Excluded Embedded Binaries
Jun 7, 2020, 1:29 PM
After updating to Xcode 11.5 my release builds started failing because a failure in the “embedded binary validation” build step, which occurs after the last explicit build phase over which we as developers have the ability to...
Xcode 11.4 Beta 1: Couldn’t Load Spec With Identifier
Feb 6, 2020, 12:25 PM
When Apple updates Xcode, they usually add a slew of deprecations and warnings that might turn your otherwise warning-free project into a virtual hailstorm of yellow warning triangles. One of the warnings that popped up for me with the...
Bitwise Manipulation
Dec 6, 2019, 5:46 PM
Since as long as I have been a programmer, bitwise operators have been an important but sometimes daunting part of my work. These are the programming tools with which you take a numerical value, let’s say seven, and manipulate it at...
Casting Objective-C Message Sends
Oct 11, 2019, 12:43 PM
Mike Ash shares interesting news that the latest Xcode SDKs include a change to the function prototype of Objective-C’s msgSend family of functions. Where objc_msgSend was previously defined in terms of the couple of parameters it...
Notarization Provider IDs
Sep 15, 2019, 11:19 AM
Update: 3 November, 2019: As of Xcode 11 the altool command features a new parameter, “–list-providers” which makes it much easier to obtain the provider ID described below. See the updated documentation for more...
Cryptic App Store Upload Error
Apr 12, 2019, 5:52 PM
I recently had cause to take another look at Swish, my iOS app for generating white noise and static visuals. OK, the reason was Apple sending me an email notification that, because it has been over three years since I last updated the...
Toggle System Grayscale Mode
Apr 9, 2019, 9:16 AM
A colleague recently asked whether it was possible to connect a custom keyboard shortcut to the system-wide “Use grayscale” setting in the macOS Voiceover system preferences: I could not find any easy way to do this, and...
Monolithic Workspace
Nov 8, 2018, 8:41 AM
I’ve been experimenting in Xcode with the idea of using one workspace that contains ALL of my projects. The idea is to give me the ability to quickly jump between building/testing different apps, and to make it easier to do global...
Supporting Dark Mode: On the Web
Oct 25, 2018, 12:56 PM
I wrote several articles about Supporting Dark Mode on the Mac, including one about supporting Dark Mode for in-app web content. Today, Craig Hockenberry of The Iconfactory writes about the challenge of adapting browser-based web content....
Supporting Dark Mode: In-App Web Content
Oct 12, 2018, 2:28 PM
This article is part of a series on Supporting Dark Mode in macOS applications. For the best experience, start with the Introduction and work your way through. If you’re using a web view the way a browser does, to show arbitrary...