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MobilePro #164: What's new in Kotlin, Android 16’s third beta, Claude’s ability to search web, and more…

Hi ,

Welcome to the 164th edition of MobilePro! We hope you are having an amazing week and are ready to explore the world of mobile development. From Apple’s AI-powered Priority Notifications to Kotlin’s newest preview build, Android 16’s Beta 3 milestone, and Lynx, a new cross-platform framework—there’s plenty to explore:

📲 Apple’s iOS 18.4 update enhances Siri, improves Apple Cash virtual cards, and brings security and enterprise updates.

🚀 Kotlin 2.1.20-RC3 is here, bringing major upgrades to multiplatform development and IDE integration.

🤖 Android 16 Beta 3 lands with finalized APIs, Auracast support, and new accessibility features.

🌍 Lynx is redefining cross-platform development, letting devs build native UIs with Rust-based tooling.

That isn’t all. We bring you a new section, What's Happening in AI?, where we glance at all the developments in the world of artificial intelligence, including a look at Claude’s new capability. We also have the Developer Tip section to enhance your workflow and the Did You Know? section, because how else can you plan for the future without knowing your past?

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!

📱 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 19 focused on bringing ‘current’ Apple Intelligence capabilities to new apps: iOS 19 is on the horizon, but don’t expect a flood of brand-new AI features. Instead, Apple is doubling down on expanding its existing Apple Intelligence capabilities across more apps, according to a report from 9to5Mac. The real game-changer? A major design overhaul inspired by visionOS, marking the biggest visual refresh since iOS 7. As for Siri’s long-awaited AI improvements, those are reportedly being pushed to iOS 20. Get the full scoop over at 9to5Mac.
What's new in Kotlin 2.1.20-RC3: Kotlin’s latest Early Access Preview (EAP) is here, bringing fresh updates across the language, compiler, and tools. This round packs in improvements to Kotlin Multiplatform, performance boosts in the K2 compiler, and tighter IDE integration—all geared toward making development smoother and cross-platform support even stronger. Want a sneak peek before the official release? Now’s your chance to try it out. For the full breakdown, head over to Kotlin’s official EAP page.
Apple’s iOS 18.4 update: Apple's iOS 18.4 update includes improvements to Siri and Shazam, enhancements for Apple Cash virtual card numbers, and updates to Message app links for better functionality. It also brings enterprise and networking updates, along with various bug fixes and security improvements. Catch the full rundown over in the official release notes.
The Third Beta of Android 16: Android 16 Beta 3 just landed, hitting a major milestone with Platform Stability—meaning developers now have finalized APIs and system behaviors to work with. This update isn’t just about polish, though. It rolls out Auracast support, letting LE Audio hearing aids and earbuds stream directly from public venues. Accessibility gets a boost with Outline Text, a new option that enhances readability for users with low vision. And for those keeping an eye on privacy, the new Local Network Protection feature puts more control in users' hands, limiting which apps can access other devices on the same network. For the full breakdown, check out Google’s official update.
Where is SwiftAssist? WWDC 2024 brought plenty of buzz, and one of the standout announcements was Swift Assist—Apple’s AI-powered coding companion for Xcode 16, promising to generate code from natural language prompts. Fast forward to March 2025, and it’s still nowhere to be seen. Apple is yet to release a beta or even provide an update, leaving developers frustrated and wondering when (or if) it will finally arrive. For the full story, check out MacRumors’ coverage.
Lynx, a new cross-platform development framework: Lynx is shaking up cross-platform development, letting developers tap into their web skills to build native UIs for mobile and web—all from a single codebase. With a high-performance rendering engine, a dual-threaded UI model, and modern Rust-based tooling, it’s designed for speed and flexibility. Developers can use familiar markup and CSS for UI design while keeping the main thread free for smooth, responsive interactions. Even TikTok is on board, using Lynx to power dynamic experiences across platforms. For the full deep dive, check out Lynx’s official blog.

💭 What is the Mobile Community Talking About?

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

Apple’s Siri Delays and Messaging Missteps: John Gruber isn’t holding back in his latest piece. He takes a jab at Apple for delaying the much-hyped “more personalized Siri” features of Apple Intelligence, now pushed to next year. Gruber admits he overlooked early warning signs of a potential delay and dives into Apple’s track record of announcing features at varying stages of readiness. His main concern? Apple’s messaging—what’s actually ready to ship versus what’s just a concept. It’s a deep dive into the company’s evolving development and communication strategies. Read more over at Daring Fireball.
How to Get an Instant Price Estimate for Your Next Project: Need a quick ballpark figure for your next app? This article breaks down an online tool that does just that. Punch in details like app type, platform, must-have features, design complexity, and timeline, and boom—you’ve got an instant estimate. It’s a game-changer for budgeting and financial planning, giving you a clear look at development costs without the back-and-forth of consultations. Get the full scoop over at Dev.to.
How to Create a Splash Screen and App Icon in a React Native Expo App: First impressions matter, and that’s where a slick splash screen and app icon come in. How to Create a Splash Screen and App Icon in a React Native Expo App walks you through the process step by step. From generating the right image sizes to tweaking your app.json or app.config.js file, this guide covers everything you need to get your branding on point. Plus, it breaks down testing for both Android and iOS, so your visuals look sharp across the board. Get the full rundown over at Dev.to.
Open-source Flutter app called TicTask: Meet TicTask, a fresh open-source Flutter app that blends task management with a built-in timer to keep productivity on point. Powered by Flutter + BLoC, it’s gearing up for an App Store debut soon. The dev behind it is opening the doors to the community—whether you want to explore, contribute, or fork the project on GitHub, now’s the time. Got feedback? Suggestions? They’re all ears. Check it out over on LinkedIn.

🤖 What’s Happening in AI?

AI is evolving fast—are you keeping up? MobilePro brings you key discussions, trends, and expert takes in one place.

Claude can now search the web: Claude just leveled up. Anthropic has rolled out a web search feature, letting the AI tap into real-time internet data for more up-to-date and relevant answers. Right now, it’s in preview for paid users in the U.S., but wider access—including free users and more regions—is on the horizon. When enabled, Claude pulls in fresh info, complete with direct citations so you can verify sources. Want to try it out? Head to your profile settings and flip the switch. More details over at Anthropic.
An AI app to help speech-impaired users communicate more naturally: Northeastern University researchers Aanchan Mohan and Mirjana Prpa are working on Speak Ease, an AI-powered mobile app designed to support people with speech impairments. It’s more than just text-to-speech—it blends speech recognition, text input, whole-word selection, emojis, and personalized voice synthesis to make communication smoother and more expressive. With large language models in the mix, the app predicts relevant phrases and even lets users customize audio output to convey emotions, tackling both speed and expressivity challenges. More on this innovation over at Northeastern News.

📚️ Latest in Mobile Development from Packt

MobilePro presents the latest titles from Packt that ought to be useful for mobile developers.

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Flutter Design Patterns and Best Practices

Buy now at $44.99

Mobile App Development Tutorial — Excerpt from iOS 18 Programming for Beginners by Ahmad Sahar

Where do you even begin when making an app for iOS 18? In case you're just starting out and aren't sure, Ahmad Sahar's iOS 18 Programming for Beginners is here to help you out. It is detailed and comprehensive and covers everything while using Swift 6 and Xcode 16. Ahead is an excerpt on how to store a collection of values within dictionaries in Swift:

Creating a dictionary

Imagine that you're creating a Contacts app. For this app, you'll use a dictionary to store your contacts. Just like an array, you can create a new dictionary by declaring it and assigning an initial value to it. Add the following code to your playground and run it:

var contactList = ["Shah" : "+60123456789", "Aamir" : "+0223456789"]

This instruction creates a dictionary variable named contactList. The assigned value, ["Shah" : "+60123456789", "Aamir" : "+0223456789"], is a dictionary literal. It represents a dictionary with two elements. Each element is a key-value pair, with the contact name as the key and thecontact number as the value. Note that since the contact name is the key field, it should be unique.

Since the contactList dictionary is a variable, you can change the contents of the dictionary after it has been created. Both key and value are of type String due to type inference.

Imagine that your app must display the total number of contacts. In the next section, you'll learn how to determine the number of elements in a dictionary.

Checking the number of elements in a dictionary

To find out how many elements there are in a dictionary, use count. Type in and run the following code:

contactList.count

As there are two elements in the contactList dictionary, 2 is displayed in the Results area.

You can check whether a dictionary is empty by using isEmpty. Type in and run the following code:

contactList.isEmpty

Since the contactList dictionary has two elements, false is displayed in the Results area.

It is also possible to see if a dictionary is empty by using contactlist.count == 0 but using contactList.isEmpty offers better performance.

Imagine that you just finished a meeting, and want to add a new contact to your app. As this dictionary was declared using the var keyword, you can add key-value pairs to it. You'll learn how in the next section.

Adding a new element to a dictionary

To add a new element to a dictionary, provide a key and assign a value to it. Type in and run the following code:

contactList["Meena"] = "+0229876543"
contactList

This adds a new key-value pair with the key "Meena" and the value "+0229876543" to the contactList dictionary. It now consists of "Shah" : "+60126789345", "Aamir" : "+0223456789", and "Meena" : "+0229876543". You can see this in the Results area.

Imagine that you want to call one of your contacts, and you want the phone number for that contact. In the next section, you'll see how to access dictionary elements by specifying the key for the desired value.

Accessing a dictionary element

You can specify a dictionary key to access its corresponding value. Type in and run the following code:

contactList["Shah"]

This returns the value for the key "Shah", and +60123456789 is displayed in the Results area.

***

There are many more scenarios captured ahead. Imagine that one of your contacts has a new phone, so you must update the phone number for that contact. How do you go about that?

Well, read Ahmad Sahar’s further thoughts and work in iOS 18 Programming for Beginnersto find out.

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iOS 18 Programming for Beginners

Buy now at$44.99

💡️ Developer Tip

Carlos B. is sharing a handy Xcode spacing shortcut—a trick they swear by for keeping code formatting clean and consistent. If you’re all about writing neatly structured code, this tip might just make your workflow smoother. Check out the full breakdown in their post!

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.

❓ Did You Know?

MIT is taking no-code app development to the next level with Aptly, an extension of the App Inventor platform that lets users build mobile apps just by describing them in plain language. Powered by large language models, Aptly makes app creation more accessible than ever—whether you’re generating new apps or tweaking existing ones, all it takes is a simple conversation. Check out the complete paper here.

👋 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