Best of iOS — December 2025

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    Article
    Avatar of notedNoted·21w

    Helmarr for iOS 26 — Beta Expanding

    Helmarr is an iOS 26 app entering expanded beta testing that provides a unified mobile dashboard for managing self-hosted media services. It integrates Sonarr, Radarr, Overseerr/Jellyseerr, Tautulli, Lidarr, Wizarr, and Unraid with features including push notifications, widgets, customizable dashboards, release calendars, and multi-network support. The app requires iOS 26 for its glass UI elements and is available through TestFlight, with a Discord server for community feedback.

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    Article
    Avatar of ionicIonic Blog·22w

    Announcing Capacitor 8

    Capacitor 8 has been released with two major updates: Swift Package Manager (SPM) replaces CocoaPods as the default dependency manager for new iOS projects, and Android now includes built-in edge-to-edge support through a new SystemBars plugin that automatically handles status and navigation bar appearance. Existing CocoaPods projects remain supported, and the new SystemBars API provides fine-grained control when needed. The framework continues growing rapidly, approaching one million weekly downloads.

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    Video
    Avatar of galaxies_devSimon Grimm·20w

    I Reviewed 3 REAL React Native Apps (Here's what I thought)

    A video review of three React Native applications (District walking game, Zyotes note-taking app, and Rail Ruckus dice game) analyzing their UI/UX design, user onboarding flows, and implementation quality. The reviewer provides specific feedback on improving native feel, visual consistency, animation patterns, paywall design, and emotional engagement in game interfaces. Key takeaways include the importance of native UI components, proper haptic feedback, smooth transitions with reanimated, and making games feel alive with animations and visual effects.

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    Article
    Avatar of syncfusionSyncfusion·19w

    Introducing Liquid Glass UI in .NET MAUI: Elevate Your App Design

    Syncfusion introduces Liquid Glass UI for .NET MAUI, bringing glassmorphism effects to cross-platform applications. The feature leverages Apple's UIVisualEffectView to create blurred backgrounds, adaptive color tinting, and light refraction effects on iOS and macOS. Implementation involves wrapping controls with SfGlassEffectView, enabling the effect property, and customizing blur styles, corner radius, and shadows. The effect works across Syncfusion's .NET MAUI controls including DataGrid, Charts, and Image Editor, providing native performance while maintaining accessibility.

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    Video
    Avatar of t3dotggTheo - t3․gg·22w

    Software Sucks Now

    Modern software quality has declined significantly, but not for the reasons commonly cited. The real culprit is codebase age and complexity: platforms like iOS, Windows, YouTube, and Twitter have been accumulating code for over a decade without fundamental rewrites. As software grows older and larger, it becomes exponentially harder to maintain, regardless of programming language, AI usage, or framework choice. The industry has consolidated around a small set of aging platforms (iOS/Android, Windows/macOS, Gmail, YouTube) that now carry massive technical debt. Meanwhile, smaller open-source projects maintained by passionate individuals (like Ghostty, Lossless Cut, and Helium) remain stable because they're newer, smaller, and built with focused intent. The solution isn't better tooling or banning AI—it's diversifying the software ecosystem and supporting independent developers building fresh alternatives.

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    Article
    Avatar of searlsJustin Searls·21w

    It just dawned on me that I can write an…

    Apple's iCloud Shortcuts can now integrate with cloud-based GPUs to perform complex AI tasks for free, yet still lacks basic programming constructs like if-else blocks. This highlights the paradox of modern automation tools offering advanced AI capabilities while missing fundamental control flow features.

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