A celebration of mobile app development & shipping

Hey, ChatGPT, write me a small blog post on app development in your L&D time...

(which in turn was my L&D... https://www.google.com/search?q=recursion)

As an engineer, it is important to constantly learn and improve your skills. One way to do this is by developing mobile iOS applications in your L&D time (nice perk of working at SBG! - 10%). Not only will this help you understand the app development lifecycle, but it will also give you the opportunity to apply your knowledge and test your abilities (like learning SwiftUI!).

To begin, it is important to have a clear idea of what your app will do and what its features will be (good point, ChatGPT...thanks!). This will serve as a roadmap for the development process and will help you stay focused and organised (we all know that hobby projects can be paralysis by "one last feature"...just get it out there!).

Once you have your idea, the next step is to set up your development environment (yeh, so I'm really hoping that our iOS engineers here have already done this!). This will typically involve installing Xcode & waiting for hours for a massive download to finish. With Xcode, you can design the user interface of your app, write the code, and test it on a simulated device. (yep, and with SwiftUI you even get live previews...!)

The next step is to actually start building your app. This will involve writing the code that brings your idea to life. As you do this, it is important to keep in mind the principles of good app design (these are often skipped in the early stages, as perfection is the antithesis of done!), such as ensuring that the user interface is intuitive and responsive.

Once your app is complete (wasn't that easy!), the next step is to test it thoroughly (well, I'd have hoped you'd have been testing it as you went along....right?!). This will involve running it on a simulated device and using it as a real user would. This will help you identify and fix any bugs or issues with the app. (otherwise known as: create a testflight build and give it to your friends and colleagues!)

Finally, when your app is ready, you can submit it to the App Store for review (err, hold your horses ChatGPT... you'll have to sign up to the Apple Developer programme...fortunately, we've got you covered - thanks L&D fund!). If it is approved (in my case, highly unlikely first time around, but YMMV!), it will be available for download to users around the world (in reality there's loads more to think about here - store artefacts, privacy policies etc etc).

In conclusion, developing mobile iOS applications in your L&D (and weekends and evenings once you get the bug!) time is a great way to improve your skills and understand the app development lifecycle. Whether you are just starting out or are an experienced engineer, this will be a valuable learning experience.

Not bad, ChatGPT, not bad!

Congratulations!

So really, this post is about saying a huge well done to Megan Wynn and Ryan Hill for shipping their own apps! You can check them out here:

Ryan's Made Up Games: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/made-up-games/id6444542345

Megan's Kwiz: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/kwiz-general-knowledge/id6444700383

Ryan's Combine Workouts: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/combine-workouts-export-gpx/id6444284557

From Ryan himself:

Releasing an app has been such a fun journey. From starting at SBG with no Swift experience, it’s incredible that I’ve had the support and motivation to get to this point. I’ve loved the process of releasing an app, right from having the first idea of what my apps could do through to actually releasing them. It’s been great to see the whole lifecycle and see my ideas come to life, even if they are niche and small. I’ve learnt so much about the review and release process and whilst Apple love to throw a spanner in the works, it’s been really fun the whole way through! Thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way, and I look forward to carrying on and doing more in the future!

First published on LinkedIn in December 2022 (before everyone was using AI!)