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App Store To Require IOS 16 Compatible Apps Built With Xcode 14 Starting Next Month
Following the release of the first iOS 16.5 beta to developers, Apple on Tuesday announced new requirements for developers submitting their apps to the App Store. Starting next month, Apple will require that every app must be built with Xcode 14.1 or later to ensure compatibility with iOS 16, iPadOS 16, watchOS 9, tvOS 16, and macOS Ventura.
App Store to require apps built with Xcode 14 The company confirmed the news on its Apple Developer website. As of April 25, the App Store will no longer accept apps built with older versions of Xcode. For those unfamiliar, Xcode is the tool used by developers to create apps for Apple's platforms, including iOS and macOS. The new rule applies to both new apps and updates for apps already available on the App Store. Apple also "highly recommends" developers update their apps to take advantage of the latest features available with iOS 16 and iPadOS 16. Here's what the company says: Starting April 25, 2023, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS apps submitted to the App Store must be built with Xcode 14.1 or later. The latest version of Xcode 14, which includes the latest SDKs for iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and watchOS 9, is available for free on the Mac App Store. When building your app, we highly recommend taking advantage of the latest advances in iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and watchOS 9. With iOS 16 and iPadOS 16, Apple introduced many new APIs such as Live Activities for iPhone, App Intents, Metal 3, and improved interface for iPad apps. When it comes to watchOS 9, the latest version of the Apple Watch operating system brings richer complications for watch faces, support for VoIP calls, and more. It's worth noting that Xcode 14 is available for free on the Mac App Store. It requires a Mac running macOS Monterey 12.5 or later. You can also download the latest version of Xcode by going to the Apple Developer website. Read also FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Xcode Cloud Brings CI/CD To IOS App Development
At WWDC21, Apple announced Xcode Cloud, a continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) system to help developers build, test, and distribute iOS apps. Still in beta, Xcode Cloud supports both releasing to TestFlight and on the App Store.
Xcode Cloud is a CI/CD system that uses Git for source control and provides you with an integrated system that ensures the quality and stability of your codebase. It also helps you publish apps efficiently.
According to Apple, Xcode Cloud makes it easy to build and test automatically on multiple iOS simulators. In case of errors, Xcode Cloud will send a notification so developers can promptly fix them. This basic workflow covers the continuous integration side of the equation. Optionally, when a build succeeds, it can be automatically distributed to team members through TestFlight or submit it for review before publishing in the App Store. Continuous deployment can be automatically triggered by any change to the code.
Xcode Cloud is based on Git and requires your code to be on GitHub, GitLab, or BitBucket. Indeed, the upcoming version of Apple official IDE, Xcode 13, embraces collaboration using pull requests (PR) and allows developers to create, view, and comment on PRs, as well as merge changes into their codebase. Xcode Cloud can thus detect new pull requests, create a temporary branch, and set up a build environment to build the project and run its tests. Xcode Cloud is also able to manage dependencies and supports custom build scripts to perform a specific task at a designated time.
While Xcode Cloud appears to follow Apple's philosophy of providing easy-to-use tools that address a very specific use case, namely using CI/CD for iOS apps without the need to set up a whole infrastructure, it also brings with it a number of limitations, such as no support for "configuration as code" nor for DevOps platforms, etc. This may be an issue or not depending on the size of your project and organization.
Previous to Xcode Cloud, iOS developers could adopt CI/CD using fastlane, a tools developed by Google and supporting both iOS and Android.
Xcode Cloud will become available with Xcode 13, which should come out of beta next Fall.
Apple Adds ChatGPT And Claude Support In Xcode 26 Beta
Apple has released Xcode 26 beta 7, bringing updates to its developer platform for building apps across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS. The major new features this time are new AI coding tools from OpenAI and Anthropic.
Xcode users can now integrate their paid Claude accounts, with support for Claude Sonnet 4 available in the Intelligence settings. On the OpenAI side, developers can start new conversations with GPT-4.1 or GPT-5, with GPT-5 set as the default.
Apple says ChatGPT in Xcode now offers two options: the standard GPT-5 model for faster responses, and GPT-5 (Reasoning) for more complex tasks that require additional processing time.
Beyond AI, the release includes performance tweaks and bug fixes, though Apple notes some known issues remain with simulators, coding assistants, and Metal debugging tools.
Xcode 26 beta 7 requires a Mac running macOS Sequoia 15.5 or later.
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