654: Athletically Engaged

What It Covers

iOS developers Marco Arment and Casey Liss detail their struggles adapting apps to iOS 26's liquid glass redesign, facing beta bugs, broken system components, and difficult decisions about adopting controversial UI changes while managing customer expectations and feature development delays.

Key Questions Answered

• •iOS 26 Development Crisis: Developers face shipping delays due to unstable betas with animation bugs, layout issues, and broken system components appearing in beta 8. Many must comment out iOS 26-specific features or revert changes because bugs likely ship in GM build, forcing scaled-back releases.
• •SwiftUI Limitations: Implementing universal search with dot searchable component fails when trying to maintain search state across navigation screens. SwiftUI lacks concept of persistent search boxes across views, requiring developers to rescaffold components per screen or abandon modern system affordances entirely for custom solutions.
• •AppleCare One Failures: Apple's bundled warranty service costs $48 more annually than previous individual plans while covering fewer devices. System incorrectly flags Macs with multiple user accounts as violations, sends 24-hour email ultimatums threatening coverage cancellation, and generates unsustainable support call volumes requiring complete plan redesign.
• •Finder Performance Degradation: Moving or deleting thousands of files through Finder takes exponentially longer than command line tools. Copying 1,900 photos between Macs via Finder estimates 30-60 minutes while rsync completes identical transfer in 3 seconds, suggesting fundamental multi-file operation problems in modern macOS.
• •Thermal Management Priority: iPhone 17 Pro models implement vapor chamber cooling systems to address overheating issues, particularly sun-induced shutdowns. Apple emphasizes thermal improvements in marketing materials, though effectiveness against direct sunlight heating screens remains uncertain despite representing significant hardware advancement over previous thermal pad solutions.