New Features
- Ken Burns Camera Effect — Smooth zoom and pan camera mode with sine-wave motion, configurable per-preset
- Grid Mode Setting — Choose between Toroidal (wrapping edges) and Infinite (patterns die off-screen with buffer zone)
- Respawn Mode Setting — "Fresh Start" clears the board before spawning, or "Add Life" adds to existing cells
- Starting Pattern Selection — Choose from Default, Sparse, Gliders, Gosper Gun, R-pentomino, Acorn, Pulsar, Puffer Train, Pi Fuse Puffer, and more
- Medium Animation Speed — New speed option between Fast and Slow
- Custom Color Picker (tvOS) — HSB sliders for each of the 3 color slots via a custom TVSlider control
- Background Light/Dark Toggle (tvOS) — New option in Advanced Settings
- About Game of Life Screen (tvOS) — Educational info screen
- XS and XXS Square Sizes — Two new smaller grid size options
- Shifting Colors — Enabled on all platforms (previously tvOS-only)
- Immediate Respawn — Automatically spawns new life when population drops to 5 or fewer cells
UI/UX Improvements
- Programmatic tvOS UI — Converted from storyboard to fully programmatic layout
- Reorganized tvOS Menu — Quick Start / Customize toggle with 5 settings presets for easy selection
- Improved Menu Navigation — Menu button toggles open/closed, better option ordering (largest→smallest, slowest→fastest)
- New Settings Presets — Added "Lonely Gliders", renamed "Defaults" → "Santa Fe", "Technicolor Dream" → "Psychedelic"
- Reordered Advanced Settings — Simulation, Colors, Camera grouping
Performance & Stability
- Optimized Game of Life Algorithm — Inline neighbor counting, activity-based cell tracking, cached SKActions, circular buffer for stasis detection
- CPU Usage Optimization — XOR-based integer fingerprinting for stasis,
isAnimating flag to avoid expensive hasActions() calls, limited visual sync to active cells
- Fixed Cell Visual State Corruption — Resolved stuck cells, stale death animations, and visual desync in fastest mode
- Fixed Death Fade Animation — Scheduled upfront SKAction sequences instead of unreliable cycle counting
- Fixed Stasis Detection — Multiple fixes for incomplete snapshots, high-period oscillators, infinite grid mode, and period-3+ oscillators
- Fixed First-Launch Animation Bug (tvOS) — Force initial layout before bounce animation
- App Lifecycle Handling — Reset timing and sync visuals on wake
Housekeeping
- Removed CocoaPods and SwiftLint dependencies (no external deps required)
- Locked fastest animation speed to 15fps for consistency
- Updated version to 1.2
- Updated screenshots and added demo video
Download on the App Store
