons in SwiftUI
Button { } label: { Image(systemName: "sun.max") } // tells SwiftUI to use a circle for the border platter, not just clip the result .buttonBorderShape(.circle) .buttonStyle(.glass)ZStack { BirdFrameOne() BirdFrameTwo() .blendMode(.darken) }
Video
SwiftRockies 2026 The Myth of the Self Taught Developer
Stuart argues that no developer is truly self-taught, since we all learn through community in one way or another.
I agree with that in a way, but to me self-taught is about finding that community yourself and deciding what from it matters to you. I also feel like I am part of that community. With readers from more than 90 countries subscribed to this newsletter, I try to add my own piece to it too, and maybe by reading my newsletter each week, you end up learning something from that community as well 🙌
Toolbox
Xcode-Disk-Cleanup-Agent-Skill
An agent Skill that finds where Xcode is eating your disk space, from Derived Data to old Simulator runtimes, and shows you recoverable GiB with evidence before touching anything.
I constantly run into this problem, Xcode eats up disk space without me noticing. I consider this skill a must-have for any iOS developer!
iOS Job Market (USA)
32 new iOS positions this week (+10% vs last week · -14% vs last month)
Senior / Mid / Junior — 34% / 63% / 3%
Most wanted skills: SwiftUI 43% · UIKit 28% · MVVM 15% · Core Data 9%
This week’s picks:
Software Engineer, iOS at Current (New York, NY) — Swift Concurrency model (required), UIKit for native layouts, gRPC/Protobuf for networking; 6M+ members managing their finances. $150K–$200K → Apply
Weekly Poll
📊 Last Week’s Poll Results
Have you shipped a feature using Apple’s Foundation Models yet?
Top Answer: Yes, in production
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