Paul Hudson
@twostraws
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Learning and sharing at Hacking with Swift, author of Swift, SwiftUI, and iOS books @twostraws @mastodon .social
Bath, UK
Joined July 2009
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Last Seen Profiles
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Learn SwiftUI for free:
Find solutions to common Swift problems:
Watch my free Swift videos:
Download my free iOS app:
Subscribe to Hacking with Swift+:
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The most “European mind cannot comprehend this” thing around 🇺🇸
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My M1 MacBook Pro arrived today. Chances are you have various questions, but I think a whole lot is summed up in this 50-second video. (Alt text, because Twitter still doesn't make this easy: Xcode 12.3 beta unzips in 5 minutes on an M1, vs 13 minutes 22 seconds on an Intel i9)
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So, I tried Vision Pro, and no matter how good you think it is… it's better. Just astonishing immersion backed by mind-boggling audio fidelity, and the UI has been polished and polished until it's almost invisible. Zero friction; I was a confident user in minutes.
#WWDC23
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simctl is a great tool for controlling the iOS simulator, but I find it a little hard to use. So, I wrote Control Room: a SwiftUI macOS that lets you manipulate simulator settings easily. I'd be happy to post the code on GitHub if other folks would find it useful.
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Normalize saying "I don't know."
Normalize saying "I was wrong."
Normalize saying "I just learned that."
It's not that hard, folks.
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You know
#AppleEvent
is getting close when Twitter activates a custom ❤️ animation – like this tweet to see it for yourself!
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Developers: "I need a quiet environment to work."
Also developers:
✅ World's loudest mechanical keyboard
✅ Twitter open 24/7
✅ iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch with notifications buzzing every 30 seconds
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Next time you're hiring a senior iOS developer, how about you skip the algorithmic whiteboard questions and instead hand them an iPhone with VoiceOver on and ask them to turn it off – a one-minute test to tell you who has actually bothered to handle accessibility in their apps.
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But how? What kind of impressive code could deliver a 2-3x speed boost?
“Redesigned using native components.”
I’ve been building native apps for ~12 years now, all the time having folks try to tell me web-based technologies will beat native. They continue to be wrong.
Your mobile app just got a (well-deserved 😅) upgrade. It’s now:
- faster — 2× on iOS, 3× on Android
- redesigned using native components
- easier to navigate, with a new home tab
And we’re just getting started!
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A love letter to Xcode 13, in 5 GIFs. Part one: it will automatically import frameworks as needed.
#WWDC21
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For folks coming to today’s Developer Center open house at
#WWDC22
, coffee and donuts from Caffè Macs 😋
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Pro tip for all you iOS developers: did you know Swift comes with built-in support for translating English into French? 🇬🇧🇫🇷
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I'm trying to gauge how much of the iOS / Swift community moved to Mastodon. I crosspost everything there (
@twostraws
@mastodon
.social) but:
- If you're reading this on Twitter could you please hit Like on this
- If you're reading on Mastodon press Favorite there
Thank you! 🙇♂️
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It’s been a difficult few weeks at the Hudson household, and I’m sad to say that today my father passed away. He was a good man, and loved his family very much - he’ll be missed by all of us ❤️
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Neat! This tweet uses the
#AppleEvent
hashflag, so if you like it you get a cute little animation. (Go on, try it! 😂)
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It sucks watching Reddit dump on someone who tried writing their first blog post about coding. I don't care what mistakes you made or however many ways you can improve, hitting Publish and making something public takes guts and should be applauded.
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🔥 BOOM! Control Room 2.0 is out now, providing a fantastic, free way to control the iOS simulator:
- Record movies and GIFs of your app
- Use the menu bar icon or its global keyboard shortcuts
- Edit UserDefaults with one click
- New Big Sur design
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Apologies for the interruption on r/swift, but Reddit needs a change in management. See for the huge number of other subreddits going dark in support of
@ChristianSelig
💪
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My daughter
@PinkerStraws
started learning coding five years ago, using Scratch, Python, and Swift. Today she joined me in delivering the opening keynote at
@UIKonf
and I couldn't be prouder – she worked so hard to write, practice, and deliver her lines, and did an awesome job ❤️
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When I was younger I used to think being clever was the most important thing in the world, and that smart people could solve any problem. Now I'm older, I realize how wrong I was: being kind is far more important than being clever – I'd rather be kind than clever every time.
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After enough of you messaged asking if I was going to do it… fine, I’ll be that guy, and wear Vision Pro on my flight home. It certainly ought to make it pass a lot faster! 😂
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Manage to totally lose track of time today while having fun with SwiftUI and Core Motion, so today's Hacking with Swift+ article will be late. But, come on – it's fun! 😅
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We're less than two hours in, and I think there are already more visionOS developers than Meta ever had 😅
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🎂 Today is my 40th birthday. If you want to give me a gift, find someone in the iOS community who has inspired you through a blog post, a conference presentation, a video, or somehow else, and send them an encouraging tweet. If we build each other up we all rise together 🚀
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Xcode 11 is out, so let me take this chance to remind you that a ton of Apple folks work hard to make it the best they can, and our jobs would look very different without their effort. It deserves more than a 2.8 on the App Store – stop for a moment and write something nice 🙌
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Pro tip: if you downloaded Xcode straight from Apple, you can use "xip -x Xcode_12.1_GM_seed.xip" to skip the validation step and save approximately a billion tons of CO².
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🚨🚨🚨 Xcode 11 has a mini-map in the source editor! I repeat, Xcode 11 has a mini-map in the source editor! This is not a drill! 🚨🚨🚨
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Once you have the visionOS SDK installed you can really see how the idea of light and dark mode just doesn't make sense with Vision Pro – click the mountain icon in the bottom-right corner to try different environments, and also different times of day 🌄
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For you curious folks: the
#WWDC19
jacket isn’t denim. Instead it’s a lightweight, reversible thing that comes in a variety of colours. One side is black, the other is packed with icons. Here’s yours truly acting as model 😛
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👋 Senior Apple folks! Forcing staff back into the office no matter their circumstances, and even asking for access to their medical records, is a really lousy look. We're all watching, and want to see you do better. Please think different 🙇♂️
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🎉 We've been approved to host a Ukrainian refugee family in our home here in Bath! Now we are diving head first into the admin side – finding a school for the child, getting set up with a local doctor, etc. I hope we can make them feel welcome ❤️
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You know I’m avoiding important work when I’m back to having fun with SwiftUI’s inner shadow – such a pleasing depth effect with so little work! (Alt: as I tip my iPad, the inner shadow in an icon moves to match, as if there were a real light source.)
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I just realized: Hacking with Swift has now passed five million page views a month, serving 700,000 unique visitors 🤯 An average visitor comes back seven times a month, which means a lot to me – folks don't come by only once or twice, but keep coming back for more 🙇♂️
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@anumness
Expires in 18 months! About one dose a day over the period, which in a house of four seems quite likely.
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Petition to have Apple add a "Default simulator" option to Xcode. One like = one signature 😛
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My grandmother passed away today. I feel so privileged to have known her, and for my children – her great-grandchildren! – to have known her too. 98 is a fantastic age, and I’ll always remember her love and kindness ❤️
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If you’ve ever thought about writing an article about coding, this video is for you.
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UIImage has a new initializer, UIImage(systemName:) that takes a string and returns one of over 1500 different system icons. Download the SF Symbols app and see them all here:
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Alright, iOS developers: it's time to settle this once and for all. Retweet this if you prefer building your user interfaces programmatically; favorite this if you prefer building them using Interface Builder. I'll write a new article for whichever option is ahead in 24 hours 🚀
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My new course launches in 24 hours 😱
✅ 100% SwiftUI
✅ Testing
✅ Architecture
✅ Localization
✅ Core Data
✅ CloudKit
✅ App Clips
✅ Widgets
✅ StoreKit
✅ Apple Pay
✅ Sign in with Apple
✅ iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS
And more! Subscribe here:
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Using print() for debugging isn't ideal, but if you're like me and use it at least once a day can I suggest you add this trivial debugPrint() SwiftUI modifier? It lets you print arbitrary values as part of a chain of view modifiers.
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You might know Hacking with Swift has no trackers/analytics, so you learn privately. Two things you might not know:
– Every visit you make is carbon neutral using renewable power and offsets
– I donate a portion of monthly income to two food banks, to help folks who need it most
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I'm really pleased to announce my new open-source project, Inferno. It's a big collection of Metal shaders built for SwiftUI, allowing you to add fantastic special effects and transitions to your apps with almost no code. Get it here:
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🧐What if I said I was thinking of writing a book about all the SwiftUI techniques I've learned?
😳What if I said I'd ALREADY written it?
🤩What if I said I was making videos too?
🤯What if I said it was online NOW, free?
Wonder no more, folks:
#WWDC19
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Part 5 of my tutorial remaking the iOS 15 Weather app is out, and it's so much fun! When you add this into the day/night cycle, clouds, and twinkling stars, the effect is really quite magical ✨ (Video: light/heavy rain and snow effects in SwiftUI)
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@ChristophBauer
Officially it’s just 18 months! (I’m not a big fan of throwing medication away; some people in the replies posted research about efficacy of medication after the expiry date.)
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Connecting some new AirPods… did they always show the inscription and I was just oblivious? Very cool.
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If you wrote some code today, congratulations: you’re a programmer. Don’t let other folks try to push you away with talk of CS degrees and more – what matters is you wrote some code and got a step closer to your goals. Great job! 🙌
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I don’t know who needs to hear this, but just because you’re struggling it doesn’t mean you’re failing ❤️
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As the iPhone 13 starts arriving for folks who ordered one, I hope we can all take a moment to appreciate that iOS 15 is supported all the way back to iPhone 6S – that launched six years ago, with iOS 9! 👏
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Today is the 7th anniversary of Hacking with Swift! I started planning and writing a few months earlier, but today in 2014 I decided to register the domain and make it official. It's already been an incredible ride, and I'm really grateful for all your support! 🙌
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When my dad died in April it left my mum in a rather difficult position, and a four-hour drive away too. It took a lot of work and careful planning, but I was able to help her buy a retirement apartment here in Bath just a 15-minute walk away, and today she moved in! 🎉
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In all my Swift videos you see me and the Hacking with Swift logo behind me, but if you've ever wondered what *I* see while recording here you go. I'm happy to take questions if you have any 😅 What does *your* desk look like?
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What’s new in SwiftUI for iOS 16? I’m glad you asked! Here’s everything I’ve learned so far, including bottom sheets, fixed grids, share sheets, and 40 all-new sample projects you can download and try in Xcode 14.
#WWDC22
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I just published a huge article plus a 53-minute video(!), covering what I think it takes to become an iOS developer in 2021 – the core skills to learn, extension skills to tackle, common mistakes, free resources, folks to follow on Twitter, and more!
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One thing I’ve learned in 25 years of coding: never write sloppy code in order to build a prototype faster. I used to think prototypes go ahead 20% of the time, but honestly it’s closer to 80% – that “quick hack” will be with you for years, so take the time to get it right now.
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I ran 5km (3 miles) for the first time this morning. I know that's nothing for a lot of you, but I'm really *not* much of a runner so I'm feeling pleased. And also tired. (But mostly pleased.) 🏃♂️
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My new app for learning Swift is now live on the App Store! It's completely free with no in-app purchases, and includes 100 videos, 1200 review questions, practice activities, daily challenges, and more.
Launch video:
Download:
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Xcode tip
#1
: Swift can synthesize memberwise initializers for structs, but not for classes. Fortunately, Xcode can generate the code for us: select your class name, then go to the Editor menu and choose Refactor > Generate Memberwise Initializer. Done!
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This is from the Apple Store app, so I think you all now have permission to write xCode and IOS 😅
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Most of these "offend a programmer with a single tweet" messages are weird. What's a good Swift/Xcode tip you can fit in a single tweet?
I'll start: if you have a method that returns a tuple, you can destructure it like this: let (username, password) = getCredentials()
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I know this is like screaming into the void, because somehow we are still getting this wrong: if you’re an iOS developer using a string format to create dates, then
- Do not use “YYYY”
- Do not use “yyyy” either
- Use “y”, which will be correct in all locales
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I'm pleased to announce I'm putting the finishing touches to a new book that has been three years in the making: Pro SwiftUI! Not only does it cover a wide range of advanced SwiftUI techniques, but it will also include videos for every chapter so you can learn however you prefer!
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My top advice for anyone learning to code:
1. Don't try to remember everything; it won't help.
2. You're going to screw up a lot, and that's okay.
3. After learning something, write some code using it to make sure you've understood.
4. It's never, *never* too late to start.
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Keep in mind this comparison is deeply unfair: my 16-inch MacBook Pro was literally maxed out just a year ago – 8 cores, 64GB RAM, and much more, costing $6000.
In comparison the M1 costs just $2000 and manages to hammer the Intel machine with a quarter of the RAM.
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I'm not going to lie: I don't think I deserve 60,000 followers on Twitter. But I am really grateful you're here, and I hope my tweets help you, inspire you, or even just make you smile sometimes ❤️
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They went to *extraordinary* lengths to add fun little things throughout the building, including Easter eggs to unlock, classic pieces of equipment, and more. A fun tour!
#WWDC22
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I built a visionOS app, and it's been approved in time for launch on Friday. It's called Spatial Symphony, and it's a synthesizer controlled entirely through hand gestures 🤏🤌 I wrote about building the prototype, attending Apple's labs, and more here:
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I feel like it should have taken 100x the code it did to make this work, but here you go: SwiftUI + Virtualization + macOS Ventura all together 🚀
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What's new in Swift 5.5? It's easier to ask what *isn't* new in Swift 5.5, because so much is changing – async/await, concurrency, actors, throwing properties, CGFloat/Double bridging, local lazy, property wrappers for function parameters, and more 🤯
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This morning I had an email from a reader asking whether 27 is too old to learn Swift. Let me be clear: 27 isn’t too old, and neither is 87. You’re welcome in this community regardless of your age or background – anyone can make brilliant apps that help change the world ⚡️
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At some point I need to stop screwing around with SwiftUI and Metal and go to sleep. This is a dramatically enhanced version of the WaveView we built in HWS+ a few years ago: (Description: Glowing lines move in waves, twisting as they change color.)
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This is one of the smallest changes in SwiftUI this year, but I am going to use the heck out of it – append `.gradient` to your colors to get a very gentle linear gradient 🙌
#WWDC22
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It's clear why Apple mentioned coding in the keynote – M1 is screamingly fast for developers. I almost feel sorry for Intel!
My Unwrap project (13k lines Swift, 10k Obj-C, more) was 19.5s on Intel vs 11.7 on M1.
AudioKit (39k C, 27k Swift, 12k C++) was 73s on Intel vs 31 on M1.
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And part five: when you loop over an array, it automatically completes using a singular version of the array name.
#WWDC21
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Part two: it spots when you're trying to unwrap an optional and completes it for you.
#WWDC21
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Here's a little sneak peek of what's coming later this month 👀 (Yes, it will be completely free online for everyone to read ❤️)
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A couple of months ago I made 24 quick videos of Xcode tips, and I finally got around to putting them together into one video + article for easier access. Enjoy!
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