It's About More Than Shipping an App
There have been a number of recent blog posts about the doom and gloom of being an indie developer especially in the iOS world. The theme of these posts are basically the same. A developer spends some time building an app. The app is released into the wild, and sales are much lower than expected. Some developers give up while others will try again.
I Am Not The Android Expert You Seek
I do not own an Android device. I have spent less than 2 hours in my entire life playing with an Android device. I have never written an app for Android. Heck, I have never even written a single line of Java code in a shipping app. So, for the love of god, please stop asking me if I can look into problems related to Android and Android apps. I am the last person in the world you want to ask to help you with Android related problems.
Enjoy Less and Love More
To some my life seems like a non-stop vacation. I’m a ski bum, a slacker, someone who rarely works. I’m always off on some adventure, snowboarding in the winter months, hiking and kayaking in the summer months. And from one point of view this is true. Over the last 12 months I have spent a great deal of my time snowboarding, hiking and kayaking. But I’ve also been focused on writing code and building apps.
Wait, Justin and I Agree?
My friend Justin wrote a post explaining why he thinks you should use Interface Builder with Auto Layout. It was in response to my post about why I don’t use Interface Builder these days thanks to Auto Layout. Justin’s post is good with plenty of valid points. Justin and I also agree iOS and Mac developers should be using Auto Layout. But he said something that got me wondering…does Justin agree with me more than he realizes. Regarding writing layout constraints in code, Justin says:
Still Enjoying the Snow
I refuse to accept that winter is over. For instance, today I hiked up Mt. Mansfields to do a snowboard run on Nosedive. And based on the crowd, I wasn’t the only one who thought today was a good day for a hike.
I Stopped Using NIBs Thanks to Auto Layout
The subject to this post might suggest I don’t like Auto Layout, but on the contrary I really like Auto Layout. I didn’t always like Auto Layout. For the longest time Auto Layout was a major pain in my ass, but it turns out it was Interface Builder that was causing me the majority of headaches when I used Auto Layout. So I stopped using Auto Layout in IB and I started using it in code only.
WTF Ruby Gems
I’m working with a client to update one of their iOS apps. The Xcode project uses CocoaPods for dependency management. I’m not a fan of CocoaPods, but I grin and bear it when working with existing client projects.
Family Influence
Over on ADN, Manton Reece posted a link to The Distance, a new online magazine about “long lasting businesses and the people behind them”. Manton’s post included this quote:
Still No Regrets
I pierced my ear when I was 16 or 17 years old. I did it myself on the way to school. I stopped by my mom’s place to pick up my little sister. While my mom was busy getting my sister ready, I grabbed two ice cubes from the frig, and I used them to numb my ear lobe. Then I took a piercing ear ring, the kind with a pointy end, and shoved it through my ear lobe. It made a pop sound as it pushed through the backside of my ear lobe. I felt nothing. It was easy peasy.
Not Organizing Events
When I lived in NYC I organized and ran events for computer geeks like me. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to meet new people. Then I moved to Salem, Mass, a suburb of Boston, and again I organized and ran events in Salem and Boston. And again it was a lot of fun and a great way to meet new people.