Notes

I recently needed to add Swift Package Manager support to a legacy package that one of my projects was using. The package was originally distributed with CocoaPods. The primary reason for migrating from CocoaPods to SPM is that CocoaPods entered maintenance mode a few months ago. Removing it will future-proof our projects and allow us to use the latest features, such as the buildable folders introduced in Xcode 16. Assumptions Since this was an internal package, I did not need to maintain CocoaPods support. The goal was to replace it entirely with SPM. It is certainly possible to keep both, but that would require some additional work. The project I was working on is considered legacy; no one has touched it in about six years. Once this task is complete, I hope no one will need to update it for another half-dozen years. This allowed me to take some shortcuts, like integrating a third-party dependency directly into the codebase instead of spending time updating it to the latest version. All internal dependencies of your framework already support SPM. With that said, let’s get started. ...

Changedetection.io is a powerful open-source tool that monitors websites for changes. It’s incredibly useful for tracking updates on pages that don’t offer their own notification systems. This guide will walk you through setting it up on your Synology NAS using Docker Compose. Prerequisites Docker installed on your system by following the TrashGuides setup for Synology. Installation Append this configuration to your docker-compose.yml file. If you’ve followed the guide mentioned above, this file should be located in your Docker application data directory (e.g., /volume1/docker/appdata). ...

Prerequisites Before you start, you should have qBittorrent up and running using this guide. Implementation If you’ve used the guide linked above, the qBittorrent container is already running. There are two configuration files that we’ll need to edit: .env and docker-compose.yml. .env Make sure the LAN_NETWORK variable is set properly. If you haven’t modified it after the initial setup, it should be set to 192.168.x.0/24. Update it so that your Synology’s LAN IP is within the address range. Example: since my Synology’s LAN IP address is 192.168.1.110, I’ve replaced x with 1: 192.168.1.0/24. ...

I’ve mostly moved away from using Objective-C over the years. While it still appears in some of the projects I work on, it’s been quite some time since I last had to work on a feature written entirely in Objective-C. These days, I typically encounter it when integrating a new feature written in Swift into an older codebase. Recently, however, I needed to brush up on Objective-C for a job I was interviewing for. ...

My current project has a single target and multiple schemes. Each scheme represents the same app for different countries/regions. It’s essentially the same application with minor adjustments made for each of the supported jurisdictions. In Xcode projects, you define supported languages at the project level (not scheme level). Because of this structure, each app variant inherits the same language settings. My task was to force each app variant to support only the language for the region it was released in. The French app should only support French, no matter what the user’s device language is set to, and so on. This decision was made because large portions of the app are web-based and only supported a single language. ...

Update: 26/03/25 It looks like Objective-C is still an option in the default iOS project template. You can access it after setting the Interface to “Storyboard”. I hadn’t realized these dropdown menus were interconnected. All credit goes to Douglas for spotting this! tl;dr use macOS → Application → Game or Command Line Tool Recently I wanted to refresh my memory on Objective-C. My first thought was to open Xcode, create a new project with language set to Objective-C and play with it. To my surprise, none of the iOS Application project templates allow you to select any other language than Swift. ...

I’ve noticed that the SwiftLint plugin can add up to 30 seconds to incremental build times. In my case, it nearly doubled the average incremental build time! Since there’s no straightforward way to disable SwiftLint across all local packages in a project, I decided on the simplest solution: automating the process of temporarily commenting out SwiftLint from the dependencies list. In my projects, to ensure the SwiftLint plugin is automatically added to all package targets, I append the following code to each Swift package manifest: ...

Homarr creates a customizable browser homepage that lets you manage and interact with Docker containers running on your homeserver. Here’s my dashboard setup: Prerequisites Docker installed on your system (follow this Synology setup guide) Installation Append this configuration to your docker-compose.yml file: homarr: container_name: homarr image: ghcr.io/ajnart/homarr:latest restart: unless-stopped logging: driver: json-file options: max-file: ${DOCKERLOGGING_MAXFILE} max-size: ${DOCKERLOGGING_MAXSIZE} environment: - PUID=${PUID} - PGID=${PGID} - TZ=${TZ} volumes: - ${DOCKERCONFDIR}/homarr/configs:/app/data/configs - ${DOCKERCONFDIR}/homarr/icons:/app/public/icons - ${DOCKERCONFDIR}/homarr/data:/data ports: - 7575:7575 Start the container by running this command in your docker directory (typically /volume1/docker/appdata): ...

In this article, I’ll show you how to access a web page’s content, alter it using JavaScript, and display it using your Safari extension’s UI. Specifically, I’ll demonstrate how to display an article’s content in a popover. I often use Large Language Models (LLMs) to summarize articles when I’m unsure if they’re worth reading. Without the extension we’re about to build, I’d need to manually trigger Safari’s reader mode (⌘ + ⇧ + R), copy all content, and paste it into Claude or ChatGPT. This extension is a handy tool that reduces friction! ...

I run qbittorrent in a Docker container on my Synology NAS, with VPN configured at the Synology system level (Control Panel -> Network -> Network Interface) rather than the container level. For setup instructions, you can follow this guide. Even with killswitch enabled, I wanted to verify beyond the UI’s “Firewalled” status that my torrent traffic was actually routing through the VPN. To check this, SSH into your Synology NAS and run: ...

I’ve been using Synology for the past year, and during this time it’s become the center of my home computing. I’m still discovering new use cases, so I’ll keep this post updated. Today, I want to share how I ended up with this setup - the how and why. Here are the main things I use my NAS for: Media Server - My Synology stores and serves my entire collection of movies, TV shows, and music. Using Plex, I can stream this content to any device, creating a personalized Netflix-like experience. Usenet / Torrent Client - I have the standard *ARR stack setup for managing my media library. I can’t recommend it enough. This suite of apps is a crown jewel of the entire setup. HomeBridge - HomeBridge allows me to integrate non-HomeKit devices into my Apple HomeKit setup. Time Machine Backup Destination - My Synology serves as a Time Machine backup destination for all my Macs. This is a major improvement over manually connecting external HDDs. DNS Server - I run AdGuard Home on my Synology as a DNS server. Similar to Pi-hole, it blocks ads across all devices on my network. You can read more about it here. Personal Cloud Storage - While I use iCloud for critical documents, my Synology acts as a personal cloud for miscellaneous files. It’s a great way to keep less important documents accessible without cluttering my primary cloud storage. In the following sections, I’ll dive deeper into this setup, providing a high-level overview and sharing useful resources that have helped me create this system. ...

For years, I wanted a way to launch my most-used apps with single-key shortcuts. While I knew tools like Hammerspoon could make this possible, I never found a key combination that felt right. I’d always end up disabling the setup, missing the functionality of keys like right control, caps lock, or escape. Everything changed when I discovered Karabiner Elements’ ability to create distinct mappings for different key events, such as short presses and long presses. The setup I’m about to share lets you launch any mapped app by pressing caps lock plus a specific letter. The best part? You don’t lose the caps lock functionality—it still works as normal when pressed on its own. ...

Setting up AdGuard Home as a Docker Container on Synology NAS In this guide, I’ll walk you through the steps to set up AdGuard Home (AGH) as a Docker container on a Synology NAS. This setup will allow you to use AGH both inside and outside of your home network. AdGuard Home is a network-wide DNS server that blocks ads and trackers for all devices on your network. It filters unwanted content before it reaches your devices, eliminating the need for individual ad blockers. With customizable rules and open-source flexibility, it offers comprehensive protection and can be installed on various platforms, including Raspberry Pi. ...

tl;dr: If your custom DNS does not work in Safari, you might want to try disabling Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection. A few weeks back, I set up AdGuard Home on my Synology NAS. I’ve been using it without any issues inside and outside of my home network thanks to Tailscale. There was one issue with this setup though: battery drainage on all of my mobile devices. I noticed that my battery usage went up by 25% on my phone. ...

In this article, I’ll describe how to set up your Plex server so you can access it remotely through Tailscale, with Remote Access completely disabled in Plex server settings. Prerequisites Have a Plex server running as a Docker container using this guide. When you’re done, you should have a docker-compose.yml and a .env file with all your environment variables. Have Tailscale set up and running on your Synology. You can use this guide. Make sure to disable the expiry for the IP address assigned to your Synology NAS in the Tailscale dashboard. ...

When adding a local Swift package to your Xcode project, you might encounter the following error: Missing package product `PACKAGE_NAME` The issue often occurs when the package you’re trying to add is already open in Xcode. To resolve: Close the package in Xcode. Close your main project. Reopen your main project. I’m not sure what might be causing this issue or why reopening the project is required (a clean build won’t do). ...

tldr: In order to keep the current Safari window open when you close the last tab, use tab groups. Last month, I once again switched my default web browser to Safari. It has its quirks, but I missed it in a weird way. I initially switched to Firefox because of its stellar support for vim keybindings and some other extensions I started to enjoy. Even with all those improvements, I began to miss some niceties that Safari has built-in. ...

In my current role, we have around 30 projects distributed across roughly 20 different repositories. Most of them are Swift packages for various features used in our apps. This setup requires me to frequently switch between multiple projects. Just a few days ago, I was working on the login flow. This involved modifying two Swift packages and one Xcode project. Remembering whether a given project is a Swift package, a workspace (.xcworkspace), or a standard project (.xcodeproj) is exhausting. This adds unnecessary complexity and slows down the workflow. It would be better if we had a single command to open all of them at once. Here’s a script that does just that: ...

I’ve noticed that I’ve been wasting a lot of time watching Instagram Reels lately. This would not be a problem if I actually enjoyed the time spent doing it. However, this was not the case. I’m not only angry at myself after the fact, but I also usually feel miserable while mindlessly scrolling. It’s just that sometimes I lack the discipline to avoid it altogether. Ideally, I’d completely delete it from my phone, but I still need it for texting. It’s borderline impossible to convince some of my friends to switch to a different platform. Also, some of Instagram’s messaging features are just nice to have. ...

Imagine you’re working on Project A, which relies on Package B, a remote Swift package. To incorporate modifications in B and assess their impact on A, the standard approach requires committing and pushing the changes in B, updating B’s version in A, and then rebuilding A to observe the outcomes. This method is slow and cumbersome. There must be a better way! Project A | └──> Swift Package B To speed up and improve the workflow, you can convert the remote dependency B to a local one. This method works whether Project A is a Swift package or an Xcode project (xcodeproj or xcworkspace). ...

This website uses the PaperMod theme for Hugo. The default setup offers a primary RSS feed for all posts at yoursite.com/index.xml. However, I needed more granularity—specifically, RSS feeds for posts tagged with certain keywords. After some exploration and experimentation, I discovered that Hugo automatically generates RSS feeds for each tag. TIL! Here’s how you can access these tag-specific RSS feeds: iOS Tag Feed: https://kunat.dev/tags/ios/index.xml Swift Tag Feed: https://kunat.dev/tags/swift/index.xml Utils Tag Feed: https://kunat.dev/tags/utils/index.xml

A few months ago, I wrote about Alfred Snippets on iOS. In that article, I described the manual process of converting Alfred text snippets into macOS text replacements. Since then, I’ve had time to refine this project and add some new features. You can download the final Command Line Interface (CLI) or the macOS app from this link. Next on my list is the complete automation of the process of synchronizing Alfred text snippets with macOS text replacements. I’m not sure if it’s even possible, but there’s only one way to find out. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will take me less time than it did before. ...

How to automate adding plugins to all of your existing (and future) targets in a Swift package TL;DR package.targets = package.targets.map { target in var plugins = target.plugins ?? [] plugins.append(.plugin(name: "SwiftLintPlugin", package: "SwiftLint")) target.plugins = plugins return target } The Problem Last month, I was tasked with adding SwiftFormat and SwiftLint to one of the projects my team maintains. The project is medium-sized and uses Swift Package Manager (SPM) for modularization. It has a separate SPM package for each module. For example: ...

tl;dr this is currently not possible. See Solution. Last week, I was working on extracting functionality responsible for handling Live Activities into a separate Swift Package Manager (SPM) package. Apple introduced Live Activities with the release of iOS 16.1. My project’s deployment target is currently set to iOS 13. As you can imagine, this feature had lots of #if available checks. To make my life a bit easier, I’ve decided to set my package’s deployment target to iOS 16.1. On paper, this (in combination with #if canImport()) would allow me to get rid of all the availability checks spread around my codebase. ...

My story begins with a quest for a reliable ad blocker for Safari. I used Wipr for years, but it started performing poorly. I tried AdGuard, but it required a root certificate for HTTPS traffic, which was a dealbreaker. PiHole seemed complex to configure, so I found NextDNS, a DNS-level content blocker promising effective ad and tracker filtering. I decided to try it. NextDNS: The Game Changer NextDNS turned out to be a game-changer for several reasons. First of all, it’s fairly cheap. The pro plan costs around $2 a month and the free plan is more than enough to try out this product. The setup couldn’t be easier. They offer a few different ways to set it up on all of your devices. The final thing is reliability. I’ve been using NextDNS on all of my personal devices for the past six months without encountering any issues. It almost sounds too good to be true. ...