[NewsPoster]

On Friday, Apple began notifying developers of a mandatory change in how apps manage memory when in use, instituting a newer form of "retain and release" where old code in RAM is periodically flushed out, in Apple's preferred Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) feature. As of May 1, all new and updated apps submitted to the Mac App Store must make use of ARC.

The previous "garbage collection" memory management standard, which first arrived in Objective-C 2.0, was actually deprecated by Apple with the release of OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) in 2012, but Apple has not enforced the policy until now. ARC is seen as a more efficient system for memory management of objects in Objective-C, and is provided as a feature on most compilers.

Apple recommends that developers use Xcode's migration assistant to convert existing app source code to use ARC, since it can handle the conversion automatically, and remove obsolete garbage collection calls from the code. Developers can still use the previous style for manual memory management if desired, however.

Maps Connect expands to Canada, France, Germany as Maps adds businesses

Apple's Maps Connect service has expanded outside the US for the second time in a month, with Canada, France, and Germany (along with the French and German languages) now supported. The service allows businesses to add listings to the Apple Maps database directly, though entries are fact-checked by Apple workers. Businesses can also edit listings which then appear when users consult Apple Maps or use the program to find nearby businesses.

The mysterious black vans that sparked speculation and numerous discoveries of an alleged Apple vehicle-related program were in actuality more likely to be what reporters initially thought they were: ground truth verification and street-level mapping units, that will augment Apple's existing map technology. Originally introduced in the US last October, the program expanded in January to cover the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.

Epson, Canon drivers for OS X updated

Following last month's updating of Lexmark printer, scanner, and AIO drivers for recent OS X version releases, Apple has now posted the same for Canon and Epson printer units. The v3.2 and v3.0 (respectively) packages include both update and new drivers for a wide variety of Canon and Epson products, including most recent releases from the companies. All of the drivers are only for systems running OS X 10.7 (Lion) or later.

Users can opt to download and install the entire packages, or use Software Update -- which will selectively download only those drives needed for the users' currently-connected Canon or Epson models. Downloads are available for the entire package for either Lexmark, Epson, or Canon from Apple's Support Downloads page. A listing of exactly which drivers were updated and which ones are new for each brand can be found here.

[Doodpants]

"Retain and release" and "garbage collection" are two different memory management schemes. "Retain and release" is the way memory was managed prior to Objective C 2.0, which is when they first added a garbage collector. Garbage collection eliminated the need to add explicit calls to the "retain" and "release" methods. ARC also eliminates the need for the coder to add the calls, but by having the compiler automatically insert the "retain" and "release" calls into the code during compilation, rather than by running a garbage collecter during runtime.

[Charles Martin]

Thanks for that explanation. My last serious attempts at programming involved assembly language, so clearly I got that wrong. I'll fix it.