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

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MobilePro #187: iOS 26 beta, Android 16 QPR2, new Flutter releases, revised Play Store rules, and more...

Final chance to book a spot in the MCP Workshop on August 30th, 2025

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Hi ,

Welcome to another week of MobilePro; this is edition no. 187. Recently, there have been reports of Apple talking to its direct competitor, Google, over integrating the latter’s AI assistant, Gemini, to revamp Siri on iPhones. This follows closely from previous reports that Apple has been approaching companies like OpenAI and Anthropic to gauge whether they can enter into tie-ups over ChatGPT or Claude.

Now, many iOS users have been annoyed over AI capabilities in their iPhones not being what was promised to them in 2024, leading to the Apple team taking a step back in their mentions of AI during WWDC in 2025. In light of that, partnerships with Anthropic or OpenAI make sense. However, a potential partnership with Google does sound like a deal with the enemy. Will iOS users be okay with their data being shared with a Google tool? Many iOS users avoid Android as much as they can. Would a Siri powered by Gemini lead to users turning off Siri altogether on their iPhones?

Conversely, wouldn’t you use Siri more if it’s more useful and efficient? At least that’s the bet Apple is making. Things are yet in the air though, and the possibilities are endless. News has also trickled out that iPhones meant for businesses will give its IT administrators greater control over which AI tools can be used and to what extent. Among other things, companies can decide if data should be processed in the cloud or on the device itself. You won’t have to wait long for this. It’ll be a part of the iOS 26 release in the next month.

Of course, that’s not all the news this week. Let’s dive in.

✨ iOS & iPadOS 26 beta 8 ships with Recovery Assistant and Apple Intelligence boosts: Fixes iPhone 15/16 bugs and enhances ARKit, HealthKit, and dev tools.
🤖 Android 16 QPR2 Beta 1 debuts minor SDK versioning: Smoother cross-device experiences, richer APIs, and faster dev updates.
⚖️ Google reshapes Play Store rules in EEA under DMA pressure: Allows external payments but adds up to 20% fees, sparking “malicious compliance” criticism.
🛡️ Android to require verified developers from 2026: New “ID check” security layer launches in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand.
🛠️ Flutter 3.35 stable + 3.36 beta released back-to-back: Hot reload, Widget Previews, and rapid iteration show fast framework evolution.
🎨 Vibe coder vs. senior iOS engineer face off on Granola AI clone: Highlights how AI-assisted dev stacks against seasoned engineering.
🍔 Flutter fuels Burger King’s loyalty app success: Rebel App Studio built a new loyalty and ordering app for Burger King Finland in just three months, boosting app-driven sales by 51% through shared Flutter code.

Stick around for this week’sDeveloper Tip to add push notifications to your Android or iOS app in just 10 minutesandtheDid You Know? section to to know how Google’s appeal was rejected in an antitrust case.

Let’s dive in!

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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.

Apple

iOS & iPadOS 26 beta 8 released: Apple has rolled out iOS & iPadOS 26 beta 8, bundled with Xcode 26, introducing Recovery Assistant for device troubleshooting, new accessibility labels on App Store pages, and expanded Apple Intelligence features. The update also fixes key bugs—like startup issues on iPhone 15/16 models—while adding enhancements across ARKit, HealthKit, journaling, and developer frameworks.
Apple releases iOS 18.6.2 for iPhone, here’s what’s new: Apple has released iOS 18.6.2, a stability-focused update that delivers important security fixes without new features. It may be the final iOS 18 update before iOS 26 rolls out next month.

Android

Android 16 QPR2 Beta 1 is out: Google just dropped Android 16 QPR2 Beta 1, giving developers early access to new APIs and features. This release focuses on smoother experiences across devices, richer app capabilities, and better dev tools—plus it’s the first Android beta with a minor SDK version, letting Google ship innovations faster without breaking app compatibility.
Google alters Play Store developer fees and rules in the EEA: Google is revamping Play Store rules in the EEA to comply with the EU’s DMA, letting developers link to external payment options and even direct app downloads—but with new “service fees” of up to 20% and strict search visibility tiers. Critics, including Epic’s Tim Sweeney, argue the changes amount to “malicious compliance” that keeps alternative payments uncompetitive.
A new layer of security for certified Android devices: Starting in 2026, Android will require all apps on certified devices to come from verified developers, adding an “ID check” layer of accountability to fight scams and malware. The rollout begins in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, with global expansion planned in 2027.

Cross-platform and Others

Flutter 3.35 and 3.36 beta released: The Flutter team is on a roll—hot on the heels of Flutter 3.35, which introduced highlights like stateful hot reload and Widget Previews, they’ve already dropped the beta of Flutter 3.36. Flutter 3.35 was released as a stable build on August 14, 2025, and the beta version 3.36.0-0.1.pre followed the very same day, signaling the team’s fast pace in pushing new improvements and features forward.
Google expands its Developer program: Google has expanded its Developer Program with a new $24.99/month plan that includes AI-powered tools, Google Cloud credits, and Firebase resources, plus a unified forum at discuss.google.dev for collaboration. Developers can also join the new Google Cloud & NVIDIA community for exclusive AI learning pathways and credits.
Rebel App Studio crafts a Flutter-powered Burger King loyalty app in just three months: Collaborating closely with Burger King Finland and Restel, Rebel App Studio leveraged shared Flutter code to build a branded loyalty and ordering app in record time, anchored by agile design, user feedback validation, and strong code reuse. The result? A 51% jump in app-driven sales and a notable boost in customer loyalty, all achieved via a seamless, native-feeling mobile experience.
Dart and Flutter MCP Server powers AI agents with deep project context: The MCP server bridges Dart/Flutter projects and AI assistants by exposing tools for tasks like error analysis, layout debugging, and package search, all via the standardized Model Context Protocol. It supports clients such as Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, Firebase Studio, and Cursor, enabling AI agents to reason about code context and act with precision.
FlashList v2 brings estimate-free, high-precision lists to React Native’s new architecture: Shopify has completely rewritten FlashList for React Native’s new architecture, dropping the need for item size estimates while delivering faster load times, smoother scrolling, and pixel-perfect rendering. The JS-only solution also improves horizontal list support, layout animations, and developer ergonomics, and is now production-ready across Shopify’s mobile apps.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Claude Sonnet 4 now supports 1M tokens of context: Claude Sonnet 4 now supports 1M tokens of context—a 5x boost that enables analyzing full codebases, synthesizing massive document sets, and powering more context-aware agents. The feature is in public beta on Anthropic’s API and Amazon Bedrock, with Google Cloud’s Vertex AI support coming soon.
Gemini 2.5 Pro is generally available in Copilot: Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro is now generally available in GitHub Copilot, bringing advanced reasoning, coding, math, and science capabilities. Copilot Pro users can access it immediately, while Business and Enterprise admins must enable it in settings.

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Want to add push notifications to your Android or iOS app in just 10 minutes? This guide from DEV Community walks you through integrating Clix—a tool that handles device token setup, unified SDK integration, real-time delivery logs, and lightning-fast messaging—so you can avoid the usual configuration headaches and ship faster. Check it out here.

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.

Vibe coder vs. senior iOS engineer: Granola AI clone showdown: In this experiment, Vishal Dubey, a senior iOS engineer and Riley Brown, a vibe-coder, each try to build a Granola AI clone. The challenge highlights how far vibe coding has come and whether AI-assisted development can rival the craftsmanship of an experienced iOS engineer.
Antoine van der Lee on mastering computed properties in Swift: Computed properties in Swift allow you to dynamically calculate values instead of storing them directly, making them a powerful way to encapsulate logic and keep types clean. Antoine explains how they work, when to use them, and the pitfalls to avoid.
Clean architecture isn’t just code; it’s the backbone of resilient mobile products: Roman Kamyshnikov emphasizes that clean architecture enables early-stage apps to scale confidently by enforcing clear feature boundaries and modular APIs, avoiding costly late-stage refactoring. In regulated domains like fintech and insurtech, pairing Jetpack Compose with layered architecture ensures traceability, parallel development, and compliance, all without sacrificing velocity.

📚️ Latest in Mobile Development from Packt

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

If you are a beginner or an intermediate-level developer with no prior experience in Android app development, this book is for you.

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🏗️ Build real-world Android apps with Kotlin and the Jetpack Compose UI framework

📚 Leverage the latest libraries to accelerate your Android development

💡 Overcome development challenges with tips and tricks from experienced Android professionals

How to Build Android Application with Kotlin

Pre-order now at $44.99!

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A U.S. appeals court has unanimously upheld a 2023 jury verdict that labeled Google’s Play Store and its in-app payment system an illegal monopoly. As a result, Google must now allow rival app stores, open its app catalog to competitors, and permit developers to use their own billing systems—a major shakeup in Android app distribution.

Sourced from App Developer Magazine.

👋 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