Android Gradle Plugin 8.0 Improves Build Times, Requires Updating Third-Party Plugins and Libraries

Google has announced the upcoming Android Gradle Plugin (AGP), version 8.0, reduces build times by removing the Transform APIs and replacing them through the Artifacts API and Instrumentation API. All third-party plugins and apps relying on them are required to migrate to the new APIs.

Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile Enters Beta

Created by JetBrains to enable using Kotlin to build iOS and Android apps with native UI from a single codebase, Kotlin Multiplatform Mobile has exited the experimental phase and is now available in beta.

Safe Mode is Lyft's Approach to Handle Feature Flags Incidents

Feature flags are a useful tool to conduct A/B experiments and to roll out changes in a controlled way. To make sure that their use does not end up disappointing users when a change causes a crash or degrades the user experience, Lyft created Safe Mode, specifically aimed to prevent crash loops on launch.

AWS Amplify for Swift Reaches 2.0, Brings Async/Await and macOS Support

Previously known as AWS Amplify iOS, AWS Amplify for Swift now offers a rewritten API to support Swift async/await and make concurrency code more idiomatic. Additionally, the new release introduces beta support on macOS for a number of AWS features, including Auth, Storage, Geo, and others.

How Slack Engineers Addressed their Most Common Mobile Development Pain Points

In a rather detailed article, Slack engineers Ahmed Eid and Arpita Patel provided an interesting peek into the processes they adopted along the years to improve developer experience in a number of distinct areas and the tools they used to that aim.