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Latest Mobile Dev Insights: iOS, Android, Cross-Platform

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MobilePro #197: Swift SDK for Android, Siri to use Gemini, Android 16 GSI, and more…

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Hi ,

Welcome to another week of MobilePro; this is edition no. 197.

Swift on Android is actually happening. Did I think I would be saying that soon? No. But Apple’s Swift team just started rolling out nightly Swift SDKs for Android. For years, Swift was this tightly bound iOS language. Android and Swift lived in different worlds; iOS had a “you do Kotlin, I’ll do Swift” kind of relationship with Android. But now, Swift’s knocking on Android’s door like it’s been saying, in the words of Swift’s popstar namesake, “you belong with me.” The SDK lets you build, test, and even run Swift apps on Android, with interoperability for Java and Kotlin baked in. It’s still early, but this changes how we think about building for both platforms.

Imagine writing your shared logic, that is, networking, models, even business rules, in Swift and reusing that code across iOS and Android builds. You’d still have native UI layers, but the engine underneath could stay consistent. That’s where this SDK nudges us: toward more Swift-first cross-platform development, and not through a framework like Flutter or React Native but via native builds powered by a common language. And since the SDK is being updated nightly, tooling, package compatibility, and documentation should mature fast.

That said, it’s not all smooth roads just yet. Debugging’s still rough, Android Studio isn’t exactly Swift-friendly, and the Java bridge needs some love. But if you’re already deep in Swift, maybe using it on the backend too, then this might be the next logical step. One toolchain, one mindset, less context-switching. Who knows, maybe in a year or two, “Swift everywhere” won’t sound that crazy anymore, fulfilling the Wildest Dreams of mobile devs everywhere.

That’s not all the news this week. Let’s dive in.

📱 New Siri to use Google Gemini: Apple’s next-gen Siri, launching in 2026, will use a custom Gemini model hosted on Apple servers, blending AI smarts with Apple’s privacy focus.
🔔 iOS 26.1 Update: Adds a toggle for “Liquid Glass,” new alarm gesture, UI tweaks, expanded translation languages, and easier background security updates.
🧩 Android 16 GSI Released: Google’s Android 16 GSI is out for developers to test app compatibility on Treble-compliant devices.
💻 Compose Multiplatform Milestone: Now supports stable iOS builds and web beta, enabling shared Kotlin UI across all platforms.
🤝 Cursor 2.0: Introduces parallel multi-agent support, up to eight AI agents working independently within one workspace.

Stick around for this week’sDeveloper Tipto learn how to navigate updating React Native from 0.72 to 0.76 andtheDid You Know?section to learn the findings of a Lead Dev report.

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📱 What's Happening in Mobile Development?

If there’s any major news in the world of mobile app dev in the last week, MobilePro has you covered.

iOS

New Version of Siri to 'Lean' on Google Gemini: Apple’s revamped Siri, due around March 2026, will reportedly use a custom Gemini-based model from Google, hosted on Apple’s own secure servers, to power new AI and web-search features alongside upcoming hardware like a smart home display and new Apple TV. Redditors are split: some see it as a smart, pragmatic upgrade, while others worry it signals Apple’s AI shortcomings and threatens Siri’s privacy-first brand.
iOS 26.1 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.1: The iOS 26.1 update introduces refinements such as a toggle for the “Liquid Glass” transparency effect, a new slide-to-stop alarm gesture, and expanded language support for both Apple Intelligence and AirPods Live Translation. It also adds UI tweaks (e.g., left-aligned folder names and settings headers), and makes background security updates easier to install via a new toggle in Settings.

Android

Android 16 GSI Release: Google has released the Android 16 Generic System Image (GSI) for developers to test app compatibility on Treble-compliant devices. These experimental builds, created from the same source as Pixel firmware, may contain bugs or missing features and can erase data during installation. The update details known issues and provides flashing instructions for supported devices.
Google upgrades Gemini AI for Android enterprise apps: Google has upgraded its Gemini AI capabilities for Android enterprise apps, introducing the new Alpha-release ML Kit GenAI Prompt API which allows on-device AI via the Gemini Nano model, enhancing data privacy, offline functionality, and reducing latency. The update also brings cloud-based enhancements through Firebase, AI-powered features in the Play Console and Android Studio, targeting secure, efficient enterprise application workflows and development.
Material 3 Adaptive 1.2.0 is stable: Google has released Material 3 Adaptive 1.2.0, now marked as stable and adding support for Large and Extra-large window size classes, along with two new layout strategies: reflow and levitate, to improve adaptive UI across varied screen sizes.

Cross-platform & Other

Compose Multiplatform Marks Two Major Milestones: Stable iOS Support and Web in Beta: Compose Multiplatform has hit two major milestones: it now offers stable iOS support and has introduced a web-beta release, enabling truly shared Kotlin UI code across Android, iOS, desktop and web.
Flutter 3.35.7 is out: Google has released Flutter 3.35.7, a minor update that includes two fixes and performance improvements. Developers can review the full details in the Changeolog and share feedback through the official Flutter channels.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Cursor 2.0 enables eight agents to work in parallel without interfering with each other: Cursor 2.0 introduces a new multi-agent interface that enables up to eight AI agents to work in parallel on a single prompt, each in an isolated workspace to avoid conflicts.

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If you’re planning to upgrade React Native from 0.72 to 0.76 (or beyond), check out this practical post: React Native 0.72 → 0.76: Lessons From the Trenches by Abijith B. It walks through real-world build issues (e.g., Java 17, NDK mismatches, missing module-maps) and offers hands-on fixes and workflow insights. Especially helpful if you’re on Android API 35 or need to refactor native config while keeping your codebase stable.

In case you have any tips to share with your fellow mobile developers, do reply to this mail and we’d be glad to feature you in a future edition of MobilePro.

💭 What is the Mobile Community Talking About?

What are mobile app developers discussing? Do you have any concerns, advice, or tutorials to share?MobileProbrings them to you all in one place.

Liquid Glass components now playable in Compose Multiplatform: A deep dive into how modern blur and glass-morphism effects are being brought to Compose MP, with tips on using native iOS blur APIs, fallback modes for older platforms, and modifier-based wrappers to maintain fluid visuals across Android and iOS. The article walks you through real-world patterns and composable setups so you can bring that premium translucent polish to multi-platform UIs.
Integrating device camera in SwiftUI apps and how to bridge AVFoundation with SwiftUI: If you’re building camera-powered features (photo capture, scanning, AR) in SwiftUI, this guide walks through using a CameraManager (ObservableObject) + UIViewRepresentable wrapper to connect AVFoundation’s AVCaptureSession, AVCapturePhotoOutput, and preview layer into a SwiftUI view. It highlights the key patterns, such as managing session lifecycles, creating the preview layer in UIKit, and cleanly handling captured images, so you can keep your UI declarative while tackling imperative camera APIs.
7 playful micro-interactions every iOS developer should build: This article walks you through how adding small, delightful animations, like button bounce, subtle state changes, and interactive feedback, can bring your SwiftUI apps to life and make them feel vastly more engaging without complex overhaul.
Lynx.js: The hybrid mobile framework you haven’t heard of yet: Meet Lynx.js, a new cross-platform framework from ByteDance (yes, the TikTok folks) that uses JavaScript and CSS to build native apps across iOS, Android, and web, with a high-performance, dual-threaded engine for smoother UI. It blends web-dev familiarity with native speed, making it a compelling option for mobile devs looking to target multiple platforms without jumping into Dart or React Native bridges.
Mastering SwiftUI Picker: a complete guide for modern iOS apps: This guide walks iOS developers through using SwiftUI’s Picker, from basic bindings, to choosing the correct .pickerStyle(_:) (like inline, segmented, menu, wheel) for your UI, and handling distinctions between Picker, DatePicker, and ColorPicker; it backs up the how with the why so you can pick styles that actually suit your app’s context and user needs.

📚️ Latest in Mobile Development from Packt

MobilePro presents the latest titles from Packt that ought to be useful for mobile developers.

A perfect book for UX and UI designers who already have a basic understanding of Figma and want to advance beyond the fundamentals.

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Design Beyond Limits with Figma

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A recent LeadDev report found that Cursor has overtaken GitHub Copilot as the most-used AI tool among developers, with 43% using Cursor compared to 37% for Copilot. Most developers now rely on AI for coding, documentation, and learning, while adoption for testing or deployment remains low. Despite productivity gains, many teams are still unsure how to measure AI’s real impact.

Sourced from The News Stack.

👋 And that’s a wrap. We hope you enjoyed this edition of MobilePro. If you have any suggestions and feedback, or would just like to say hi to us, please write to us. Just respond to this email!

Cheers,

Runcil Rebello,

Editor-in-Chief, MobilePro