Filed a Feedback and it’s fixed!
When you notice a bug in iOS or any other Apple platform, you can file a feedback to let Apple know.
However, according to many developers on social media, these feedback tickets are usually untouched and never get fixed or take years. The process can also be a bit cumbersome. You have to explain exactly what is wrong and optimally why. Moreover, Apple usually requests to capture and attach a sysdiagnose of your device, which is often not relevant just to prove an API in the iOS SDK is broken.
Anyhow, I noticed a bug in iOS 16 in the Maps Framework on iOS / iPadOS, there you can’t set the background color of a marker to transparent, when it was set to a different color before. The use case in my BusTrack app is the following:
When a user taps a Stop icon on the map, the Stop icon is replaced with the big animated Marker, which says BUS on it. Then, when the user deselects the stop (by tapping anywhere on the map), the big Marker is removed with the Stop icon again. Here is a short GIF of how it should look like.
The user tabs the bus icon on the map
The bus icon is replaced with an animated marker that displays “BUS“
The user taps somewhere on the map, the marker is deselected and replaced with the bus icon again.
The initial state (just the bus icon) is restored.
On iOS 16 onwards, the marker does not disappear, because setting the background color to transparent does not work (again). It works the first time, where only the Stop icon is visible, but setting the marker to a different color, e.g. blue, and then back to transparent was broken.
You can see a GIF of the bug and a screenshot of the end result, on the right side.
The non-transparent marker will stay on top of the icon as long as the app lives. The only way to fix this, is by simply removing the annotation and recreating it. That works, because setting the marker transparent works the first time.
It is important to know, that caching via mapView.dequeueReusableAnnotationView(withIdentifier: "bus", for: annotation) must not be used, otherwise the map will simply reload that broken state for that annotation again.
This workaround can result in heavy RAM usage, because caching is disabled and each annotation will be recreated all the time.
The result of the bug, which stays that way until the app is killed and restarted.
I didn’t file a feedback, because I had absolutely no hope that this would get fixed. Until, iOS 17 beta was introduced.
I heard multiple times, that the beta cycle is the best time to file a feedback, because Apple is actively working on removing bugs in the OS. So I checked if iOS 17 still had this bug, and since it didn’t get fixed, I actually filed a feedback.
I’ve put a lot of effort into filing the feedback, since I desperately wanted this bug to be fixed. I wrote a very long text on what exactly was wrong and why it probably happened. Here is the exact text that I filed, in case you were wondering:
Please provide a descriptive title for your feedback:
MKMarkerAnnotationView .markerTintColor = UIColor.clear does not work, after being set previously (iOS 16 and iOS 17 beta)Which technology does your report involve?
MapKitWhat type of feedback are you reporting?
Incorrect/Unexpected BehaviorWhich platform is most relevant for your report?
iOSWhat build does the issue occur on?
iOS 17 Seed 1 (21A5248v)Where does the issue occur?
On devicePlease describe the issue and what steps we can take to reproduce it:
TLDR:Before iOS 16, MKMarkerAnnotationView respected .markerTintColor = UIColor.clear and disappeared, so that .image was visible on the map.
Since iOS 16, .markerTintColor = UIColor.clear does not work and stays on the map in the previously set color, so that .image is hidden behind the empty marker on the map.Description:
I set an image for an annotation to be visible on the map. All other MKMarkerAnnotationView properties are set to nil or UIColor.clear, so that no marker is visible and only the image is visible, like so:
.glyphText = nil
.glyphTintColor = UIColor.clearColor
.markerTintColor = UIColor.clearColorWhen the annotation is selected, I remove the image by setting .image = nil and configure all other properties with custom values, e.g.:
.glypthText = "BUS"
.glyphTintColor = UIColor.whiteColor
.markerTintColor = UIColor.blueColorWhen the annotation is deselected, I reset all these values, so that only the image is visible again, which has worked until iOS 16.
.glyphText = nil
.glyphTintColor = UIColor.clearColor
.markerTintColor = UIColor.clearColor // <- IssueThe marker shrinks, the glypthText is gone, but the marker is still visible, because .markerTintColor = UIColor.clearColor does not work anymore.
Xcode version 14.3.1 and 15.0.0.
Issue is currently available in all iOS 16 releases and iOS 17 beta 1.Example Xcode Project attached, but also available here: https://github.com/gorkemg/iOS17_MarkerTintColorBug
- Run Xcode project on Simulator or Device
- Select the annotation with a bus image on the map
- Tap somewhere on the map to deselect the annotation
You will notice, that the marker does not disappear, staying overlayed on top of the bus image, basically hiding it
As you can see, I started with a two sentence TLDR: paragraph, so the Apple engineer can have a very short overview of what is wrong. Afterwards, I explained with a step by step guide how to replicate the bug.
Besides, I attached a small Xcode project, which only included a single screen and a few lines of code that showed the bug in action.
Additionally, and I don’t know if that actually helped, I’ve uploaded that Xcode project to Github and shared the URL. I thought, maybe the engineer would rather like to checkout the issue via Git, or at least see my effort of getting this bug fixed. 😄 You can checkout the Xcode project for yourself now, if you like.
And sure enough, this bug got fixed a few beta releases later. Yesterday, I received a request by Apple Feedback to check if this bug got fixed in the latest beta (iOS 17 Beta 7). If so, I can manually close this feedback, or if this bug still persists, I can answer and provide new details.
I will now close this feedback and be happy that the bug is fixed in iOS 17.
For users running iOS 16, I will have to use the aforementioned workaround. The workaround is pretty easy, but ugly and will most likely result in heavy RAM usage, since caching is not used anymore.
Luckily, most devices that run iOS 16 will be able to install iOS 17 and fortunately most users update to latest iOS release pretty quickly. Therefore, this bug will become a non-issue in just a few months, probably.
Apple Vision Pro
So many thoughts.
Device
The device looks and probably feels very valuable, expensive and high-quality. I mean it is very expensive, so it should look and feel that way, but Apple devices usually are high-quality and feel like jewelry and that’s one reason people love them.
Usability
After the mouse for the Mac, the finger for the iPhone, the new pointing device is your eye. Using this device must feel like magic.
It was extremely magical to use a finger on an iPhone and just scroll though a long list of songs.
This must the same thing, but even more radical, since nothing is touching the interface. You simply look at it and it is highlighted.
Then you use your fingers to initiate a selection, similar to a tab in the iPhone world.
Use cases
People were mostly using the device alone, which is great. I can’t imagine people using headsets to be in a virtual reality while sitting next to each other. That just sounds and looks ridiculous. However, being alone and using the device seems to me the perfect use case. Watch a movie on a gigantic screen with headphones when the family is sleeping. This is the big difference to the other headsets out there.
The next iPhone?
No. I don’t think so. At least it doesn’t feel like it, right now.
When the iPhone was announced, it fealed extremely special and a decade ahead of all of the competition. Arguably, it was. I wanted it so badly, because I was sick of all the bad phones at that time. I purchased the original iPhone day one in Germany and it was a very special day. A true revolution for the whole phone and smart device industry.
Apple Vision Pro does feel special and also ahead of its competition, but it is doesn’t feel like a revolution.
As a Developer
I think, and I heard this multiple times, that this platform could be bigger for developers than for instance Apple Watch or Apple TV. Only a few Apps work really well on the watch and on the TV, but the majority of Apps on both plaforms are more or less companian Apps of an iPhone app.
That might not be the case for VisionOS. This device is a standalone computer with a giant screen, therefore, more Apps can have their chance to shine.
There will also not be many users in the beginning. The device is fairly pricey and might also be limited in production. Developers might be able to charge much higher prices compared to the iOS and iPadOS App Stores.
WWDC 2023
A little late, but here are my thoughts about WWDC 2023.
MacBook Air 15”
To me, this device could have been released via a Press Release. Basically, it is just a bigger size MacBook Air 13”. That’s it. And that is also what Apple is trying to sell. Apple is not saying anything else. People should know that this device is just as amazing as the smaller Air, but bigger. Nothing more, nothing less.
The reason they might have added it to the Keynote is probably for its upcoming impact. This device will sell, a lot, like a shit ton. Maybe even more than the already outperforming 13” Air.
Mac Studio and Mac Pro
Great updates. The Mac Pro is now such a niche device. To me, it is now obvious that Apple wanted to put a M2 Extrem (two M2 Ultras combined), but couldn’t for some reason. Could be feasibility, could be costs, could yield rate, only Apple knows.
However, now, compared to the Mac Studio, the only reason to buy the Mac Pro is for PCI cards. Makes me think if Apple regrets announcing the Mac Pro early in a previous Keynote. If they wouldn’t have announced it early, they could’ve just said the Mac Studio is the replacement.
On the other hand, Apple doesn’t have to ship if it thinks it’s not worth it. They still could have simply said, we’re killing the Mac Pro, the Mac Studio is the future.
I think, Apple is still bringing a M3 or M4 Extreme and the Mac Pro will be the only device with that chip. They simply released the current Mac Pro to finally kill Intel Macs and be done with the ARM transition.
iOS / iPadOS 17
All OS updates were filled with quality of life improvements. iOS 17 looks really great with improved Messages (FINALLY improved Search) and Phone app. NameDrop is so simple with awesome UX. The naming is just perfect.
StandBy mode is also great and I will use that a lot. Same for Interactive Widgets. Can’t wait to implement some.
I am most excited about the improvements for Autocorrect. For me, my Family and many Friends, Autocorrect is just broken. At least in German. It is simply not working for most of the time. Really really bad. It can only get better now and I hope it will.
WatchOS 10
WatchOS 10 is the real star here.
Finally, Apple is refreshing the System and introducing widgets on the clockface is the right call. I can’t wait to try it out and update my WatchOS apps.
Apple Vision Pro
The presentation was really well made. If you missed it, Apple uploaded the introduction separately, as well. I will share more about the Vision Pro in a later Blog post.
Overall, the keynote was great.
Apples short summary Video about WWDC23 gives a good overview.
Here is my recommended configuration if you are planning to purchase a new MacBook Air 15”
