Swift News: The Year SwiftUI Died, Liquid Glass, Swift Student Challenge, Indie Dev Life


December 16th, 2025

๐Ÿค• Life has been kicking my ass lately. That's why you haven't seen much of me the past couple months. I'm changing that and trying to build momentum into the new year. It's been tough, but you should start seeing a lot more of my content (if you're into that sort of thing).

โ€‹Swift News - Video Version - Get my thoughts on the articles below.

โ€‹The Year SwiftUI Diedโ€‹

This article from Jacob Bartlett is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it made me think. A huge advantage of SwiftUI over UIKit is developer speed because we don't have to type out all that verbose code of UIKit. But what happens when AI is writing all your code? Is UIKit worth revisiting for the performance gains?

โ€‹Great Examples of Liquid Glass Designsโ€‹

Apple showcases a few shining examples of apps that are using Liquid Glass. It's a short, visual article that is sure to give you ideas for your own projects.

โ€‹Optimize Your App's Speed & Efficiencyโ€‹

Apple has been doing some very informative live streams lately. This one is about app performance and is a must watch (you can find the video link in this article). The link above takes you to the Q&A session from the live stream that isn't shown in the video. Some great tips in here.

โ€‹2026 Swift Student Challengeโ€‹

It's that time of year again, and the Swift Student Challenge submissions open up in February so get your apps ready. The distinguished winners get to have a great time at WWDC and potentially meet Tim Cook.

โ€‹Indie, Alone, and Figuring it Outโ€‹

This article hit a little too close to home for me. The indie dev life can sound amazing. Make your own schedule, work on your own projects, make all the decisions, etc... I've been indie for almost 7 years now and don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade it. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows so if you're thinking about going indie, this article does a great job describing the reality of it.

โ€‹100 Indie Dev Tipsโ€‹

Here's a great thread on X from Siro giving 100 tips for indie app developers. There's some pure gold in here.

โ€‹Book a Call with Meโ€‹

I'm offering a new service where you can book a 1 hour call with me to pick my brain on anything iOS dev related. This can be career advice, code review, project feedback, content creation, how I use AI, etc... If you think I can help you can book my time here.

Till next time,

Sean

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Sean Allen

Join thousands of developers who get Swift News delivered straight to their inbox every Monday. Stay up to date with the latest news, articles, videos, podcasts, and expert insights on Swift and iOS development. Iโ€™ll break down key topics, share my thoughts, recommend must-know resources, and give you a behind-the-scenes look at what Iโ€™m working on.

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