iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Some seasons are about output. Others are about everything that has to happen first. I’ve been quiet for a bit. Still here. Still building. More soon.

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Ahoy there ⚓️ This is your Captain speaking... I recently had the privilege of spending 3 full days at the Apple Offices in NYC for the "Let’s Talk Liquid Glass" workshop. Read about my experience: captainswiftui.substack.com/p/talking-li...

captainswiftui.substack.com

Talking Liquid Glass with Apple

I spent three days talking Liquid Glass with Apple in NYC. Here’s what you need to know.

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Ahoy there ⚓️ this is your Captain speaking… I kept coming up empty on topics, until it hit me: "nothing" is something! In this article, I’ll discuss 3 types of Emptiness in SwiftUI. Let's talk about nothing! captainswiftui.substack.com/p/emptiness-...

captainswiftui.substack.com

Emptiness in SwiftUI

How "Empty" can be designed and accounted for using EmptyView, EmptyModifier, and ContentUnavailableView

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Reposted by Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI)

Sean Allen @seanallen.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

New Swift News out now on my YouTube channel. - What's new in Swift 6.2 - New era of iOS Dev - Dark side of iOS Dev - Foundation Model ideas - Tik Tok indie marketing origin story??? Video - youtu.be/KIbPHB6FIlo

youtu.be

Swift 6.2, New Era of Swift, Foundation Models, Dark Side of iOS Dev & More.

YouTube video by Sean Allen

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Ahoy there ⚓️ this is your Captain speaking… Liquid Glass just introduced three new design principles — Hierarchy, Harmony, and Consistency. 🌊 These are the Northern Stars for Apple’s new design era. Read here → captainswiftui.substack.com/p/the-northe... #SwiftUI #LiquidGlass #iOS26

captainswiftui.substack.com

The Northern Stars of Liquid Glass

An overview of the new HIG principles of Hierarchy, Harmony, and Consistency

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

As Apple announces the new #iPhone17 and other “awe dropping” hardware updates, they’re also officially launching the new design system, #LiquidGlass. As developers, it’s all part of The Great Shift in how we approach Apple development. captainswiftui.substack.com/p/the-great-...

captainswiftui.substack.com

The Great Shift in Apple Development

A new, sweeping era has begun. Here are the signs...

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Ahoy there ⚓️ this is your Captain speaking… This summer hasn’t just been busy — it’s marked a real shift in how we code and design on Apple platforms. I’m calling it The Great Shift. captainswiftui.substack.com/p/the-great-... #ios #ipados #macos #swiftui #swift #iphone #liquidglass

captainswiftui.substack.com

The Great Shift in Apple Development

A new, sweeping era has begun. Here are the signs...

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Question for my network: Has anyone been to one of the recent Meet with #Apple Workshops around the new design system? - What's it like? (format, sessions, etc) - Is it required to go all 3 days? - What was the biggest take-away for you and your team? developer.apple.com/events/view/...

developer.apple.com

Meet with Apple - Apple Developer

Join us around the world for a variety of sessions, labs, and workshops — tailored for you.

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

iPadOS windowing is here — and it’s not just about resizing. 🧱 It brings a new micro-state 📏 It can break layouts you haven’t tested 🪟 It demands smarter SwiftUI structure Check out my initial thoughts and findings: captainswiftui.substack.com/p/windowing-... #SwiftUI #iPadOS #WWDC25

captainswiftui.substack.com

Windowing on iPadOS (Or How I Learned to Love The Backlog Bomb)

The New Windowing System brings iPadOS even closer to macOS, but opens up a world of new development considerations

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Spotted this new search pattern in the iOS26 wild — News and Health both use Liquid Glass-style multi-tabbed search. It’s subtle, but it changes how we structure views, surface context, and think about when users actually need to search. 🧭 I unpacked it here → open.substack.com/pub/captains...

open.substack.com

Finding Deeper Meaning in Liquid Glass Search

How Apple has aligned search with where they believe the future of application design is going

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Liquid Glass is not just a material update. Apple 🍏 made it clear it’s a new design system, and we as devs need to jump on board 🚢 Watch as I share my thoughts on LG from the last Office Hours 🕰️: captainswiftui.substack.com/p/thoughts-o...

captainswiftui.substack.com

Thoughts on Liquid Glass as a New Design System

The Captain talks through the impact of the new design system during Office Hours

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Ahoy there ⚓️ Part 2 of my WWDC25 dev log is live ⚾️ 🧠 Foundation Models generated summaries 🧾 #Playground macro test 🗣️ AVSpeech speaks the scores 🤖 Xcode AI refactored code and added a feature SwiftUI meets AI → open.substack.com/pub/captains... #WWDC25 #SwiftUI #FoundationModels #XcodeAI

open.substack.com

Summarizing Scores with Foundation Models, #Playground, and Xcode AI

Apple's AI offerings for developers are knocking it out of the park, both on and off device

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Join the Captain's Crew 🚢 (with a limited-time discount) and get access to this week's 🕰️ Office Hours: Post-WWDC Edition! We'll be covering a whole bunch of topics 📋, sharing insights and thoughts, and trying some of the WWDC goodies live! Subscribe here: captainswiftui.substack.com/e61c7588

captainswiftui.substack.com

Subscribe to Captain SwiftUI

The Captain’s Blog on Swift, SwiftUI, and Apple Development. Click to read Captain SwiftUI, by Danny Bolella, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

“As scenes are vital for ensuring flexibility, adopting UIScene life cycle will soon be mandatory. In the next major release following iOS 26, UIScene life cycle will be required when building with the latest SDK.” developer.apple.com/videos/play/...

developer.apple.com

Make your UIKit app more flexible - WWDC25 - Videos - Apple Developer

Find out how your UIKit app can become more flexible on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro by using scenes and container view...

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Played with Foundation Models from this years #WWDC25 and I’m EXTREMELY impressed! One thing I’m curious about: how long has an average response been taking on your system? I’ve been sitting somewhere around 11.2 seconds.

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

This #WWDC25 session is required viewing. If you want to write better, more performant #SwiftUI, working with Instruments is a huge guiding tool. And the enhancements this year are absolutely fantastic: developer.apple.com/videos/play/...

developer.apple.com

Optimize SwiftUI performance with Instruments - WWDC25 - Videos - Apple Developer

Discover the new SwiftUI instrument. We'll cover how SwiftUI updates views, how changes in your app's data affect those updates, and how...

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

#WWDC25 dropped some heat — I broke down Day 1 in a fast read: ✅ What rumors came true 🧊 Apple’s Liquid Glass redesign 📐 Real SwiftUI updates 🧠 Foundation Models framework Dev-first takes here → open.substack.com/pub/captains... #SwiftUI #AI #AppleDeveloper

open.substack.com

WWDC25 Keynote and PSOTU Impressions

The Captain's Initial Thoughts on What Apple Shared on Day 1

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Day 1 of WWDC25 is in the books—and I’ve got first impressions from both the Keynote and the PSOTU. From the big reveals to the subtle signals about Apple’s direction, here’s what stood out (and what I’m keeping an eye on next). 📖 Read the full Day 1 recap: open.substack.com/pub/captains...

open.substack.com

WWDC25 Keynote and PSOTU Impressions

The Captain's Initial Thoughts on What Apple Shared on Day 1

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Craig's key points for Developers at the end of the #WWDC25 Keynote was to take note of: 1️⃣ Foundation Models Framework 2️⃣ App Intents 3️⃣ Visual Intelligence Really looking forward to diving into these more at the Platforms State of the Union...

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

🚨 It’s WWDC Day. The Captain’s locked in — ready for the big reveal. New APIs? New SwiftUI magic? Who knows. That’s the fun. First coverage post drops tonight — stay tuned. 🧭 #WWDC25 #SwiftUI

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Join us for a special Post-WWDC Office Hours 🕰️ on June 19 at 11 AM EDT! The Captain and Crew will be gathering to unpack all the exciting announcements Apple 🍎 makes during WWDC. Join with a new paid subscription—now available with a special WWDC promo: 👉 captainswiftui.substack.com/e61c7588

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Less than a week to go until #WWDC25!!! Get yourself even more hyped by checking out my pre-game analysis and predictions! open.substack.com/pub/captains...

open.substack.com

WWDC25 Pre-Game Analysis and Predictions

The Captain’s Take Heading Into The Happiest Week of an Apple Devs Year

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Still wrestling with SwiftUI’s Form? I broke down the tradeoffs of using Apple’s built-in container vs. building your own — plus what really happens when you try to style Form yourself. Catch up here → open.substack.com/pub/captains... #SwiftUI #iOSDev #UXDesign #CaptainSwiftUI

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Well shiver me timbers… we did it! The crew has entered the 1000 club!🎉 🫡 Thank you EVERYONE who’s embarked on this adventure with me 🚢 Come join us on our next voyage! captainswiftui.substack.com

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Almost there… Be the 1000th subscriber by joining here: captainswiftui.substack.com

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Ahoy there ⚓️ this is your Captain speaking… Just dropped a new piece: 🧾 “Forming an Opinion on SwiftUI Forms” Apple’s Form might save time — or box you in. I explored both sides. open.substack.com/pub/captains... #SwiftUI #iOSDev

open.substack.com

Forming an Opinion on SwiftUI Forms

Filling in the Gaps on When to use SwiftUI's Form and When to Roll Your Own

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Ahoy there ⚓️ this is your Captain speaking… I thought I was building a dynamic SwiftUI container with ForEach(subviews:). What I got? A redraw tsunami. What saved me? A secret, hidden old friend… New post — “A Tale of Two Custom Container APIs” open.substack.com/pub/captains...  #SwiftUI #iOSDev

open.substack.com

A Tale of Two Custom Container APIs

How the Public Custom Container Solution Stacks Up Against It's Shadowy, Private Counterpart in SwiftUI

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Here’s a clip from this weeks Office Hours where I share my thoughts on App Delegate being deprecated! To join the next Office Hours, start a paid subscription and join the crew! open.substack.com/pub/captains...

open.substack.com

Thoughts on App Delegate Deprecation

Listen to Captain SwiftUI’s thoughts on UIApplicationDelegate being deprecated and what that could mean for Apple’s strategy moving forward!

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Tomorrow night is the ❗️FIRST❗️ session of Captain SwiftUI's Office Hours 🕰️! I look forward to exploring this new format, meeting new devs, and having great discussions! Learn more about the session and how you can join: captainswiftui.substack.com/p/may-7th-of...

captainswiftui.substack.com

May 7th Office Hours Information!

Here's the details on how to join the first Office Hours Session

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Ahoy there ⚓️ This is your Captain speaking… My WWDC25 Pre-Game Analysis & Predictions article just dropped! This one’s got hot takes, hopeful wishes, and a few dev dreams I’d love to see come true next month. open.substack.com/pub/captains... #WWDC25 #SwiftLang #iOSDev #SwiftUI

open.substack.com

WWDC25 Pre-Game Analysis and Predictions

The Captain’s Take Heading Into The Happiest Week of an Apple Devs Year

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

❗️JUST ONE WEEK AWAY❗️until the first Office Hours with Captain SwiftUI! Join the Captains Crew as a paid subscriber to get access! Use to promo link for a special discount: captainswiftui.substack.com/promo

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Ready to step up your #swiftui wrap game? Learn about some of the best (property) wrappers in “The Underground Wrapper Scene” open.substack.com/pub/captains...

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Ahoy there ⚓️ Captain here — Just dropped “The Underground Wrapper Scene” — 10 #SwiftUI property wrappers you (probably) don’t know… but should. Hidden gems that save sprints, level up UX, and make your apps shine ✨. Hop aboard and upgrade your SwiftUI toolkit: open.substack.com/pub/captains...

open.substack.com

The Underground Wrapper Scene

10 SwiftUI Property Wrappers and Values You Probably Don’t Know… But Should

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Don’t settle for cheap, plastic imitations of Captain SwiftUI. Instead, get better access to The Captain, himself! Learn how in my latest post and let’s chart the next course together! 🧭 open.substack.com/pub/captains... #iOSDevelopment #SwiftUI #CaptainSwiftUI #Consulting #OfficeHours

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

Avast! 📢 BIG NEWS about Captain SwiftUI coming tomorrow! 🚢 Come aboard and subscribe so you don't miss the exciting announcements: open.substack.com/pub/captains...

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Well that escalated quickly! 📈 Captain SwiftUI just passed 700 subs! Grateful for every dev who’s read, shared, or joined. The Captain salutes you 🫡 ❗️BIG NEWS coming soon❗️ Stay tuned… captainswiftui.substack.com

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

What if we could serve an app's experience to multiple users from just one native app? 🚀 What if I told you it's almost as easy as building a sandwich? 🥪 Find out how in "Server-Side Swift… Served From The Client-Side"! open.substack.com/pub/captains... #SwiftUI #Vapor #Swift #ServerSideSwift

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

Ahoy there! ⚓️ This is your Captain speaking… What if we could serve 👨‍🍳 an experience to multiple users from just one native app? Find out in Server-Side Swift… Served From The Client-Side! open.substack.com/pub/captains... #SwiftUI #iosdev #macosdev #Vapor #Swift #ServerSideSwift

open.substack.com

Server-Side Swift… Served From The Client-Side

Hosting a Vapor Server From Your Native App Takes User Experiences Beyond a Platform

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Ahoy there! ⚓️ This is your Captain speaking. Check out the latest journey into crafting good state management🚢 open.substack.com/pub/captains... #SwiftUI #iOSDev #StateManagement #Swift

open.substack.com

SwiftUI Craftsmanship: State Management

The Keys to Taking Control Over Your App States

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Danny Bolella (aka Captain SwiftUI) @dbolella.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

The lifecycle of a SwiftUI View may seem simple enough, but don’t underestimate the importance of each “era”. Read more about them in The Simple Life(cycle) of a SwiftUI View in 2025! captainswiftui.substack.com/p/the-simple... #SwiftUI #iosdevelopment #ios

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