Here it is: A comprehensive look at `NSItemProvider`: what it does, how it works, and how to use it properly. I want this to be a one-stop-shop reference for anyone using this class in their projects.

NSItemProvider is a key class in iOS and Mac Catalyst, used in everything from Drag and Drop, to Pasteboard, share sheet, and beyond. Understanding how this class works will help you make better apps and gain insight into what the system does for you.

Please read the post, and send me feedback. Share it with your iOS developer friends. Let me know what you think!

https://www.humancode.us/2023/07/08/all-about-nsitemprovider.html

#iOS #iOSDev #macOS #MacCatalyst #apple #Xcode #Swift #ObjectiveC #UIKit #AppKit #programming

Why is the `NSUbiquitousKeyValueStore.didChangeExternallyNotification ` notification only available from `macCatalyst 13.1`?

This makes no sense! That’s one way to sabotage your own technology.

It seems Apple adds/enable new stuff to #macCatalyst as the demand rises in their own apps, and break things along the way for other apps, as long as it works correctly for their own 🤦🏽‍♂️

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/nsubiquitouskeyvaluestore/1412267-didchangeexternallynotification

I am so overjoyed that not one, but TWO #Mastodon clients are now available on the #Mac, running on #MacCatalyst.

I worked a TON on Mac Catalyst for over five years until I left #Apple last year, in the sincere hope that it would make it easier for authors to write great iOS apps that can also be polished into excellent apps for the Mac. It pleases me to no end that both @ivory and @MonaApp used Catalyst to port their fantastic #Mastodon clients to the Mac, allowing the Mac to become first-class peers of their iOS products.

Congratulations to both apps for achieving this! As an ex-Catalyst plumber, I’m grinning from ear to ear.

One of the best things about #AppKit (over #macCatalyst): keyboard navigation comes for free (if you implement things correctly) unlike UIKit which requires me to handle a gazllion things before it can even do half of it correctly

https://social.dezinezync.com/@elytra/110411139701820696

Hey #MacCatalyst devs, did you know YOU TOO can use HelpBooks in your apps, and make your app feel more Mac-ass than ever? It’s true.

HelpBooks are basically web pages that are shown in HelpViewer and integrates with the rest of the Mac help system. While creating HTML pages to populate the HelpBook is easy, packaging them and programmatically jumping to anchors in your book is not.

That’s why I wrote this minimal demo app to show you how to do it. There’s even a convenience class that lets you jump to anchors programmatically.

Now go make your Catalyst apps even more Mac-like!

https://github.com/dave-humancode/HelpBookSample

Credit to @marioguzman for documenting the format. Apple’s documentation is really quite poor. You can read his article here: https://marioaguzman.wordpress.com/2020/09/12/auth/

Have you ever noticed that when you build an iOS app for Mac Catalyst, $PLATFORM_NAME is set to `macosx`?

When Catalyst was being hashed out, there was quite a bit of discussion around whether we were building against the *iOS* SDK on the Mac, or against a *Mac* SDK that happened to know about iOS. As use can guess, the latter worldview prevailed—the iOS SDK is a “variant” of the Mac SDK. This made our builder tools folks happy as well, because the Catalyst SDK would now be built alongside the Mac one, and naturally packaged together, and Catalyst apps and daemons bundled with macOS can now be built together with the rest of the OS.

Xcode, however, seems to continue to insist in its UI that Catalyst apps are actually *iOS* apps that happen to support the Mac.

Which worldview you choose to believe is up to you! I know which one I prefer.

#xcode #macCatalyst #ios #macOS #developers #lore

NS MIDI Player 2.3.7 is out! This update includes important bug fixes and performance improvements.

https://apps.nitinseshadri.com/midiplayer

#iOS #iPadOS #macOS #midi #MIDIPlayer #NSMIDIPlayer #MacCatalyst

Apple does not even use #MacCatalyst for their money-making #AppleMusic app

Fu*k You #Apple! You Fooled All #MacCatalyst Developers

https://blog.wildcat.io/2023/03/fu-k-you-apple-you-fooled-all-catalyst-developers/

#MacCatalyst is pretty a dead technique.

To workaround the Rust build failure due to unknown llvm (Xcode) changes, I have to virtualize an old macOS.

It is like a joke.

Sneak peek of the compose window.

I've always wanted to create a completion window like that and finally I'd say I'm on the way. It's a mixture of AppKit, UIKit and SwiftUI and now I don't want to touch that code again...

#MacCatalyst #SwiftUI #Udon

I decided to give up #MacCatalyst development, totally.

The next Mac app will be Mac native.

https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/107670

NS MIDI Player 2.3.6 is available to test! This update includes accessibility improvements and the ability to change the volume of connected MIDI devices. Please note that your MIDI device must support the Master Volume universal system exclusive message for volume control to work.

https://testflight.apple.com/join/zqAHFnuF

If you use VoiceOver, Switch Control, etc., I would appreciate your feedback. Thank you!

#iOS #iPadOS #macOS #midi #MIDIPlayer #NSMIDIPlayer #MacCatalyst #a11y #accessibility #SwiftUI

This is partially why I didn't make a Mac version of #Fedigardens yet, even though the original project had a Mac client. Not very Mac-assed.

I'm not considering #MacCatalyst for this, either, as I've learned it doesn't play that nicely with #SwiftUI.

Hello Mastodon world! 🐘

NS MIDI Player is a simple MIDI player for iOS and macOS. Get it today at https://apps.nitinseshadri.com/midiplayer

#iOS #macOS #midi #smf #midiplayer #soundfont #maccatalyst