Hacking with watchOS
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Build for ultimate portability
Includes free updates for new Swift versions – click to read my update policy
watchOS powers Apple's tiniest devices, but users take their watches everywhere they go – even in endurance sports. This means apps can be more personal than ever, delivering contextual information straight to your user's wrist.
100% watchOS 10
You can always be guaranteed you're learning the latest, greatest Apple technologies because all my tutorials are written for watchOS 10.
100% SWIFT 5.10
Don't waste time with out of date tutorials – here you can learn smart, powerful, and expressive Swift the way it was meant to be written.
100% PRACTICAL
You learn Swift while you make real watchOS projects with SwiftUI, so you apply your new skills immediately and see them work in context.
100% PROVEN
I've already taught thousands of people how to build iOS apps, and now I'll help you transfer your skills to watchOS and unleash the power of your desktop.
What's in the course
If you already read Hacking with Swift, Hacking with macOS, or Pro Swift, you'll already know exactly how Hacking with watchOS is structured: I've designed a collection of app projects that teach all the core system frameworks, including SwiftUI, then ordered them so you start to learn with easy projects and work your way up over time.
Hacking with watchOS teaches you SwiftUI through real-world projects. There's a comprehensive Swift introduction for beginners, but I'm also packing the book with hints and tips that help you transfer your existing iOS skills to watchOS painlessly.
Hacking with watchOS includes 12 projects in total: four apps, four games, and four technique projects that focus on specific watchOS APIs. The projects are:
- NoteDictate: Get started coding in Swift by making a notes app driven entiely by your user's voice.
- Rock, Paper, Scissors: Learn how to use timers, images, groups, and more with this brain-teasing game.
- Storing Data: Persist your apps data using UserDefaults, files, SwiftData, and the secure keychain.
- WatchFX: Build a currency converter using live internet data, plus sliders, pickers, and a page-based user interface.
- Hue Knows: Discover how alerts, menus, and notifications can help you build richer watchOS apps and games.
- Views and Modifiers: Learn how SwiftUI transforms our code into real layouts, and how you can create your own custom modifiers.
- Magic 8-Ball: Build your own watch face complication that can predict the future. (Possibly)
- Safe Crack: Combine the digital crown with haptic feedback and Grand Central Dispatch to create a fun puzzle.
- Animation: Learn how to make your user interfaces come to life with attribute and image animations.
- iMove: Design your own custom workout app using HealthKit and track calories, distance, and more.
- ColorSpin: Add SpriteKit to your apps and build high-performance 2D games – it's easier than you think!
- WatchConnectivity: Transfer data, settings, files, and complication updates between watchOS and iOS.
Get the project source code here
While building projects, you'll learn all this and more:
- How SwiftUI on watchOS differs from SwiftUI on iOS.
- How to build apps that make the most of a small display – use the digital crown, gesture recognizers, and more.
- Communicating with the user's iPhone to share information, including notifications and app data.
- Reading and writing data using HealthKit to build your own workout app.
- Designing apps to take advantage of system features such as watch complications, animations, voice dictation, and the secure keychain.
- Handling animation, concurrency, and more.
I've done my best to make sure this book is accessible to everyone: if you're just starting out I'll make sure and explain every concept, but if you're coming from iOS there are tips to help you transfer your existing skills to watchOS.
