In the extremely unlikely case that it slipped your mind, Apple’s
latest mobile operating system, iOS 11, launched on September 19. Luckily for
you, Xamarin and Syncfusion’s components for Xamarin development both support
iOS 11, so you’re already ahead of the pack. A few changes in iOS need to be
considered, though, and may require you to update a few things:
32-bit apps are no
longer supported
*Gasp!* Again, this shouldn’t be a surprise, as it was
announced five months before iOS 11’s release. If you need help updating your
app, you can check out this
guide from Xamarin.
Visual updates
Navigation bars have been updated in iOS 11 to be more
accessible. If you have a device currently running iOS 11, you’ve probably
noticed the much larger titles at the top of certain apps. In addition to
larger titles, it is now easier to integrate search directly into navigation
bars.
Literally below the updated navigation bars are
modifications that affect the margins of UI elements in your app. An option is
now provided for overriding minimum margin sizes, and a new “safe area” concept
has been implemented, changing how you may approach setting your views.
App Store changes
The App Store has been renovated, so to speak. Some changes
to take into account going forward are a new way to manage your store icons and
product pages, the increased visibility of in-app purchases in the App Store, and
the option to roll out updates to your customers in phases.
Augmented reality,
machine learning, and more
Some of the most exciting updates in iOS 11 are new
frameworks that offer a variety of cutting edge features in your mobile apps:
- ARKit: A framework for building augmented reality apps.
- Vision: A framework for processing images that features face detection and rectangle detection.
- CoreML: Machine learning models that can be integrated into your apps.
- CoreNFC: Allows near-field communication tag reading, supporting NFC tag types 1 through 5.
- And plenty more.
While these frameworks don’t require any changes to your
apps, they’re certainly worth looking into if you’re planning an update anytime
soon.
These are just a few of the significant updates in iOS 11.
For a bigger picture of the new features you can use in your Xamarin
development, we recommend Xamarin’s
Getting Started with iOS 11 documentation. They’ve got dozens of samples
showcasing the new features that you can download and try yourself.
If you’ve already incorporated new iOS 11 features in your
Xamarin projects, we’d love to hear about them. Leave us a comment below, or
tag us on Twitter or Facebook.