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. 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 com...
Sep 24, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast With the rollout of iOS 8 upon us I consider two aspects of the current Apple ecosystem that appear to lie in tension. 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 thei...
Sep 17, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. 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. Accessibili...
Sep 04, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. 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 ...
Aug 08, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. I must confess I was...
Jul 30, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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.
Jul 24, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. 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 A...
Jul 03, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. This isn’t an exhaustive list but these are the places I always make sure I’m ...
Jun 26, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast ASCIIwwdc 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)....
Jun 20, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast We are exploring a new territory within the Apple developer landscape. Here is how I plan my expedition. 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...
Jun 13, 2014•Transcript available on Metacast My initial impressions on the 2014 WWDC Keynote. Wow, it was a big one.
Jun 02, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 #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 ...
May 27, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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?
May 16, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. 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...
May 02, 2014•Transcript available on Metacast T-shirts 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 on...
Apr 25, 2014•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast T-shirts 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 . Wrapping up I have published the consolidated, summarized ...
Apr 18, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast I hope you fared better in the WWDC lottery than I did, though I’m hopeful for a possibility of a second round on Monday (maybe?). The system and process generally went really well and I think this is likely the process we’ll see going forward. It isn’t perfect but is as good as I could imagine. Improving the App Store: Part 5 Ratings The star rating of an application is the most important aspects of the sale experience that is outside of the developer’s direct control. I...
Apr 11, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast A few words of appreciation for the new lottery based WWDC ticket sales. Get your name in the hat by Monday morning. Then I talk through some of the tradeoffs involved in choosing the level of abstraction to use for your web-service backends, explaining my own tendency to go pretty low level. Starting from these few posts: The Parts of Your Platform Web Hosting For App Developers On Running Your Own Servers, and Why We’re Not...
Apr 03, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast After taking credit ;) for Apple’s experiments in search improvements I dive into a few changes to the App Store that could improve doing business in the store. Make the App Store Refund policy more obvious I really don’t understand why Apple makes the refund process so opaque and awkward. I know from my own experience in physical stores that a clear and easy refund policy helps drive sales. It is far better than a ‘trial-mode’ because it sustains the value of the app (ra...
Mar 27, 2014•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast I will be at NSConference next week, if you are a listener of the show please make sure you find me and say hi. Continuing my series of Towards a Better App Store , trying to find practical suggestions for how we could improve the App Store. Today I’m going to focus on Search . Physical Design : Make the cards interface for search optional (if not eliminated). Ranking : Rewards or punish applications based on objective measures. For example, recently updated, crash frequency, refund reques...
Mar 14, 2014•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Towards a Better App Store: Part 2 Make it up in Volume This is Part 2 of an ongoing series trying to explore practical ways that the App Store could be better for customers. Today I’m going to talk about the Store’s size. The size of the App Store’s catalog is often thrown around as a valuable, useful metric for judging the heath and vitality of the ecosystem. That may have been true before a certain scale. There is value in having a diverse and deep inventory that mets every ...
Mar 06, 2014•Transcript available on Metacast This begins a multi-part series on how I think we could move the App Store forward. I had initially thought this could be a single show but quickly realized that it will take quite a few 15 minute conversations to really unpack what can practically be done to make the App Store a better place. A note on Show Notes. I’m planning to continue the long form notes for now, but realize that they are only a taste of what is discussed in the show and not a transcript. The Goal It is perhaps a bit ...
Feb 27, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast There is something tragic about the Flappy Bird saga. The events and realities of it aren’t necessarily anything new but they showcase some of the darker sides of our industry. The Hate Things like Twitter and the short attention span culture that grows up around it have developed a mentality where it seems perfectly acceptable to tear apart other people or their work. Over the weekend I was disheartened to see so many people I know and admire passing judgement on someone they didn’t...
Feb 12, 2014•Transcript available on Metacast I’m trying a new format for show notes. This is half blog post, half podcast. Let me know what you think . I’m not going to wade into the specifics of the Paper-on-Paper-on-Paper-on-Paper battle but I thought it was an interesting topic to address more generally. Naming is an important part of creating, launching and marketing a product. Along with your icon it is probably the single most significant part of your branding efforts. It is what people will search for and how they will t...
Feb 05, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Lessons learned from launching Pedometer++ 2.0. Stopping worrying too much about version numbers. Leaving time buffers to accommodate iTunes Connect issues. The success of localization.
Feb 03, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast I recently went through the process of localizing Pedometer++ . Today I walk through my thought process and experience doing that. Whether you should localize isn’t always a simple question. Previous Episode on Localization WWDC Video about Localization Apple Developer Overview My Cheat Sheet for looking up Languages iTunes Connect Transporter Tethras, the service I use...
Jan 22, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast I’m renumbering the shows going forward. Early on the show’s history I made a few mistakes where I skipped numbers in the ordering. Now the numbers correctly reflect the number of episodes I’ve created to-date. I’ll be speaking at NSNorth in Ottawa, Canada. The conference runs from May 8-10. Today my main topic is about distinctiveness. Stemming from my experience with copy-cat apps of Pedometer++ ....
Jan 15, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast I took two weeks off the internet and work. Here are a few of the things I learned from the experience and the changes I’m making in my own life. Invest in fewer but more personal relationships. Avoid controversies. Slow Down, stabilize on quality before moving forward. Try to be less cynical. Read my App Store reviews. Listen to all my customers. The video I mentioned in the intro. App Store Distribution and Marketing for Apps...
Jan 06, 2014•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast It matters that you can make a living — but it matters more how you make your living. Decisions and Tensions
Dec 13, 2013•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Talking through some of the implications of the Christmas bump in the App Store. How to prepare for it and some mistakes I’d like to avoid making again. Allowing yourself to be a bit creative and exploratory with features. I’ll be speaking at two conferences next spring. NSConf CocoaConf
Dec 05, 2013•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
