OS X 10.10 Yosemite – A Definitive Guide for Developers

Apple keeps on bringing newer updates, and this time a new version for the Mac operating system was announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 2, called OS X 10.10, officially named as Yosemite – that will launch sometime this fall. However, OS X 10.10 Yosemite preview 3 is provided to developers, which they can grab from the Mac Dev Center.

OS X 10.10 Yosemite – A Foreword

Yosemite boasts a fresh look and comes loaded with new features aimed at making both iPhone and Mac work together in a seamless way. But the essential elements of the Mac OS still haven’t changed – that is power, simplicity and beauty.

What’s New in OS X 10.10 Yosemite for Developers?

1. App Extensions

OS X let developers select code with help of an app extension for enabling custom functionality in the existing application. For example, in case you’ve developed an application that renders photo sharing services, you can embed an extension to the app that makes your service accessible throughout the OS X from the sharing menu. Here, the custom sharing extension will provide the code in order to accept, validate and finally post the users’ photos. Once the users will install an app having extension, to make the extensions work you’ll have to enable them in System Preferences.

OS X offers app extensions support for areas known as extension points:

• Share: Allows content sharing with social websites or other entities.

• Action: Perform a simple task with the selected content. Let you carry out a simple task with help of the selected content.

• Today: It helps to provide a brief function or a quick update in the “Today” view section present in the notification center.

• Finder Sync: Allow services for both custom file as well as sync providers.

2. Handoff – Enables Continuity

In order to “participate in Handoff”, app needs to embrace API in Foundation. Handoff allows one device to complement the other. Simply put, it enables to begin an activity on one device, which can be moved to some other device from the same point whre you left it on the original device. For example, when you move some article you were reading on the Safari browser to any iOS device that is logged in to the same Apple ID, then the same web page will open up in your iOS device that too with same scroll position.

Every continuous activity in the application is depicted by a “user activity object” which comprises of data that is required to resume the same activity on some other device. So, when user opts for resuming some activity, then the activity object is sent to the device where the activity is being resumed.

3. Storyboards – To Showcase Different Views

If you’re a developer yearning for providing engaging app experience to your Mac users, then OS X Storyboards feature is tailored to meet such needs. Storyboards is written in Xcode 6 and helps to present various views to your users in the form of stories or same as the storyboard for a movie. Here each view is referred to as scene, which is connected to the other views via segues (containment relationships).

Albeit, the Mac storyboards will work just like the iOS storyboards, but will have better focus on containment of views instead of transitions between the views.

4. Notification Center

The Notification Center framework helps each professional in creating and managing extensions, known as widgets, in the “Today view”. This framework provides developers with the API, to determine if the widget contains some content – that needs to be displayed and for customization aspects to change the appearance and behavior of the content on the platform. In OS X, the notification center will enable devs to tailor the widget’s search and editing experience.

The Bottom Line

The Apple’s Mac operating system definitely needs improvement, and the new announced version, called OS X 10.10 “Yosemite” for the Mac OS can improve Mac experience for users. Though, this version still has to launch but a preview version of OS X is made available for developers with lots of features. Here in this post I’ve tired to cover the major key points given in the Developer Preview 3.