Developers

450 'Developers' stories August 2011 - June 2014

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Apple opens up Touch ID fingerprint sensor to third-party app developers

Jordan Kahn Jun 2 2014 - 11:36 am PT

4 Comments

Apple just announced during its WWDC keynote that it’s opening up its Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone to third-party app developers. Apple showed off the personal finance management app Mint (pictured above) using the Touch ID feature to allow users to login instead of using the keyboard to enter a password. Previously Apple limited this feature to its own App Store and iTunes purchases as well as unlocking the device itself.

Apple also shared some stats on Touch ID noting that it has improved security by getting a much higher number of users using a passcode to protect their device:
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Apple focuses on developer features for iOS 8: TestFlight beta testing, biggest SDK ever, inter-app communication and more

Benjamin Mayo Jun 2 2014 - 11:28 am PT

6 Comments

Alongside a whole of other changes to the App Store, Apple is integrating TestFlight. This allows developers to do seamless beta-testing for free. There are also a whole host of ‘extensions’ apps can access, enabling integration into share sheets, Notification Center widgets and more.

Apple is heavily stressing that this is the biggest developer release since the App Store was announced.

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New developer APIs for iOS 8 and OS X 10.10 appear in open-source WebKit

Benjamin Mayo Jun 2 2014 - 8:03 am PT

3 Comments

The code shows that this is a new addition for OS X 10.10 and iOS 8.

Slightly ahead of the keynote later today, Apple has pushed some of its new APIs for developers into the open-source channels. The class in question is a new view that appears to replace the current iOS and OS X WebKit implementations, which enables apps to show webpages and other content inline.

The new framework seems to indicate a focus on cross-platform API compatibility, between iOS and OS X. The leaked framework seems to be fully feature-compatible across platforms. This differs to the situation today, where developers must use the ‘WebView’ class for OS X and ‘UIWebView’ for iOS. This should help developers write more reusable code.

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Apple updates WWDC for iPhone and iPad with new design and conference schedule

Zac Hall May 21 2014 - 6:51 am PT

3 Comments

With WWDC less than two weeks away now, Apple has released WWDC 2.0 for iPhone and iPad today on the App Store. The update revamps the user interface to reflect the design changes introduced with iOS 7 at last year’s WWDC conference. The update also includes a new icon to reflect the design changes: from dark purple to bright orange. The update also includes the latest schedule for this year’s conference (or as much as it will reveal) so developers attending the conference will want to download and reference it soon.

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Apple warns developers of scheduled four hour iTunes Connect maintenance happening May 14th

Mark Gurman May 10 2014 - 7:16 am PT

1 Comment

Apple has notified developers via email that iTunes Connect, the website used to manage and submit applications, will be down for maintenance on May 14th. According to the notice, maintenance will began at 8 AM Pacific Time and last for approximately four hours. Apple does not specify if any user-facing changes will be made, but perhaps Apple is making preparations for some announcements coming in just a few weeks at the 2014 Worldwide Developers Conference. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Apple seeds OS X 10.9.3 build 13D61, Safari 7.0.4 to developers

Mike Beasley May 7 2014 - 3:18 pm PT

2 Comments

Apple has seeded a new build (13D61) of the upcoming OS X 10.9.3 update to developers. The developer update comes just hours after Apple seeded a slightly newer build to its AppleCare team. 10.9.3 is expected to ship in the near future and features improved support for 4k monitors on newer MacBook pro models. The update also re-introduces the ability to sync contacts and calendar data to an iOS device from iTunes over a USB connection.

The update is accompanied by the very first seed of Safari 7.0.4. At the moment there are no details as to what’s new in the Safari update, aside from the typical performance updates and such. These updates don’t yet appear to be available for AppleSeed users.

Facebook open-sources ‘Pop’, the animation framework that drives the visual effects in Paper

Benjamin Mayo Apr 28 2014 - 11:08 am PT

4 Comments

Facebook has open-sourced a lot of stuff recently, but this is what most developers have been waiting for. Developed originally at Push Pop Press, and refined by Facebook, the company has today released its Pop animation framework publicly. Developers can check out the code from the GitHub repository.

The library enables rapid development of rich animations for iOS (and Mac) apps. Although Core Animation, (Apple’s built-in framework) is well suited to fire-and-forget animations, Pop was created to work seamlessly with modern interactive physics-centric user interfaces.

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Apple enticing games publishers with promotion deals in return for exclusivity

Benjamin Mayo Apr 21 2014 - 1:23 am PT

3 Comments

The Wall Street Journal has published a report saying that both Apple and Google are actively pursuing exclusivity deals with game developers. Whispers of these type of arrangements surfaced last year, with reports highlighting a partnership between Apple and EA for Plants vs Zombies 2.

The Journal confirms that Apple’s exclusivity deals do not include monetary payments. In return, the companies offer “premium placement” (such as featured spots on the home page) for launching first on their platform.

In regard to the Plants vs Zombies’ deal, the report says EA gave Apple agreed about two months of exclusivity.

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LG’s new Connect SDK helps bridge the gap between mobile apps and TVs

Sarah Guarino Apr 17 2014 - 8:45 am PT

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LG today announced a new system to help bridge the gap between a range of televisions and mobile software. The Connect SDK is an open-source, multi-platform tool that developers can use to make their mobile apps compatible with different TV set-top boxes and smart TVs. In a press release, Samuel Chang, LG Electronics USA vice president and head of the LG Silicon Valley Lab said:

Connect SDK is breaking down barriers to enable apps and devices to work together harmoniously. The screen size, capabilities and social nature of Smart TVs enable experiences that consumers will absolutely love.

Connect SDK is designed to address the problem of connecting apps with a second screen, the TV, which still serves as a main point of content consumption for many households. The company has released versions of the SDK compatible with devices on both iOS and Android.

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Strange bug has stopped some streaming video apps from playing content

Benjamin Mayo Apr 17 2014 - 5:14 am PT

2 Comments

As noted by the BBC, some video apps on iOS have inexplicably stopped working today. Videos simply fail to stream, resulting in error messages like the one shown above. The cause of the issue is still unclear, but the bug is affecting multiple high-profile apps in the UK such as BBC iPlayer and Sky Go. Whether the issue is more widespread is not yet known.

It is unknown whether the bug is an issue with Apple’s software or with the third-party app developers. However, as both independent services have failed on the same day it seems like the problem lies with iOS itself. Setting the date on your iPhone or iPad to the past will make videos play again, which suggests the error may be related to expired digital certificates.

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Reminder: Less than 4 hours to join the WWDC 2014 ticket lottery (Update: Closed)

Zac Hall Apr 7 2014 - 6:13 am PT

0 Comments

If you have even the slightest inclination to attend the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, you probably want to throw your name in the hat for your chance to purchase a ticket before the window closes in less than four hours.
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XTouch turns any surface into touch-enabled controls for iOS apps

Jordan Kahn Mar 27 2014 - 2:01 pm PT

19 Comments

XTouch Commercial/Proof of Concept – make every surface tap sensitive from Vladimir Druts on Vimeo.

XTouch, an SDK created by a group at the University of Toronto’s Mobile Applications Lab and funded by JOLT, turns any surface into a touch-sensitive controller for iOS apps with no additional hardware. Since XTouch uses acoustics and vibrations to recognize taps on a surrounding surface, the only requirement is that your iPhone or iPad is placed on the same surface you want to use as a touchpad. An SDK is coming soon that will allow developers to think up many interesting implementations, but for now the company has released two apps that show off what XTouch is capable of.
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Facebook releases ‘Tweaks’ tool to help devs iterate on their apps faster

Benjamin Mayo Mar 25 2014 - 11:49 am PT

1 Comment

Facebook has today open-sourced its rapid prototyping tool ‘Tweaks’, a framework that helps application developers quickly iterate on their projects and test out different possibilities for their iOS apps.

The best way to improve an app is to use it every day. Even when ideas can be tested out in advance — for example, with Origami — it can still take some time with the app to see how it works in practice.

Occasionally, it’s perfect the first try. Sometimes, the idea doesn’t work at all. But often, it just needs a few minor adjustments. That last case is where Tweaks fits in. Tweaks makes those small adjustments easy: with no code changes and no computer, you can try out different options and decide which works best.

Tweaks makes it really simple for developers to adjust parameters and properties in their application and then test them out in realtime. This is particularly useful for rapid user interface development, which often consists of merely tweaking parameters (like colors or durations) than any involved work. Normally, developers have to recompile application binaries in order to change animation curves, durations or other parameters. This is relatively slow and inefficient.

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Apple seeds Safari 7.0.3 and 6.1.3 Seed 2 to developers

Jordan Kahn Mar 25 2014 - 11:28 am PT

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After seeding the first beta of the next versions of Safari for OS X a week ago, Apple has just seeded another pre-release version of Safari 7.0.3 and Safari 6.1.3 (Seed 2) to developers.

Apple provides the following focus areas for devs in the release notes:

Please focus testing on the following areas:

• General website compatibility

• Safari Push Notifications

• Login AutoFill

• Credit Card AutoFill (OS X Mavericks only) • Extension Compatibility

Safari 7.0.3 will arrive for Mavericks users while the 6.1.3 release is the latest for Mountain Lion users. The updates require the following:

Safari 6.1.3 for OS X Lion requires OS X 10.7.5 with Security Update 2013-002. Safari 6.1.3 for OS X Mountain Lion requires OS X 10.8.5. Safari 7.0.3 for OS X Mavericks requires OS X 10.9.2 and is also included in OS X 10.9.3.

Earlier this month Apple pushed updates for iTunes 11.1.6 and OS X 10.9.3 betas to developers. When released to the public, the new iTunes version will restore the ability to sync contacts and calendars to an iOS device, while OS X is expected to introduce the ability to output at 4k resolution with a 60Hz refresh rate on the latest MacBook Pro models.

Contestants at Pwn2Own take down Safari, but said OS X security is better than other systems

Benjamin Mayo Mar 14 2014 - 4:23 am PT

9 Comments

As usual, the annual Pwn2Own contest featured many hackers targeting the latest operating systems and browsers from the major vendors, including Apple. Threatpost reports that the “Keen Team” focused Safari on Thursday and exploited it with relative ease.

The team took home a $40,000 bounty for their efforts on Safari, as well as a share in a $75,000 prize for co-engineering a zero-day Flash exploit. They say they will donate some of their winnings towards charities representing missing Malaysian Airplane passengers.

The group say that for Safari, they used two different exploit vectors. One vulnerability was a heap overflow in WebKit that enabled arbitrary code execution. The team then used this opening to use another exploit to bypass the application sandbox and run code as if it was user privileged.

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Beats Music announces its API now open for developers

Zac Hall Mar 7 2014 - 6:27 am PT

3 Comments

Paid streaming service Beats Music is one of the newest players to the subscription-based entertainment scene, but the company isn’t letting that hold them back. As CNET reports, Beats Music has opened its API to developers allowing others to include the service in new implementations without direction partnership.

“This isn’t just about giving access to the catalog of music,” said Rogers. “This is about people who are subscribers to a premium music service that has premium music features, as a subscriber you should have access anywhere.”
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Report: Apple bringing full screen, interstitial iAds to iPhone

Zac Hall Mar 5 2014 - 11:05 am PT

3 Comments

According to a new report from Ad Age, Apple is planning to offer a new option for how iAds are presented on its iOS platform. The new iAd option will allow included video content to play automatically at full screen rather than being prompted by tapping a more subtle banner. While interstitial iAds are already possible for iAds presented on the iPad meant for use in Newsstand apps, the report claims the new options will target both iPhone and iPad users suggesting the option could debut for iPhone and iPod touch users. The report believes the automatically playing, full screen interstitial iAds will likely be presented in between activity rather than interrupting content entirely.
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Twitch announces SDK to bring game streaming to iOS

Benjamin Mayo Mar 5 2014 - 7:39 am PT

0 Comments

Twitch, the leading video game streaming site, has just announced a way to bring the same game-casting possible on desktops to iPhone and iPad. On a PC or Mac, a secondary app is used to effectively screencast the gameplay. Due to the multitasking limitations of iOS, live streaming has not been an option for games until now.

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Developers

Apple releases another OS X Server 3.1 developer preview

Mike Beasley Mar 3 2014 - 4:31 pm PT

3 Comments

Apple has seeded a new preview version of the upcoming OS X Server version 3.1. The update has a build number of 12S4122. OS X Server 3.1 is expected to be released at some point in the near future to accompany OS X 10.9.2, which was released last month.

Developers can grab the beta now from Apple’s Developer Center. The seed notes are below:

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MESSAGE IS UNDER NON-DISCLOSURE

OS X Server Preview (Build 13S4122) Seed Note
OS X Server Preview (Build 13S4122) is now available for testing on OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 systems.
Minimum System Requirements

To install OS X Server Preview, you need one of these computers:
– iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
– MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
– MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
– MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
– Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
– Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
– Xserve (Early 2009)

Your Mac needs:
– OS X Mavericks 10.9.2
– At least 2 GB of RAM
– At least 10 GB of available disk space (50 GB if you wish to use Caching Server)

Installation Instructions

Install OS X Server 3.1 Preview 13S4122 on a computer running OS X Mavericks 10.9.2.

This preview supports upgrade and migrations from OS X Snow Leopard Server 10.6.8 and newer to OS X Server 3.1 Preview 13S4122.

Noteworthy Change and Areas to Test

Profile Manager
– New My Devices portal access restrictions and device enrollment restrictions available on Users and Groups
– Activation Lock Bypass Code is retrieved automatically on enrollment of Supervised devices

Known Issues

– Profile Manager will not function following an upgrade or migration from OS X Server 2.x. This issue does not affect an upgrade or migration from OS X Server 3.0 or later.

Bug Reporting

This build is being provided to you for testing and development purposes. Should you encounter any problems, please submit a bug report using the online Bug Reporter at bugreporter.apple.com. Please make sure to include “OS X Server (13S4122)” in the bug title and description. This information will ensure that your bug is processed quickly.
When reporting a bug, enter the following command in Terminal, then attach the output to the bug report:
$ sudo /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/usr/sbin/serverloggather
For complete instructions on submitting bug reports, please visit the Bug Reporting page at http://developer.apple.com/bugreporter
Thank you for your support,
Worldwide Developer Relations
Apple, Inc.

Legal Notices
The OS X pre-release software identified above and the OS X Software Update Seed Configuration Utility are Apple Confidential Information and your use of such software is subject to your Registered Apple Developer Agreement, Mac Developer Program License Agreement, and the applicable license agreements accompanying such software. Distributing such software to anyone other than another Registered Apple Developer who is working for the same entity as you is considered a violation of your agreement with Apple and is damaging to both Apple and those who develop for the Apple platform. We sincerely appreciate your efforts to keep this Apple software Confidential.
You agree that you will not export or reexport any of the software or Confidential Information received from Apple (a) into (or to a national or resident of) any U.S. embargoed countries or (b) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Department of Commerce Denied Person’s List or Entity List. You also agree that you will not use said software for any purposes where prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missile, chemical or biological weapons.

Microsoft reportedly working on a cross-platform Xbox Live for iOS & Android apps

Jordan Kahn Mar 3 2014 - 10:57 am PT

1 Comment

Microsoft is considering taking Xbox Live cross-platform and allowing developers to integrate the service in iOS and Android games, according to a report from The Verge. The report cites a job listing from the company’s website seeking an engineer to work on “a modern framework that is open-source, lightweight, extensible and scalable across various platforms,” including iOS and Android. The report also cites its own sources reportedly familiar Microsoft’s plans to take Xbox Live cross-platform.

“New Devices and Gaming” is looking for passionate and experienced developers to join us. Your contribution will have direct impact on how we win back our game developers from our competitors. As a member of the newly formed team, you will have the rare opportunity to influence our planning and design from the beginning. We will create a modern framework that is open source, light-weight, extensible and scalable across various platforms including Windows Store, Windows Phone, iOS and Android. Working on the gaming technologies, you will collaborate with both internal partner teams across the company and external ecosystem partners to enable end-to-end gaming scenarios.

The idea, according to the report, is that Xbox Live would act as a cross-platform alternative to Apple’s Game Center and similar services, allowing users to earn achievements, manage friends and more through a single service across Xbox and mobile platforms. No details on specific features or when we might expect to see more.

Developers

New Apple developer pages aim to help software designers build for iOS 7 and OS X

Mike Beasley Feb 27 2014 - 9:39 pm PT

1 Comment

Apple published a new page on its iOS developer center Thursday night that lists a variety of resources for app designers looking to get the most out of iOS 7’s new look and feel. Most of the information consists of videos and documents that are already available to developers, but these were previously grouped in with other development resources rather than being set apart on a design-specific page.

The page’s header lists both iOS and OS X as platforms where “exceptional user experience” is paramount, but the resources below deal mainly with iOS 7 without any real mention of OS X aside from a single HIG document at the bottom of the list.

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Should Apple open the iPhone’s fingerprint sensor to devs in iOS 8? [Poll]

Jordan Kahn Feb 26 2014 - 8:19 am PT

74 Comments

With Touch ID in the iPhone 5s, Apple wasn’t the first to integrate a fingerprint sensor in a smartphone, but it certainly popularized the feature as other manufacturers race to build similar technology into their next-gen iPhone competitors. HTC is packing in fingerprint sensors in its latest flagship devices and Samsung announced its new Galaxy S5 earlier this week with finger scanning as one of the standout upgrades. The verdict is still out on how Samsung’s tech compares to Touch ID, but it is interesting to see how others are using fingerprint sensors while Apple keeps it closed to developers and offers very limited applications. With Samsung letting app developers access the new S5’s fingerprint scanner for mobile payments and more right out of the gate, should Apple open the fingerprint sensor to devs in iOS 8?
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Apple releases iBeacon specification through its Made-For-iPhone program

Jordan Kahn Feb 25 2014 - 9:20 am PT

4 Comments

Aura iBeacons coming soon for EverSense smart thermostat

iBeacon, Apple’s new framework for using low-cost Bluetooth LE devices to beam notifications to nearby smartphones and tablets, will soon be getting a bigger push from Apple and third-party manufacturers through its Made-For-iPhone program. While “iBeacon” is often used in the media to describe any Bluetooth beacon, Apple is now implementing tighter control over who can use the ‘iBeacon’ branding. Much like it requires for manufacturers placing the “Made-for-iPhone” branding on Apple authorized devices, Apple is now requiring manufacturers meet certain specifications before using ‘iBeacon’ on their products. The change was first spotted by Beekn.net. It appears the program is separate from the main Bluetooth MFi specification as it still asks that accessory manufacturers not support the iBeacon feature.
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Security researchers highlight iOS flaw that enables hidden logging of touch events and other actions

Benjamin Mayo Feb 25 2014 - 1:59 am PT

5 Comments

Researchers at security firm FireEye are highlighting an exploit involving iOS’s multitasking architecture to enable a nefarious (or exploited) app to record user touch events, Home Button presses and other events even whilst the app is backgrounded. It has always been theoretically possible for apps to record touch events whilst foregrounded, as the app needs access to the touch input to respond to user events. However, FireEye are demonstrating that this is possible even when the iOS app is not frontmost.

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