Under the Radar RSS Feed 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...
Nov 04, 2015•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Aug 12, 2015•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Jul 31, 2015•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast An overview of what to expect this summer: 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
Jun 26, 2015•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Jun 08, 2015•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Some high level thoughts about WWDC and my excitement for it. Then, a few thoughts about whether mobile advertising is in a precarious position.
May 29, 2015•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I begin a new Start-to-Finish series discussing the creation of an application from idea to the App Store. 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: Chec...
May 22, 2015•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 2015 Developing Perspective t-shirts (4 days to order, ends May 18.) 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...
May 14, 2015•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast 2015 Developing Perspective t-shirts (1 Week left to order.) 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 ...
May 08, 2015•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 2015 Developing Perspective t-shirts 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 o...
May 01, 2015•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. My WatchKit Apps
Apr 23, 2015•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Apr 17, 2015•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Simultaneous Invention or setting realistic expectations for uniqueness. Simultaneous Invention
Apr 09, 2015•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Chart of my consistency track record for Developing Perspective:
Apr 02, 2015•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. 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 trul...
Feb 27, 2015•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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? Building an App Preview
Feb 11, 2015•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. My intention isn’t to scare anyone off, but just to help you understand ...
Jan 30, 2015•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Swift on Apple.com My WatchKit series
Jan 23, 2015•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. 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....
Jan 15, 2015•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Marketing Complexity : The pressure to keep adding features in order to keep software relevant in a marketplace. In...
Jan 10, 2015•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. As an experiment I also recorded this episode as a video. I’m not really sure how valuable t...
Dec 12, 2014•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. 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 n...
Dec 05, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast My first reactions to WatchKit. I’m really glad Apple has given is some genuinely powerful capabilities with this first generation of APIs. Getting Started with WatchKit My Initial Impressions Apple’s Main WatchKit page Developer Forums...
Nov 20, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Nov 14, 2014•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Derek Sivers on ideas. Trying to formularize this I came up with the following structure for ideas and where sharing them ...
Nov 06, 2014•Transcript available on Metacast 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 compan...
Oct 31, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast I recently hit a few milestones that got me thinking about the attributes of sustained projects. 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
Oct 22, 2014•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Thinking through the Retina iMac in a world where pixels stop mattering. Also, what’s going on with the iPad? Marco Arments’s thoughts on Retina iMac vs Mac Pro AnandTech’s Hands-on
Oct 17, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. Also, why I didn’t make the icons wiggle. The Boring Designer Creating Passionate Users Creating Passionate Users - Feature Curve...
Oct 08, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Talking through the process that ultimately lead to the creation of Emoji++ , my recently launched custom keyboard for iOS 8. 🎉...
Oct 03, 2014•Transcript available on Metacast 
