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Ask HN: Is it worth switching from web development to native iOS dev?

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Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching from web development to native iOS dev?

#11

Post by rhodysurf »

pvinis wrote: post #7

If you only care about the iOS ecosystem, then sure. Swift is great, a lot of great support from Xcode and a bunch of tools around it. I did the opposite. I moved from native iOS to React Native for iOS only to React Native for iOS and Android. It is definitely more complicated to do React Native for now, if you need to do anything that touched the native frameworks/hardware, so it definitely helps to have the native…

I have done the same switch recently and I react native has been a lot of fun to learn. Especially knowing native iOS and android it makes rn sooo powerful cuz you can expose whatever you want.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching from web development to native iOS dev?

#12

Post by francislata »

My situation is a bit different: switching from iOS to ML. One thing I could say is that iOS development is a fun experience. I did it for the past 5-6 years of my career and was self-taught. I learned both Objective-C and Swift during my time in that world. Doing iOS development has taught me a lot UI/UX, amongst other things.

Recently, I switch to a role in ML and its been a change in my workflow so far - which is something I expected, but fun nonetheless. I don't get to do UI/UX in the visual sense but now I have to care about design of ML models and deployment so that other front-end clients can use them.

I would say give iOS development a go ahead because you want to!

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching from web development to native iOS dev?

#13

Post by ryanwaggoner »

hknd wrote: post #8
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #2

Yes. I switched in 2010 and haven’t regretted it once. More fun, much less framework churn than frontend, and better pay. And if it crashes for some reason, you can switch to something else. And learn native Swift, not React Native or Flutter or some other fad hybrid approach. It’ll be worth it in the long run.

Better pay is imho not true. Maybe the lower bound might be higher, but from my experience working in FAANG/IB/HedgeFunds the pay for normal SWEs (web frontend+backend, fullstack, whatever you wanna call it) was always higher than iOS devs. (most of the time much higher).

Not my experience. Native mobile dev is a niche, it’s in high demand, and it’s hard to find good people for. The companies who really need these roles pay well for them and I think it’s also easier to get hired for one of these roles as a result.

And I wouldn’t include IB or hedge funds in those numbers, because building internal tools is rarely where the money is.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching from web development to native iOS dev?

#14

Post by ryanwaggoner »

Hamuko wrote: post #3
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #2

Yes. I switched in 2010 and haven’t regretted it once. More fun, much less framework churn than frontend, and better pay. And if it crashes for some reason, you can switch to something else. And learn native Swift, not React Native or Flutter or some other fad hybrid approach. It’ll be worth it in the long run.

> And learn native Swift, not React Native or Flutter or some other fad hybrid approach. It’ll be worth it in the long run. How? Feels to me like I keep seeing recruitment for cross-platform devs more than native devs. And a lot of companies seem interested in pumping out cross-platform apps from a single codebase than developing separate native apps.

A lot of startups are enamored with React Native and Flutter, which is almost the definition of a fad, but virtually all the big tech companies who pay the most are hiring native devs. Even Google and Facebook who created React Native and Flutter still do way more native dev and hire accordingly.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching from web development to native iOS dev?

#15

Post by jon889 »

francislata wrote: post #12

My situation is a bit different: switching from iOS to ML. One thing I could say is that iOS development is a fun experience. I did it for the past 5-6 years of my career and was self-taught. I learned both Objective-C and Swift during my time in that world. Doing iOS development has taught me a lot UI/UX, amongst other things. Recently, I switch to a role in ML and its been a change in my workflow so far - which is…

How did you find changing from one field to another. I've been doing iOS for about 3 years and I'm started to feel like I might be trapped doing iOS forever. I mean I can't imagine a company wanting to hire me in something else given all my workplace experience is iOS.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching from web development to native iOS dev?

#16

Post by schlu »

In my opinion here are the pros:

- iOS will be around a long time.

- Big brands and startups are basically required to have an app in the App Store if they want to succeed.

- Every year a new version comes out that requires developers to fix bugs and sometimes adopt new technology.

Here are the cons:

- Extremely difficult to build an indie business on iOS given that there is a single distribution channel that you don't control.

- The learning curve is pretty steep.

Here are some other points:

- Good iOS developers are harder to find than good web developers (feels true to me, it might not be).

- You probably won't be on call as an iOS developer (this is important to me, it might not to you).

Developers are paid well across the board. I would pick a technology you enjoy working in and isn't in decline. I believe developers are more likely to succeed if they chase their interest over their salary.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching from web development to native iOS dev?

#17

Post by ratsimihah »

I did the opposite. Started as native iOS dev for 3 years, then picked up React as a hobby, then started a new job with React-Native, and now I do full-stack. I've also done a lot of back-end both as a hobby and at work.

As others said, play with different tools and do what you enjoy!

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching from web development to native iOS dev?

#18

Post by helsinkiandrew »

I'd suggest investing in a few months of iOS dev in your spare time to get a feel if you like it before making any commitments.

Understanding the tools and basic architectures and APIs will be useful on your CV.

Doing some React Native might be the way in for you.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching from web development to native iOS dev?

#19

Post by dzonga »

nope. iOS market reach is limited, as you're likely to reach more potential customers via web. Yeah the mobile ecosystem is trendy, but looking at numbers the apps that make money are games. which you can make via some platform agnostic engine such as Unreal | Unity etc.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth switching from web development to native iOS dev?

#20

Post by ryanwaggoner »

schlu wrote: post #16

In my opinion here are the pros: - iOS will be around a long time. - Big brands and startups are basically required to have an app in the App Store if they want to succeed. - Every year a new version comes out that requires developers to fix bugs and sometimes adopt new technology. Here are the cons: - Extremely difficult to build an indie business on iOS given that there is a single distribution channel that you don…

I strongly echo all of this.
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