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MobilePro #163: Chrome Extensions, App navigation patterns, Intercept vs. OpenAI, QwQ, Intenty.

Hi ,

Welcome to the mobile app development world with the 163rd edition of _mobilepro! This is the last edition of 2024 - we will see you refreshed and rejuvenated in 2025!

In this edition we cover mobile development community discussions on:

In our relatively new section captures internet jibber-jabber about the mobile ecosystem:

Every week we recommend mobile app development resources, and this week we feature:

1. Swift Cookbook

2. Mastering Kotlin for Android 14

3. .NET MAUI Projects

Today's news covers release stories on Apple, Android,and Microsoft. And if you are currently developing an iOS app, checkout this week's resources on iOS tools. Don’t miss this week’s tutorial from the book ‘C# 12 and .NET 8 – Modern Cross-Platform Development Fundamentals’ .

P.S.: If you have any suggestions or feedback, or would like us to feature your project on a particular subject, please write to us. Just respond to this email!

If you liked this installment in our new series,fill in our survey below andwin a free PDF on your Packt account.

Thanks,
Apurva Kadam
Editor-in-Chief, Packt

What are Mobile developers discussing? What are the latest tips and tricks? Shortcuts and experiments? Cool tutorials? Releases and updates? Find it all out here.

Top 14 Chrome Extensions for Developers to Boost Productivity in 2024 – This article covers game-changing Chrome extensions. These tools took my workflow from chaotic to manageable, saving not only my time but possibly my job too. From squashing bugs to speeding up design work, these extensions will transform the way you code. If you're stuck pulling all-nighters and questioning your career choices, these 14 Chrome extensions might just be your lifesaver, helping you boost productivity, catch bugs early, and maybe even get back some work-life balance.

Mobile App Navigation: Patterns and Examples - In a mobile-first world, users should find it effortless to interact with any mobile app (or website, for that matter). The big idea is to prioritize what matters the most, given that the mobile devices include a small screen real estate. Navigation design for mobile apps helps in this direction.

How to Disable Screenshot Capture in Your React Native Expo App - Privacy and security are critical for mobile applications, developers often need to ensure that sensitive information displayed in their apps cannot be easily captured through screenshots or screen recordings. While React Native Expo provides a powerful framework for building cross-platform apps, it doesn’t offer a built-in way to disable screenshot capture. However, you can achieve this by integrating native code into your Expo project. In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps to disable screenshot capture in your React Native Expo app for both Android

Mastering Jetpack Compose: From Beginner to Pro - Feeling bogged down by complex UI code?Jetpack Composeis here to simplify your work and boost your team's productivity. Curious to learn more? Dive into our latest carousel post below to see these concepts in action and discover how Jetpack Compose can revolutionize your development process.

Wearable Technology and Android: Developing Apps for Smartwatches - The rise of wearable technology has transformed the way we interact with the digital world. Smartwatches, fitness trackers, and even smart glasses are now integral parts of our daily lives, offering convenience, real-time data, and personalized experiences. In this blog, we’ll explore the growing market for wearable tech and share insights into developing Android apps for smartwatches and other wearable devices.

Check this space for new repos, projects and tools each week! This week we bring you a collection of iOS tools for Images.

Viewer- Image viewer (or Lightbox) with support for local and remote videos and images.

OverlayComposite- An asynchronous, multithreaded, image compositing framework written in Swift.

MetalPetal- A GPU-accelerated image/video processing framework based onMetal.

Avatar- Generate random user Avatar images using CoreGraphics and QuartzCore.

Serrata- Slide image viewer library similar to Twitter and LINE.

StyleArt- Style Art library process images using COREML with a set of pre trained machine learning models and convert them to Art style.

greedo-layout-for-ios- Full aspect ratio grid layout for iOS.

This is our final edition for 2024, but don’t worry—we’ll be back with more insights and updates in January 2025. In the meantime, we’ve got a little holiday treat for you!

Packt has some exciting offers lined up to help you boost your tech skills and get ready for an amazing new year! It’s the perfect opportunity to relax, learn something new, and stay ahead in your field. Keep an eye out for these special holiday deals!

From all of us at the Packt Newsletters team, we wish you a joyful holiday season and a fantastic start to 2025. See you next year! 🎄✨

Our weekly recommendations of the best resources in Mobile App Development!

Swift Cookbook

Mastering Kotlin for Android 14

.NET MAUI Projects

Random curious musings and interesting words about Mobile Dev on the Internet.

Continue And Persist - Send someone you appreciate an official ‘Continue and Persist’ Letter. Every day, thousands of Cease and Desist letters are issued, telling people to stop what they’re doing (Looking at you, David Chang). What a bummer! That’s why we created:TheContinue and Persist Letter. A official-lookinglegalletter that encourages and uplifts people, one that tells people to keep doing what they’re doing! Surprise someone you appreciate by sending them a Continue and Persist Letter.

QwQ: Reflect Deeply on the Boundaries of the Unknown - What does it mean to think, to question, to understand? These are the deep waters that QwQ (Qwen with Questions) wades into. Like an eternal student of wisdom, it approaches every problem - be it mathematics, code, or knowledge of our world - with genuine wonder and doubt. QwQ embodies that ancient philosophical spirit: it knows that it knows nothing, and that’s precisely what drives its curiosity. Before settling on any answer, it turns inward, questioning its own assumptions, exploring different paths of thought, always seeking deeper truth. We invite you to explore alongside QwQ, embracing both its insights and its imperfections as part of the endless quest for understanding.

Core copyright violation claim moves ahead in The Intercept’s lawsuit against OpenAI - Last week, aNew York federal judge ruleda key copyright violation claim by The Intercept against OpenAI would move ahead in court. The ruling is the latest in a series of major legal decisions involving the AI developer this month, after OpenAI sought to dismiss lawsuits from several digital news publishers.

The deterioration of Google - Hundreds of independent publishers have shuttered in the last two years, and thousands more are on the way. None of them are doing well. They all expect to be out of business soon. What I discovered was that web media companies can’t count on any of the traffic coming from Google or Facebook anymore. Very few, even one that are frugally run, are capable of surviving on the traffic that remains. The problem doesn’t seem limited to a few sites. What seems to have happened is that Google tried to “fix” their search engine results by using machine learning to rank sites.

Intenty: check phone less - Intenty helps you build a healthier relationship with your phone through gentle awareness prompts that appear right when you need them – at unlock. No blockers, no limits, just mindful choices.

An excerpt from ‘C# 12 and .NET 8 – Modern Cross-Platform Development Fundamentals’ By Mark J. Price

Simplifying disposal by using the using statement

You can simplify the code that needs to check for anullobject and then call itsDisposemethod by using theusingstatement. Generally, I would recommend usingusingrather than manually callingDisposebecause it’s less code to write, unless you need a greater level of control.

Confusingly, there are two uses for theusingkeyword: importing a namespace and generating afinallystatement that callsDisposeon an object implementingIDisposable.

The compiler changes ausingstatement block into atry-finallystatement without acatchstatement. You can use nestedtrystatements; so, if you do want to catch any exceptions, you can, as shown in the following code example:

using (FileStream file2 = File.OpenWrite(

Path.Combine(path, "file2.txt")))

{

using (StreamWriter writer2 = new StreamWriter(file2))

{

try

{

writer2.WriteLine("Welcome, .NET!");

}

catch(Exception ex)

{

WriteLine($"{ex.GetType()

} says {ex.Message}"); }

} // Automatically calls Dispose if the object is not null.

} // Automatically calls Dispose if the object is not null.

You can even simplify the code further by not explicitly specifying the braces and indentation for theusing statements, as shown in the following code...read more.

Your dose of the latest releases, news and happenings in the Mobile Development industry!

Apple

Inside the AudioLab: How Apple developed the world’s first end‑to‑end hearing health experience - The Audio Lab is the hub for the design, measurement, tuning, and validation of all of Apple’s products with speakers or microphones. It’s also the center for Apple’s multiyear, cross-team collaboration to build the groundbreaking newhearing health features on AirPods Pro 2. Available today as a free software update,1the end-to-end experience helps minimize exposure to loud environmental noise with Hearing Protection, track hearing with an at-home Hearing Test, and receive assistance for perceived mild to moderate hearing loss using AirPods Pro as a clinical-grade Hearing Aid.

TestFlight Release Notes - You can now submit apps built with Xcode16.2 beta3 using the SDK for iOS18.2 beta4, iPadOS18.2 beta4, macOS15.2 beta4, tvOS18.2 beta3, visionOS2.2 beta3, and watchOS11.2 beta3 for internal and externaltesting.

Debugging an invalid privacy manifest - Identify common configurations that cause unsuccessful privacy manifest validation with the App Store. Starting November 12, 2024, apps you submit for review in App Store Connect must contain a valid privacy manifest file. If you upload an app to App Store Connect that contains invalid privacy manifest files, you’ll receive an email that includes the name and path of the invalid files in your app bundle.ReviewPrivacy manifest filesto learn about the keys you can include in a privacy manifest. This document lists possible reasons for invalid privacy tracking and accessed API values in your privacy manifest. Validate your privacy manifest to determine why your privacy manifest is malformed.

Android

Introducing Restore Credentials: Effortless account restoration for Android apps - Did you know that, on average, 40% of the people in the US reset or replace their smartphonesevery year? This frequent device turnover presents a challenge – and an opportunity – for maintaining strong user relationships. When users get a new phone, the friction of re-entering login credentials can lead to frustration, app abandonment, and churn. To address this issue, we're introducingRestore Credentials, a new feature of Android’s Credential Manager API. With Restore Credentials, apps can seamlessly onboard users to their accounts on a new device after they restore their apps and data from their previous device. This makes the transition to a new device effortless and fosters loyalty and long term relationships.

Making the Play Integrity API faster, more resilient, and more private - Play Integrity APIhelps protect your business from revenue loss and enhance user safety. You can use the Play Integrity API to detect suspicious activity and decide how to respond to abuse, such as fraud, bots, cheating, or data theft. In fact, apps that use Play Integrity features have seen 80% less unauthorized usage on average compared to other apps. Today, we’re sharing how we’re enhancing the Play Integrity API for everyone.

And that’s a wrap.

P.S.: If you have any suggestions or feedback, or would like us to feature your project on a particular subject, please write to us. Just respond to this email!