This article explains how upcoming changes in iOS 26 and Xcode 26 affect SwiftUI applications using the Pendo SDK. It includes guidance to help you maintain tracking and guide functionality as you plan your upgrade.
What changed in iOS 26 and Xcode 26
Apple introduced a new rendering model in iOS 26 that changes how SwiftUI components are handled. This model removes the traditional view hierarchy in favor of a layer-based system.
Pendo's SDK identifies Pages and Features by analyzing the app's view hierarchy. When you build your SwiftUI app using Xcode 26, the SDK can no longer detect these views due to the underlying system changes.
These changes only affect SwiftUI apps built with Xcode 26. Apps built with earlier versions (like Xcode 16) continue to work as expected on iOS 26.
What’s affected
If you build your SwiftUI app with Xcode 26 before updating to the compatible SDK:
- Automatic Page and Feature tracking stops working.
- Guides triggered by Pages or Features won't display.
- No analytics data is collected from these sources.
However, the following continue to work even with Xcode 26:
- App Launch guides.
- Guides launched by Track Events.
- Track Events and other custom instrumentation.
- UIKit-based views and applications.
What to do
To avoid disruption, follow these recommendations:
- Don't build your SwiftUI app with Xcode 26 until the new Pendo SDK version is released.
- Continue building with Xcode 16.x or earlier if you use SwiftUI and rely on Page and Feature tracking or guides.
- After the new SDK release:
- Upgrade your app to Pendo SDK version 3.8.2.
- Rebuild your app using Xcode 26.
- Test your Pages and Features to confirm tracking works as expected.
Important: If you build with Xcode 26 and use the current SDK, automatic analytics and guide functionality will break for SwiftUI views.
When tagging new Pages in SwiftUI apps built with Xcode 26 and iOS 26 using SDK version 3.8.2, analytics and guide data will only be collected from users running SDK version 3.8.2 or later. To minimize disruption, we recommend tagging new Pages on a device running an older iOS version whenever possible.
SDK update timeline
Pendo plans to release an updated SDK (version 3.8.2) in mid-September that supports layer-based view analysis in SwiftUI apps built with Xcode 26.
Once available, we’ll provide upgrade instructions and communicate directly with affected customers.
How to know if you’re affected
This compatibility issue only applies if both of the following are true:
- Your app uses SwiftUI views.
- You plan to build with Xcode 26 after its release.
If you're not sure whether your app uses SwiftUI, your development team can confirm. If you use UIKit, you’re not affected by these changes.
You don’t need to change any existing Page or Feature tags after upgrading, but we recommend validating your tagging after updating to the new SDK.