Weekly Newsletter Issue 41

Learn how to use text fields and secure field controls in forms in SwiftUI apps.

Learn how to make your app able to input custom emoji.

Discover how effective branding impacts user experience and app success, turning users into loyal advocates.

SwiftUI provides the UIViewRepresentable and UIViewControllerRepresentable protocols since its inception. As you might know, we can use them to wrap any UIKit view or controller and place it in the SwiftUI hierarchy.

Learn how to extend Xcode Library with Swift Package Manager plugin

Explore noncopyable types in Swift and learn how they enforce stricter ownership rules to avoid unintended errors and resource conflicts.

Add interaction to your app with a SwiftUI Button, custom styles, and interactions. Learn how you can define reusable components.

Festivitas brings the holiday spirit to your Mac with festive lights for the dock and menu bar 🎄 ❤️ TechCrunch: Holiday app Festivitas puts Xmas lights on your Mac 🧡 Forbes: Hang Christmas Lights On Your Mac With This Cheap App 💛 Daring Fireball: Festivitas — Holiday Lights for Your Mac Menu Bar and Dock 💚 MacRumors: Festivitas Lets You Add Holiday Lights to Your Mac Desktop 🩵 9to5Mac: ‘Festivitas’ brings holiday cheer to your Mac’s dock and menu bar 💙 MacStories: A Fun Way to Add Holiday Cheer to Your Mac 🎵 🎄Deck the dock with festive lighting,Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!Menu bar is so exciting,Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!String the apps with glowing cheer,Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la!Christmas comes to macOS here,Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!🎵 🎄Festivitas automatically adds festive lights to your menu bar and dock upon launch and you can tweak their appearance to match your preferences ✨Accessibility PermissionUpon the first launch, Festivitas will request access to accessibility features. Festivitas needs this permission to locate the dock on your screen and decorate it with festive lights.You can enable or disable this permission anytime in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. See the screenshot below for guidance.Release notes1.2.2Published on December 18, 2024.🐛 Fixed an issue where dock lights might not display when multiple monitors are connected to the Mac.1.2.1Published on December 17, 2024Addresses a regression introduced in 1.2.0.1.2.0Published on December 17, 2024. 🎄New Pattern: Twinkly! Your lights now sparkle like they’re showing off for the season. Finally, Twinkly has arrived! 🌊 New Pattern: Wave! Smooth, flowing lights that might make you feel like you’re on a festive beach vacation. ✨ Improved Animations: Light bulbs now fade on and off more elegantly. 🐁 Mouse-Aware Menu Lights: The lights in the menu bar move away when your mouse gets close. Shy, but charming. (Disable in settings if you prefer your lights braver.) 👻 Fade Out on Hover: Menu bar lights can now fade out when hovered. Fancy? Subtle? Yes and yes. (Enable in settings.) 🔄 Reset Button: Messed up your settings? Boom — one click, and it’s like nothing ever happened. 🔍 Full-Screen Lights: Even in full-screen mode, your lights will keep shining. Because productivity doesn’t have to be boring. 🏎️ Performance Upgrades: Festivitas is now more performant Less power, more cheer. 1.1.2Published on December 8, 2024.🐛 Addresses an issue where lights added to the dock when hovering did not follow the pattern.1.1.1Published on December 8, 2024. 🌑 Adds an “Always Off” setting for those situtations where you’re in a festive mood but not really. 🐛 Addresses an issue where lights were not drawn when selecting the “Always On” option. 🫥 Prevents the lights from being hidden when hiding windows, e.g. when hiding Festivitas’ settings window. 🐇 Makes small tweaks to make Festivitas more performant. 1.1.0Published December 7, 2024. 🏎️ It’s getting cold outside, but how about we gather around the fireplace instead of booting up Festivitas? This update improves performance to reduce power consumption and heat dissipation. 💡 Light bulbs now face downward when the dock is placed on the left or right side of the screen. Gravity is a thing, after all. 🔙 Festive lights sometimes get in the way, so you now have the option to keep them on the desktop. 🎨 You can now configure the cable color to match your light bulbs. 👻 The opacity of the string lights is adjustable, making it easier to see content behind them. ⚙️ A new setting lets you choose if Festivitas should appear in the dock, menu bar, or both. Stay tunedLet’s keep in touch!🦋 @simonbs.dev🐘 mastodon.social/@simonbs🐦 @simonbs🧵 @simonbs🌍 simonbs.dev