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Why I quit using SwiftUI

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111–120 of 257 posts

Re: Why I quit using SwiftUI

#111
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can ship security updates themselves, which immediately fix all apps. Otherwise apps eventually never update. Also apps don't get the new "improved" styles etc if they don't have it in the system, which takes away the consistency Apple aims for. And then: It's Apple ...

Style changes and quickly become usability and accessibility issues. I'd rather my app continues to work well as I tested it, than having to test all of the shit on every other OS patch.

I hope you don’t apply the same philosophy to security patches.

Re: Why I quit using SwiftUI

#112
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't put it at the side, the cable will interfere with the keyborad or the laptop that is on the left and won't work at all for the left handed people. I mean, if you really think that charging a few minutes a day or leave it charging overnight once a month is a deal breaker, simply don't buy it but this is not a bad design. It is very unrealistic to expect that the mouse will be used 24/7 every day forever. If…

Won't work at all for left-handed people, as opposed to now where it works for no one during the same period? Seems like an improvement, despite my doubts that it truly wouldn't work for left-handers. Anyway, hopefully we can avoid wild mischaracterizations here. My expectation obviously isn't that things work 24/7 indefinitely. Think about how the typical user is going to discover that the battery is low. Either the…

Sure, better notifications can help. Maybe once idle, can send a notification to the phone to make the user put it on charge overnight.

I had the occasion where the battery died by surprise. That’s why I keep repeating that the device works for hours after few minutes o charging, you don’t have to fully charge it before use.

Re: Why I quit using SwiftUI

#113
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m with you, however mac os remain the best dekstop OS and iOS remain the best mobile one, even after all those years. So, they must be doing something right..

iOS lacks many features that have been standard on Android for years and the only reason it feels so smooth is because the UI thread has pretty much the highest QoL that anything can ever have. iOS would rather drop your network call than drop a single frame. Android variants all have things that iOS can only dream of having in five years (notifications was a fun one), just spread very unevenly throughout manufacture…

The copying of features isn't one-sided. Both companies have had firsts there: https://www.popsci.com/story/diy/stolen-features-android-app...

When I switched from Android to iOS in 2016, I was shocked at how little was different, and I can only assume gulf has narrowed since then. A lot of features Android users just assume iOS users don't have are there: vendor-agnostic password manager integration, Safari browser extensions, Safari content (ad) blocker API (Chrome is restricting ad-blockers soon!), more complete home screen customization and widgets, lock screen customization and widgets (iOS 16, upcoming), custom third-party keyboards, grouped/customizable notification system, native console wireless controller support from all three consoles.

Features like granular privacy controls and screen recording (with the exception of some obscure Android OEM builds) debuted on iOS first.

I'd be skeptical with anyone declaring either platform "best," I think they're both roughly equivalent.

However, I do think that anyone who uses macOS is insane to go with Android. There are simply too many useful integrations between the platforms to ignore, combined with the fact that, even if the iPhone isn't the best phone, it's usually in the top handful of choices in terms the overall package.

Re: Why I quit using SwiftUI

#114
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> designers are asking for stupidly complex UI I think a mobile app should have a stupidly simple UI instead. Designers traditionally use a graphics program to design pixels. SwiftUI let’s you design layouts and components. Maybe designers should change how they design and start using SwiftUI as a design tool.

Your comment reminds me how asinine some Designs orgs have become at companies. Basically chasing fashion statements and demanding Engineers “just do it” with little consideration to the development, maintenance, and testing costs. Modern development, at some companies, can truly feel regressive at times.

It’s like Design for Machining, if you’re fabricating metal parts.

Re: Why I quit using SwiftUI

#115
post #19
post #7

People nowadays praise Apple for their hardware, mainly their silicon - not their software. Maybe it's time for Apple to shake things up and promote someone else to VP of Software engineering?

I’m with you, however mac os remain the best dekstop OS and iOS remain the best mobile one, even after all those years. So, they must be doing something right..

> So, they must be doing something right..

Resting on laurels, while trying to figure out how to destroy everything good about macOS by making it more like iOS.

Re: Why I quit using SwiftUI

#116
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At my company we've been slowly rewriting our UIKit app in SwiftUI. We were due for a rewrite when SwiftUI dropped. I'd say we're about 75% done. For those "stupidly complex UIs", SwiftUI just doesn't have enough hooks for customization. And the improvements are too slow. Using SwiftUI has been bitter-sweet. It feels like you just can't use it to craft a high quality app that doesn't look like a generic iOS app.

Is looking like a generic iOS app that bad?! Especially here on HN where the sentiment is pro plain html etc. a generic iOS UI should be well received

[deleted]

Re: Why I quit using SwiftUI

#117
post #19
post #7

People nowadays praise Apple for their hardware, mainly their silicon - not their software. Maybe it's time for Apple to shake things up and promote someone else to VP of Software engineering?

I’m with you, however mac os remain the best dekstop OS and iOS remain the best mobile one, even after all those years. So, they must be doing something right..

> best mobile one

It stagnated enough for android to come really close, while the other issues didn’t improve much (side loading will be on Apple’s dead body, default apps setting still being too few), and there is no end in sight to the constant nagging for more service revenue.

Nowadays both OS are mostly on par, for instance android 13’s per app language setting is one of those QoL things that were iOS’s turf but are now more prominent in android.

Re: Why I quit using SwiftUI

#118

The main issue with SwiftUI is sheer lack of maturity. People don't think about it, but UIKit now has ~15 years of effort put into it, and got a serious boost from its shared roots with AppKit (even though big chunks of UIKit were freshly written, its structuring and API design were largely informed by AppKit), which has history tracing all the way back to the 1980s. Of course something as fresh out of the oven as Sw…

It is already three years old. I doubt AppKit, UIKit or any of the predecessors were in a bad state for three whole years after their launch.

>I doubt AppKit, UIKit or any of the predecessors were in a bad state for three whole years after their launch

I was there for Cocoa development in Mac OS X 10.3. AppKit was not mature. I wasn't there but have heard it was less mature in '91 3 years into NextSTEP.

Re: Why I quit using SwiftUI

#119
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> designers are asking for stupidly complex UI I think a mobile app should have a stupidly simple UI instead. Designers traditionally use a graphics program to design pixels. SwiftUI let’s you design layouts and components. Maybe designers should change how they design and start using SwiftUI as a design tool.

Your comment reminds me how asinine some Designs orgs have become at companies. Basically chasing fashion statements and demanding Engineers “just do it” with little consideration to the development, maintenance, and testing costs. Modern development, at some companies, can truly feel regressive at times.

[deleted]

Re: Why I quit using SwiftUI

#120
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I expect a trillion dollar company to invest in good documentation of their dev products.

My feeling is that Apple hates the developers that develop the software that makes them rich. Forcing myself to be rational "hate" is probably too strong a word. If you are down the Apple cul-de-sac there is really no turning back. So investing in things like code examples for all of their API (there are a few, a very few) is a waste for Apple. It does not attract new developers and the old ones are stuck in the cul-…

I suspect you’re ascribing an unrealistic amount of intentionality and rationality to the prioritizations of a giant bureaucracy.
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