 Think about the first time you sat down to learn iOS development. Maybe that's a recent experience for you. Maybe it's a while ago already. It was probably after you decided to build an iOS app. So you did what most people do. You typed "learn iOS development" into Google and you started with an iOS tutorial. After a while you realised that there's more to building iOS apps than you thought. Xcode, Swift, Interface Builder, SwiftUI, architecture, SDKs, webservices, "the cloud" – it's overwhelming, isn't it? Many aspiring iOS developers end up feeling overwhelmed. I recently surveyed a group of developers, and guess what questions came up most? "I don't know the basics."
"Where do I get started?"
"What am I supposed to know?"
"How does it all come together?" To help you get started with iOS development I made this email course, called iOS Basics. This is the first lesson. Looking for a complete, comprehensive approach to learning how to build iOS apps? Check out my immersive course about iOS development. We've got specialized bundles for aspiring app developers, publishers, and iOS professionals. How this course works During the next week I'll send you 7 daily lessons about the basics of iOS development. You receive the lessons by email. Every lesson has "[Lesson X]" in the email subject line, so they're easy to recognise. You'll get Lesson 2 tomorrow! What we are going to do: - Learn how to code iOS apps with Swift and Xcode
- Master the basics of Swift, such as variables and functions
- Practice Swift programming with a few exciting challenges
- Figure out an ideal "tech stack" for your app
- Take next steps towards the start of your app project
This course has many bite-sized lessons, so keep an eye out for those! You can tag along, and I'll guide you through my best practices, insights and Swift code. Feel free to do this course at your own pace, of course. I hope that by the end of this course, you'll feel more confident about learning iOS development. My goal is to show you how the basics work, so you can use that as a foundation in your own iOS projects. Why do you want to learn iOS development? A quick question, before we continue: Why do you want to learn iOS development? (Click on an answer below) This question is important to answer right now! The lessons in this email course will be personalized for you, based on your answer. Let's do a Q&A OK, now that the housekeeping is out of the way... Let's do a Q&A! (I did not intend to make this rhyme, I promise.) You can build better iOS apps if you have a firm grasp of the basics. It's a foundation you can build upon. We're going to achieve that together in today's Q&A, that you'll find below. In the Q&A I'll walk you through the essentials of iOS development, we'll discuss common pitfalls, and it'll give a sneak peek of what's to come in this course! Let's get started. How much does an app cost?
Building an app can cost as much as free and as little as a million dollars. It depends on the features the app has, and their complexity. You can build an app for free yourself, at the expense of your time. You can also sell an app project to a company and have them pay for your time. When your app or your services generate more revenue for this this company than they spent on hiring you, they've made a terrific purchase. So, focus on the value of your work and the opportunities you have. How do you stay focused? How do you learn a lot?
Code one hour every day for one year. Stick with it no matter what. Miss a day? Pick it up again the next day. Once you've built a habit, it gets easier to keep going. In our distraction-rich society, the ability to focus is worth more than time. Time is not your scarcest resource – your deliberate focus is. How do you understand the bigger picture of iOS development, without getting lost into the many details?
Both the details and the big picture matter. You can't get a birds-eye view without zooming in on details, and you need a wide gaze to know where to "hook" new information onto. Work on your understanding of the basics, while going deep into a particular topic that excites you. Don't worry about "not knowing", because the more you know, the more you don't know. Ready to level up? Check out my comprehensive, practical course about iOS development. You'll learn how to build iOS apps and become an iOS developer. Includes lifetime updates, world-class support and ready-made app templates. » Learn more How much money can you make in the App Store?
It depends. Can you make a million bucks? Yes! Can you go broke and never make a dime? Yes! Your best bet is to focus on becoming profitable from day one, and staying lean and mean. Prove people are willing to pay for your app before you build it – or as quickly as possible – and focus on genuinely delivering value to the people you want to serve with your app. There's so much information out there. Tutorials don't give me the in-depth knowledge I seek. What do I do?
If information was the answer, then we'd all be billionaires with perfect abs. You can learn most skills online for free. So, why don't we? It turns out that structure, quality and relevance is more important than just the information itself. You need a comprehensive course that shows you different approaches, from fundamentals to high-level details, in a way that's organised properly. How much time does it take to build an app?
It depends. Simple apps can be built in a week, and complex apps can take years to build. Try to build an MVP, a Minimum Viable Product. This is the most basic, minimal version of your app. Build it quickly, launch it, and then work on gaining traction. You can do this in a month. If it fails, you've only lost a month. If it succeeds, you've got many more one-month sprints to improve your app. Whatever you do, never spend months or years on an app without putting it "out there". Where's the next app boom/gold rush?
No one can say for sure, but I'm betting on prosumer, B2B and enterprise apps. Read my rationale here. Recruiters want senior iOS developers. How do I get a job as a junior?
Recruiters can earn as much as $10.000 per successful hire, so they won't take risks with a developer that doesn't fit the job description. Stop doing what doesn't work and look for other opportunities instead. Focus your efforts on gaining experience, instead of gaining "years of experience". Does that grocery shop next door have an ecommence app? Reach out to them, and seek to collaborate on a project. The work you'll do for them is the real-world experience you need. The Swift programming language keeps changing. How do I keep up?
Does it really change that much, or do you just think it does? Swift changes about once a year, around September, when a new version is released. Since Swift 3, released in 2016, nothing major has changed for beginner iOS developers. Could it be that you're just working with outdated tutorials and/or StackOverflow answers? It's worth it to seek out better learning materials. How do you get a job as an iOS developer? - Build a portfolio of 3 published apps. Build a showcase website. Write your 2-page curriculum vitae.
- Work on relevant skills, like Firebase, CocoaPods and Alamofire, working with a back-end, using Git and writing unit tests.
- Consider starting a blog, a YouTube channel, a snap – anything to be "out there" documenting your work.
- Improve your "multiplying skills" like development plus: UI/UX, design, marketing, AI or subject-matter expertise.
- Find a local job opening. Apply! Can't find any? Apply anyway. Don't forget your cover letter (or video).
- Get better at the iOS dev hiring process – or choose employers that don't have outrageous coding interview practices.
- Be honest, helpful, make sure you care and focus on doing your best work.
How do you transition from tutorials to coding from scratch?
This is an industry-wide problem. Developers do OK in a bootcamp, but stumble with real world projects. The solution is simple: go from following to leading. Stop following instructions and start leading yourself from problem to solution to implementation. The best way to learn is to explain it to someone else. Code every day. Don't copy-and-paste. And take it step-by-step – trying to code a complete Facebook-like app on day 1 is a waste of time. Where can you find a technical co-founder or developer?
If you want to find a developer who can build your app idea, think again. Ideas aren't worth much – it's the execution that counts. Developers are in great demand these days, so consider that they might not want to take a risk with your app idea. Having said that, look for co-founders and developers at in-person meetups for tech people in your area. And that's a great way to find clients and employers, too. How do you get funding or capital for your app?
You can't get funding without making some money first, and once you've made some money, do you really need the funding? Investors are very good at one thing: assessing and mitigating risk. Is your app idea a risk to them, or an investment that will give 10x returns in X years? Remember: ideas are worth nothing. It's the team, their track record, the sales process and the execution that counts. Let go of the illusion that investors fund ideas. Do you need to learn coding before you can make an app?
Yes, if you want to build the app yourself. No, if you want to hire a developer to build it for you. In any case, I recommend you to get familiar with the iOS ecosystem and build tools. You can also use tools that don't require any coding, but their options are often severely limited. I want to develop iOS apps, but I don't have a Mac. How can I develop iOS apps?
You need Xcode to build iOS apps, and Xcode only runs on macOS, and macOS only runs on a Mac. If you have a PC that's fast enough you can try installing macOS with a virtual machine on VMware or VirtualBox. You can also borrow a Mac or get a cheap second-hand Mac Mini. However, if you keep getting stuck at "I don't have a Mac" then ask yourself: are you really committed to learning iOS development? I'm developing my app and I keep getting errors. It's frustrating! How can I deal with that?
Change your mindset. Developing apps is 25% writing code and 75% debugging. You better get used to it! The sooner you get used to it, the easier debugging gets. And who says debugging can't be fun? You learn a lot from solving bugs, refactoring your code, and building robust apps. As long as you don't expect coding to be easy, it's really hard to get frustrated. You can't be frustrated and curious at the same time. Think about it! How do you choose apps you want to make? How do you pick good app ideas?
If it doesn't matter much, pick the app ideas you like. If you want to get a job, choose the app idea that showcases your value as an iOS developer. If you want to make money in the App Store, pick the app ideas that are validated. Validation means "proving that customers want to pay for this". The only way you can prove that is by holding the money that someone paid for your app in your hands. Thinking that people will pay for it is the best way to spend a lot of time building an app no one wants. How do you determine the best architecture for your app project?
It depends. If you don't have any experience working with different app architectures, start with Model-View-Controller. The concepts from MVC can be applied to any app architectural pattern. Then, try these in this order: MVVM, MVP and VIPER. Learn about SOLID, DRY, delegation, target-action and error handling. Once you've spent some time with those acronyms, you'll surely know what architecture fits best within your projects. How do you test your apps?
During development I check if my code compiles and runs OK. When releasing the app, I test it on different devices and versions: iOS 9, 10, 11, on iPhone 5, SE, 6, 6+ and X. I also test it on the "iPhone-mode" on an iPad, because Apple Review appears to be using that. When it fits the project, I write unit tests and do integration tests. With some apps I've created step-by-step instructions for testing every UI of the app. Sometimes I use automated UI tests. Oh, and Murphy's Law states that there's always at least one bug that makes it to production… And that concludes our Q&A! I'm looking forward to seeing you back here tomorrow, for Lesson 2. —Reinder PS. Want to know my story? Read about who I am and what I do, on this page. | 
