Mobile Couch

Jelly’s had a bit of a computer disaster (which he totally got from Ben), so they talk a little bit about mitigating disasters as both users and developers. Then they cover off a little bit of follow-up about monetising Messages apps, before discussing the fun and horrors of migrating your codebase to iOS 10.

We'd love it if you got in touch! We are @_mobilecouch on Twitter and you can even email us at [email protected], if you're so inclined!

Since the announcement in the WWDC keynote, Ben has been working on a couple of Messages apps, so he and Jelly go through all the ins and outs. Together they look at the super-easy Sticker pack apps, the more complex implementation details for custom apps, and even a few gotchas you might run into while developing.

• Messages API Reference (Apple Developer)
• Messages Apps and Stickers, Part 1 (WWDC 2016)
• Messages Apps and Stickers, Part 2 (WWDC 2016)
• Gifu (GitHub)
• Ice Cream Builder (Apple Developer)

We'd love it if you got in touch! We are @_mobilecouch on Twitter and you can even email us at [email protected], if you're so inclined!

With WWDC done and dusted for another year, Ben and Jelly discuss their experiences queueing for the keynote, attending side conferences, and getting the most out of the week. They then turn their attention to an quick overview some of the key things that Apple introduced for developers with iOS 10, including Siri and Messages Apps, and finally they pine for the thing they still wish they’d seen: improvements to Radar.

• WWDC 2016 Videos (Apple Developer)
• AltConf 2016
• Layers Conference
• SiriKit Programming Guide (Apple Developer)
• Messages Framework (Apple Developer)

We'd love it if you got in touch! We are @_mobilecouch on Twitter and you can even email us at [email protected], if you're so inclined!

In the lead up to WWDC, Ben and Jelly take an early look at some of the changes coming to the Swift language this year with version 3, which like one of the biggest releases so far. With widespread changes in the wording of method names, improvements to how C APIs are handled, and a Swift version of Foundation, it’s going to be a big change to both your code, and how you read it.

• What's new in Swift 3.0 (Hacking with Swift)
• Swift.org
• Swift Evolution (Github)

We'd love it if you got in touch! We are @_mobilecouch on Twitter and you can even email us at [email protected], if you're so inclined!

Ben and Jelly turn their minds to this year’s WWDC, and spend some time talking about what they expect to come out of this year’s conference, as well as what they’re actually hoping for (there’s a difference!), including better stability in tooling and more transparency with errors.

• WWDC 2016
• Layers 2016
• AltConf 2016
• Episode 60: Automated Monkeys (Discussion of Radar vs. Google Bug Reporter)
• Apple Opening Siri, Developing Echo Rival (The Information)

We'd love it if you got in touch! We are @_mobilecouch on Twitter and you can even email us at [email protected], if you're so inclined!

What is good code, and how does one achieve it? Ben and Jelly spend some time working through a small project while considering the flaws, edge cases and potential shortcuts, in an effort to come up with ways to weed out bad code, while also improving the end result.

• Other (iOS App Store)
• Other for iPhone Quickly Sends Canned Messages to One Other Person (Lifehacker)
• The Daily App
• Other's Launch Numbers
• Topical 62: Launching an App
• UIActivityViewController (iOS Developer Library)
• UIDocumentInteractionController (iOS Developer Library)
• Accounts Framework (iOS Developer Library)
• Social Framework (iOS Developer Library)
• SLComposeServiceViewController (iOS Developer Library)
• twitter-text (Github)
• Using the Settings URL Scheme (Stack Overflow)

We'd love it if you got in touch! We are @_mobilecouch on Twitter and you can even email us at [email protected], if you're so inclined!

Both Ben and Jelly have worked from home for many years, so they explore the benefits and disadvantages of remote working. Together, they discuss the things you need to do to ensure stuff actually gets done, what your team can do to help you succeed, and why you’d even consider this in the first place.

• Slack
• Squirtle (Wikipedia)
• Trello
• Wunderlist
• JIRA
• Google Hangouts
• Skype

We'd love it if you got in touch! We are @_mobilecouch on Twitter and you can even email us at [email protected], if you're so inclined!

Jelly walks Ben through the ins and outs of implementing In-App Purchases in your “freemium” or “paymium” apps. IAPs are deceptively annoying to get right, but Jelly covers everything, including you need to do in iTunes Connect, how the StoreKit framework works, and finally, how you validate the receipt to prevent piracy.

• In-App Purchase for Developers
• StoreKit Framework (iOS Developer Library)
• Review Guidelines for Purchasing and Currencies
• Receipt Validation Guide (iOS Developer Library)
• RMStore (GitHub)

We'd love it if you got in touch! We are @_mobilecouch on Twitter and you can even email us at [email protected], if you're so inclined!

Many developers work with things like views and view controllers, but might not have any idea about how these things all fit together. Ben introduces Jelly to the Model-View-Controller pattern, and explains what each part of this concept is and how they come together to make an app work.

• Model-View-Controller (iOS Developer Library)
• Model-View-Controller (Wikipedia)
• NSPersonNameComponentsFormatter (iOS Developer Library)
• JSDecoupledAppDelegate (GitHub)
• Episode 69: I Don’t Even Have Coupling
• Android Architecture Blueprints (GitHub)

We'd love it if you got in touch! We are @_mobilecouch on Twitter and you can even email us at [email protected], if you're so inclined!

In any given project, you’ll find that there are a number of different “hats” that you have to wear, such as making the hard decisions, being a user, writing code, or designing assets. Ben and Jelly take look at some of them, discussing not only how they come into play, but also how some of the common misconceptions about them.

• Mobile Couch 70: Communication Makes it Happen
• Mobile Couch 71: Customers... They Just Don’t Understand
• Topical 52: Beta Testing
• Xero
• Receipt Bank
• Six Thinking Hats (Wikipedia)

We'd love it if you got in touch! We are @_mobilecouch on Twitter and you can even email us at [email protected], if you're so inclined!