Apple Launches iOS 10. What’s New For The Developers!

The article gives an in-depth overview, pertaining to the iOS developers about the crucial features that have been introduced in iOS 10 which is running on the current iOS devices. The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2016 which was held between June 13th and 17th, 2016 at San Francisco witnessed the launch of the iOS 10. With its launch, have come enormous changes for iOS developers who are always on the lookout to give their personal touch to this system in various ways.

The changes that have been introduced are summarized below giving you a quick view about the latest changes. Thus, all iOS developers can begin right away and start coding wherever appropriate. However, note that you will require Xcode 8 in its beta version if you want to build applications for this platform.

If you plan to work on the iOS 10 platform, then you need to code making use of Swift 3. If you are not duly updated on the recent changes then it is recommended to read through these articles below:

• What’s new in Swift 3?
• What’s new in Swift 2.2?

Features of iOS 10:

1. The SiriKit :
   
   

    

   • Applications which will be service providers in particular domains can use this feature help people avail the services using Siri itself
   • The SiriKit specifies an interactive object that links an intent to the information regarding the process of intent-handling, which includes details like the time of start and the complete duration of an occurring process
   • All user interactions are handled by Siri, but with the use of extensions, you are able to provide custom UI which can consolidate other information from the app
   • Intents are the application extension which handles Siri related requests
2. Proactive suggestions:
   • For iOS 10 along with future versions, it will be easier to give information regarding the actions of the users in the application. Thus, it will help the system in promoting your application in other places, like the keyboard having QuickType suggestions, the application switcher, interactions with Siri, Maps and the device’s lock screen
   • These utilities for system’s improved integration get their support by a number of technologies, such as web markup that is defined by Schema.org, NSUserActivity and APIs in the UIKit, Core Spotlight, MapKit, and other Media Player frameworks
3. Enhancements in App search :
   • In iOS 9, search APIs such as Core Spotlight, NSUserActivity and web markup lets users search content by Safari and Spotlight search interfaces. In iOS 10, you will get to use new Core Spotlight symbols to let users continue a search they began in Spotlight when they open your app
   • Deep linking.
4. Sticker pack:
   
   This enables to add normal images or animated images into an app. These images can be shared using the Message app.
5. CallKit :
   Utilize this system to give users an opportunity to view and answer incoming VoIP calls with the lock screen and maintain contacts from VoIP calls in the Phone application’s Favorites and Recent views.
6. Account for the Video Subscriber:
   This will enable applications that would support verified streaming or verified video on demand to validate with the television provider. Through the use of APIs within this framework will help support a single sign-in experience. This will help users sign-in only once to access the videos and other subscriptions.
7. The support of 3D Touch:
   • Equipped to expand notifications.
   • Provision of shortcuts to applications.
   • In-app actions
8. Recognition of Speech :
   The iOS 10 is capable of supporting speech recognition and thus helps in building applications which are able to recognize and transcribe the speech into text.
9. Security:
   • The RC4 symmetric cipher suite is disabled by default for all SSL/TLS connections, and SSLv3 is not supported in the Secure Transports API. It is recommended to stop using the SHA-1 and 3DES cryptographic algorithms
   • The SecKey API includes improvements for an asymmetric key generation. You should use the SecKey API instead of the deprecated Common Data Security Architecture (CDSA) APIs.
10. Application extensions:
    • Home: It is provided with lock screen widgets.
    • iMessage extensions are able to share app content from the message app like Sticker packs.
    • Intents – In order to handle Siri requests.
    • Expanded notifications are available using 3D touch and the detailed view.
    • The Call directory: The CallKit framework has been introduced with application extensions that help in blocking calls and identify callers. However, the Call Directory application extensions cannot be launched during incoming calls and an application extension cannot retrieve the phone number for an incoming call.
11. Notification enhancements:
    • Media can be attached in the form of normal images, GIFs, audio and even video URLs.
    • The 3D touch allows users to expand their view thus it being in detail and larger than usual.
    • Notification service/content extension – the size is limited to 4KB, so you can attach video URL and this extension allows to download a file without opening the app.
12. Added User Notifications Framework
13. iOS 10 Deprecated API’s:
    • CloudKit APIs
    • Several Notification Classes

Although iOS 10 is reported to have some minor bugs yet it is a promising update for Apple users that gives you an enjoyable experience.

Author’s Bio

Ravindra Waghmare