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Latest Mobile Dev Insights: iOS, Android, Cross-Platform

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MobilePro #180: Android & ChromeOS to merge, What's new in Flutter and more...

Hi ,

Welcome to the 180th edition of MobilePro! This week’s edition covers Apple and Android’s latest OS changes, powerful AI tool releases, groundbreaking platform mergers, and sharp insights from the dev community.:

🔁 Android & ChromeOS to Merge: Google confirms it’s combining Android and ChromeOS into one unified platform, rolling out from late 2025.
🛠️ Flutter 3.3.6 Hotfix Released: A critical update restores proper WebView sizing in apps affected by the 3.3.0 layout bug.
📱 iOS 18.6 Beta 3 Released: Apple rolls out iOS 18.6 beta 3 and more with performance boosts, bug fixes, and EU compliance ahead of iOS 26.
🐢 AI Tools May Slow You Down: New research suggests AI coding tools can actually hinder experienced developers—here’s why.
🧠 Use Gemini in Xcode 26 Beta: Carlo Zottmann shows how to run Google Gemini in Xcode 26 beta via a clever proxy setup on macOS.

Stick around for this week’sDeveloper Tipto learn the advantages of hybrid development, andtheDid You Know?section to learn about Google skipping a monthly Android security patch.

Let’s dive in!

P.S.: If you have any suggestions or feedback, or would like us to feature your project on a particular subject, please write to us. Just respond to this email!

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📱 What's Happening in Mobile Development?

If there’s any major news in the world of mobile app dev in the last week, MobilePro has you covered.

iOS 18.6 beta 3 is out: Apple has released iOS 18.6 beta 3 (alongside iPadOS 18.6, macOS Sequoia 15.6, watchOS 11.6, tvOS 18.6, and visionOS 2.6) today, focusing on performance refinements, bug fixes, and EU regulatory support ahead of the larger iOS 26 rollout this fall.
Flutter 3.3.6 is out: The Flutter 3.3.6 release is a hotfix that resolves a layout sizing issue introduced in version 3.3.0. This issue affected the use of WebView through platform_views, causing incorrect sizing during layout. The update specifically addresses and restores the proper sizing behavior when embedding WebView in Flutter applications.
Jetpack Compose accessibility guidance expanded: Compose's accessibility guidance now emphasizes robust built‑in support—like default semantic properties, correct touch targets, and automatic focus management—while also teaching developers how to refine or customize accessibility through semantics modifiers (e.g., merging, hiding, testing APIs) to make inclusive and screen‑reader friendly UIs.
Google confirms ChromeOS and Android are being merged into ‘a single platform’: Google has officially confirmed it’s merging ChromeOS and Android into a single unified platform, with Android at its core—aiming to streamline experiences across phones, tablets, laptops, and XR devices, boost AI integration, and simplify development. This shift is expected to roll out starting late 2025, with initial devices arriving in 2026—and promises more cohesive compatibility and features, albeit raising questions about hardware requirements and legacy Chromebook support.
Google announces new Android Canary channel to replace Developer Previews: Google has introduced a new Android Canary release channel on July 10, 2025, replacing the old Developer Preview program to offer developers continuous, early access to experimental Android builds (via OTA or emulator)—though it's unstable and meant solely for testing.
GitHub Copilot coding agent now uses one premium request per session: GitHub announced on July 10, 2025 that the Copilot coding agent now uses a flat one premium request per session, regardless of how many files it modifies or tasks it performs—making billing far more predictable and efficient. This change helps developers delegate up to 20× more work within their monthly allowance, with only GitHub Actions run time varying by task complexity.
Gemini CLI brings Gemini directly into developer’s terminals: Google has released Gemini CLI, an open-source command‑line AI agent (in preview) that brings the power of Gemini2.5Pro right into developers’ terminals—supporting coding, debugging, content creation, task automation, and even image/video generation—all for free with a generous quota of 60 model calls/min and 1,000/day. It also integrates with Gemini Code Assist, Google Search, MCP tools, and multimodal systems like Imagen/Veo, enabling fluent, natural‑language workflows across terminal and IDE environments.
Arm Scalable Matrix Extension 2 Coming to Android to Accelerate On-Device AI: Arm has announced that its Scalable Matrix Extension 2 (SME2) is coming soon to Android smartphones, enabling up to 6 × faster AI inference (e.g., running Google's Gemma 3 in under a second per core) via integration with libraries like XNNPack and KleidiAI—developers won’t need code changes. This hardware upgrade promises more responsive, efficient on-device AI across future Android devices, potentially unlocking advanced features like real-time translation, summarization, and voice assistants.

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Thinking about building mobile apps in 2025? Discover the top 7 unbeatable advantages of hybrid development—from faster time-to-market to cost savings and seamless cross-platform reach. Learn why hybrid might be your smartest bet here.

In case you have any tips to share with your fellow mobile developers, do reply to this mail and we’d be glad to feature you in a future edition of MobilePro.

💭 What is the Mobile Community Talking About?

What are mobile app developers discussing? Do you have any concerns, advice, or tutorials to share?MobileProbrings them to you all in one place.

How to use Google Gemini in Xcode 26 beta: Want to learn how to use Google Gemini with Xcode 26 beta on macOS 26 beta? Carlo Zottmann walks you through a clever proxy setup to make Gemini work seamlessly with Xcode’s AI features.
Name-based destructuring in Kotlin: Kotlin is evolving! The language team is introducing name-based destructuring, letting you unpack objects using property names instead of just positions. It’s a big step toward clearer, safer destructuring—especially for data/value classes. Check out the full proposal and share your thoughts.
Android Adaptive Design (Part 1): Make any Compose Screen Responsive in 4 Steps: Check out this practical guide to responsive design in Jetpack Compose—four clear steps to make any screen layout adapt gracefully across devices, from phones to tablets and beyond.
AI programming tools slow software developers down: Think AI tools make coding faster? Think again—new research shows they might actually slow down experienced developers despite the hype. Find out why in this surprising study and what it means for your workflow.
Using FFI in a Flutter plugin: Get a taste of Flutter magic direct from the Flutter team’s post—discover what the feature is and why it’s a must-read.

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July 2025 marks the first time in over a decade that Google skipped a monthly Android security patch, breaking a long-standing tradition since 2015. While no official reason was given, experts speculate it may be due to a shift in patch cadence or internal transitions.

Sourced from Securityweek Network.

👋 And that’s a wrap. We hope you enjoyed this edition of MobilePro. If you have any suggestions and feedback, or would just like to say hi to us, please write to us. Just respond to this email!

Cheers,

Runcil Rebello,

Editor-in-Chief, MobilePro