Apple Embraces Svelte | App Store Code Leak
By Tyler Wagner
Apple’s App Store Update Comes With an Unexpected Reveal
Earlier this week, Apple released a major update for its online App Store. This update’s purpose is to overhaul the website’s design to match the existing, familiar App Store design seen on iOS mobile devices. Apple is meticulous with its public releases, but this time they made a mistake.
The team behind the update accidentally left the “sourcemaps” enabled in the final version of the website. Enabling sourcemaps links compiled code (code that is used by the browser, but is unreadable by humans) to its corresponding, human-friendly code snippet. Developers can then easily trace the source of errors to their origin, without having to decipher compiled code.
With the non-compiled code fully public, it was only a matter of time before internet sleuths uncovered it. The code was quickly uploaded to a public GitHub repository and circulated within technology subcommunities on Reddit, among others. While it is a major blunder, the leak does not pose any significant risks to Apple or its users.
What the Leak Exposed
The most interesting thing to be gleaned from this incident is that we now know, with certainty, what tool the Apple development team chose to develop its new website. The answer: Svelte.
Apple’s Growing Adoption of Svelte Across Web Apps
This is not Apple’s first time using Svelte. It is already known to be the current framework supporting their online Music app. If anything, this leak is further evidence that Apple is standardizing Svelte as its go-to web application framework. You may be asking why any of this matters, but the reason is simple: Apple’s tech choices often signal where the industry is headed.
Why Svelte? A Breakdown of Apple’s Likely Reasons
Svelte is a modern JavaScript framework (similar to React or Vue). Unlike other frameworks that do heavy work on the user’s browser, Svelte offloads this task to the build step. Basically, Svelte converts your app into compiled code before it goes live, while other frameworks allow the user’s browser to handle this step. This translates to faster load times and a more fluid experience when interacting with a Svelte website.
Smaller Bundles and Faster Load Times
This optimized build leads to less code (and, therefore, less data) being shipped to the end user, further decreasing load times. Svelte also offers a variety of developer-experience features that allow for complex applications to be created with ease. While it may not be as popular as its sibling frameworks, it is quickly becoming one of the top choices for developers everywhere, including Apple’s development team.
Why Apple’s Shift to Svelte Matters for the Web Industry
Apple’s adoption of the framework is a huge vote of confidence. It proves Svelte is suitable for high-traffic, production-grade web applications. When a tech giant makes a move such as this, others take notice. Many companies are now viewing Svelte as a viable alternative to the less-efficient, industry standard options.
Arrows Up Builds High-Performance Websites With Svelte
At Arrows Up, we already use Svelte in real client projects to deliver maintainable front ends. That means our clients enjoy faster load times, smaller bundle sizes, and easier long-term maintenance. If you want a fast website built with Svelte web development best practices, contact Arrows Up today to get started.
