18 posts tagged with "Technology"

When you build SDKs or apps long enough, you start noticing patterns.

One of them is this: developers love adding motion to their apps - until motion starts fighting back.

GIFs are a perfect example.

On paper, they're simple. Drop in a file, play it, done.

In reality? Native iOS support is… let's say minimal. You end up decoding frames manually, managing timing, watching memory spike, and wondering why something so small turned into a whole sprint.

I've seen teams delay releases just because a loading GIF caused stutters on older devices. And I've also seen apps feel instantly more polished once GIFs were handled properly.

That's where SwiftyGif quietly does its job - and does it well.

Let's talk about why it exists, how it fits into real products, and how to use it without turning your codebase into a science experiment.

Why GIF Handling Is Hard in iOS​

iOS technically supports animated images, but real-world apps expose the cracks quickly. Large GIFs consume memory fast. Multiple GIFs on a screen can slow down scrolling. Older devices struggle even more.

Most teams don't notice these issues during development. They show up later - as UI lag, dropped frames, or subtle performance regressions.

SwiftyGif exists to take care of these problems so you don't have to reinvent GIF playback logic yourself.

Integrating SwiftyGif​

Getting started with SwiftyGif is straightforward. You can add it to your project using whichever dependency manager you already use - CocoaPods, Carthage, or Swift Package Manager.

CocoaPods:

pod 'SwiftyGif'

Carthage:

github "SwiftyGif/SwiftyGif"

Swift Package Manager: Add the package with the URL https://github.com/alexiscreuzot/SwiftyGif for compatibility with Swift Package Manager.

There's no special setup, no configuration files, and no extra steps after installation. Once the dependency is added, you're ready to start displaying GIFs.

This simplicity is intentional. SwiftyGif is designed to fit into existing projects without friction.

Displaying a GIF in Your App​

SwiftyGif introduces a custom image view called SwiftyGifView. Think of it as a smarter UIImageView - built specifically for GIF playback.

let gifImageView = SwiftyGifView()
gifImageView.setGifImage(gif)

Advantages of Using SwiftyGif​

Controlling GIF Playback​

Once a GIF is loaded, SwiftyGif gives you control when you need it.

You can pause and resume animations, adjust playback speed, control looping behavior, and even respond to user interactions like taps. This is useful when GIFs are part of user flows, not just decorative elements.

The following code snippet illustrates this control:

let gifManager = SwiftyGifManager(memoryLimit: 20)
let gifImageView = SwiftyGifView()
gifImageView.setGifImage(gif, manager: gifManager) 
gifImageView.speed = 2.0 

For example, slowing down a GIF during onboarding or stopping animations when a screen goes off-screen helps keep the experience intentional and efficient.

Keeping Animations Smooth​

One of SwiftyGif's biggest strengths is performance. The library is optimized to keep animations smooth without overloading the CPU.

Even with larger GIFs, playback stays stable. Scrolling doesn't stutter. UI responsiveness remains intact.

This matters more than it sounds. Animations that feel "almost smooth" are often worse than no animation at all. SwiftyGif focuses on avoiding that middle ground.

Managing Memory with SwiftyGifManager​

GIFs can consume a lot of memory, especially when multiple animations are active at the same time. SwiftyGif addresses this with SwiftyGifManager.

The manager lets you define memory limits for GIF playback. Once those limits are reached, SwiftyGif handles things gracefully instead of letting memory usage spiral out of control.

This is especially helpful in apps with feeds, dashboards, or onboarding flows that use more than one GIF at a time.

let gifManager = SwiftyGifManager(memoryLimit: 20)
let gifImageView = SwiftyGifView()
gifImageView.setGifImage(gif, manager: gifManager)

Loading GIFs from a URL​

SwiftyGif also supports loading GIFs directly from remote URLs. This is useful for apps that display dynamic or server-driven content.

You point the GIF view to a URL, and SwiftyGif takes care of loading and playback. No custom decoding logic needed.

As always, remote content should be handled thoughtfully—but SwiftyGif makes the technical side simple.

let remoteGifURL = URL(string: "https://example.com/your_gif.gif") 
let gifImageView = SwiftyGifView() 
gifImageView.setGifFromURL(remoteGifURL)

Common Pitfalls to Avoid​

Even with the right library, a few mistakes can still sneak in:

• Overusing large GIFs where lightweight animations would work
• Forgetting to manage memory when multiple GIFs are active
• Treating decorative animations as free from performance cost

SwiftyGif helps, but thoughtful usage matters just as much.

Final Thoughts​

SwiftyGif doesn't try to be flashy. It doesn't promise magic.

It does something better: it solves a very specific problem - GIF handling on iOS - and does it reliably, efficiently, and with respect for your codebase.

If your app uses GIFs in any meaningful way, SwiftyGif gives you control without complexity. And when paired with proper performance visibility, it helps ensure those animations stay delightful instead of becoming liabilities.

Sometimes, the best libraries are the ones you don't think about after integration. SwiftyGif fits that description perfectly.

Every Swift developer eventually runs into the same moment.

The app works fine… until it doesn't.

Scrolling becomes sluggish. Memory usage slowly creeps up. A feature that worked perfectly in testing starts behaving strangely in production. And when you dig deep enough, the issue often traces back to one thing: how data is stored and managed.

That's where swift data structures come in.

This blog is a practical walkthrough of data structures in Swift, not from a textbook point of view, but from how they actually show up in real iOS apps. If you've ever wondered how DSA in Swift connects to everyday development, this guide is for you.

Modern Android applications are expected to deliver smooth animations, rich visuals, and real-time graphical effects. However, executing heavy graphical operations on the CPU can quickly lead to performance bottlenecks, increased battery consumption, and poor user experience. For a broader look at tools that can elevate your Android development workflow, check out our guide on 10 Android libraries you really need.

Earlier, Android developers relied on RenderScript for GPU-accelerated workloads. With RenderScript now deprecated, Vulkan has emerged as the most powerful and future-ready alternative for high-performance graphics and compute operations on Android.

In this blog, we'll explore how to utilize GPU capabilities using Vulkan in Kotlin-based Android apps to efficiently handle intensive graphical workloads and unlock next-level performance.

If you've worked on a Flutter app for more than a few weeks, you've probably had this moment: the app works, the UI looks fine… but the code? It's slowly getting messy. A few unused variables here, a couple of print statements there, inconsistent styles everywhere. Nothing is broken yet, but you can feel future bugs lining up.

This is exactly where the Dart Analyzer quietly saves you.

Flutter ships with a static code analysis tool that watches your code while you write it and points out problems before they turn into crashes, performance issues, or painful refactors. The best part? Most teams barely scratch the surface of what it can do.

Let's walk through how the Dart Analyzer works, how you can customize it, and how a few small lint tweaks can make your Flutter app noticeably cleaner and easier to maintain.

You know that feeling when your Flutter app works perfectly in testing… but starts lagging, stuttering, or crashing after users spend some time in it? That's often not a "Flutter problem." It's a memory problem.

Memory leaks are sneaky. They don't always break your app immediately. Instead, they quietly pile up - using more RAM, slowing things down, and eventually pushing your app to a crash. The good news? Most memory leaks in Flutter are avoidable once you know where to look.

Let's walk through some practical, real-world ways to prevent memory leaks in Flutter - no fluff, just things you can actually apply.

If you've ever integrated a third-party iOS framework, you already know this truth: great code means nothing if the documentation is confusing.

An iOS framework exists to make another developer's life easier. But without clear documentation, even the most powerful framework feels hard to adopt, risky to use, and easy to abandon. Documentation isn't an afterthought - it's the bridge between your framework and its users.

Think of your documentation as a guided walkthrough. When done right, it answers questions before they're asked and removes friction at every step. Let's walk through how to build documentation that developers trust, understand, and keep coming back to.

You know that moment when you're rushing to book a cab, the payment is about to go through, and suddenly the app freezes? For a few seconds, you're stuck - did the payment go through or not? Do you retry? Do you close the app? That tiny moment of uncertainty is enough to frustrate most users. And more often than not, they don't come back.

That's exactly how silent damage begins in mobile apps. Not with big disasters—but with small, unexpected failures in moments that matter most. On Android, even one crash in a critical flow like login, checkout, or onboarding can quietly push users away, hurt your ratings, and impact revenue. While no app can ever be completely crash-proof, Kotlin gives you a strong safety net to reduce these risks long before users feel them.

If you have worked on a mobile app for any amount of time, you already know one thing. Bug reporting is often frustrating. You get a crash log. You get a network error. You get a stack trace that points to the very end of a problem. And then you are left trying to guess everything that happened before that moment.

It feels like walking into a movie three minutes before it ends and trying to guess the entire story.

That is the reality of traditional bug reporting.

Now imagine something different. Imagine being able to see exactly what your app was doing inside its functions. You could see what input it received, how it behaved, where things slowed down, and what actually caused the issue. That is the idea behind function tracking. And once you understand it, you can clearly see why it is a far better approach.

Imagine this: You've spent months building your iOS app. You've tested it, fine-tuned every detail, and you're finally ready to show it to the world. You hit "Submit to App Store"... and then the anxiety kicks in. Did you miss anything? Will it get rejected? Did you choose the right account type?

Deploying an iOS app isn't just about shipping code. It's about understanding Apple's ecosystem, speaking their language, and following their rules - without losing your mind.

I've been through the launch chaos, the unexpected rejections, and the "why didn't anyone tell me this?" moments. So here's your shortcut: the 10 things I wish I knew before hitting that submit button.

Imagine building a house with your bare hands. Then, someone hands you a toolbox that automates half the work, ensures structural safety, and even paints the walls. That's what the right Android libraries feel like.

You don't just want to write code. You want to write clean, efficient, testable code that doesn't give you a migraine three months later. These 10 libraries? They're your survival kit.

Let's break them down together. I'll show you real examples, sprinkle in some numbers, and tell you exactly why each one deserves a spot in your next Android project. No fluff - just the stuff that actually helps.