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IOS 17.2 Finally Introduces The Journal App

You may have just updated your iPhone to iOS 17.1, but Apple's already hard at work the next big iOS update. The company is currently beta testing iOS 17.2, which might just offer the biggest changes since...Well, iOS 17.0.

Here's what's new:

Journal

One headliner this time around is Journal, Apple's first-party journaling app. The company announced Journal during its WWDC iOS 17 presentation, but it didn't make the final cut for iOS 17.0 or iOS 17.1.

Apple differentiates Journal from other similar apps by intelligently pulling from things you did on your iPhone that day to create entires. For example, Journal takes photos you snapped, places you visited, music you listened to, and workouts you did, and automatically adds those to generate a journal entry. From there, you can journal away, either with Apple's prompts, or with whatever you want to write.

iMessage Contact Key Verification

The new update also brings iMessage Contact Key Verification to the iPhone. Apple previously teased this feature too. For those who face "extraordinary digital threats" (think journalists and politicians who are hacking targets), this feature confirms whether the person they're iMessaging is really who they say they are. If your iPhone detects an unrecognized device has breached the cloud servers and infiltrated your conversation, you'll receive an alert. There's even a code you can use to confirm the other person's identity.

Created shared playlists in Music

Those updating to iOS 17.2 will find two key playlist features in Music. Now, you can collaborate with others on playlists, so a group of you running iOS 17.2 can all contribute to the list of songs, including what order they play in. In addition, iOS 17.1's "Favorites," which replaces the useless "Love" function, are now added to a new Favorites playlist. It finally makes revisiting the songs you marked as a favorite easy.

Disable listening history during Focus

The new update now gives you the option to disable Apple Music listening history for any given Focus. So, if you're listening to ambient music while you have a Work Focus enabled but you don't want it added to your history, none of that playback will be recorded to your account.

Translate can now be assigned to the Action Button

Your iPhone 15 Pro's Action Button is cool, and can be used in a host of different ways. Now, you can add translation to that list: If you choose the Translate option in iOS 17.2, you can use the Action Button to quickly pull up the Translate app.

React with emoji or stickers

This one's another delayed iOS 17 feature: In addition to the usual Tapback reactions you can use, iOS 17.2 lets you react with either an emoji or a sticker. And, since iOS 17 lets you turn just about anything into a sticker, you can react to messages with just about anything.

Widget changes

You now have three new Weather widget options to choose from: Details, Daily Forecast, and Sunrise & Sunset. There's also now a digital clock widget.

Smaller changes

There are also a couple of smaller features Apple added to iOS 17.2. You now have a rainbow text option when making a Contact Poster, and Apple Books has a new "Fast Fade" feature when turning pages.

You Can Now React To IMessages With Emojis And Stickers

Not every text message needs a written response. If someone said something funny, you hit them with a "Haha" reaction. If you're good with a proposed plan, reaction with a thumbs up sends the same message as, "Sounds good!"

That's why reactions are so useful. Since iOS 10, Apple has given us six different Tapback reactions to work with, which is all fine and well. However, this list of possible reactions is now limitless, as the company is rolling out the ability to react to messages with both emojis and stickers.

It's something Apple announced as part of iOS 17 back in June, but it didn't launch with the update last month, nor did it come alongside iOS 17.1. However, the company finally added it to iOS 17.2, which is currently in beta testing for developers (or anyone who wants to download it). If you're OK assuming the risks of downloading a beta, you can install iOS 17.2 right now to try this new reactions out for yourself. (You can install it from Settings > General > Software Update > Beta Updates, choosing iOS 17 Developer Beta, then going back to Software Update.)

With your iPhone running iOS 17.2, pull up a thread in Messages, then long-press any message you want to react to. Choose Add Sticker, which will launch iOS 17's sticker drawer. The first option that pops up is the emoji menu, with some recommendations based on previous usage and your current conversation. You can also find any other sticker packs you've downloaded on your iPhone. Some might be a surprise, since they come free with apps you downloaded.

Of course, a highlight here is the customized sticker panel, which is the "peeled sticker" icon towards the left side of the menu. Since you can make stickers out of any photo on your iPhone, you can really react to messages with just about anything you can think of. Any stickers you have made already will appear here, and you can make more by tapping the (+). If you haven't made a custom sticker yet, you can hit "New Sticker," and make some from your photos. For more about making custom stickers, check out our guide here.

To react to messages with these emojis and stickers, tap any emoji or sticker to automatically attach it to the message, or hold and drag the emoji or sticker to place it anywhere you choose. You can repeat the process as many times as you want, too: Just know if you tap an emoji or sticker after reacting already, iOS will load it into the message field to send as a full-size sticker, rather than as a reaction. You'll need to hold and drag for subsequent reactions, or long-press on the message and choose Add Sticker again.

What's fun is these reactions show up on all iPhones, even ones not running iOS 17.2 yet. Get used to seeing, "WAIT, how did you do that??" after you spam your friends with reactions.

Flutter Vs React Native: A Comprehensive Comparison

In the ever-evolving landscape of mobile app development, two prominent contenders have emerged to address the challenges of building cross-platform applications: Flutter and React Native. These solutions empower developers to create mobile apps that work on iOS, Android and others, using a single set of code and saving time and effort for development teams.

There are key differences and similarities between Flutter and React Native, including architecture and performance considerations, which need to be considered in order to make an informed choice for your next project.

The pros and cons of Flutter and React Native Flutter vs React Native: key differences Programming language

Flutter: Flutter utilises Dart, an open-source object-orientated language created by Google. Dart boasts a unique feature—compilation to multiple platforms, which enhances code efficiency and performance. Additionally, Dart offers sound null safety, a feature that mitigates null-related errors and simplifies code maintenance.

React Native: In contrast, React Native predominantly employs JavaScript or TypeScript. This choice makes React Native more accessible to a broader developer audience, especially those familiar with web development. It builds upon React, a widely adopted UI library for creating user interfaces.

Widgets and components

Flutter: At the core of Flutter's development paradigm lies the concept that everything is a widget. Widgets in Flutter represent various UI elements, from simple buttons to complex layouts. This widget-based approach offers unparalleled modularity and customisability.

React Native: React Native revolves around components that are comparable to Flutter's widgets. While React Native's component selection may not be as extensive as Flutter's widget catalogue, these components offer adaptability. They can detect the target platform and render platform-specific UI elements, providing developers with the flexibility needed for cross-platform development.

UI rendering

Flutter: Flutter employs a proprietary graphics engine called Skia to render UIs. This approach guarantees a consistent look and behaviour across various platforms. Furthermore, Flutter compiles to native machine code, ensuring high-performance applications capable of meeting demanding graphical requirements.

React Native: React Native bridges the gap between JavaScript and native mobile code, rendering truly native components. However, the divergence in platform-specific UI designs may necessitate manual configuration to maintain visual consistency across different platforms.

Architecture

Flutter: Flutter adopts a widget-based architecture, with the widgets organised into a hierarchical structure. This approach enables developers to compose complex user interfaces with smaller, reusable widgets. Flutter's single-threaded event loop efficiently manages UI updates, ensuring a consistent and performant user experience.

React Native: React Native follows an architecture inspired by React, known as the Virtual DOM. It uses JavaScript to interact with native modules and components through a bridge. The Virtual DOM helps optimise UI updates by reducing direct interactions with native elements. React Native leverages multiple threads for tasks such as rendering and executing JavaScript code, enhancing performance.

Performance

Flutter: Flutter is renowned for its exceptional performance. It compiles Dart code to native machine code, eliminating the need for a JavaScript bridge. This compilation results in fast start-up times, smooth animations and consistent UI rendering across platforms. Flutter's performance makes it well-suited for applications with demanding graphic requirements or animations.

React Native: React Native offers native-like performance, but it relies on a JavaScript bridge to communicate with native modules. While this bridge introduces a slight overhead, it is generally imperceptible to users in most applications. React Native optimises performance through features like the Virtual DOM, which reduces unnecessary UI updates. However, in scenarios where maximum performance is critical, Flutter's ahead-of-time compilation provides a slight edge.

Key similarities Native performance

While subtle performance differences exist between the two frameworks, both Flutter and React Native are designed to deliver native-level performance. Flutter achieves this through its compilation to native machine code, while React Native integrates native components to optimise performance. In practical terms, users can expect responsive and fluid applications developed with either framework.

Community and ecosystem

Both Flutter and React Native boast vibrant and active communities. These communities provide a wealth of resources, tutorials, and third-party packages, making it easier for developers to access the knowledge and support needed to expedite their projects.

Argument for Flutter

Flutter offers superb performance and consistency. One of Flutter's standout features is its unparalleled performance and visual consistency across platforms. By compiling Dart code to native machine code, Flutter eliminates the need for a JavaScript bridge, resulting in exceptionally fast start-up times and smooth animations. Developers can rely on Flutter to deliver a consistently high level of performance on iOS, Android, and other supported platforms.

Widgets for customisation and reusability: Flutter's widget-based architecture promotes modularity, customisability, and code reusability. Everything in Flutter is a widget, allowing developers to build complex user interfaces by composing smaller, reusable widgets. This level of granularity empowers developers to create unique and intricate UIs while maintaining code clarity.

Robust community and active development: Flutter benefits from strong support by Google and an active open-source community. Google's backing ensures regular updates, improvements and long-term support for the framework. The community's collective expertise contributes to Flutter's growth and evolution. Developers can tap into a wealth of resources, tutorials and third-party packages, making it easier to access the knowledge and tools required to accelerate their projects.

Argument for React Native

Accessibility and familiarity for web developers: React Native's primary advantage lies in its accessibility and the familiarity it offers to web developers. Leveraging JavaScript or TypeScript, React Native is an attractive choice for developers who have experience with web development and React. This familiarity facilitates a smooth transition to mobile app development, enabling web developers to apply their existing skills to create cross-platform applications.

Integration with platform-specific features: React Native seamlessly integrates with platform-specific features and device capabilities. It provides native modules that allow developers to access native functionalities directly. This level of integration is crucial for applications that require deep interaction with device features, such as accessing a camera, sensors or Bluetooth. React Native empowers developers to harness the full potential of each platform while maintaining cross-platform compatibility.

Versatility for diverse platform requirements: React Native's versatility shines when building applications across various platforms. Its ability to adapt to different platform guidelines, including material design for Android and Cupertino for iOS, ensures that the resulting applications feel native to each platform's user base. This versatility makes React Native a strong contender for projects that prioritise platform-specific user experiences while minimising development effort and time.

Conclusion

In summary, Flutter and React Native stand as formidable choices for cross-platform mobile app development, each offering a unique set of strengths and capabilities. The decision between the two should align closely with your project's specific requirements, your development team's expertise and your overarching priorities. To make an informed choice, carefully evaluate your project's needs and goals. By selecting the framework that best aligns with your development objectives, you'll be well-prepared to embark on a cross-platform mobile application development journey that not only meets, but exceeds, your expectations.

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