5 ms·

> "All-in-all the project took me an hour to program" Come on, it's more than that. Being compliant to Apple Developer Guidelines takes some more time.

_-___________-_ 7y ago
That's a strange statement. It's a very simple app, which specific guidelines do you think should have taken significant time for him to write code that complies to? In my experience the guidelines are mostly common sense once you get used to the "Apple way", and are straightforward to comply with, especially if you're already familiar with them (OP had submitted several apps before).
- mister_hn 7y ago
  still, claiming to hacking a mobile app together in one hour is something strange as well. Does the "hour of code" includes setting up project in the IDE, setting a repo, testing it, making it AppStore-ready? Options are: a. you have already the code somewhere (own sources, StackOverflow, GitHub, etc.) b. you are bluffing
  - trevyn 7y ago
    My first app store submission was a challenge to go from idea to submitted app on one laptop battery charge (2-3 hours?) and was approved on the first try, so it’s definitely possible.
    - samwhiteUK 7y ago
      Sounds like you need a new laptop
  - rumanator 7y ago
    I have no experience with iOS development but I do have in Android, and in Android it is quite possible and even uneventful to put together an application that allows users to navigate through half a dozen activities and fragments in about an hour of work.
  - RugnirViking 7y ago
    Setting up a project in the IDE takes maybe a couple minuites at worst. you wouldn't bother making a repo for something like this. Testing is done while programming, and the process of putting it on the app store presumably wasn't counted as 'programming'
    - maccard 7y ago
      Does it even? Last time I checked, it took <1 minute to launch xcode, use a template and deploy it to a device (assuming you're set up to develop already). Every IDE I've used in the last decade will detect "hey, you're starting a new project, would you like a git repo?"
  - TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
    Where do you draw the line? Does the 1hr include the hour you spent driving to the shop and back for a loaf of bread and a bottle of milk?
  - bengale 7y ago
    > setting a repo `git init`? Clicking create repo in GitHub? > setting up project in the IDE are you doing this stuff blindfolded or something?
    - mister_hn 7y ago
      you forgot the "git remote add" part. That takes a couple of minutes
  - codesternews 7y ago
    There are many open source project which have drag and drop gesture and all the needed feature. He just might have to combine two projects and some programming and replacement of icons.
  - fingerlocks 7y ago
    I could believe it if you counted only the time taken to type just literal code. Probably discounted the time it would take to build the UI .xib, wire up all the event-handler delegates, and set all your layout constraints for the various screen sizes. And doesn't this use the camera and/or photos API? Not hard, but somewhat time consuming to set up your boilerplate for these. Also handling permissions request, response, & error handling. Probably copy/pasted from another project so it wouldn't count? Yeah I'm skeptical, but also sounds like a fun challenge.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
  - megablast 7y ago
    Load xcode, create a project, setup a repo can take 10 seconds. I just did it. Testing it takes longer. You can create a blank app and install it on a phone in 30 seconds. It really is that quick. Of course, writing it in 1 hour is a bit ridiculous. Did he have the icon images ready?
    - gmueckl 7y ago
      The article states that icons and other polish is excluded from that time and were done later.
  - bryanrasmussen 7y ago
    I'm supposing that he naturally made the project appstore ready because he knew what the requirements for that were, as in he did not write what he needed and then fixed it, he instead did not write anything that went out of guidelines. As far as the other stuff, this reminds me of recruiters who send you a coding project that they say will take 2-3 hours that generally takes 4-6 if there isn't some major problem. The extra time is of course setting everything up choosing what dependencies you need etc, because every project is slightly different and you are unlikely to have everything that is needed for that one project. The actual coding is probably 2-3 hours. So perhaps he already had everything his system needed, if so I expect it might have taken 1 hour to code (because he was very comfortable and knew exactly what he would need to do) and some minutes to make git repo, push code. Then add another hour to time compiling and submitting to app store. If he knew what he needed to do in the code of course that was probably from thinking about it for weeks beforehand.
- tannerc 7y ago
  This is accurate. I should have possibly mentioned in more detail that at the time I had a lot of experience with prior apps, so whipping another one together—particularly for such a simple concept—is trivial. I’m surprised anyone here thinks something like Snaplight would take more than an hour to build (no repos, testing on device but otherwise no tests, simple permissions, uncomplicated UI that only improved post-launch, etc.).
  - Liquid_Fire 7y ago
    > I’m surprised anyone here thinks something like Snaplight would take more than an hour to build I think it would take me longer just to make the icon, having never done anything like that before. Think about all the skills you had previously built up that allowed you to make it in an hour. If someone lacks even one of them, they would never be able to do it so quickly.
    - giarc 7y ago
      Likely just used some stock icons or had previously designed them for another project and never used them.
      - tannerc 7y ago
        I’m a full-time designer and designed everything in the app from scratch.
        sizzle 7y ago
        Hi Tanner, big fan of your design portfolio. As a fellow designer, what inspired/motivated you to make the jump into learning how to code? Was it simply scratching the itch to make higher fidelity prototypes? PS- should designers code? ;)
        tannerc 7y ago
        Thank you for the kind words! I started coding long, long ago in order to build my web portfolio (back before site builders were a thing). As a result I saw how empowering coding can be. I've always felt being able to code software gives you an ability to solve a lot of your own problems with technology. e.g. I have a lot of private tools I've designed and coded to help me in my day job (such as this simple one I recently open sourced: https://tannerchristensen.com/spf https://tannerchristensen.com/spf). If you're a designer who works on digital products, I think it's only advantageous to know some programming. It gives you empathy for your engineering peers, gives you more insight into how what you design will actually get built (and the constraints/advantages of the technology), and helps you see problems in different—often more linear and logical—ways. Learning to code is not for everyone, but learning a little can go a long way. At least learning the basics of code structure, loops, memory allocation and management, etc. would be my suggestion.
paxys 7y ago
The author noted that it was his fifth app, so it's likely that he had the knowledge and patterns/libraries/boilerplate etc. already in place.
- nothis 7y ago
  I think it's perfectly fair to say "this took me an hour", but statements like this always come with history. Dude probably spent at least hundreds of hours getting proficient at programming, app design and iOS development specifically. I don't know if that's misleading, encouraging or simply talking to a specific target group.
  - laurent123456 7y ago
    Yes this "1h", if true at all, reminds me of this story: > It always reminds me of the story about the woman who approached Picasso in a restaurant, asked him to scribble something on a napkin, and said she would be happy to pay whatever he felt it was worth. Picasso complied and then said, “That will be $10,000.” > “But you did that in thirty seconds,” the astonished woman replied. > “No,” Picasso said. “It has taken me forty years to do that.”
  - CogitoCogito 7y ago
    I think it's both highly encouraging and humbling. What it means is that even though his skills could allow him to work on much fancier, complex applications, this simple 1 hour job made an enormous impact. Just think about what you do best and imagine if you could redirect the same energies somewhere else and maximize your payoff with a minimum of effort. It's not a feat that's easy to reproduce, but it is something we can all learn from.
- mister_hn 7y ago
  sure, but for me the "All-in-all" means multiple screen resolutions support, permissions to access Camera and Storage and so on.
  - saagarjha 7y ago
tasogare 7y ago
Humblebrag is strong in this sentence. The post is full of it but this is the worst offender.
rimliu 7y ago
I'd say that normally you have to go out of the way to not be compliant.
edu 7y ago
Totally agree, it's like saying that it took Usain Bolt 9.58 seconds to set the new 100m world record.
- m463 7y ago
  Probably took 1000x that before the process finally gave him his medal.
  - sjohnsonweb 7y ago
    Surely more than a couple of hours
pigeon888 7y ago
But then the app went on for years after without the required feature corrections to make it work as he wanted. Clearly that 1 hour productivity volcano drained out after existing templates were exhausted.

_-___________-_ 7y ago

That's a strange statement. It's a very simple app, which specific guidelines do you think should have taken significant time for him to write code that complies to? In my experience the guidelines are mostly common sense once you get used to the "Apple way", and are straightforward to comply with, especially if you're already familiar with them (OP had submitted several apps before).

mister_hn 7y ago
still, claiming to hacking a mobile app together in one hour is something strange as well. Does the "hour of code" includes setting up project in the IDE, setting a repo, testing it, making it AppStore-ready? Options are: a. you have already the code somewhere (own sources, StackOverflow, GitHub, etc.) b. you are bluffing
- trevyn 7y ago
  My first app store submission was a challenge to go from idea to submitted app on one laptop battery charge (2-3 hours?) and was approved on the first try, so it’s definitely possible.
  - samwhiteUK 7y ago
    Sounds like you need a new laptop
- rumanator 7y ago
  I have no experience with iOS development but I do have in Android, and in Android it is quite possible and even uneventful to put together an application that allows users to navigate through half a dozen activities and fragments in about an hour of work.
- RugnirViking 7y ago
  Setting up a project in the IDE takes maybe a couple minuites at worst. you wouldn't bother making a repo for something like this. Testing is done while programming, and the process of putting it on the app store presumably wasn't counted as 'programming'
  - maccard 7y ago
    Does it even? Last time I checked, it took <1 minute to launch xcode, use a template and deploy it to a device (assuming you're set up to develop already). Every IDE I've used in the last decade will detect "hey, you're starting a new project, would you like a git repo?"
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
  Where do you draw the line? Does the 1hr include the hour you spent driving to the shop and back for a loaf of bread and a bottle of milk?
- bengale 7y ago
  > setting a repo `git init`? Clicking create repo in GitHub? > setting up project in the IDE are you doing this stuff blindfolded or something?
  - mister_hn 7y ago
    you forgot the "git remote add" part. That takes a couple of minutes
- codesternews 7y ago
  There are many open source project which have drag and drop gesture and all the needed feature. He just might have to combine two projects and some programming and replacement of icons.
- fingerlocks 7y ago
  I could believe it if you counted only the time taken to type just literal code. Probably discounted the time it would take to build the UI .xib, wire up all the event-handler delegates, and set all your layout constraints for the various screen sizes. And doesn't this use the camera and/or photos API? Not hard, but somewhat time consuming to set up your boilerplate for these. Also handling permissions request, response, & error handling. Probably copy/pasted from another project so it wouldn't count? Yeah I'm skeptical, but also sounds like a fun challenge.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- megablast 7y ago
  Load xcode, create a project, setup a repo can take 10 seconds. I just did it. Testing it takes longer. You can create a blank app and install it on a phone in 30 seconds. It really is that quick. Of course, writing it in 1 hour is a bit ridiculous. Did he have the icon images ready?
  - gmueckl 7y ago
    The article states that icons and other polish is excluded from that time and were done later.
- bryanrasmussen 7y ago
  I'm supposing that he naturally made the project appstore ready because he knew what the requirements for that were, as in he did not write what he needed and then fixed it, he instead did not write anything that went out of guidelines. As far as the other stuff, this reminds me of recruiters who send you a coding project that they say will take 2-3 hours that generally takes 4-6 if there isn't some major problem. The extra time is of course setting everything up choosing what dependencies you need etc, because every project is slightly different and you are unlikely to have everything that is needed for that one project. The actual coding is probably 2-3 hours. So perhaps he already had everything his system needed, if so I expect it might have taken 1 hour to code (because he was very comfortable and knew exactly what he would need to do) and some minutes to make git repo, push code. Then add another hour to time compiling and submitting to app store. If he knew what he needed to do in the code of course that was probably from thinking about it for weeks beforehand.
tannerc 7y ago
This is accurate. I should have possibly mentioned in more detail that at the time I had a lot of experience with prior apps, so whipping another one together—particularly for such a simple concept—is trivial. I’m surprised anyone here thinks something like Snaplight would take more than an hour to build (no repos, testing on device but otherwise no tests, simple permissions, uncomplicated UI that only improved post-launch, etc.).
- Liquid_Fire 7y ago
  > I’m surprised anyone here thinks something like Snaplight would take more than an hour to build I think it would take me longer just to make the icon, having never done anything like that before. Think about all the skills you had previously built up that allowed you to make it in an hour. If someone lacks even one of them, they would never be able to do it so quickly.
  - giarc 7y ago
    Likely just used some stock icons or had previously designed them for another project and never used them.
    - tannerc 7y ago
      I’m a full-time designer and designed everything in the app from scratch.
      - sizzle 7y ago
        Hi Tanner, big fan of your design portfolio. As a fellow designer, what inspired/motivated you to make the jump into learning how to code? Was it simply scratching the itch to make higher fidelity prototypes? PS- should designers code? ;)
        tannerc 7y ago
        Thank you for the kind words! I started coding long, long ago in order to build my web portfolio (back before site builders were a thing). As a result I saw how empowering coding can be. I've always felt being able to code software gives you an ability to solve a lot of your own problems with technology. e.g. I have a lot of private tools I've designed and coded to help me in my day job (such as this simple one I recently open sourced: https://tannerchristensen.com/spf https://tannerchristensen.com/spf). If you're a designer who works on digital products, I think it's only advantageous to know some programming. It gives you empathy for your engineering peers, gives you more insight into how what you design will actually get built (and the constraints/advantages of the technology), and helps you see problems in different—often more linear and logical—ways. Learning to code is not for everyone, but learning a little can go a long way. At least learning the basics of code structure, loops, memory allocation and management, etc. would be my suggestion.

paxys 7y ago

The author noted that it was his fifth app, so it's likely that he had the knowledge and patterns/libraries/boilerplate etc. already in place.

nothis 7y ago
I think it's perfectly fair to say "this took me an hour", but statements like this always come with history. Dude probably spent at least hundreds of hours getting proficient at programming, app design and iOS development specifically. I don't know if that's misleading, encouraging or simply talking to a specific target group.
- laurent123456 7y ago
  Yes this "1h", if true at all, reminds me of this story: > It always reminds me of the story about the woman who approached Picasso in a restaurant, asked him to scribble something on a napkin, and said she would be happy to pay whatever he felt it was worth. Picasso complied and then said, “That will be $10,000.” > “But you did that in thirty seconds,” the astonished woman replied. > “No,” Picasso said. “It has taken me forty years to do that.”
- CogitoCogito 7y ago
  I think it's both highly encouraging and humbling. What it means is that even though his skills could allow him to work on much fancier, complex applications, this simple 1 hour job made an enormous impact. Just think about what you do best and imagine if you could redirect the same energies somewhere else and maximize your payoff with a minimum of effort. It's not a feat that's easy to reproduce, but it is something we can all learn from.
mister_hn 7y ago
sure, but for me the "All-in-all" means multiple screen resolutions support, permissions to access Camera and Storage and so on.
- saagarjha 7y ago

tasogare 7y ago

Humblebrag is strong in this sentence. The post is full of it but this is the worst offender.

rimliu 7y ago

I'd say that normally you have to go out of the way to not be compliant.

edu 7y ago

Totally agree, it's like saying that it took Usain Bolt 9.58 seconds to set the new 100m world record.

m463 7y ago
Probably took 1000x that before the process finally gave him his medal.
- sjohnsonweb 7y ago
  Surely more than a couple of hours

pigeon888 7y ago

But then the app went on for years after without the required feature corrections to make it work as he wanted. Clearly that 1 hour productivity volcano drained out after existing templates were exhausted.