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I'm doing the opposite even though been ios dev for a decade and now learning react / react native. Reasons: - golden days of mobile apps are gone, these days

by pzo 2y ago

I'm doing the opposite even though been ios dev for a decade and now learning react / react native. Reasons: - golden days of mobile apps are gone, these days less and less people download apps - it is more important to have desktop / mobile web app these days - pwa and mobile apps and tech are slowly getting good enough - if you are native ios or android you are limiting your jobs and business opportunities - native mobile dev is like niche inside niche these days. Probably half of jobs is typescript/javascript/ python related. - in current market and ai landscape your have to prototype and ship fast to be competitive even at the cost of slighly worse UX

dreamcompiler 2y ago
Completely agree. "Download our App!" is a huge red flag. It suggests at best that some VP at the company wanted to check a box and at worst that the company wants to harvest your sweet, sweet personal data and they cannot do so with a mere website. There are some apps whose existence makes sense like Uber and turn-by-turn navigation but the vast majority of apps now should just be websites.
Ologn 2y ago
There are three billion Android devices in active use. Writing native applications for a platform with three billion active users is niche, but not that niche. Over 100 billion apps were downloaded on Google Play last year. There probably are more Javascript/React jobs, but there are also more Javascript/React programmers. In mid-2022, many places had trouble finding good senior Android programmers. In the past few months I saw OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity etc. looking for Android programmers. In terms of knowing Java and Kotlin well, there are plenty of Java/Kotlin backend jobs around (don't know about that in hot startups, but outside of Microsoft-world, JVM has been the bedrock of backend for almost 30 years). So that's a logical shift out of an Android job if desired. Also, Android gives analytics to the business that they have more trouble getting on web. On the web companies are at the mercy of Chrome, Safari etc., with Android they're writing their own app to their own specifications (with some Google Play restrictions). Where I work, Android and iOS sometimes are ready to launch before the web team has finished their work. How does that fit into prototyping and shipping fast? It's possible the golden days of launching an app like Instagram and getting acquired a year and a half later for a billion dollars is over, but there is plenty of money to be made. Also, even if a company does launch on web first (most, but not all, companies), if they're successful they often look into launching a mobile app. Even if they start with React Native, KMM or the like they often move to native later (although there are exceptions, I believe Discord launched with RN and it works for them - so different platforms work for different scenarios).
riveralabs 2y ago
I don't disagree with you. Especially the native development limitations. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer here. You just have to adjust your expectations and learn to live with your choices.
sandofsky 2y ago
> - it is more important to have desktop / mobile web app these days On what are you basing this? Every normal person I know picks a native app over a web app. > - pwa and mobile apps and tech are slowly getting good enough This has been claimed for well over a decade, yet I can't tell the difference as a consumer. > - if you are native ios or android you are limiting your jobs and business opportunities - native mobile dev is like niche inside niche these days. Probably half of jobs is typescript/javascript/ python related. Technically a brain surgeon has fewer job opportunities than a dentist, yet they make way more money. > - in current market and ai landscape your have to prototype and ship fast to be competitive even at the cost of slighly worse UX This is quite a generalization. I think that in some markets users will tolerate a worse UX, and in some markets UX is everything. My company has done quite well by not compromising UX. I think it's a false dichotomy that you can either build fast with a web app or slow with a native app. I can build some things in SwiftUI way faster than if I used web technology.
- refulgentis 2y ago
  I've really enjoy your commentary for years and you have one of the sharpest wits and intellects, if not the sharpest, in tech. I am challenging myself today, been struggling for many moons with how to word this without being aggressive, and it seems impossible: you have a persistent blind spot about the efficacy of iOS. It's virtually impossible to launch iOS-only today without enough funding that you can ride out the ensuing 1-2 years to also now build out and staff a web app, etc. IIRC you have a distaste for that sort of funding (which I share) The old Mac indies have brand names and a benefit of a smoother transition since they were there before the App Store. You and your partner were both influencers in the Mac indie community dating back *2 decades* now, and benefited greatly from the visibility of that: didn't Apple have Halide on the Apple Store phones at some point? It's very, very, very, hard to get to market, get attention, and get to a competitive wage in the US, just on UX and an iOS app, even with a year or two of patience.
  - sandofsky 2y ago
    > It's virtually impossible to launch iOS-only today without enough funding that you can ride out the ensuing 1-2 years to also now build out and staff a web app Not every product needs a web app. If you absolutely need a web app, and it matters more than an iPhone app then build a web app first. > The old Mac indies have brand names and a benefit of a smoother transition since they were there before the App Store. The only real Mac app I've ever shipped came four years after the App Store. If you're going to call out my privilege, I need you to get the details right. > didn't Apple have Halide on the Apple Store phones at some point? Yes, after it had gained traction. The pre-install was an amusing distraction that made zero impact on downloads. > It's very, very, very, hard to get to market, get attention, and get to a competitive wage in the US, just on UX and an iOS app, even with a year or two of patience. That is a universal problem with building anything, whether it's a native app, web app, or protein shake. However, I'll argue tons more ways to build traction in native apps than web apps, on both a technical and marketing level.

by pzo 2y ago

dreamcompiler 2y ago

Completely agree. "Download our App!" is a huge red flag. It suggests at best that some VP at the company wanted to check a box and at worst that the company wants to harvest your sweet, sweet personal data and they cannot do so with a mere website. There are some apps whose existence makes sense like Uber and turn-by-turn navigation but the vast majority of apps now should just be websites.

Ologn 2y ago

There are three billion Android devices in active use. Writing native applications for a platform with three billion active users is niche, but not that niche. Over 100 billion apps were downloaded on Google Play last year. There probably are more Javascript/React jobs, but there are also more Javascript/React programmers. In mid-2022, many places had trouble finding good senior Android programmers. In the past few months I saw OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity etc. looking for Android programmers. In terms of knowing Java and Kotlin well, there are plenty of Java/Kotlin backend jobs around (don't know about that in hot startups, but outside of Microsoft-world, JVM has been the bedrock of backend for almost 30 years). So that's a logical shift out of an Android job if desired. Also, Android gives analytics to the business that they have more trouble getting on web. On the web companies are at the mercy of Chrome, Safari etc., with Android they're writing their own app to their own specifications (with some Google Play restrictions). Where I work, Android and iOS sometimes are ready to launch before the web team has finished their work. How does that fit into prototyping and shipping fast? It's possible the golden days of launching an app like Instagram and getting acquired a year and a half later for a billion dollars is over, but there is plenty of money to be made. Also, even if a company does launch on web first (most, but not all, companies), if they're successful they often look into launching a mobile app. Even if they start with React Native, KMM or the like they often move to native later (although there are exceptions, I believe Discord launched with RN and it works for them - so different platforms work for different scenarios).

riveralabs 2y ago

I don't disagree with you. Especially the native development limitations. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer here. You just have to adjust your expectations and learn to live with your choices.

sandofsky 2y ago

> - it is more important to have desktop / mobile web app these days On what are you basing this? Every normal person I know picks a native app over a web app. > - pwa and mobile apps and tech are slowly getting good enough This has been claimed for well over a decade, yet I can't tell the difference as a consumer. > - if you are native ios or android you are limiting your jobs and business opportunities - native mobile dev is like niche inside niche these days. Probably half of jobs is typescript/javascript/ python related. Technically a brain surgeon has fewer job opportunities than a dentist, yet they make way more money. > - in current market and ai landscape your have to prototype and ship fast to be competitive even at the cost of slighly worse UX This is quite a generalization. I think that in some markets users will tolerate a worse UX, and in some markets UX is everything. My company has done quite well by not compromising UX. I think it's a false dichotomy that you can either build fast with a web app or slow with a native app. I can build some things in SwiftUI way faster than if I used web technology.

refulgentis 2y ago
I've really enjoy your commentary for years and you have one of the sharpest wits and intellects, if not the sharpest, in tech. I am challenging myself today, been struggling for many moons with how to word this without being aggressive, and it seems impossible: you have a persistent blind spot about the efficacy of iOS. It's virtually impossible to launch iOS-only today without enough funding that you can ride out the ensuing 1-2 years to also now build out and staff a web app, etc. IIRC you have a distaste for that sort of funding (which I share) The old Mac indies have brand names and a benefit of a smoother transition since they were there before the App Store. You and your partner were both influencers in the Mac indie community dating back *2 decades* now, and benefited greatly from the visibility of that: didn't Apple have Halide on the Apple Store phones at some point? It's very, very, very, hard to get to market, get attention, and get to a competitive wage in the US, just on UX and an iOS app, even with a year or two of patience.
- sandofsky 2y ago
  > It's virtually impossible to launch iOS-only today without enough funding that you can ride out the ensuing 1-2 years to also now build out and staff a web app Not every product needs a web app. If you absolutely need a web app, and it matters more than an iPhone app then build a web app first. > The old Mac indies have brand names and a benefit of a smoother transition since they were there before the App Store. The only real Mac app I've ever shipped came four years after the App Store. If you're going to call out my privilege, I need you to get the details right. > didn't Apple have Halide on the Apple Store phones at some point? Yes, after it had gained traction. The pre-install was an amusing distraction that made zero impact on downloads. > It's very, very, very, hard to get to market, get attention, and get to a competitive wage in the US, just on UX and an iOS app, even with a year or two of patience. That is a universal problem with building anything, whether it's a native app, web app, or protein shake. However, I'll argue tons more ways to build traction in native apps than web apps, on both a technical and marketing level.