O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: open source

  • Swift SDK for Android becomes available, allows Swift to be used to create native Android apps

    Swift SDK for Android becomes available, allows Swift to be used to create native Android apps

    Apple’s Swift software development kit just became that much more useful.

    A new preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published lasat week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift with official tooling and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android.

    The kit allows Android apps to be built in Swift using Apple’s officially supported tooling as opposed to community workarounds. In June, it was announced that the Swift programming language would be extended to support Android app development via the creation of a dedicated Android Working Group within the Swift open-soure project.

    Per MacRumors:

    “Android interoperability is handled by swift-java, which can automatically generate bindings between Java and Swift so developers can use Swift code alongside existing Android APIs and Java code. The Swift Package Index now marks packages with Android support and says over 25 percent of all packages already build on Android, giving developers a base of reusable code.”

    The Swift SDK for Android is currently available in nightly preview form and is bundled with the Swift for Windows installer or as a separate download for both Linux and macOS users. An updated Getting Started guide has been issued with it, offering end-to-end setup instructions as well as sample Android projects that have been written in Swift to demonstrate complete workflows.

    The group is preparing a vision document to set future priorities and is tracking progress on a public project board.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and swift.org

  • MLX project looks to revive Xgrid cluster processing efforts of yesteryear

    MLX project looks to revive Xgrid cluster processing efforts of yesteryear

    If you loved the Xgrid project from several years ago, you’re going to like this.

    Per an excellent article by AppleInsider’s Mike Wuerthele, a new project continues the efforts wherein cluster-based computing was created by connecting Macs together. The Xgrids, which worked well in extremely specific circumstances, were both corporate and federally-funded efforts with some hobbyists building their own rigs at home.

    A new MLX project that uses Macs and Thunderbolt networking appears to be emerging as a much smoother reincarnation of these earlier efforts. The project uses MPI distributed computing, and utilizes one master machine and as many worker Macs as can be afforded connected directly to the master machine using Thunderbolt 4 cables. This in turn provides extremely high-speed communications between the host machine and the workers.

    The worker machines themselves can be headless, with automatic login selected, Screen Sharing enabled, and networking having been configured manually.

    Computational software is installed, using Open-MPI through HomeBrew. The MLX project repository is then installed next.

    Beyond the software itself, a cluster of Mac Studio desktops can easily be transported in a duffle bag, and an iPad could be used as a screen. From there, up to six Apple Silicon Mac worker machines could be connected to an M1 Ultra or M2 Ultra Mac Studio host machine, or any other configuration you saw fit.

    It’s a nifty project, it has a good community behind it, and it could perhaps lead to some amazing things, especially under the Apple Silicon hardware platform.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via AppleInsider, GitHub, and Open-MPI

  • Developers begin work on Google Chrome’s Blink engine running on iOS

    Developers begin work on Google Chrome’s Blink engine running on iOS

    A series of screenshots have surfaced documenting Google’s development effort to bring Chrome’s full Blink browser engine to iOS against current App Store rules.

    Last month, Google quietly unveiled a new effort to port the Blink browser engine — used by Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers like Edge and Opera — to iOS. Under Apple’s current App Store policies, all web browsers for iPhones and iPads are required to use the built-in version of WebKit, essentially making all browsers act like Safari.

    While these rules are still in effect, Google has made it clear that it does not have plans to launch any type of Blink-based browser onto the App Store. Even so, there’s been a recent groundswell of support for Apple to ease its restrictions on the App Store and on browsers. Google could potentially push such a shift if it ports Blink to iOS, thereby showing the benefits of Blink/Chrome versus WebKit/Safari on iOS while also making a potential switch to a full-fledged Chrome browser easier down the line.

    In the weeks since the project was announced, Google and Igalia (an open source consultancy and frequent Chromium contributor) have been developing a simplified “content_shell” browser up and running in iOS and fixing issues along the way.

    As part of the bug hunt process, a group of developers have released screenshots of the minimal Blink-based browser running on an iPhone 12. The images show the browser working as expected, with no obvious issues in the site’s appearance. Above the page contents, you can see a simple blue bar containing the address bar and typical browser controls like back, forward, and refresh.

    From these work-in-progress screenshots, it seems clear that the Blink for iOS project is already making significant progress, but it’s clearly a prototype not meant to be used like a full web browser. The next biggest step that Google has laid out is to ensure this version of Blink/Chromium for iOS passes all of the many tests that ensure all aspects of a browser are working correctly.

    For users who might want to get a headstart on figuring out what changes a website may need to get prepared for a potential Blink/Chromium browser for iOS, or if they simply want to try it out for themselves, Google offers official instructions on how to build the prototype for yourself, though they’ll need a Mac to do so.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Google and chromium.googlesource.com

  • System7.app allows for web-based System 7 emulation

    System7.app allows for web-based System 7 emulation

    This is really cool.

    Developer Mihai Parparita’s web-based Infinite Mac System 7 project has reached a new milestone, and it’s now a cinch to go to system7.app, load a virtual System 7 Mac and play with the games, applications, and utilities you loved back in the 90’s.

    The website, which can run in almost any web browser, boots a virtual Macintosh Quadra and lets you take a stroll down memory lane, with additional improvements being added over time, as this is part of a larger open source project.

    A bevy of cool emulated games and applications, such as Adobe Photoshop 3.0.5, ClarisWorks, the original Civilization, Glider, and Maelstrom, can be found here, and load faster than their developers might have ever thought possible.

    Head on over to System7.app, poke around, see what you think, and please let us know about your experience in the comments.

  • OBS live streaming app beta for Macs released, now offers support for Apple Silicon hardware

    OBS live streaming app beta for Macs released, now offers support for Apple Silicon hardware

    If you’re a fan of streaming, you’re going to like this.

    The popular OBS live streaming app has been released as a new beta that’s compatible with Apple Silicon Macs. The update adds native support for Macs equipped with M1 and M2 chips.

    The first beta of OBS Studio 28 provides full native support to Apple’s Silicon platform. This means that Apple Silicon Macs will be able to enjoy significant improvement in the app’s performance. The beta update also added some new features to the OBS live streaming app.

    While some Apple Silicon Macs support apps made for Intel-based computers through Rosetta technology and can’t fully utilize Apple’s ARM chips, apps with native Silicon support were proven to work faster without consuming too much power.

    The developer has noted that third-party plug-ins will still need to be updated to include Apple Silicon support.

    When it comes to new features, OBS Studio 28 added support for 10-bit HDR video and the new ScreenCaptureKit API. This API allows high-performance screen capture on macOS. In addition, the update also brought improved support for the Apple VT encoder.

    Unfortunately, the new beta of the OBS live streaming app has dropped support for the macOS 10.13 High Sierra, macOS 10.14 Mojave, Windows 7, Windows 8, Ubuntu 18.04, and all 32-bit operating system.

    OBS Studio 28 beta is now available to download on Github for testing purposes only. No word yet on when the public version of the app will become available.

    If you’ve had a chance to try the new beta, please let us know about your experience in the comments.

    Via The Mac Observer and GitHub