Side Project Spotlight

The trio is back from The State of the Mobile Union event where fun was had by all and minds were expanded about the possibilities of mobile development! Plus, the Comcast Technology Center is cool! We continue to slowly build PickleJarTodo with Kotaro putting into practice the ideas he espoused at his talk for our UI. In our newly restored Not a Sponsor segment, we check-in with the current state...

This week, the trio wonder about the nature of a “sprint” and Steve takes his first tentative steps into whatever circle of Hell is reserved for Jira. The three amigos then revisit the topic of “AI” tools since this space is moving at warp speed. Kotaro and Steve talk about their experiences with ChatGPT and Bing before discussing some of the machine learning tools already available from Apple. Ko...

This week, Steve makes progress building a log screen, but not without encountering obstacles.  Then the trio dives into a discussion about how we learn. What works for us, what doesn't, what are good resources? It's a content-rich episode full of tips, some possibly questionable anecdotes, a dash of philosophy, and so, so many links. It's a little haphazardly presented, but that's just our c...

On this exciting episode, incremental progress has been made with PickleJarTodo! I know, you're in awe at our productivity. But, the bulk of the episode is a semi-literate discussion about the latest crop of "AI" tools and their potential impact on our discipline of software development. From the current crop of tools like ChatGPT and CoPilot to potential uses in designer/developer collaboration a...

Steve's voice is back...like 95%! Tune in this week for an update about PickleJarTodo where, as usual, we quickly go off the rails into a classic Kotaro rant about JIRA! We also have some discussion about the perennial SwiftUI issue, integrating Core Data. Plus, some pros and cons we have found trying to use GitHub Projects and we end by setting some semi-realistic goals for next time! Topics Disc...

Steve lives! The trio is back this week and while Steve still sounds like a frog has taken up residence in his throat, the show must go on! In this episode, we discuss the plan for the next few months, make some goals, assign some tasks, and go off on tangents about Apple backends, Disney World weirdness, and the awesomeness of the Ren Faire. New year, new plan! Let's gooooooo! ## Topics Discussed...

Steve is still recovering from some bad laryngitis and we should be back to our regular schedule next podcast. In the meantime, Kotaro provides some quick updates about the pod, the app, and his personal goals for the new year. Stay to the end to hear examples of what our future robot overlords consider developer "jokes." Welcome to 2023! We hope you build some cool stuff this year. ## Topics Disc...

It's the final episode of 2022! This week, Steve is solo as he puts on his best "podcast voice" to talk about his personal journey to embracing SwiftUI over the last year. See you in 2023! ## Topics Discussed: - Steve's journey to embracing SwiftUI    - WWDC22 turning point    - Integrating SwiftUI and UIKit    - Living the SwiftUI Preview lifestyle &nb...

The trio is taking a break over the holidays and so this is the first of a few special, short, solo episodes we are releasing until we get back to our regular routine in the new year. This week, Kotaro provides his retrospectives on our journey so far with this podcast and Side Project Saturday, plus lays out some goals for PhillyCocoa projects in the new year. Happy Holidays from Philly CocoaHead...

This week, the trio finally remembers we passed our 1-year Podiversity before very skillfully transitioning into an in depth conversation on the topic of prototyping! What is it? How does it work? What are the tools and techniques? How is it practiced at a BigCo vs an Indie shop? The conversation is varied and interesting. Please note, this will be the last "regular" episode of 2022, but more cont...

Aaron's out this week, so the inmates are running the asylum! Steve is embarking on some greenfield app work at the day job and asks, "What is a modern app?" Since Kotaro has a lot of recent experience with all the newest Apple frameworks and features, an interesting discussion ensues about both how you can expand beyond the in-app experience and why you should or should not. Plus, the entire pod...

This week, we have actual PickleJarTodo updates! Plus, Kotaro gets up on his soapbox to rant about testing, but is coaxed down and a more nuanced discussion ensues. Plus, we have some thoughts on the recent Mohammad Azam article about SwiftUI architecture and the NSSpain presentation about rewriting SoundCloud in SwiftUI. Finally, Steve remembers some sage advice he read on the early Web in the 19...

On this week's episode, the trio is totally focused and not at all awkward in their transitions as Steve recounts his recent FogBugz drama and Kotaro discusses a recent foray into building a straight-up macOS app in SwiftUI! Steve wonders if the culture of building your own tools has changed in the mobile world and a brief update on the PickleJarTodo app leads into a plug for Mike Zornek's blog, w...

The trio is back this week with some follow-up to Kotaro's solo episode and some spicy takes on The Verge's re-design. Steve tells the tale of how he was stymied by an obvious bug until Aaron fixed it and this leads into some discussion about the challenge in learning new mental models and the importance of having someone else read your code when you are stuck. Meanwhile, Kotaro promises he is wor...

Due to scheduling conflicts, this week is a special solo episode featuring Kotaro! People often ask us in PhillyCocoa how to become an iOS developer. Listen as Kotaro gives his recommendations on how to start your Apple Developer journey whether you are a complete novice or an experienced developer in another speciality. Also hear about Kotaro's own journey into iOS development back when Objective...

This week the trio review the PickleJarTodo journey so far before discussing the trials and tribulations of macOS betas, bringing back tasteful skeuomorphism in our app, adding playfulness via animation, and why copy is important. Aaron describes his solution to our NavigationSplitView dilemma, Steve discusses some Core Data architecture patterns, and Old Man Kotaro Story Time and a project manage...

In this episode, Kotaro has some more thoughts about respecting the platform and we get into an interesting discussion about the how, when, and why of using SwiftUI as a prototyping tool. Then, Kotaro reveals his UI epiphany for the iPhone version of PickleJar. Finally, Steve inadvertently creates a Not a Sponsor segment and the productivity app world is introduced to the idea of "Aaron Mode." ##...

This week, the trio is back from our first IRL meetup in two years! We provide an update on PickleJar including CoreData refactoring, architecture patterns, new UI sketches, a possible Radar-worthy bug, and we ask the big question, has Apple decided that Hamburger Menus are cool again? In the second half of the episode, we discuss the latest native vs web technology debate sparked by a Paul Hudson...

This week, Kotaro's struggles with UI block leads into a discussion about the primary views that need to be updated, some priorities for the UX, and because this is a side project, we dream big about extra features before we've even gotten the core done, including A-Hole mode, the perfect way to motivate yourself when positive reinforcement fails. Considering our slow progress, maybe we should imp...

Progress has been made on the app and as we move beyond simple prototyping into trying to make a functional MVP for other people to eventually use, how we structure our code becomes more important. This week, we discuss the MVVM architecture pattern and how well it does and doesn't get along with Core Data. Then, Kotaro leads us on a UI/UX design discussion, partially inspired by "the most satisfy...

WWDC22 has come and gone and boy was it full of developer goodies this year! This week, the trio first survey some of their favorite announcements from WWDC22 before diving into a discussion about how to pivot the todo app development in light of the upcoming OS changes. Be sure to check out this week's Not a Sponsor and Apple Design Award Winner: Slopes Topics Discussed: - WWDC22     - SwiftUI is...

Just in time for the weekend plane ride to Cupertino, it's our WWDC22 speculation episode! We talk about some of things we hope to see at this year's WWDC including new hardware, iOS 16 features, and dev tool improvements. Plus, Kotaro provides a bonus tip about how you can glimpse the future by subscribing to the Swift Evolution mailing list. If you'd like to join us at our virtual keynote watch...

This week, we return to our Todo App project. Coding has stalled because we didn't have a specific enough idea of exactly WHAT the app is supposed to be all about. Problem definition is hard and this week Steve presents his thoughts on how to move forward based on his research into some existing digital and paper habit tracking systems. Then we sketch some specific app feature requirements where w...

The app is making slow progress and we will have more to say about that soon, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk with our special guest this week, Mohammad Faani. Mohammad is an active member of PhillyCocoa and joins us to discuss his journey to becoming an iOS developer as well as how both Stack Overflow and his new TIL blog help him focus and shape his own developer journey. Topics...

This week we finally reveal our idea for our second app on this podcast and it's a macOS todo app! I know, very original! Listen in to our unscripted discussion as we talk about why we chose this concept for the app, some theories around todo systems, and eventually coalesce around some broad goals for features as well as a timeline for a Test Flight prototype. ## Topics Discussed: - Introducing o...