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231 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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#231: False Summits
5 november 2026 · 14 min
Sometimes shipping an update or launching a product can feel like you’ve arrived somewhere, but more often it feels like you’ve reached a false summit, with just as much work ahead of you as behind. This episode talks through those kinds of feelings. Lees meer
The View from Loughrigg Fell
Loughrigg Fell
Check the Weather
Watch on YouTube
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#230: Designing for the Duo, with Rafa Conde
29 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
I’m joined by Rafa Conde to talk about our experiences designing apps for the iPhone Duo. Together we have worked on Pedometer++, Widgetsmith and Check the Weather. Lees meer
Rafa Conde
Rivian for Duo
Check the Weather
Kyber
Pedometer++
Widgetsmith
Watch on YouTube
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#229: Portal Gun Development
15 oktober 2026 · 14 min
Gone are the days of map-and-compass development, now if we can imagine it and see a line of sight to it we can build things nearly instantly. Which totally changes the cognitive and structural tradeoffs we need to make in our development process…and how we take care of ourselves in that. Lees meer
Watch on YouTube
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#228: New Platforms
8 oktober 2026 · 18 min
I walk through the history of Apple developer platforms over my history as an app developer and grade them, then think a bit about what has made them worthwhile. Lees meer
Watch on YouTube
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#227: Pivotal
1 oktober 2026 · 15 min
I’m bringing Developing Perspective back. This first episode wrestles through why being an indie app developer right now feels so “pivotal”, in both senses of the word. There’s the constant, week-by-week change in our tools and workflows, and there’s the bigger structural shift in what it even means to “make” apps. Lees meer
Watch on YouTube
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Developing a New Perspective
4 november 2015 · 6 min
Under the Radar RSS Feed Lees meer
Overcast Link
iTunes Link
PocketCasts Subscribe Link
I am delighted to announce that today I am launching a new development related podcast with Marco Arment. It is called Under the Radar and starts today on the fine Relay FM Network.
I have been doing Developing Perspective since July 13, 2011 (roughly 4.5 years). During that time I have chronicled the rises and falls of being an independent developer in the App Store. I am immensely proud of Developing Perspective and glad that I have it to refer to later on as I look back on my career.
The time has come now to embark on a new adventure in podcasting.
Back in late 2010 a new podcast was started called Build & Analyze with Marco Arment and Dan Benjamin. I hadn’t really heard of either of them before but I immediately latched onto it. Marco’s experiences and perspectives in being a developer were both relevant to my work and engaging to hear. For the entire run of Build & Analyze you’d always find me in the chatroom listening live, suggesting titles.
In many ways it was the show that most motivated me to start podcasting. To create a venue for sharing my experiences and hard learned lessons. I was very sad when it finally wrapped up its 108 episode run. All that makes the prospect of starting a new development podcast with Marco a great joy.
If you liked listening to Developing Perspective I’d really encourage you to subscribe to Under the Radar. It is in many ways the spiritual successor to Developing Perspective and Build & Analyze. A venue for us both to discuss and examine what being a developer means today — the challenges we face, the opportunities we see, the lessons we learn. Oh, and it’s never longer than 30 minutes.
So let’s get Started
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#225: Users per Day.
12 augustus 2015 · 15 min
I tend to think of my app business in terms of revenue per day. Breaking it down to that level helps me keep a close eye on it and know how well or poorly I’m doing. Today I walk through the reasoning for this as well as do a thought experiment of what the numbers might look like for a new business. Lees meer
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#224: Unplanned Absence.
31 juli 2015 · 15 min
Some thoughts on the implications of having to take an unplanned absence from your work when you are self-employed. There are a lot of benefits of being independent that manifest themselves in a situation like this but also a few things to be careful of and plan for. Lees meer
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#223: What to expect this summer.
26 juni 2015 · 15 min
An overview of what to expect this summer: Lees meer
the beta schedule,
timing for release,
the importance of RADARS,
my growing interest in Swift and
an encouragement for everyone to build something new this summer.
Will Hains’ iOS Beta History
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#222: WWDC 2015 First Impressions.
8 juni 2015 · 13 min
First Impressions from WWDC 2015. These are my initial reactions right after the Keynote, I’ll probably do another episode later in the week which has more considered reactions.
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#221: Circular Revenue.
29 mei 2015 · 15 min
Some high level thoughts about WWDC and my excitement for it. Then, a few thoughts about whether mobile advertising is in a precarious position.
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#220: The Essential Experience.
22 mei 2015 · 15 min
Today I begin a new Start-to-Finish series discussing the creation of an application from idea to the App Store. Lees meer
My Essential Experience Target: An application focused on surfacing the data currently collected by the Apple Watch and iPhone and presenting it in a useful, actionable, and encouraging way.
Blizzard’s Games I discuss:
Hearthstone
Heroes of the Storm
My previous Start-to-Finish series discussing the creation of Check the Weather:
#91: Thank you and the Road from Here.
#90: Check the Weather
#89: Counting Down.
#87: Basic App Marketing.
#86: App Pricing.
#85: Pragmatism.
#84: Shipped it.
#83: Performance and Letting Go.
#82: Localizing an App.
#80: Managing functionality.
#77: Prototyping a new project.
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#219: Accidental.
14 mei 2015 · 13 min
2015 Developing Perspective t-shirts (4 days to order, ends May 18.) Lees meer
One of the most dangerous traps when learning from someone else’s experience is ascribing intentionality to what in reality was accidental. This can make it feel somehow magical or impossible to learn from. We are all just muddling along.
Pedometer += 1,000,000
Joe’s Extraordinarily Kind Words
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#218: Blazing Trails.
8 mei 2015 · 15 min
2015 Developing Perspective t-shirts (1 Week left to order.) Lees meer
Once again the topic of sustainable revenue has surfaced around our lovely community. I’ve recently been changing/adapting my thinking on the subject so it seemed the time to wade in again.
Tim on the App Store
“The app store had its best quarter ever, with a record number of customers making purchases, driving a new record for revenue, and 29 percent year on year growth.”
App Store Metrics
In April, 2015: 1,561 apps per day (35,929 non-games, 12,451 games, 48,380 total)
Where we are:
Redacted for Mac Launch
Realmac Product Revenue Snapshot
Sensor Tower Top Grossing Analysis
From here:
Inquisitive: Behind the App #11
Learning to Ride a Bicycle, Again.
Sam Soffes on Developing Perspective #208
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#217: The Brand.
1 mei 2015 · 15 min
2015 Developing Perspective t-shirts Lees meer
My WatchKit Apps
Release Notes Conference
In some ways this week’s episode is a follow up to last week’s show about hustle. All that thinking about the role that asking for money plays in my business got me to thinking about some of the complications that being the face of your business carries. When you are an independent business owner your own personal brand becomes the brand of your products. This can be awesome but also makes certain parts of promotion and discourse more complicated.
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#216: The Hustle.
23 april 2015 · 13 min
Thinking through why I have such a hang up about talking about and asking for Money. Why this is probably not such a great thing for my business and what I might do to fix it. Lees meer
My WatchKit Apps
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#215: Insidious Features.
17 april 2015 · 14 min
How to build little features into your applications that re-wire your user’s brains to come to expect a certain behavior. These ‘insidious’ features are a delightful way to help build loyalty with your customers.
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#214: App Store Snowstorm.
9 april 2015 · 14 min
Simultaneous Invention or setting realistic expectations for uniqueness. Lees meer
Simultaneous Invention
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#213: Showing Up and Shipping Apps.
2 april 2015 · 15 min
After a longer than typical break I’m back with another episode…on a related note I’m talking about how to get unstuck. How I manage the situation that seems to happen often enough where I get stuck in a creative rut. Then I talk a bit about how to manage the process of submitting WatchKit apps. Lees meer
Chart of my consistency track record for Developing Perspective:
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#212: Four Phases of a Gold Rush.
27 februari 2015 · 15 min
In the run up to Apple’s media event on March 9th I keep hearing the phrase ‘Gold Rush’ over and over again. Today I unpack that concept and whether it might apply to the Apple Watch. Lees meer
The Phases of Gold Rush:
The Rumor
The Legend
The Rush
The Reality
Luck = Opportunity + Preparation
My WatchKit Series
Scott Forstall, “Whole new Gold Rush”
The California Gold Rush
Trism
WatchCon 2
There is unfortunately no shortcut to gaining expertise in a subject. You can only truly understand something by working on it, by immersing yourself in it, by building terrible prototypes and throwing them away. You cannot throw away what you haven’t made.
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#211: Asterisk Free Marketing.
11 februari 2015 · 13 min
Prompted by some thinking I did around building the App Preview for Pedometer++, I start to wonder about honesty in advertising. How honesty should I be? What level of candor is appropriate, helpful, reasonable? Lees meer
Building an App Preview
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#210: Polymaths.
30 januari 2015 · 15 min
I’m not a huge fan of the term polymath. It sounds kinda pretentious but sometimes the best word for something is that way. Today I was struck by the wild variety of tasks and skills that it takes to run a business principally on your own. So I wanted to walk through some of disparate aspects of the ‘job’. Hopefully giving someone who is considering going out on their own some good food for thought. Lees meer
My intention isn’t to scare anyone off, but just to help you understand the inherent complexity of this line of work, and an appreciation for the things other people handle for you in a J-O-B, job.
General Development
Software engineering
Bug tracking
Product Design
Release planning
Customer support
Version Control
iTunes Connect submission lifecycle
iOS Development
Objective C, Xcode, Interface Builder
Device and iOS version management
Photoshop, PaintCode
Testing / QA
Server Development
Ruby on Rails
Postgres
Memcached, nginx, redis
Queueing, sidekiq
Linux system administration, Backups, Security updates
Operations
iTunes Connect, contracts, payments,
Accounting, Taxes and banking.
Budgeting
Compliance, Local, State, Federal, Business Licenses
Benefits / Welness
General hosting, email, domains, etc
Marketing
Websites
‘Brand’, personal and otherwise
Photoshop
Marketing concepts and ideas
Microeconomics
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#209: Not so Fast.
23 januari 2015 · 15 min
Today I walk through my history thinking about Swift. From WWDC to now I’ve done a lot of thinking about Swift as whether I should be using it. The result makes me feel a bit conflicted, but the brutally pragmatic part of me is winning out. Lees meer
Swift on Apple.com
My WatchKit series
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#208: Sam Soffes.
15 januari 2015 · 48 min
I take a break out of my normal 15 minute format for a return of my occational interview series. This week I’m delighted to talk to Sam Soffes about balancing your own product work with doing consulting, different ways of thinking about success and deciding what it is you want to do with your time. Lees meer
Sam has been developing for iOS since 2008 and has worked on a wide variety of successful products. He is currently working on Whiskey, a Markdown editor for Mac and iOS.
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#207: Irresistible Complexity
10 januari 2015 · 14 min
Rather than wading into the hullabaloo regarding Apple’s software quality directly I instead decided to take a step backwards and consider the forces that have driven us to this situation in the first place. My goal is to consider the forces that make keeping software stable over time difficult. The result can apply to small projects as well as to a company as large as Apple. Lees meer
Marketing Complexity: The pressure to keep adding features in order to keep software relevant in a marketplace.
Intrinsic Complexity: The unfortunate reality that any added feature doesn’t just linearly increase complexity, instead it increases radically.
Personnel/Personal Complexity: The tension and struggle around keeping sharp, talented engineers focused on stability when the promise of working on something else, newer and more exciting looms.
These are the concerns we need to stay conscious of in order to manage our software over time.
Handshake Problem
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#206: Can the App Store be Full?
12 december 2014 · 14 min
Today I think out loud about the implications of an App Store that is functionally full. Where applications cannot realistically thrive simply because of novelty or freshness. Whatever you do now you are facing up against a hyper-competitive marketplace. I think this changes significantly how we need to pursue things from a business perspective as well as helps us be realistic about what to expect. Lees meer
As an experiment I also recorded this episode as a video. I’m not really sure how valuable this is but I’ll never know unless I try. I’m thoroughly enjoying trying out video recently as a medium for sharing within our community.
As a result of how my recording was setup the audio for this episode as a bit more echo than I would have liked, I’ll get that buttoned down if I try this again.
YouTube version of this Episode
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#205: AILW - Economics of WatchKit Apps.
5 december 2014 · 15 min
Thinking out loud about why I recently starting my series called As I Learn WatchKit. I’ve learned a lot about the creative process by giving myself permission to put unpolished things into the world. Lees meer
My first attempt at Youtube
Then, I dive into the economics of building WatchKit apps. In general I think that the economic realities of building apps for it are consistent with any other app endeavor. If it was a good idea before it is likely doubly so to add a Watch extension. If it is a new idea you have a great opportunity to be an early adopter.
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#204: Delightfully Pragmatic.
20 november 2014 · 15 min
My first reactions to WatchKit. I’m really glad Apple has given is some genuinely powerful capabilities with this first generation of APIs. Lees meer
Getting Started with WatchKit
My Initial Impressions
Apple’s Main WatchKit page
Developer Forums
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#203: Divided by One.
14 november 2014 · 14 min
For a while now I’ve had an episode idea discussing some of the ‘interesting math’ about working on a project by yourself. I discuss how working on something by yourself is so very different than in working on any other sized team.
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#202: Four Quadrants of Ideas
6 november 2014 · 15 min
I’ve had a few folks ask me about my plans and ideas for Apple Watch. While I don’t try to be too coy about what I’m working on I’ve definitely kept some of my ideas close to the vest. I’m well aware that ideas, in general, are useless on their own. But that doesn’t mean that being promiscuous with your ideas is still always a good choice. Lees meer
Derek Sivers on ideas.
Trying to formularize this I came up with the following structure for ideas and where sharing them is likely a good and poor choice.
Like all good concepts it can be best demonstrated with a two-axis graph with four quadrants:
On the one axis is the ease of implementing/realizing the idea. On the other is the expected return on a successful implementation of that idea.
Easy, High Reward: If you actually have one of these (you likely don’t) keep it quiet and run with it as fast as you can. Likely hyper competitive. Simultaneous invention everywhere.
Easy, Low Reward: Confections that are likely flash in the pan (if they flash at all).
Hard, Low Reward: Time sinks, labors of love. Most ‘I have a great idea for an app’ pitches. XKCD on easy vs hard problems.
Hard, High Reward: Real businesses are built here.
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#201: On Expedition.
31 oktober 2014 · 15 min
With the impending arrival of the AppleWatch next year and the WatchKit SDK next month I’m starting to shift my focus towards ‘wearables’. They present a few challenges to me as a developer, not the least of which is that I have almost no experience with that type of device. I used to wear a watch years ago but haven’t consistently for a long time. I saw the Pebble when it first came out and it looked kinda janky. But now it is clear this is an area that the larger companies that I piggyback my business on are heading so I’m trying hard to make sure I don’t fall off. Lees meer
To help me get up to speed I’ve been purchasing a variety of devices to start getting my feet at least slightly damp, if not actually wet. I started with the Jawbone UP and just got the Microsft Band. These are my initial reactions and thoughts.
Jawbone UP 24
Microsoft Band
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#200: Sustained.
22 oktober 2014 · 14 min
I recently hit a few milestones that got me thinking about the attributes of sustained projects. Lees meer
My 7th iOS (iPhone) Developer Program
My first app approved 6 years ago
200 Episodes
I tried to boil them down into four keys:
Purpose
Diversity
Flexibility / Ruthlessness
Patience / Tenacity
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#199: Resolution Irrelevant.
17 oktober 2014 · 15 min
Thinking through the Retina iMac in a world where pixels stop mattering. Lees meer
Also, what’s going on with the iPad?
Marco Arments’s thoughts on Retina iMac vs Mac Pro
AnandTech’s Hands-on
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#198: Boring and Superstitious.
8 oktober 2014 · 15 min
While a single button might seem somewhat boring or mundane to discuss I unpack the process of thinking through a single button in Emoji++. Specifically how to handle editing of favorites. Ultimately I went with an Edit button rather than a gesture based approach. While somewhat benign superficially decisions like this can make or break your user experience. Lees meer
Also, why I didn’t make the icons wiggle.
The Boring Designer
Creating Passionate Users
Creating Passionate Users - Feature Curve
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#197: Speculative Development.
3 oktober 2014 · 15 min
Talking through the process that ultimately lead to the creation of Emoji++, my recently launched custom keyboard for iOS 8. Lees meer
🎉
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#196: Faust had it easy.
24 september 2014 · 15 min
Getting an app ready for day one of an iOS/device launch is impossible to do right. As a developer you have a variety of options available for how you approach it, none of which are perfect. Lees meer
Trade Offs:
App Review
Marketing (good and bad)
Bugs and Issues
Helpdesk load
New features and their worth
Wasted effort
Approaches:
As ready as you’ll ever be: Work feverishly, battling through buggy betas and API changes to be as possibly ready as possible for the estimated release date.
Measured compatibility: Just make sure it doesn’t break
Kinda ready: Keep an eye on the changes, have plans in place for basic compatibility begin in earnest once bugs are fixed
Wait and See: Wait until you have all the information before you really start
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#195: Pincer Maneuvers and Stubbed Toes.
17 september 2014 · 15 min
With the rollout of iOS 8 upon us I consider two aspects of the current Apple ecosystem that appear to lie in tension. Lees meer
Pincer Maneuvers
Apple is fantastic at laying groundwork. When you take a step back and how their offerings both on software and hardware have evolved over the last few years you can clearly see how much forethought has gone into their approach. Apple doesn’t just throw things over the wall as soon as they are ready. Instead they prefer to gradually expand and enhance their capabilities over time, giving developers lots of warning and time to adapt.
I can think of many areas where this has been the case but perhaps the clearest example is the iPhone 6/6+ screens. A few years back they brought Auto Layout to iOS. Then they changed the UI aesthetic in iOS 7 to discourage designs that focused on pixel perfect layouts. They introduced Dynamic Text to add an element of variability and customization to the user experience. Then came Adaptive Layouts, Launch screen Nibs and Asset Collections. Each of these is a puzzle piece that gave the astute developer insight into what was coming down the road. This is just one example. Things like TouchID, or AirPlay have similar aspects. You can even see some of this in the Apple Watch. How it builds so neatly on top of the Extensions approach in iOS 8.
You could almost imagine room deep in One Infinite Loop with a massive product roadmap laid out. Around it, like Generals in combat, Craig and Jony push around the little pieces that comprise Apple’s ecosystem. Slowly pushing them into place so that they can combine in clean pincer movements around desired objectives.
Apple does this better than most companies I know. There are times their plans don’t quite come together but they do more often than not. It is a reminder to me as a developer to try and not focus too tightly on the direct implications of a new API or technology. Instead I should take a step back and think what this could be laying the groundwork fo…
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#194: In Review.
4 september 2014 · 15 min
Today I wanted to take a quick run through the App Review Guidelines. Love ‘em. Hate ‘em. They are one of the most core parts of creating and distributing apps for the App Store. I will give some high level thoughts about the state of App Review and then walk through some of the recent changes Apple published. Lees meer
I’ll also touch on the new page Apple published listing the Common App Rejection reasons.
I went ahead and organized the changes into a more readable format.
Accessibility Note: A less color oriented version of this diff is available here.
Preamble
We have over a million Apps in the App Store. If your App doesn’t do something useful, unique or provide some form of lasting entertainment, or if your app is plain creepy, it may not be accepted.
2. Functionality
2.9 Apps that are "beta", “demo”, “trial”, or “test” versions will be rejected. Beta Apps may only be submitted through TestFlight and must follow the TestFlight guidelines
2.25 Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected, unless designed for a specific approved need (e.g. health management, aviation, accessibility, etc.) or which provide significant added value for a specific group of customers
Update: Section 2.26 still includes much of this language and reads “Apps may display and recommend apps other than your own only if the collection is designed for a specific approved need (e.g. health management, aviation, accessibility, etc.) or provides significant added value for a specific group of customers, or they will be rejected” Thanks @Padraig
3. Metadata
3.3 Apps with names, descriptions, screenshots, or previews not relevant to the content and functionality of the App will be rejected
3.6 Apps with App icons, screenshots, and previews that do not adhere to the 4+ age rating will be rejected
3.14 App previews may only use video screen captures of the app, voice-overs, and textual and design ov…
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#193: Update Treadmill.
8 augustus 2014 · 15 min
Today I’m going to dive into the world of app updates. Why we do them, how often we do them and whether they are important. Lees meer
Context
I did a long analysis of the update trends in the App Store. I recommend you visit that yourself but the short version is:
50% of Top Apps are have been updated in the last 3 months (26% overall)
86% of Top Apps in the last year (60% overall)
300,000 apps were updated in the last 3 months.
480,000 apps are effectively abandoned (no updates in last year)
Types of Updates
An actual shipped update might include more than one of the following categories but it is likely constructive to think about why you are making a change before you make it.
Compatibility: An update that exists to allow the existing feature set to work on new hardware, operating system, API, etc.
Remedial: An update that exists to correct a flaw or deficiency in existing functionality.
Defensive: An update that exists to keep up with the competition.
Enhancement: An update that adds functionality or capability to the app.
Marketing: An update with purpose of drawing attention to the app or garnering revenue.
Refactor: An update that does not change the user facing portions of the app but improves it internally.
Things to consider
Is this update necessary? Why, concretely, am I doing it?
Does adding this functionality improve the app for most users?
Would adding the functionality hurt the experience of any of my users?
How do I expect to be compensated for the time I put into this update?
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#192: Nobility of Effort.
30 juli 2014 · 15 min
This past week has seen an explosion of writing and discussion about the business of making software for sale on the iOS App Store. Personally I love it when these little bubbles of discussion appear. If you’ve listened to me for any period of time you’ll know that one of the things I really like is being a student of the App Store. These discussions provide the opportunity and motivation for all sorts of anecdotes which help expand my view on where things stand. Lees meer
I must confess I was a bit apprehensive in preparing for this week’s show. I have had a number of people reach out to me saying they can’t wait to hear me chime in. I’m right in the thick of this. I’m an “indie” developer who has been making my living off the App Store for nearly five years now, so I’m no stranger to the ups-and-downs it involves. If you are hoping that I have some grand unified model that might summarize our current situation, sadly I think I’ll have to disappoint. Business is complicated, dynamic and ever changing. You can do the same thing twice and have wildly different outcomes. Replicating someone else’s approach may not work, or may work shockingly better. Perhaps most importantly, we all have different goals, personal situations and backgrounds.
But here is my best effort, constructed as a series of semi-cohesive mini-rants.
Super, mega, high level overview.
It has never been easy to make a living (whatever that might mean to you) in the App Store. When the Store was young it may have been somewhat more straightforward to try something and see if it would hit. But it was never “easy”. Most of my failed apps were launched in the first 3 years of the Store. As the Store has matured it has also become a much more efficient marketplace (in the economics sense of market). The little tips and tricks that I used to be able to use to gain an ‘unfair’ advantage now are few and far between. The fundamentals of business competition still apply:
You need more than a good idea.
The market…
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#191: Insulated Perspectives.
24 juli 2014 · 15 min
Back from a delightful, extended vacation I want to take a minute (or 15) to talk about the importance of stepping back from the day to day inputs that can so easily mold or distort your views on things. The world is a varied and complex place and likely very different than the people and perspectives you interact with on a daily basis. Lees meer
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#190: Everything but a Business Model
3 juli 2014 · 15 min
I will be on vacation for the next two weeks, so unless something monumental happens in between now and late July there won’t be any episodes of Developing Perspective. Lees meer
Back at WWDC, basking in the glow of the river of great new announcements I had quipped “Wow, they gave us everything but a business model.” That comment is clearly absurd but it does drive towards a more honest and worthwhile point. In many ways the situation iOS developers find themselves in heading into the Autumn of 2014 isn’t about technology or tools, it is about business. As the market has matured the natural consequence is that older inefficiencies that may have propped up unsustainable models have fallen away.
The App Store and related ecosystems are now extremely efficient. If there is an opportunity to be exploited we can expect it to be found and exploited. If you come up with a great new idea it will be analyzed, dissected and the interesting parts copied with often head-turning pace. As I have navigated this transition myself I have started to see many issues with the approach I had been taking to my business. Some of which I have been able to address but many of which I’m still working through.
For the purpose of today’s episode I thought it might be constructive to take a quick tour of the various models and their various strengths and weaknesses. I’m going to be working in rough order of which I think they are desirable in the current ecosystem.
Subscriptions
tl;dr - People pay you on an ongoing basis for providing software and software related services.
Pros - So long as your subscription base is enough for your expenses and your renewal/signup rate exceeds your cancellations you are golden.
Cons - Often tricker to get someone to make a long term commitment. Managing credit cards, expirations, etc. Typically smaller user base needed (yay!), each requiring and feeling owed more (not so yay).
Advertising
tl;dr - People use your software and are presented a message from someo…
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#189: In the Loop
26 juni 2014 · 15 min
This past week we had a bit of drama about the role of podcast networks. I don’t intend to wade into that discussion but as a result of it I was asked about the role that linking and recommendations play in expanding my own audience for this show. Which is considerable and measurable. I wanted to return the favor this week by talking about how I stay informed about the goings-on in Apple development. Lees meer
This isn’t an exhaustive list but these are the places I always make sure I’m up to date with.
I actually use Twitter a lot less than I used to. The signal-to-noise (even with aggressive muting) is just too low.
Podcasts
Programming and Design
Debug
Iterate
Mobile Couch
Business-y Stuff
Release Notes
Core Intuition
General News
The Prompt
Accidental Tech Podcast
Blogs
Inessential
Jared Sinclair
Ole Begemann
MacStories
Misc
Hello Internet
Pragmatic
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#188: Thoughtful Accessibility
20 juni 2014 · 15 min
ASCIIwwdc Lees meer
Accessibility is an important aspect of software development. Apple’s platforms provide a wide array of tools for easily adding it into your apps. The return for this effort is often somewhat ephemeral but nevertheless rewarding.
Basic Accessibility overview
Triple-tap home shortcut
Thoughtful ordering of controls
Thoughtful ordering of words
Design the experience, not narration.
Pedometer++ (the app discussed).
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#187: Explorers
13 juni 2014 · 15 min
We are exploring a new territory within the Apple developer landscape. Here is how I plan my expedition. Lees meer
Get a solid grasp of what’s new
Start with Apple’s own overviews:
iOS 8 for Developers
What’s new in iOS
API Diffs
Keep in mind questions like these:
What does this enable that isn’t currently possible?
How would Apple promote this feature?
Is this a evolutionary or ‘revolutionary’?
Does this seem to be a dead-end or a beachhead?
Short list your paths
Start to think about how you are going to spend your summer.
How much time do you have?
What are your ‘minimum’ required things? Not what could you do, what must you do?
What would you enjoy trying most?
Do you have any specific skills, connections or experience that give you an advantage?
Avoid the pitfalls
Keep a few things in mind.
New developer focused features are often really buggy to start with and your customers won’t care.
It likely need to be ready by September 1. So be careful how much you bite off. (It was Sept 10 for iOS 7).
Try to focus on what is going to cool in iOS 8, tackling lots of problems that aren’t specific to it might not make much sense.
And most of all, have fun!
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#186: Dropping Bombs
2 juni 2014 · 15 min
My initial impressions on the 2014 WWDC Keynote. Wow, it was a big one.
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#185: Pick up your Kite.
27 mei 2014 · 15 min
This year I’m going to skip my usual soapbox speech about WWDC tips and etiquette. Given the way the ticket distribution played out it seems neither kind nor productive. If you are going to WWDC I commend these two Lees meer
#128: WWDC Tips and Etiquette.
#53: Please, be polite at WWDC.
Today I’m going to talk through a bit of my thoughts heading into WWDC. If the last episode bummed you out a bit this will hopefully put a more positive spin onto things.
I also talk a bit about what I’m expecting/hoping to see announced next week.
I will be in San Francisco next week and hope you meet many of you there.
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#184: The Middle Path?
16 mei 2014 · 15 min
I wax philosophical about the future. Trying to wrestle with the uncertainty that surrounds our industry. Some products succeed, some products fail. Where will mine fall?
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#183: Anxiety and Inertia
2 mei 2014 · 13 min
My thanks to everyone who purchased a t-shirt in the last two weeks. They should be at the printer and then on their way to your door within the next week or so. Lees meer
Anxiety and Inertia
I’ll be taking a quick break from the Unconventional Wisdom series today. I want to ruminate a bit on something more topical for my personally.
Feed Wrangler hit its one year anniversary this past week. That accomplishment in and of itself is rather significant for me. If you have been listening to this podcast over the last year you know the trials and triumphs getting to here has involved. I wrote up my thoughts about that here if you are interested.
The actual topic I want to discuss though isn’t directly related to Feed Wrangler. It has to do with the anxiety of sustaining a business. I’ve been making my primary living from the App Store for just shy of five years now. In that time I’ve seen it morph and change dramatically. The manner in which I have been able to make a living has necessarily required several adjustments along the way. One thing that has remained constant is the lurking sense of anxiety that tomorrow everything will fall apart and my business will fail. I’ve had that lingering fear now for five years running. From talking to other iOS developers I know I’m not alone in it.
As a brief aside the funny thing about being independent is that this anxiety feels much more real than it does working for a larger company but I doubt if it is actually as dramatically more likely as it feels. Because there is a direct connection between your work and your success everything gets magnified. But I suspect you are roughly as likely to get laid off as you are for your business to fail.
I’ve had to learn to deal with this fear in order to stay sane and to take the risks necessary to grow my business. It hasn’t gone away but it has become manageable, if not useful, for me.
The key I found was to rely on what I will now pompously refer to as “Underscore’s First Law of Business…
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#182: Unconventional Wisdom, Listen to Spock.
25 april 2014 · 12 min
T-shirts Lees meer
I am doing another run of t-shirts for the show. After I did the campaign for them last fall I heard from a lot of people that they missed out. This year I’m giving the campaign a nice long run (through April 28). The shirt design this year combines three distinctly geeky things—underscores, square brackets and fixed width fonts.
Shirts are $14.59 (never longer than 15 minutes). Get one at http://teespring.com/developing. My thanks for the dozens of people who have already got one.
Unconventional Wisdom
I’m doing a series of episodes trying to take contrarian positions against conventional wisdom in software development. My goal is to challenge the assumptions we make and help us to think more critically about how we conduct our business.
The result is something that isn’t 100% my actual position on things but should be productive and hopefully thought provoking nevertheless. I’ll be making sweeping, un-nuanced statements for effect. As with everything in life, it is more complicated than I’m going to present it. The interesting part of being in business is navigating that nuance for yourself.
The second topic is customer support.
Providing good customer support is important?
I can’t count the number of times I have heard “the thing we pride ourselves in is our customer support” at conferences. I have so often heard people getting up and talking about how they love interacting with their customers. How this has driven their companies forward. How it is the responsible thing to do as a software engineer. I couldn’t disagree more.
The needs of the many
To start off my attack on the important of good customer support I’m going to start off by invoking Spock—which should likely settle the matter. The needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few. That in a nutshell is the core of the problem with providing good customer support. Every business (except perhaps VC based shops) are always operating in an environment of scarcity. You are forced to mak…