Foundations

Nov 7, 2017 | 1 minute read

Every day at a startup is an exercise in getting to tomorrow. Some days it’s easier, some days it’s harder, but if you don’t make it until tomorrow, there won’t be a next week, month, or year.

This is why building a long-term foundation is incredibly important.  Continue Reading →

Debugging shortcuts for UIKeyCommand

Apr 2, 2017 | 1 minute read

I recently re-discovered UIKeyCommand while listening to Caleb Davenport’s, podcast, Runtime. He’s also got a blog post which shows you exactly how simple it is to create UIKeyCommand shortcuts for your app.

After reading that, I decided that it would be neat to implement them across my app, so I could also start navigating around my UI with lightning speed while I’m debugging in the simulator. I quickly realized that by using Swift extensions, I could automatically get these behaviors for free throughout our entire app. Continue Reading →

WWDC 2016 — My Fantasy Edition

Jun 10, 2016 | 3 minute read

WWDC is right around the corner! This post isn’t intended to be a prediction, as much as what I hope unfolds.

As Betrand Serlet, a former Apple engineer discussed in this 90 second video clip, Apple often ships features iteratively. Projects start off private, only to be used internally, often times for a year or two. When they feel stable enough, Apple opens them up to 3rd party developers, and makes it an official API. Features that are deemed noteworthy and successful continue to build on, while others are simply forgotten.

The three technologies below have gone through this lifecycle the last few years, and I think they are ready to converge into a big way, changing how we use iOS every day. Continue Reading →

You Can’t Do It All

May 24, 2016 | 3 minute read

At the original iPhone announcement, we saw Steve Jobs on stage with Google’s then CEO Eric Schmidt, showing off Google’s amazing Maps. Built for the iPhone, it was something we’d never seen before. Apple’s incredible phone and revolutionary software combined with Google’s terrific web services and data coming together for one amazing product. With regards to collaboration, it’s all been downhill from there. Since then, every tech company has focused on owning the whole experience.

Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook. These companies all excel at some things, and have attempted to leverage that into more. Apple understands user experience and hardware. Google gets web and machine learning like no other company. Amazon is the best at logistics and commerce. Microsoft’s productivity and enterprise know-how guides them to success. Facebook has little competition when it comes to figuring out consumer behavior.

In the mobile era, each of those companies has tried to make the widget, sell it, and reap all of its rewards. But this has never worked.  Continue Reading →

Comparing Shyp to Time Warner

Apr 6, 2015 | 1 minute read

I pushed the magic button to get a Shyp person here to send out a couple packages I have been procrastinating sending for weeks. After that was settled, I dialed up Time Warner Cable, to get my modem swapped out, a process I’ve been actively trying to get done for weeks.

After a combination of pushing buttons and yelling “tech support” into the phone for 10 minutes to get me to the right place, I finally got a real life human on.  Continue Reading →

The Apple Watch and Luxury

Mar 16, 2015 | 1 minute read

Just leaving this here for later, feel free to call me out on it if I’m wrong.

The Watch isn’t about Apple selling luxury products, it’s about making something nice looking enough that you’ll actually wear it. Continue Reading →

On Slow Programming

Dec 2, 2014 | 1 minute read