This Week in Mobile: The Little Things in Kotlin

iOS 

John Sundell explains the basics of Writing Unit Tests in Swift Playgrounds, including some all important setup tips to help you get started faster. 

From the try! Swift conference in Tokyo, Pixels, Process, and Passion looks at all the in-between stuff when it comes to building products.

The Vision framework is an excellent addition to iOS 11. Following on from last week’s introduction to Core ML, follow this tutorial for a quick overview of Vision.

Erica Sadun looks at The Unexpected Joy of Vector Images in iOS 11, where you get so much for free in the rendering quality of your images. 

If you’ve been too busy to check what’s new in iOS 11, then check out 9to5Mac’s video covering all the new features and changes.

Some projects to check out: 

• Gagat: A delightful way to transition between visual styles in your iOS applications 
• Metron: Comprehensive collection of geometric functions and types that extend the 2D geometric primitives provided by CoreGraphics 
• Kuery: Type-safe CoreData query API using Swift 4’s Smart KeyPaths
  

Finally, check out IGListKit 3.0 from the Instagram team. Initially released almost a year and a half ago, it’s full of enhancements, fixes, and changes. 

Android 

Despite all the hype, there are some that are not convinced of Kotlin’s power. Take a look at the little things that make Kotlin a language that Java developers are bound to embrace.

With the Android O API’s finalized, it’s time to take the new features seriously. Joe Birch takes a deep dive into Notification Badges, showing how they can add some real value to your app.

Having a handle on memory leaks is the difference between an amateur and professional Android app developer. So if you want to level up, here’s Everything That You Need to Know About Memory Leaks in Android Apps.

Make your view-model properties great again examines an overlooked technique for view binding; using observable properties. With examples for a number of scenarios, this is a great explanation of how to do binding well, without the overhead of a library.

Kyle Venn from Vimeo explains how his team refactored their app to support Android Instant Apps, step by step.

The Google Play store are launching Android Excellence, a curated list of the best apps and games available in the store.

Some projects to check out: 

• FeaturedRecyclerView: A custom ViewGrpup made by extending RecyclerView which features the first item on top 
• Protein: An Android app for Dribbble
• OkDeepLink: Annotation-based API to manipulate Android app deep links

General 

Nick Butcher shares his experiences with design sprints in User Testing Android Apps.

Essential Color Tools for UX Designers gives a list of useful tools to find inspiration for color combinations that really work.

Defined as an uncontrollable, systematic error in thinking, The Importance of Cognitive Bias in Experience Design cannot be underestimated. Learn how to use it in a positive way in this enlightening article.