instancetype vs class name for singleton?

Question

From what I understand, instancetype declares to the compiler that the return type of the method is the same as the class receiving the message.

Traditionally I\'ve alwa

Answer 1

Constructor methods traditionally have returned id, allowing subclasses to use them too.

id, of course, means "any object at all". instancetype was introduced to give a little more type strictness when assigning the result of a constructor method.

It's only useful in case of subclassing. If that method will never be overridden, it's better to be as explicit as possible and use the actual class name.