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0 pointsrefulgentis1y ago0 comments

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.

0 comments

sandofsky1y 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.

refulgentisOP1y ago

For the record, I'm not "calling out your privilege".

In the stronger tone you've consistently led me to believe you appreciate: I have absolutely no idea what your first mac app being in 2011 has anything to do with what I said, that you might have a slightly skewed perspective on the ability to build a sustainable product on just iOS. I guess that's your way of saying you didn't think you were even getting started / well-known until 13 years ago.

Take it for what it is: someone who benefited greatly from your and a select few others is saying you seem bizarrely myopic when you handwave about "normal people" and "as a consumer". "Prototyping in SwiftUI" made me absolutely cringe. Please try a modern web dev flow, Flutter, probably React Native. Then bizarrely combative coupled with "well if you need web build web" -- oh okay! Good to know an iOS app is enough and rest is irrelevant, unless it isn't.

sandofsky1y ago

> I have absolutely no idea what your first mac app being in 2011 has anything to do with what I said,

You literally said, "The old Mac indies have brand names and a benefit of a smoother transition since they were there before the App Store." I told you I was never an old Mac indie. My one Mac project shipped years after the iOS App Store was well established. I am showing you that your whole thesis is just factually wrong.

> "Prototyping in SwiftUI" made me absolutely cringe.

I can't find "prototyping" anywhere in the thread.

> Please try a modern web dev flow, Flutter, probably React Native.

I've tried React Native, and even dug into its implementation. It is exactly the convoluted, leaky abstraction that it looks like. In my spare time, I act as therapist for friends forced to support React Native at work.

> you seem bizarrely myopic when you handwave about "normal people" and "as a consumer".

Google "app vs website usage" and you'll find plenty of data to back up what I'm saying. Or just ask your non-technical friends and family how they use their phones.

> Then bizarrely combative coupled with "well if you need web build web" -- oh okay!

Normal people want apps. Sometimes web apps are better from a logistical perspective; for example, if your product is a party-invite platform, it's easier to send a link to a website than ask everyone to install an app.

What absolutely sucks is building a native app with cross platform tools, for reasons that have been explained to death over the last 15 years. It's the homeopathic medicine of software, and just as much a waste of time to debate with practitioners.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsrefulgentis1y ago0 comments

I've really enjoy your commentary for years and you have one of the sharpest wits and intellects, if not the sharpest, in tech.

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.

0 comments

sandofsky1y 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.

refulgentisOP1y ago

For the record, I'm not "calling out your privilege".

sandofsky1y ago

> I have absolutely no idea what your first mac app being in 2011 has anything to do with what I said,

> "Prototyping in SwiftUI" made me absolutely cringe.

I can't find "prototyping" anywhere in the thread.

> Please try a modern web dev flow, Flutter, probably React Native.

> you seem bizarrely myopic when you handwave about "normal people" and "as a consumer".

Google "app vs website usage" and you'll find plenty of data to back up what I'm saying. Or just ask your non-technical friends and family how they use their phones.

> Then bizarrely combative coupled with "well if you need web build web" -- oh okay!

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse