3 ms·
Well, like you say, you've been doing iOS dev for seven years, which kind of puts you into what I'd describe as the "Specialist" category. I wouldn't go trying
by rusk 9y ago
Well, like you say, you've been doing iOS dev for seven years, which kind of puts you into what I'd describe as the "Specialist" category. I wouldn't go trying to develop an iOS application without somebody of your calibre on board - but then you're either an expensive developer with cross-disciplinary skills or somebody we have "on retainer" to deal with this kind of stuff. Specifically what I recommended my colleague hire once she has her prototyping done, purely to deal with the machinations of the Apple ecosystem. Then just take it inhouse for support and maintenance.
It's interesting you mention test-flight specifically as this is something we've had a huge amount of trouble transitioning to. For an Apple specialist this is probably a no-brainer but for a product development org this is yet another headache where we used to just be able to issue our own development testing certificates.
- ryanwaggoner 9y agoMaybe you're right and I don't realize how complex it is, but I'm skeptical. Android seems worse in many ways, and I had no trouble starting iOS dev back in 2010. And it's gotten faster and easier since then, so I don't think it's just my amazing skills (though I'd like to take more credit). What specifically is so onerous? Are you sure these aren't just organizational issues on your end?
- rusk 9y agoYes it is largely organisational in that I typically work in specialist technical fields where our manpower is directed elsewhere than dealing with specific platform issues. Point is though, that where you're talking about growth these are precisely the areas that native is losing out.
- charlesdm 9y agoIt's specialised, but nothing ground breaking. The major issue that I had when starting 6 years ago was having issues with code signing, but those have largely been fixed in the latest versions of Xcode. I never had any of the issues you described. Getting an app in the App Store isn't much harder than integrating with a third party API. Frankly, I don't see how they could make it much simpler. You make a build, upload it, it gets reviewed and you push it to the store. Adhering to the rules of the ecosystem is the price you pay for getting access to >100 million accounts that can drop pretty much any amount on your software with the touch of a button. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I've managed to make plenty of money through the App Store.
- rusk 9y agoI only have my third-party empirical experience to go on. Developing for other platforms seems far more straightforward. If this has changed recently then that is a good thing, but experiences in the meantime has left scars that might take a year or two to heal.
- charlesdm 9y agoI had previously done Android development, and god, how I hated that. A gazillion phones with different screen resolutions and apps never looking exactly the way you want them to, random APIs breaking on random devices, because some shitty chinese manufacturer skimped on certain key things, etc etc. In comparison, iOS development seems pretty great to me.
- rusk 9y agoYes, very true. Both ecosystems have their issues.