Under the Radar

00:00:00 ◼   ► welcome to under the radar a show about

00:00:02 ◼   ► independent iOS app development I'm

00:00:04 ◼   ► Marco Arment mm David Smith under the

00:00:07 ◼   ► radar is never longer than 30 minutes so

00:00:09 ◼   ► let's get started so today we wanted to

00:00:11 ◼   ► talk about kind of what we're calling

00:00:13 ◼   ► the calm before the storm

00:00:14 ◼   ► basically what to do and what to work on

00:00:17 ◼   ► and what not to work on in the few

00:00:20 ◼   ► months leading up to WB DC because the

00:00:23 ◼   ► idea here is you know as iOS developers

00:00:26 ◼   ► or Mac developers know if any of you are

00:00:28 ◼   ► listening WDC usually includes some kind

00:00:32 ◼   ► of major changes especially for iOS you

00:00:35 ◼   ► know some kind of major API changes

00:00:36 ◼   ► possibly design changes possibly

00:00:39 ◼   ► business or marketing changes so there's

00:00:42 ◼   ► always there's always a lot to do in

00:00:45 ◼   ► response to what's announced at WTC for

00:00:48 ◼   ► the fall and so the question is like you

00:00:51 ◼   ► know what you know right now as we

00:00:53 ◼   ► record this it's late April and you know

00:00:55 ◼   ► everybody sees in mid June so it's it's

00:00:58 ◼   ► close enough that like you don't

00:01:00 ◼   ► necessarily want to get started on some

00:01:02 ◼   ► kind of big project now right before WTC

00:01:06 ◼   ► or months before the video you see and

00:01:09 ◼   ► so the question is kind of like what do

00:01:11 ◼   ► you do in this quiet time so David what

00:01:14 ◼   ► do you do usually so I just got finished

00:01:17 ◼   ► with activity post applause which was

00:01:20 ◼   ► like my last probably the last new app

00:01:22 ◼   ► that I launched before WTC and it was

00:01:24 ◼   ► only launched when it was because 9.3

00:01:28 ◼   ► was new had this new API this new

00:01:30 ◼   ► capability like otherwise this time of

00:01:32 ◼   ► year tends to be a sort of a cleanup

00:01:37 ◼   ► phase like I wasn't seen about this in

00:01:39 ◼   ► preparation for the show of kind of what

00:01:41 ◼   ► my normal year looks like which is

00:01:43 ◼   ► probably a good place to start in some

00:01:44 ◼   ► ways we're so in many ways like my

00:01:48 ◼   ► development

00:01:49 ◼   ► year starts at WWDC on whatever Monday

00:01:52 ◼   ► that is like this year it's like June

00:01:54 ◼   ► 13th is essentially like the new like

00:01:56 ◼   ► developer New Year's where at that point

00:02:00 ◼   ► we will sort of have the roadmap of what

00:02:03 ◼   ► to come what's coming what to expect

00:02:05 ◼   ► what's going to be important for the

00:02:06 ◼   ► next for the next year until the next

00:02:08 ◼   ► WWDC

00:02:09 ◼   ► and like really new years we also might

00:02:11 ◼   ► have a hangover at

00:02:12 ◼   ► that's it's it's true he is from there

00:02:17 ◼   ► we have a few months of time until

00:02:21 ◼   ► whatever is announced WC actually gets

00:02:24 ◼   ► released

00:02:24 ◼   ► so typically recently this has been in

00:02:26 ◼   ► June everything's announced in September

00:02:29 ◼   ► ish late late September early October

00:02:31 ◼   ► somewhere on there whenever the new

00:02:32 ◼   ► iPhones come out typically is the sort

00:02:36 ◼   ► of the window we have to before from

00:02:39 ◼   ► when the new stuff is announced to when

00:02:41 ◼   ► the new stuff is available so it's

00:02:42 ◼   ► usually a pretty busy time for most

00:02:44 ◼   ► developers because especially if it's

00:02:46 ◼   ► like a big sweeping change you know it's

00:02:48 ◼   ► like I think iOS 7 where it's like okay

00:02:50 ◼   ► all if this new UI stuff needs to be

00:02:52 ◼   ► done or those types of changes or it's

00:02:55 ◼   ► like with the watch this like here's an

00:02:56 ◼   ► watch OS 2 it's going to be coming out

00:02:58 ◼   ► you have these bay this this very busy

00:03:00 ◼   ► period essentially over the summer and

00:03:03 ◼   ► then you get all that out then you are

00:03:07 ◼   ► at least conceptually for me my goal is

00:03:09 ◼   ► then to get everything nice and tidy for

00:03:11 ◼   ► the holidays you know so I want to be

00:03:14 ◼   ► like it's not as pronounced of a bump as

00:03:17 ◼   ► it used to be but around you know around

00:03:20 ◼   ► Christmas there's usually a nice solid

00:03:22 ◼   ► bump in app downloads and sales and

00:03:25 ◼   ► things because there's just a lot of

00:03:26 ◼   ► people getting new devices and you know

00:03:28 ◼   ► people getting new devices seem to be

00:03:30 ◼   ► more apt to go and download things so

00:03:32 ◼   ► you get you want to be sort of after the

00:03:34 ◼   ► summer sort of intense phase you have

00:03:36 ◼   ► this cleanup phase sort of running

00:03:39 ◼   ► through Christmas and then the early

00:03:42 ◼   ► part of the year when I tend just to

00:03:45 ◼   ► kind of look at it as it's like it's a

00:03:47 ◼   ► good opportunity for doing like point

00:03:50 ◼   ► releases like do we doing these kinds of

00:03:52 ◼   ► big updates but not like massive change

00:03:57 ◼   ► you know and not like new apps tepa

00:03:58 ◼   ► typically it's more just these big

00:04:00 ◼   ► changes right and then you get into this

00:04:01 ◼   ► period right around now where I don't

00:04:04 ◼   ► want to tackle anything that I don't

00:04:05 ◼   ► think I'm going to finish by June and I

00:04:08 ◼   ► don't want to really like make new new

00:04:13 ◼   ► praten like new small things because

00:04:15 ◼   ► they may just become you know worthless

00:04:17 ◼   ► or or kind of you know deprecated or all

00:04:20 ◼   ► these types of things in June and so

00:04:22 ◼   ► right now it tends to be more kind of a

00:04:23 ◼   ► cleanup phase for me so I look

00:04:25 ◼   ► kind of the process I'm going through

00:04:26 ◼   ► right now as I look through my apps

00:04:28 ◼   ► which of which there are many and I will

00:04:30 ◼   ► kind of see like what are the little

00:04:32 ◼   ► niggling things that I can do and things

00:04:35 ◼   ► that have been on my to-do list for a

00:04:36 ◼   ► while that I you know overall would make

00:04:40 ◼   ► the apps better and these tend to be

00:04:41 ◼   ► updates that are more quality of life

00:04:45 ◼   ► updates you know things that are just

00:04:46 ◼   ► like making the app easier to use or

00:04:49 ◼   ► better or more stable that kind of thing

00:04:51 ◼   ► rather than like I'm gonna implement

00:04:53 ◼   ► this whole new you know radical approach

00:04:55 ◼   ► to something it's like these are things

00:04:57 ◼   ► that a lot of them the users won't see

00:04:59 ◼   ► directly or if they do they'll just

00:05:01 ◼   ► notice them and things are better rather

00:05:03 ◼   ► than like totally different but for me

00:05:05 ◼   ► that's kind of this cycle and what a

00:05:07 ◼   ► year looks like and so now is this kind

00:05:10 ◼   ► of fun place where you know I get to

00:05:11 ◼   ► it's a bit more experimental like I'm

00:05:13 ◼   ► just going in and doing lots of

00:05:14 ◼   ► tinkering which is kind of nice I guess

00:05:16 ◼   ► and it's like nice to kind of to also

00:05:19 ◼   ► rest a bit before the crazy sprint

00:05:22 ◼   ► vergis marathon that is June to

00:05:25 ◼   ► September oh yeah I mean I I'm in pretty

00:05:29 ◼   ► much complete agreement with everything

00:05:30 ◼   ► you just said in fact you guys cover

00:05:31 ◼   ► basically my entire outline for this

00:05:32 ◼   ► episode in four minutes

00:05:34 ◼   ► all right but yeah basically like you

00:05:37 ◼   ► know this this is a great time you know

00:05:39 ◼   ► as you just mentioned for anything any

00:05:42 ◼   ► kind of like administrative tasks like

00:05:45 ◼   ► you clean up especially clean up that is

00:05:47 ◼   ► not like the code of your app

00:05:49 ◼   ► necessarily you know administration

00:05:51 ◼   ► stuff changing like updating your

00:05:53 ◼   ► website or your marketing structure you

00:05:57 ◼   ► know some kind like that if you want to

00:05:58 ◼   ► like make you know make a better side or

00:06:01 ◼   ► play with certain kinds of advertising

00:06:03 ◼   ► or whatever else like this is a decent

00:06:05 ◼   ► time to do that kind of stuff and as you

00:06:06 ◼   ► said it's also a really good time to

00:06:08 ◼   ► take vacations or to spend time with

00:06:10 ◼   ► hobbies or with family or whatever else

00:06:13 ◼   ► because a lot of people take vacations

00:06:15 ◼   ► stuff in the summer time but you know as

00:06:17 ◼   ► we'd because of the schedule that we are

00:06:19 ◼   ► on a lot of time developers can't take

00:06:21 ◼   ► vacation or shouldn't take vacation in

00:06:23 ◼   ► summer time because some are so busy for

00:06:25 ◼   ► us tackling all the stuff that's gonna

00:06:27 ◼   ► be in the new version of iOS and so this

00:06:30 ◼   ► is a great time for all that I mean

00:06:31 ◼   ► mainly the main thing is what you what

00:06:33 ◼   ► you don't want to be doing during this

00:06:35 ◼   ► time ideally unless you really have to

00:06:37 ◼   ► but if you ideally you don't want to be

00:06:39 ◼   ► cackling major updates to existing apps

00:06:42 ◼   ► it's not a terrible time to write new

00:06:44 ◼   ► apps which we'll get to you know to do

00:06:47 ◼   ► with given certain parameters but this

00:06:50 ◼   ► is a this is not a great time to do

00:06:52 ◼   ► major updates to existing apps because

00:06:54 ◼   ► in June when when we get that WBC Happy

00:06:58 ◼   ► New Year Monday and we start and you

00:07:00 ◼   ► know we see the state of the unions and

00:07:01 ◼   ► we start seeing some of the new api's

00:07:03 ◼   ► what we usually find is that the new API

00:07:07 ◼   ► is that are that are released in June to

00:07:09 ◼   ► developers and mobile to be released in

00:07:10 ◼   ► the fall to customers usually they will

00:07:13 ◼   ► make our jobs easier in some big ways in

00:07:17 ◼   ► our code and even if even if they wanted

00:07:19 ◼   ► to make our jobs easier they will at

00:07:21 ◼   ► least make our jobs different and so

00:07:23 ◼   ► there's a any any amount of code that

00:07:25 ◼   ► you write in the months before WDC it's

00:07:29 ◼   ► kind of a liability that you might need

00:07:31 ◼   ► that everything you're writing now you

00:07:32 ◼   ► might need to adapt or rewrite in a few

00:07:35 ◼   ► months you know and only and it's that

00:07:37 ◼   ► there's always liability that when

00:07:38 ◼   ► you're writing code but here the

00:07:40 ◼   ► timeline is so close that it's kind of

00:07:42 ◼   ► non-ideal if you can avoid writing tons

00:07:44 ◼   ► of new code or tons of adjustments to

00:07:48 ◼   ► your app now that's good this is

00:07:50 ◼   ► especially true at least it used to be

00:07:52 ◼   ► especially true if you're writing

00:07:53 ◼   ► Swift's and Swift is still so young and

00:07:55 ◼   ► changes so much although at least now

00:07:57 ◼   ► with the open-source roadmap that that

00:07:59 ◼   ► should eliminate most of these surprises

00:08:01 ◼   ► that are coming with Swift and it's

00:08:02 ◼   ► getting more mature but you know in

00:08:05 ◼   ► general the ground will shift in June so

00:08:08 ◼   ► you don't want to build a whole bunch of

00:08:10 ◼   ► new code on top of the old ground until

00:08:13 ◼   ► you know what the shift will be and then

00:08:16 ◼   ► you know maybe you can start taking a

00:08:17 ◼   ► vanishing api's and it used to be the

00:08:19 ◼   ► case that a lot of developers really

00:08:22 ◼   ► couldn't take advantage of the new API

00:08:23 ◼   ► yet because they just they had to

00:08:25 ◼   ► support older versions of iOS I think

00:08:28 ◼   ► over time that that need has has

00:08:30 ◼   ► diminished somewhat is certainly not

00:08:32 ◼   ► gone and certainly there are a lot of

00:08:34 ◼   ► people who still need to support old

00:08:35 ◼   ► versions of iOS and if you do then

00:08:37 ◼   ► they're for like you know the some of

00:08:39 ◼   ► the some of the ground shifting stuff

00:08:40 ◼   ► might not apply to you yet but I think

00:08:44 ◼   ► most severely especially most indie

00:08:46 ◼   ► developers now can get away with

00:08:47 ◼   ► supporting just the current version of

00:08:50 ◼   ► iOS and the vast majority of their

00:08:52 ◼   ► customers in most cases are

00:08:53 ◼   ► okay with that because adoption rates

00:08:55 ◼   ► are so good these days so really you

00:08:58 ◼   ► want to avoid being incompatible or

00:09:01 ◼   ► causing more work for yourself for the

00:09:03 ◼   ► new stuff coming in the fall and this

00:09:05 ◼   ► applies not only to code but also to

00:09:07 ◼   ► design marketing business because you

00:09:10 ◼   ► know design wise like there's obviously

00:09:12 ◼   ► there might be design changes to iOS

00:09:14 ◼   ► there you know there's been rumors of

00:09:16 ◼   ► like you know more things related to

00:09:18 ◼   ► true tone and nightshift so maybe like a

00:09:20 ◼   ► system-wide dark mode or something like

00:09:22 ◼   ► that you got to consider that there

00:09:24 ◼   ► might be designed tweaks to the built-in

00:09:26 ◼   ► widgets or to just the conventions there

00:09:28 ◼   ► might be new new styles that are you

00:09:31 ◼   ► know new navigation controller

00:09:32 ◼   ► structures like a split view kind of

00:09:34 ◼   ► thing like you know new stuff like that

00:09:35 ◼   ► that might come out that might become

00:09:37 ◼   ► like a new standard thing that people

00:09:39 ◼   ► expect or want in the next version of

00:09:40 ◼   ► iOS so it is not like right now is not a

00:09:43 ◼   ► good time to redesign your UI because

00:09:45 ◼   ► you don't know what those changes will

00:09:46 ◼   ► be yet also marketing wise you know

00:09:50 ◼   ► there's there's considerations of like

00:09:52 ◼   ► do you want to do any kind of small or

00:09:55 ◼   ► medium sized releases now and then also

00:09:58 ◼   ► do like another medium size release in

00:10:01 ◼   ► the fall or do you want to cluster them

00:10:03 ◼   ► together and just wait you know hold the

00:10:04 ◼   ► stuff back now and then in the fall do a

00:10:07 ◼   ► bigger release and of course there's

00:10:09 ◼   ► pluses and minuses to that as well it

00:10:10 ◼   ► was obviously more competition in the

00:10:11 ◼   ► fall but there's also more people

00:10:13 ◼   ► looking and there's chances to be

00:10:15 ◼   ► featured and we'll probably cover that

00:10:16 ◼   ► at a later date but also just it's worth

00:10:20 ◼   ► considering that any any assumptions you

00:10:22 ◼   ► make now about the business of selling

00:10:25 ◼   ► your app however you're making money

00:10:27 ◼   ► whatever your structure is for

00:10:29 ◼   ► collecting money from people or not

00:10:31 ◼   ► whether you're doing ads whether you're

00:10:33 ◼   ► doing upgrade payments whatever you're

00:10:35 ◼   ► doing the business model that you have

00:10:37 ◼   ► now might need to change once we learn

00:10:40 ◼   ► what we're going to learn in June you

00:10:41 ◼   ► know so as you learned David like I add

00:10:44 ◼   ► is showing down so like if you were if

00:10:46 ◼   ► you were depending on I add a couple

00:10:47 ◼   ► months ago well now you have work to do

00:10:49 ◼   ► in June there might be other changes

00:10:51 ◼   ► announced there might be changes to the

00:10:53 ◼   ► App Store there might be new policies or

00:10:54 ◼   ► maybe what you're doing now won't be

00:10:56 ◼   ► allowed anymore or maybe it won't work

00:10:58 ◼   ► as well anymore

00:11:00 ◼   ► and maybe there will be new things that

00:11:01 ◼   ► we can do new business models that

00:11:03 ◼   ► become available or possible or more

00:11:06 ◼   ► practical than they used to be

00:11:07 ◼   ► so this is all just a way to say like

00:11:10 ◼   ► you should generally try to avoid any

00:11:12 ◼   ► kind of major changes to existing apps

00:11:15 ◼   ► during this time period because you

00:11:18 ◼   ► might have to change it all again in two

00:11:19 ◼   ► months yeah and I think there's in

00:11:21 ◼   ► general it's like a lot of this speaks

00:11:24 ◼   ► to a more fundamental thing that I know

00:11:26 ◼   ► is important it like an important thing

00:11:28 ◼   ► for me to learn in sort of the

00:11:30 ◼   ► discipline of of app creation was the

00:11:32 ◼   ► rather than just as it's so easy to do

00:11:36 ◼   ► like just keep barreling ahead on like

00:11:39 ◼   ► opening up Xcode every morning and just

00:11:40 ◼   ► getting in there and writing the codes

00:11:42 ◼   ► and whatever you think of building is

00:11:45 ◼   ► trying to instead make sure that you're

00:11:48 ◼   ► being thoughtful about it and like being

00:11:49 ◼   ► somewhat disciplined about it because

00:11:51 ◼   ► when I think about these types of like

00:11:53 ◼   ► considerations for getting ready for

00:11:55 ◼   ► June is a lot of what I'm trying to do

00:11:57 ◼   ► is make sure that I'm setting myself up

00:12:00 ◼   ► so that on June 14th I am ready to dive

00:12:05 ◼   ► head headlong into whatever is announced

00:12:07 ◼   ► and I may or may not like maybe what

00:12:11 ◼   ► they announce isn't really relevant to

00:12:12 ◼   ► me or my app or maybe it's just not that

00:12:15 ◼   ► interesting whatever it is but what I

00:12:17 ◼   ► want is to make sure that I'm ready to

00:12:19 ◼   ► do that and like I'm poised and capable

00:12:22 ◼   ► of doing that like oh but I don't want

00:12:24 ◼   ► to do is to just like have been

00:12:26 ◼   ► barreling along doing something that's

00:12:27 ◼   ► like creating all of these sort of

00:12:30 ◼   ► responsibilities or commitments debt

00:12:33 ◼   ► that I'm gonna then have to be

00:12:34 ◼   ► responsible for in June July and August

00:12:37 ◼   ► like that's where it would become very

00:12:39 ◼   ► problematic and so I need to think about

00:12:41 ◼   ► it I like look you know it's a struggle

00:12:43 ◼   ► I know for myself that when I used to

00:12:45 ◼   ► work in a more corporate environment

00:12:48 ◼   ► there was a certain amount of structure

00:12:49 ◼   ► imposed on me by like having a manager

00:12:52 ◼   ► and my manager having a manager and so

00:12:54 ◼   ► on and we'd have to go through things

00:12:56 ◼   ► like sprint planning only work out what

00:12:58 ◼   ► are we going to work on for the next two

00:12:59 ◼   ► weeks and go through all these exercises

00:13:02 ◼   ► that in a corporate environment are kind

00:13:05 ◼   ► of just the way you manage larger teams

00:13:08 ◼   ► but when you're working for yourself or

00:13:10 ◼   ► with a very small team that discipline

00:13:11 ◼   ► has to come from yourself and so you

00:13:14 ◼   ► have to look at these things and say

00:13:15 ◼   ► well like I would love to add this

00:13:17 ◼   ► feature to this app or I'd love to

00:13:19 ◼   ► implement this new thing

00:13:21 ◼   ► or do you know whatever it whatever that

00:13:23 ◼   ► activity is you want to do there's a

00:13:25 ◼   ► certain amount of actually having to

00:13:26 ◼   ► look at it and say there's I think 44

00:13:29 ◼   ► days till WDC like can I get this done

00:13:32 ◼   ► and then and if I do is that gonna set

00:13:35 ◼   ► me up to be free and available

00:13:37 ◼   ► afterwards or is it the kind of thing

00:13:39 ◼   ► that's like this is this big

00:13:40 ◼   ► experimental thing that I'm working on

00:13:42 ◼   ► that I'm gonna release and I'm gonna

00:13:43 ◼   ► expect to have to do a ton of customer

00:13:45 ◼   ► support or management of it or like I'm

00:13:47 ◼   ► creating this thing that's gonna then

00:13:49 ◼   ► require a lot of my time down the road

00:13:51 ◼   ► like those types of considerations you

00:13:54 ◼   ► have well the only person who's going to

00:13:55 ◼   ► be doing those is like me I can't rely

00:13:59 ◼   ► on someone else to come in and say this

00:14:01 ◼   ► is what you need to work on for the next

00:14:02 ◼   ► month in the run up and so I have to do

00:14:05 ◼   ► to have that discipline myself to look

00:14:07 ◼   ► at it and say yeah I think I can get

00:14:09 ◼   ► this done like the things that I'm

00:14:10 ◼   ► working on myself are these sort of

00:14:13 ◼   ► small improvements to all my apps that I

00:14:16 ◼   ► kind of had these lists of things and

00:14:17 ◼   ► they're just like these small

00:14:18 ◼   ► improvements most of them are probably

00:14:19 ◼   ► like a week's worth of work and oh and

00:14:22 ◼   ► that all of them are things that I think

00:14:23 ◼   ► won't require maintenance in June or you

00:14:27 ◼   ► know sort of a follow up they're very

00:14:28 ◼   ► self-contained and neat and tidy and

00:14:30 ◼   ► that's by choice and intention you know

00:14:33 ◼   ► I'm not really the kind of person I know

00:14:35 ◼   ► it's like I have a Gantt chart like this

00:14:37 ◼   ► big organizational thing that I'm like

00:14:38 ◼   ► okay well I'll do this and this and you

00:14:40 ◼   ► know this task is dependent on this task

00:14:42 ◼   ► and so you'd like that's not what I'm

00:14:45 ◼   ► saying and I don't know some people love

00:14:47 ◼   ► Gantt charts that's they don't really

00:14:48 ◼   ► work for me in the way I had to think

00:14:49 ◼   ► about things but I mean that kind of

00:14:53 ◼   ► discipline of thinking about it

00:14:54 ◼   ► consciously and saying like am i

00:14:56 ◼   ► realistically going to be done with all

00:14:57 ◼   ► these things so that I'm poised and

00:14:59 ◼   ► ready when the new stuff and the new

00:15:01 ◼   ► opportunities appear because ultimately

00:15:02 ◼   ► that's all this all this comes down to

00:15:04 ◼   ► is like there's going to be new

00:15:05 ◼   ► opportunities because they'll be change

00:15:07 ◼   ► am I going to be in a position to set

00:15:10 ◼   ► myself up to take advantage of those

00:15:11 ◼   ► opportunities

00:15:12 ◼   ► cuz like that's most of what like being

00:15:14 ◼   ► lucky in a lot of these types of you

00:15:18 ◼   ► know every nough is where you look at

00:15:20 ◼   ► subjects like ah man you know it's like

00:15:21 ◼   ► they really lucked out and that's why

00:15:22 ◼   ► their business is a success it's like

00:15:23 ◼   ► maybe or or they were just ready and

00:15:27 ◼   ► prepared for when the opportunity

00:15:29 ◼   ► presented itself that they could dive in

00:15:31 ◼   ► had the head first it's probably more

00:15:33 ◼   ► that usually some of both

00:15:35 ◼   ► a little bit of both but you can't do if

00:15:37 ◼   ► you don't know if though if you don't

00:15:38 ◼   ► have the one the other ones not gonna

00:15:39 ◼   ► really matter nearly as much that's true

00:15:42 ◼   ► alright so we are sponsored this week

00:15:44 ◼   ► once again by our friends at Pingdom you

00:15:47 ◼   ► can start monitoring your websites and

00:15:49 ◼   ► servers today at Pingdom comm with a

00:15:51 ◼   ► free 14-day trial when you enter offer

00:15:54 ◼   ► code radar at checkout you get 20% off

00:15:56 ◼   ► your first invoice now Pingdom is a web

00:16:00 ◼   ► monitoring service and I have I said

00:16:03 ◼   ► last time that I've been using Pingdom

00:16:04 ◼   ► for a long time a very long time today I

00:16:07 ◼   ► actually looked up how long exactly it

00:16:08 ◼   ► was that I used that we use Pingdom and

00:16:11 ◼   ► and so I looked I found the very first

00:16:14 ◼   ► email I got from David Carr but we were

00:16:16 ◼   ► both making tumblr from April 2nd 2007

00:16:20 ◼   ► and he says I think I'm going to sign us

00:16:22 ◼   ► up for this and then message body

00:16:24 ◼   ► penguin comm and sure enough he did sign

00:16:27 ◼   ► up for it and so that we've been using

00:16:28 ◼   ► Pingdom first me and me and that David

00:16:32 ◼   ► now me and this David

00:16:33 ◼   ► we've been using picked them for a very

00:16:35 ◼   ► long time I've been using it personally

00:16:38 ◼   ► since spring of 2007 so for nine years

00:16:42 ◼   ► now and Pingdom is great for monitoring

00:16:46 ◼   ► your web sites and web services anything

00:16:49 ◼   ► you can monitor through a basic HTTP

00:16:52 ◼   ► access of some kind Pingdom can monitor

00:16:56 ◼   ► that and so this is useful for of course

00:16:59 ◼   ► making sure your website is up making

00:17:01 ◼   ► sure your service is up you can also do

00:17:03 ◼   ► things like monitor for changes so you

00:17:07 ◼   ► can do things like monitor somebody

00:17:09 ◼   ► else's website like we mentioned last

00:17:10 ◼   ► time you can would monitor the WWDC

00:17:13 ◼   ► website to see when WTC was announced

00:17:16 ◼   ► each year and that which mattered a lot

00:17:18 ◼   ► especially back when it was like

00:17:19 ◼   ► first-come first-serve for tickets and

00:17:21 ◼   ► so you can monitor any site you want for

00:17:23 ◼   ► changes you can monitor your own sites

00:17:25 ◼   ► for uptime and you can also monitor any

00:17:27 ◼   ► anything that you can represent by like

00:17:29 ◼   ► a kind of a binary like good or bad

00:17:32 ◼   ► status so for instance if you have some

00:17:35 ◼   ► kind of health page or health check for

00:17:37 ◼   ► your apps your your services you can

00:17:39 ◼   ► have the health check returned a

00:17:40 ◼   ► different string and then you can have

00:17:42 ◼   ► Pingdom search for that string on the

00:17:43 ◼   ► page so that when things are not just

00:17:46 ◼   ► debt you know not even down but when

00:17:48 ◼   ► things are just not I

00:17:49 ◼   ► deal like one of your servers is running

00:17:51 ◼   ► low on disk space or something like that

00:17:52 ◼   ► you can be alerted of that with a

00:17:54 ◼   ► separate check and you can have

00:17:56 ◼   ► different alert levels you can say or I

00:17:57 ◼   ► will if a servers load is spaced email

00:17:59 ◼   ► me about that but I don't need to be

00:18:01 ◼   ► like texted or notified with tons of

00:18:02 ◼   ► alarms about that but if the whole

00:18:04 ◼   ► website is down set everything on fire

00:18:06 ◼   ► and let me know like don't do whatever

00:18:08 ◼   ► it takes to notify me that the website

00:18:10 ◼   ► is down and there's so many

00:18:11 ◼   ► customization options with Pingdom it's

00:18:13 ◼   ► a great service they they're widely used

00:18:16 ◼   ► now they say they detect around 13

00:18:19 ◼   ► million outages every month because over

00:18:22 ◼   ► 400,000 outages every day so you can

00:18:25 ◼   ► really do a lot with Pingdom and a lot

00:18:26 ◼   ► of people do and I've been doing it

00:18:27 ◼   ► myself for nine years now so check it

00:18:30 ◼   ► out Pingdom comm you need to be the

00:18:33 ◼   ► first one to know when your website or

00:18:34 ◼   ► service is down not everybody else so

00:18:37 ◼   ► you need to know first go to Pingdom

00:18:38 ◼   ► calm for a 14-day free trial and 20% off

00:18:41 ◼   ► when you enter the offer code radar at

00:18:43 ◼   ► checkout thank you very much to Pingdom

00:18:45 ◼   ► for sponsoring our show once again so I

00:18:47 ◼   ► wanted to talk a little bit about you

00:18:50 ◼   ► know I think we both kind of agreed that

00:18:52 ◼   ► this is a good time for cleanup and

00:18:54 ◼   ► minor improvements of our apps I want to

00:18:57 ◼   ► go a little bit more into what that is

00:18:58 ◼   ► what that means I've been doing a lot of

00:19:01 ◼   ► this myself with overcast recently in

00:19:03 ◼   ► the last couple of months I've

00:19:05 ◼   ► integrated analytics I've integrated

00:19:07 ◼   ► what used to be called crashlytics and

00:19:09 ◼   ► is now called fabric located on my

00:19:11 ◼   ► Twitter that whole thing integrated

00:19:13 ◼   ► analytics and crash reporting more

00:19:14 ◼   ► deeply into the app before I was just I

00:19:16 ◼   ► was for a while using haki then I was

00:19:18 ◼   ► using Apple's built-in stuff and now

00:19:20 ◼   ► found fabric to be a good combo for me

00:19:22 ◼   ► and the main reason why is that I really

00:19:26 ◼   ► wanted to take this time to improve

00:19:27 ◼   ► quality and so this is a great time to

00:19:31 ◼   ► you know minimize crashes to go through

00:19:34 ◼   ► and fix like little bugs like that just

00:19:35 ◼   ► little little bugs little annoyances to

00:19:38 ◼   ► your users anything that causes crashing

00:19:40 ◼   ► or failures this is a great time to do

00:19:42 ◼   ► that because like that's the kind of

00:19:43 ◼   ► stuff that generally like whatever is

00:19:44 ◼   ► announced that everybody you see is

00:19:45 ◼   ► probably not going to effect that kind

00:19:47 ◼   ► of code it's also a good time to pay off

00:19:49 ◼   ► any kind of low-level technical debt as

00:19:53 ◼   ► long as it's not a ton of work and you

00:19:55 ◼   ► know will cost tons of bugs but any kind

00:19:57 ◼   ► of like you know if you have a technical

00:19:58 ◼   ► debt like in your in your sink or data

00:20:01 ◼   ► layers this is a good time to pay that

00:20:02 ◼   ► if you can and and to do like minor

00:20:05 ◼   ► feature experimentation like if you want

00:20:07 ◼   ► to tweak like small changes to the app

00:20:09 ◼   ► not any kind of big overreaching change

00:20:12 ◼   ► or redesign but if you just want to

00:20:13 ◼   ► tweak small changes this is a good time

00:20:15 ◼   ► to do that as well it's also a good time

00:20:17 ◼   ► to solicit or investigate customer

00:20:20 ◼   ► feedback about what kinds of things you

00:20:23 ◼   ► want to be doing this summer so ask your

00:20:26 ◼   ► existing customers or look at your

00:20:27 ◼   ► analytics or implement analytics of some

00:20:29 ◼   ► kind don't be creepy but implement some

00:20:31 ◼   ► kind of analytics to to say like you

00:20:34 ◼   ► know what should I be thinking about

00:20:35 ◼   ► this summer when all this stuff is

00:20:36 ◼   ► announced what should I have in my

00:20:38 ◼   ► roadmap feature wise for my app what are

00:20:41 ◼   ► what are my customers really asking for

00:20:43 ◼   ► how is the app actually being used and

00:20:45 ◼   ► not being used this is a great time for

00:20:48 ◼   ► all that stuff it basically everything

00:20:49 ◼   ► that isn't massive code design or

00:20:52 ◼   ► business changes this is a great time

00:20:53 ◼   ► for all those things and so me

00:20:55 ◼   ► personally I have as I mentioned

00:20:57 ◼   ► integrated crashlytics and fabric and

00:20:59 ◼   ► and analytics there and so I've taken

00:21:02 ◼   ► this time to drop my crash rate to

00:21:04 ◼   ► nearly zero and through the combination

00:21:07 ◼   ► of the last few versions plus the

00:21:08 ◼   ► version that I just submitted this

00:21:09 ◼   ► morning just a whole bunch of minor

00:21:11 ◼   ► updates focused on getting the crashes

00:21:14 ◼   ► reduced as low as I possibly can just

00:21:16 ◼   ► trying to eliminate like crashlytics

00:21:18 ◼   ► tells you like a crash free users

00:21:20 ◼   ► percentage because kind of cool it's

00:21:22 ◼   ► kind of cool metric and it used to be

00:21:24 ◼   ► like 99 point something low now at 99.9

00:21:28 ◼   ► and the new version I have in review now

00:21:31 ◼   ► should raise that even higher it's just

00:21:33 ◼   ► a very satisfying like kind of technical

00:21:35 ◼   ► debt payoff period I'm going through

00:21:36 ◼   ► here we're just like let me just fix as

00:21:38 ◼   ► much as I possibly can that that I can

00:21:41 ◼   ► fit in this time span and then it's also

00:21:44 ◼   ► it's a great time to do any kind of

00:21:47 ◼   ► experimentation with other things that

00:21:50 ◼   ► are not your app that are not like the

00:21:53 ◼   ► code of your app so you know I mentioned

00:21:55 ◼   ► experimental you know small features or

00:21:57 ◼   ► small changes but this is actually a

00:21:59 ◼   ► great time to step away from your iOS

00:22:02 ◼   ► apps and to look at other kinds of

00:22:05 ◼   ► larger kinds of experimentation so

00:22:08 ◼   ► things like learning a new language

00:22:09 ◼   ► learning a new API is just learning

00:22:12 ◼   ► something new that will probably not

00:22:13 ◼   ► change dramatically in June so you know

00:22:15 ◼   ► other languages

00:22:16 ◼   ► non-apple platforms things like that and

00:22:19 ◼   ► also just making new apps on different

00:22:22 ◼   ► platforms so if you if you want if

00:22:24 ◼   ► you've wanted for a long time to make an

00:22:26 ◼   ► android app or a web app maybe arguably

00:22:30 ◼   ► even a Mac app which I'm kind of

00:22:32 ◼   ► implying with a little bit because the

00:22:33 ◼   ► Mac doesn't change that much usually WC

00:22:35 ◼   ► so maybe a Mac app would also qualify

00:22:37 ◼   ► here but any kind of app on different

00:22:39 ◼   ► platforms this is a great time to

00:22:41 ◼   ► experiment with that because that's

00:22:43 ◼   ► probably not gonna change much in June

00:22:45 ◼   ► doesn't really matter and you kind of

00:22:47 ◼   ► have to like save your iOS and juices

00:22:48 ◼   ► for for then you know and it's also a

00:22:51 ◼   ► great time to just enter an entirely new

00:22:54 ◼   ► business if you wanted to like start a

00:22:56 ◼   ► podcast start a blog you know start

00:22:59 ◼   ► selling t-shirts or something like if

00:23:01 ◼   ► you wanted to start something new that

00:23:03 ◼   ► is not an app that won't necessarily

00:23:05 ◼   ► take up your entire life this is a good

00:23:08 ◼   ► time to experiment with that as well so

00:23:09 ◼   ► basically it's a time for

00:23:11 ◼   ► experimentation of all kinds as long as

00:23:14 ◼   ► it's not going to be a problem come June

00:23:16 ◼   ► exactly and I think there's also

00:23:17 ◼   ► something to be said for I haven't

00:23:20 ◼   ► actually I mean it knowing me I'll

00:23:22 ◼   ► probably pull a chart for this after the

00:23:24 ◼   ► show but I'm like I imagine the number

00:23:26 ◼   ► of new submissions this time of year is

00:23:29 ◼   ► lower than the typical like seasonal

00:23:33 ◼   ► rate and so if you have something that

00:23:37 ◼   ► you've been thinking about launching

00:23:38 ◼   ► like a small little project or something

00:23:40 ◼   ► like there's a certain amount of wisdom

00:23:42 ◼   ► and launching it at a time when things

00:23:44 ◼   ► are quieter when there's less going on

00:23:46 ◼   ► when in general like there's not a whole

00:23:49 ◼   ► lot of tech news that's come out like

00:23:52 ◼   ► we're kind of in this quiet bit between

00:23:55 ◼   ► the spraying announcements and the

00:23:58 ◼   ► summer announcements and so if you have

00:24:00 ◼   ► something that you have been working on

00:24:02 ◼   ► there's certainly some advantage to

00:24:03 ◼   ► pushing to make sure that you get it out

00:24:05 ◼   ► in the quiet time you know that's now

00:24:09 ◼   ► because if you try and do it over the

00:24:12 ◼   ► summer there's gonna be a lot more

00:24:13 ◼   ► competition on the news side and if you

00:24:17 ◼   ► try and do it in the fall then you're

00:24:19 ◼   ► gonna have a lot of competition just on

00:24:21 ◼   ► the competing apps side you think

00:24:23 ◼   ► there's just a lot of new apps a lot of

00:24:25 ◼   ► big updates you know the this if you

00:24:27 ◼   ► think about things like the you know the

00:24:29 ◼   ► featured page

00:24:30 ◼   ► in the AppStore like there in this in

00:24:33 ◼   ► the fall it's gonna be full of like the

00:24:36 ◼   ► the apps that take advantage of the new

00:24:37 ◼   ► stuff you know like last fall it was

00:24:39 ◼   ► like hey here's all the apps that are

00:24:40 ◼   ► updated for 3d touch or things like that

00:24:44 ◼   ► like Apple tends to push those types of

00:24:45 ◼   ► things but I don't really can't think of

00:24:48 ◼   ► like there's not there's not a lot of

00:24:49 ◼   ► huge big sweeping things right now that

00:24:51 ◼   ► would push something out and so there's

00:24:54 ◼   ► certainly an incentive to you know if

00:24:56 ◼   ► either if you've been working on

00:24:58 ◼   ► something and you might be able to get

00:24:59 ◼   ► it out this is a pretty good time you

00:25:02 ◼   ► know it's I can tell from you know

00:25:04 ◼   ► launching activity plus plus a couple

00:25:05 ◼   ► weeks ago that it was easier in some

00:25:08 ◼   ► ways to get attention for something

00:25:09 ◼   ► around now and you know if you just

00:25:12 ◼   ► think about the volume of tech news like

00:25:14 ◼   ► if you just you know if you're the kind

00:25:15 ◼   ► of person who keeps up on tech news like

00:25:17 ◼   ► it's a quiet ish time right now because

00:25:19 ◼   ► most Apple is probably not going to be

00:25:21 ◼   ► announcing much new because they'll save

00:25:23 ◼   ► that for June and a lot of other the big

00:25:26 ◼   ► organizations that you know like you

00:25:30 ◼   ► know create tech news they're in that

00:25:31 ◼   ► same kind of cycle that they have their

00:25:32 ◼   ► big events in the summer or around then

00:25:36 ◼   ► and that's when they'll be doing it so

00:25:37 ◼   ► there's some advantage to doing that too

00:25:39 ◼   ► like just taking advantage of it as a

00:25:40 ◼   ► quiet time to maybe get a bit more

00:25:42 ◼   ► attention for yourself yeah totally you

00:25:45 ◼   ► know cuz that's you know as you

00:25:47 ◼   ► mentioned like there there really isn't

00:25:48 ◼   ► a lot else going on for the most part

00:25:51 ◼   ► right now so if you have something where

00:25:52 ◼   ► you don't necessarily need to wait until

00:25:55 ◼   ► WDC so if it's something if it's a small

00:25:58 ◼   ► app or something that is that doesn't

00:26:01 ◼   ► really rely too heavily on the

00:26:04 ◼   ► frameworks and the platform staying

00:26:07 ◼   ► identical and things that might include

00:26:09 ◼   ► things like games you know we don't know

00:26:10 ◼   ► anything about games for the most part

00:26:12 ◼   ► but but that might include things like

00:26:13 ◼   ► games were like you're not usually using

00:26:15 ◼   ► most of the platform api's for games

00:26:17 ◼   ► usually you're using like OpenGL or or

00:26:20 ◼   ► more likely some kind of higher level

00:26:22 ◼   ► cross-platform game engine and doing all

00:26:25 ◼   ► your custom coding in there and you're

00:26:27 ◼   ► not really using like UI kit directly

00:26:29 ◼   ► for most stuff and things like that so

00:26:30 ◼   ► like you know that games are my

00:26:32 ◼   ► everything we just said might be totally

00:26:33 ◼   ► invalid we really have no idea but this

00:26:36 ◼   ► is a good time for like things that will

00:26:38 ◼   ► not likely be strongly affected by WTC

00:26:42 ◼   ► happening

00:26:43 ◼   ► yeah and the last thing I wanted to

00:26:44 ◼   ► mention too is if you are going to be a

00:26:47 ◼   ► W or DC something else you should be

00:26:48 ◼   ► doing in this time is preparing yourself

00:26:51 ◼   ► for it in terms of keeping an eye and a

00:26:54 ◼   ► list and a checklist of like the things

00:26:57 ◼   ► that you are going to the conference to

00:27:00 ◼   ► get answered like I have a list in in my

00:27:02 ◼   ► life in my task management system that's

00:27:04 ◼   ► just like WWC questions and any time

00:27:08 ◼   ► between now and do you see that I

00:27:11 ◼   ► encounter something that I'm thinking

00:27:13 ◼   ► like hey maybe this would be a good

00:27:14 ◼   ► introductory question to ask an Apple

00:27:16 ◼   ► engineer it just goes in there and I'll

00:27:18 ◼   ► just try and keep you know keep track of

00:27:20 ◼   ► these things and a lot of them it's

00:27:22 ◼   ► probably good to like say it doesn't

00:27:24 ◼   ► have don't have to be amazing questions

00:27:26 ◼   ► like these groundbreaking novel concepts

00:27:28 ◼   ► they're mote think of them as

00:27:30 ◼   ► icebreakers like it's night it's so much

00:27:33 ◼   ► easier to get a conversation going if

00:27:35 ◼   ► you are able to go to a lab at WWDC if

00:27:38 ◼   ► you have you know something like a

00:27:40 ◼   ► jumping-off point that you can start

00:27:41 ◼   ► from and so just be thinking about that

00:27:44 ◼   ► so that rather than you know the morning

00:27:47 ◼   ► of the Tuesday of WotC you go into the

00:27:49 ◼   ► lab and you're like huh

00:27:50 ◼   ► what would I like to invoke what I like

00:27:52 ◼   ► to know like it's going to be a harder

00:27:53 ◼   ► thing to think of the things.when versus

00:27:55 ◼   ► now when you're kind of in think of it

00:27:57 ◼   ► in your code running into little issues

00:27:59 ◼   ► running into the little gotchas things

00:28:01 ◼   ► that would be helpful to you know talk

00:28:03 ◼   ► to someone an apple about and if they

00:28:05 ◼   ► are if it would be relevant always good

00:28:07 ◼   ► to file a radar about them and have that

00:28:10 ◼   ► with have that number with you when you

00:28:11 ◼   ► go to WWDC it just avoids the dance that

00:28:15 ◼   ► you'll end up doing otherwise with an

00:28:16 ◼   ► Apple engineer we're like Oh have you

00:28:17 ◼   ► followed the radar about this and they

00:28:19 ◼   ► say no it's like well you should

00:28:20 ◼   ► probably do that and then kind of kits

00:28:22 ◼   ► kind of a conversation killer versus if

00:28:24 ◼   ► you can go in and say like yes I did

00:28:26 ◼   ► here's the number and then you can

00:28:27 ◼   ► continue the conversation from there so

00:28:29 ◼   ► just a little tip that I've found very

00:28:31 ◼   ► helpful for myself to get ready for WotC

00:28:33 ◼   ► every year sounds good and with that I

00:28:37 ◼   ► think we're out of time this week so

00:28:38 ◼   ► thank you everybody for listening good

00:28:40 ◼   ► luck with your technical debt at an

00:28:42 ◼   ► experimental period that we're entering

00:28:44 ◼   ► now and I hope you'll listen next week

00:28:47 ◼   ► thanks a lot for listening and we'll see

00:28:49 ◼   ► you then bye