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Metal, Vulkan, OpenGL & Godot
Greetings! I'm preparing to publish an app in Apple Store. It's a 2D Audio app made in Godot, already published in Google Store.. As we know, OpenGL is considered deprecated since iOS 12 / 2018 .. However given the current state of Metal, or Vulkan integration in Godot, and with the idea of bringing the Best possible experience on iOS.. I'm not completely sure what will be the best API to use as primary option.. -As good as Metal, or even Vulkan work in Godot; the fact of the matter is, each API has its strong and weak points.. -Metal: Native on iOS, fully compliant and supported. However it has two weak points: Initial Compilation Freeze - +5 sec. Performance Hit, (although negligible for final user) app uses 25% more CPU (on my iPhone 12). Battery drain? -Vulkan: In godot, Vulkan > MoltenVk > Metal More complex translation layer, but interestingly gives slightly better Performance than Metal.. Initial Compilation doesn't cause Freeze, because is lazy/delayed and performed while the app is starting. Uses 25% less CPU than Metal and gives slightly more stable Framerate. (iPhone 12) However, given the extra complexity it could be more prone to error, or Compatibility Problems, which are known and have been reported with older iOS devices (iPads come to mind..) Right? -OpenGL: No Initial Compilation Needed Max Performance, No CPU munch Universally supported, (in theory?) works Perfectly on my iPhone 12 with iOS 26.3 and 26.4.2 And all in all, gives the best Performance and user experience. -And that's pretty much the situation! Since the graphics API of choice, will have an effect and directly translate to User experience... what's then the best one? -This will be the first app I Publish on Apple Store, so as you can imagine I want to Comply with Apple as much as possible; and bring iOS users the best possible experience. However each one of the APIs seem to have a negative aspect.. Metal: 5sec Compilation Freeze Vulkan: Compatibility Problems? OpenGL: "Deprecated" In practical terms, right now, OpenGL gives the best Performance, and the best User Experience.. So what to do? -The Android version is published in Google Store in OpenGL Compat mode. Works perfectly. Even tho OpenGL has been Deprecated on iOS for 7+ years, it has survived all along, with no announced removal date from Apple. And it seems to work perfectly and be fully operational up to the latest iOS 26 version.. right? Maybe Apple is maintaining it for stability and compatibility reasons, even if they're no longer actively developing it? Butthee "deprecated" label sounds alarming, as if support could drop any day.. So what will be the best choice in this situation? -Will an app built primarily for OpenGL, (with Metal fallback) be Rejected right away in Apple Store? -Otoh Vulkan (via MoltenVK) could be a middle term solution, second best Performance, no Compilation Freeze.. But yeah, the Compatibility aspect is important; and while considerable improvements have been made in Godot's implementation, the current status or possible outcome is harder to assess.. Both Metal and OpenGL seem safer options in that sense..
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Possibilities of Overclocking Apple Silicon
I've been testing Apple Silicon devices in their desktop configurations on the Mac Studio and now retired Mac Pro and it seems like they're greatly bottlenecked by their clock speeds. For reference here's my testing results. Testing Results: Mac Studio M2 Max • 32GBs RAM • 30 core GPU • 1TB Storage CPU Utilization • 60% • 20W CPU Temperature • 47ºC GPU Utilization • 100% • 20W GPU Temperature • 55ºC Fan Speed • 50% Workload Duration • 2hrs Another point is that the clock speed on the M2 Max's CPU is 3.5 GHz and on the GPU it is 1.44 GHz at max performance. Which the Mac Studio has no trouble pushing. My question is how do I push those clock speeds higher? Cause 1.44 GHz at 55ºC is evidence for extensive headroom. I'm sure there are tools internally for testing the upper limits of the silicon, but it makes no sense why it would be set so low the Mac Studio is at no worries of melting. Is there any way to push the performance of my Mac Studio? FB22713867 - Possibilities of Overclocking Apple Silicon
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SwiftUI + SpriteKit interop: best practices for HUD overlays in a tile-based puzzle game?
Hey all, I'm building a tile-based puzzle game for iOS and have been experimenting with using SwiftUI for the HUD (score, timer, pause menu, settings sheet) layered on top of a SpriteView that hosts the actual gameplay scene. So far the integration has been smoother than I expected — SpriteView drops cleanly into a ZStack, and I can drive SwiftUI state from the SpriteKit scene via an ObservableObject shared between them. That said, I've run into a few rough edges that I'd love some input on. The biggest one is touch handling: when a SwiftUI overlay (like a semi-transparent pause button) sits over the SpriteView, taps near the edges of the button occasionally get swallowed by the underlying scene, even when the button's hit area looks correct in the view debugger. I've tried .contentShape(Rectangle()) and bumping the frame, which helps but doesn't fully eliminate it. Curious if anyone has landed on a reliable pattern here, especially for transient overlays like toast notifications that need to ignore touches everywhere except on the toast itself. The other thing I'm weighing is animation ownership. Right now, gameplay animations (tile slides, match effects) live in SpriteKit, and HUD animations (score pop, combo counter) live in SwiftUI with withAnimation. It works, but the two animation systems don't share a clock, so when I want a "tile matched → score increment" effect to feel synchronized, I end up dispatching from the SKScene back to the ObservableObject and hoping the frame timing lines up. Has anyone found a cleaner way to coordinate timing across the two, or is this just the cost of mixing the frameworks? Would also love to hear from anyone who has shipped a game with this hybrid setup — any gotchas around Scene Phase transitions, backgrounding, or memory pressure that bit you in production? Thanks!
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Deaf friend
I just wonder what to do futures iPhone will change update
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1
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0
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290
Activity
Apr ’26
Noob ios 26 for game mobile legend só lag 🤮🤮
Why you don’t fix that ?
Replies
1
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0
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381
Activity
Apr ’26
Can Apple please add Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller support? This is a very popular controller.
Hi Apple, Can you please add support for the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller? The first one is supported but the Switch 2 has been out nearly a year now and a lot of people want to use these controllers with macOS and iOS. Can you please consider adding support? Thank you.
Replies
1
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0
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500
Activity
Apr ’26
Metal, Vulkan, OpenGL & Godot
Greetings! I'm preparing to publish an app in Apple Store. It's a 2D Audio app made in Godot, already published in Google Store.. As we know, OpenGL is considered deprecated since iOS 12 / 2018 .. However given the current state of Metal, or Vulkan integration in Godot, and with the idea of bringing the Best possible experience on iOS.. I'm not completely sure what will be the best API to use as primary option.. -As good as Metal, or even Vulkan work in Godot; the fact of the matter is, each API has its strong and weak points.. -Metal: Native on iOS, fully compliant and supported. However it has two weak points: Initial Compilation Freeze - +5 sec. Performance Hit, (although negligible for final user) app uses 25% more CPU (on my iPhone 12). Battery drain? -Vulkan: In godot, Vulkan > MoltenVk > Metal More complex translation layer, but interestingly gives slightly better Performance than Metal.. Initial Compilation doesn't cause Freeze, because is lazy/delayed and performed while the app is starting. Uses 25% less CPU than Metal and gives slightly more stable Framerate. (iPhone 12) However, given the extra complexity it could be more prone to error, or Compatibility Problems, which are known and have been reported with older iOS devices (iPads come to mind..) Right? -OpenGL: No Initial Compilation Needed Max Performance, No CPU munch Universally supported, (in theory?) works Perfectly on my iPhone 12 with iOS 26.3 and 26.4.2 And all in all, gives the best Performance and user experience. -And that's pretty much the situation! Since the graphics API of choice, will have an effect and directly translate to User experience... what's then the best one? -This will be the first app I Publish on Apple Store, so as you can imagine I want to Comply with Apple as much as possible; and bring iOS users the best possible experience. However each one of the APIs seem to have a negative aspect.. Metal: 5sec Compilation Freeze Vulkan: Compatibility Problems? OpenGL: "Deprecated" In practical terms, right now, OpenGL gives the best Performance, and the best User Experience.. So what to do? -The Android version is published in Google Store in OpenGL Compat mode. Works perfectly. Even tho OpenGL has been Deprecated on iOS for 7+ years, it has survived all along, with no announced removal date from Apple. And it seems to work perfectly and be fully operational up to the latest iOS 26 version.. right? Maybe Apple is maintaining it for stability and compatibility reasons, even if they're no longer actively developing it? Butthee "deprecated" label sounds alarming, as if support could drop any day.. So what will be the best choice in this situation? -Will an app built primarily for OpenGL, (with Metal fallback) be Rejected right away in Apple Store? -Otoh Vulkan (via MoltenVK) could be a middle term solution, second best Performance, no Compilation Freeze.. But yeah, the Compatibility aspect is important; and while considerable improvements have been made in Godot's implementation, the current status or possible outcome is harder to assess.. Both Metal and OpenGL seem safer options in that sense..
Replies
5
Boosts
0
Views
909
Activity
1w
Possibilities of Overclocking Apple Silicon
I've been testing Apple Silicon devices in their desktop configurations on the Mac Studio and now retired Mac Pro and it seems like they're greatly bottlenecked by their clock speeds. For reference here's my testing results. Testing Results: Mac Studio M2 Max • 32GBs RAM • 30 core GPU • 1TB Storage CPU Utilization • 60% • 20W CPU Temperature • 47ºC GPU Utilization • 100% • 20W GPU Temperature • 55ºC Fan Speed • 50% Workload Duration • 2hrs Another point is that the clock speed on the M2 Max's CPU is 3.5 GHz and on the GPU it is 1.44 GHz at max performance. Which the Mac Studio has no trouble pushing. My question is how do I push those clock speeds higher? Cause 1.44 GHz at 55ºC is evidence for extensive headroom. I'm sure there are tools internally for testing the upper limits of the silicon, but it makes no sense why it would be set so low the Mac Studio is at no worries of melting. Is there any way to push the performance of my Mac Studio? FB22713867 - Possibilities of Overclocking Apple Silicon
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
188
Activity
1w
SwiftUI + SpriteKit interop: best practices for HUD overlays in a tile-based puzzle game?
Hey all, I'm building a tile-based puzzle game for iOS and have been experimenting with using SwiftUI for the HUD (score, timer, pause menu, settings sheet) layered on top of a SpriteView that hosts the actual gameplay scene. So far the integration has been smoother than I expected — SpriteView drops cleanly into a ZStack, and I can drive SwiftUI state from the SpriteKit scene via an ObservableObject shared between them. That said, I've run into a few rough edges that I'd love some input on. The biggest one is touch handling: when a SwiftUI overlay (like a semi-transparent pause button) sits over the SpriteView, taps near the edges of the button occasionally get swallowed by the underlying scene, even when the button's hit area looks correct in the view debugger. I've tried .contentShape(Rectangle()) and bumping the frame, which helps but doesn't fully eliminate it. Curious if anyone has landed on a reliable pattern here, especially for transient overlays like toast notifications that need to ignore touches everywhere except on the toast itself. The other thing I'm weighing is animation ownership. Right now, gameplay animations (tile slides, match effects) live in SpriteKit, and HUD animations (score pop, combo counter) live in SwiftUI with withAnimation. It works, but the two animation systems don't share a clock, so when I want a "tile matched → score increment" effect to feel synchronized, I end up dispatching from the SKScene back to the ObservableObject and hoping the frame timing lines up. Has anyone found a cleaner way to coordinate timing across the two, or is this just the cost of mixing the frameworks? Would also love to hear from anyone who has shipped a game with this hybrid setup — any gotchas around Scene Phase transitions, backgrounding, or memory pressure that bit you in production? Thanks!
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0
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0
Views
802
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6d