This is a big commitment for me to make, and I'm sure you want to know exactly what the inevitable terms and conditions are, so I want to do my best to be as clear and upfront as possible.

What counts as an "update"?

The Swift language changes regularly – about twice a year right now. These changes are sometimes small (such as Swift 3.1) or sometimes large (such as Swift 3.0). Whenever I release to the public an updated book or video to reflect these changes, all existing buyers will get that update free.

How fast will updates be released?

As fast as I can! Emailing me doesn't make me write updates any faster.

What happens with platform updates?

This policy is specifically designed to cover Swift language updates. In the case of platform updates – for example new iOS or macOS releases – the situation varies depending on what has changed. If a feature has been deprecated or removed this will be changed in the book in the next update, which would be free.

Some books I write target specific releases of a platform, and will continue to target that release even after later versions appear. For example, Practical iOS 12 will get free Swift updates in the future, but won't transform into Practical iOS 13 / iOS 14, and so on – those would be separate books with entirely different content.

In the event that Apple makes a dramatic change to a platform - for example, if they ditched AppKit on macOS and released something like UXKit – this would be a new book edition written from scratch, rather than an update. However, in this event I would ensure every existing reader got a significant price discount on the new edition so they could upgrade.

Will books ever be retired?

Every time I update a book, you will get that update for free – that's the core of this policy. However, it's possible that some books reach the natural end of their life and may be retired in the future, perhaps because they are no longer relevant. In this case no more updates will be released, and I will inform you.

What if there's a technical problem?

If external forces stop me from issuing free updates – for example, if iBooks changed so that I had to release new books rather than updates – then I would do everything in my power to find a solution. If that particular scenario ever happened, I would offer iBooks readers a free migration path to Gumroad so they can continue to get updates as they are released.

Does this cover videos too?

This policy is specifically for books, but it also covers books that come with videos – Pro Swift and Beyond Code, for example. Standalone video packs that are made for live events are time-sensitive, and are not covered by this policy.

Can this policy change in the future?

Yes. Please keep in mind that I write and update all these books myself. This policy is me trying to do my best for you as a valued reader, and I hope you can appreciate that circumstances can change in the future.

What I can say is that I will do my utmost to stick to this as best as I can, and if things do change I will contact everyone to explain why. Hacking with Swift was originally written for Swift 1.0, and readers have received free updates for 1.2, 2.0, 2.2, 3.0, 4.0, 4.2, 5.0, and even SwiftUI, so I think it's fair to say I have a track record of doing my best to help keep your learning up to date!