Resources for indie iOS developers
08 Feb 2023
I’ve been an independent iOS app developer since April 2020, when I launched Personal Best, my workout insights app. Since then I’ve added Taylor’s Version, and I’m currently working on a third app.
During this journey I’ve come across lots of helpful blogs, podcasts and books, and I thought I’d document them here in case they’re useful for others.
Under the Radar
Under the Radar is a fortnightly podcast about independent iOS development, hosted by Marco Arment and David Smith. Marco is the creator of podcast app Overcast, and David has a bunch of apps, but is probably best known for WidgetSmith.
It’s been running since 2015 so there’s a long back catalog of episodes to delve through, and I really like that they cover lots of different aspects of indie life, like support, marketing, and how to prioritise when you’re a solo developer.
Every episode (except one) is never longer than 30 minutes, so it’s a really easy listen for when you don’t have a lot of time.
David Smith’s blog
If you enjoyed Under the Radar, you’ll probably also enjoy David’s blog. In late 2022 he started a series called Design Notes Diary, where he talks candidly about his thought process when designing and building his apps.
It’s really interesting to see David’s thought process, and I particularly like the posts where he goes deep on accessibility.
Keep Going
Keep Going is a book by Bardi Golriz about his journey as an indie app developer. As well as featuring real revenue numbers, it goes into lots of detail about his thought process behind developing new features for his apps Appy Weather and ruff, along with some surprises along the way. I really enjoyed reading this and I cannot recommend it enough.
Slopes Diaries
🔗 blog.curtisherbert.com/tag/slopes-diaries/
Slopes Diaries is a section of Curtis Herbert’s blog. Curtis is the developer behind Slopes, an app for tracking snow sports. In Slopes Diaries, he talks candidly about the things he’s doing to grow Slopes and make it better.
One thing I love about it is that like Under The Radar, it goes all the way back to 2015. You can read old issues with the benefit of hindsight and see how much Slopes has grown. Curtis also shares revenue numbers, which gives me optimism for what I can achieve myself as a solo developer.
Becky Hansmeyer’s blog
Becky is the creator of several apps, most prominently YarnBuddy, an app for knitting enthusiasts. Her blog covers a lot of different aspects of indie life and aspirations. Her WWDC 2022 reflections post in particular was something I found really great this past year.
AppForce1 podcast
AppForce1 is a podcast from Jeroen Leenarts, sharing news and tools relevant for iOS developers, as well as the occasional interview. I like how it covers a broad range of topics, and each episode is very conversational and easy to digest.
If you enjoy the podcast, Jeroen also has a blog which is similarly filled with great content. I like that is
Indie Dev Monday
Indie Dev Monday is an interview series, where each week Josh Holtz interviews a different indie developer. I look forward to receiving this each week and reading stories from other indie developers about how their apps came to be.
Full disclosure – Josh kindly featured me in this newsletter last Summer.
More
Do you have any good resources for indie iOS developers? Let me know on Mastodon @shaundon@mstdn.social!
Thanks for reading.
To get in touch, email me or find me on Mastodon or Twitter.
If you liked this post, you'll love my iOS apps. Check them out below.
Personal Best
Level up your workouts
Taylor's Version
Upgrade Taylor Swift songs in your playlists
SalaryPig
Meet Trevor, the salary-tracking pig