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My first attempt at iOS app development

mgx.me

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Re: My first attempt at iOS app development

#41
post #31
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just developing in Apple's crappy ecosystem. eg Apple publishes a new ios rev; debugging on it requires upgrading xcode; and that requires updating your OS. . Good thing you don't mind wasting a full day or more reinstalling every other devtool you may happen to use. Or xcode just doesn't connect to your ios device because reasons. (The reason is apple writes shoddy slapdash software because monopoly.) So now you'…

This sounds like Python development....and React.....and Svelte....and oh, remember Angular 2 to 3? Or people who invest time in Clojure? Were you a fan of the MEAN stack a decade ago? Build something on it? How's that app doing? What you're describing is not unique to Apple. It's a regular occurrence for anyone who's not writing for a enterprise SAAS company with a largely legacy codebase and a dozen DevOps guys mos…

> This sounds like Python development....and React.....and Svelte....and oh, remember Angular 2 to 3?

I can open a webpage written in Angular 1, or written in year 1990. I can run a program written for windows 95 on my new PC with windows 11. It’s normal to keep compatibility for compiled/finished ebd user software.

Re: My first attempt at iOS app development

#42
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Made even worse by the fact that the apple developer membership costs 99 USD per year...

So Apple gets $99/year PLUS 30% app revenue share? So at a $2.99 "fair" price point as mentioned in the post, how many copies does he have to sell to break even (assuming 4 days of development priced at $2,500/day contractor rate)? (1 * .99) * .70 - (4 * 2500 + 99) The answer is => 14,574 downloads would give him $0.78 profit, before taxes. (In that time, he would have earned more than $13,000 for Apple.)

We're talking about an app made as a weekend project to solve a problem the developer themselves has. Most normal humans would count their time as being free. I pity the person who considers the economic value and tax implications of their leisure time projects. So the calculation is just how many downloads do they need to make up for the $99 developer fee which breaks even at 47 downloads at 30% or 38 at 15%. Definitely not unrealistic.

Re: My first attempt at iOS app development

#44

Coming from embedded development, where it's mostly crappy SOC vendors providing a barely-working SDK and toolchain they cobbled together from an ancient version of gcc, moving to iOS development / Xcode was in most aspects a breath of fresh air. It does have its annoyances, though. Code signing, provisioning profiles, entitlements, AppStore wizardry... And the developer program fee is a bummer: It means you can't su…

I had to respond, not because I think you are wrong, but because I have had almost exactly the opposite experience and conclusions from you apparently.

> iPhone 7

I still have one as a TV device for me and my son to watch paw patrol. I can only speak for the set of apps I use on it, but as of a few hours ago they all still work (streaming, email, browser. no banking or other apps in that class). I am looking to replace it as it's no longer getting updates as of this march.

>This phone is not that old

Kind of very confused by this. It's 9 years old, it just stopped getting security updates three months ago. Is there anything even close to that outside of the iphone world? I do own android devices, I don't have anything android and nine years old that can turn on much less run an application.

Re: My first attempt at iOS app development

#45
post #36
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you share which issues you had with the upgrade to 53? I just recently migrated my employer’s app to sdk 52. We are still on legacy arch for now. I’d love to know more about what I’m in for when it comes to upgrading to 53.

The switch to the new rendering architecture is really massive, a lot of libraries have subtle bugs that are not yet fixed.

Oh yeah for sure. Not going to adopt new architecture yet. It’s a little rough of a transition but once we get through I do believe it will be a game changer for react native. Until reanimated v4 is dialed in I’m staying away.

Have you tried turning off new arch for now?

Re: My first attempt at iOS app development

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The solution for code signing is coming: through jailbreaks or appdb.to, it's possible to sideload apps without the official app store process. The EU even mandated that there should be other app stores. Building for older models is possible using a collection of virtual machines, or even a multi-boot old laptop.

a) You still need to code sign on alternative app stores. b) All of your users are still going come through the Apple one.

Reg B... Will they? From what almost everyone I have heard from says, most of their users come thru their own marketing efforts, not Apples.

Re: My first attempt at iOS app development

#48
post #45
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The switch to the new rendering architecture is really massive, a lot of libraries have subtle bugs that are not yet fixed.

Oh yeah for sure. Not going to adopt new architecture yet. It’s a little rough of a transition but once we get through I do believe it will be a game changer for react native. Until reanimated v4 is dialed in I’m staying away. Have you tried turning off new arch for now?

Yes, but we found plenty of bugs. Fixed some (e.g. in TrueSheet). It is drastically faster, but I won't call it a "game changer".

It's great for us because we have native code modules, and seamless Turbo Modules are nice (you _can_ use them with the old arch, but it requires some jumping through hoops).

As for reanimated, I would just stay away from it entirely. Way too many layering violations for my taste.

Re: My first attempt at iOS app development

#49
post #44

Coming from embedded development, where it's mostly crappy SOC vendors providing a barely-working SDK and toolchain they cobbled together from an ancient version of gcc, moving to iOS development / Xcode was in most aspects a breath of fresh air. It does have its annoyances, though. Code signing, provisioning profiles, entitlements, AppStore wizardry... And the developer program fee is a bummer: It means you can't su…

I had to respond, not because I think you are wrong, but because I have had almost exactly the opposite experience and conclusions from you apparently. > iPhone 7 I still have one as a TV device for me and my son to watch paw patrol. I can only speak for the set of apps I use on it, but as of a few hours ago they all still work (streaming, email, browser. no banking or other apps in that class). I am looking to repla…

I think it’s weird how confused people get when you suggest a 9 year old electronic device should work. Every computer in my house is over 10 years old. My A/V receiver and home theater speakers are 15 years old. My TV is 18 years old. My electronic thermostat is 11 years old. While they no longer receive firmware updates, they all continue to work as well as they worked on the day I bought them.

For some reason, nobody expects this of phones and tablets. The manufacturer cuts you off from updates and now somehow you’re obsolete! The 3rd party developer ecosystem pulls their old-device-supporting apps, and suddenly the device is useless. I don’t know why we accept this!

What is so special about phones where we allow them to be considered obsolete so quickly?

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