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.
