Stacktrace

By John Sundell and Gui Rambo

Technology Software How-To

What's Stacktrace about?

A podcast about life and technology from two developers’ perspectives. With John Sundell and Gui Rambo.

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Stacktrace episodes:

12.18.2023
203: “The Sherlock Holmes of debugging”
John and Rambo reflect on what they’ve been learning and how they’ve been aiming to improve as developers during 2023. Also, tips for getting better at debugging, deploying generative AI within existing apps, and are view models really such a...
11.06.2023
202: “Incrementing the integer”
Reactions to Apple’s “Scary fast” event, Rambo’s review of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and under the hood of CleanupBuddy.
09.07.2023
201: “USB-C utopia”
Will this year’s iPhones switch to USB-C instead of Lightning, what could an Apple Watch Ultra-style action button be used for on a phone, and will Apple give us another look at the Vision Pro at their upcoming “Wanderlust” event?
07.31.2023
200: “Expectation recalibration”
Rambo’s custom implementation of macOS desktop widgets and how they relate to Apple’s new built-in system feature, why the experience of using SwiftUI depends so much on the environment it’s being used in, and a mini-review of the ASUS ROG...
06.22.2023
199: “Taking the cover off the API”
John and Rambo start diving into the new announcements from WWDC23 — including the Apple Vision Pro and visionOS, the new Apple Silicon-powered Mac Pro, as well as many of the updates to Apple’s various operating systems.
06.01.2023
198: “WWDC23 Keynote Poker”
With the start of WWDC23 just around the corner, John and Rambo share their predictions, hopes, and dreams as to what Apple might introduce during this year’s edition of the conference. It’s Keynote Poker time!
05.12.2023
197: “Perceived fluidity”
Reducing UI flickering, designing in-app purchase and signup flows, and how adding delays can interestingly make a UI feel more smooth and stable.
04.24.2023
196: “That new Mac smell”
Integrating AI-powered features into an iOS app, using high refresh rate monitors with a Mac, the advantages of simple abstractions, and how the M1 and M2 Max compare in terms of Xcode work.
03.13.2023
195: “The Swift historian”
John and Rambo celebrate the 5-year anniversary of the show by looking back at how their work and the technology they use have changed since the beginning of the show. Also, how might things change during the next 5 years,...
02.16.2023
194: “Definitely not called a puppy”
How game controllers communicate with a Mac, handling asynchronous data and actions in SwiftUI, and various ways to use view models within a code base.
01.12.2023
193: “Build your own Mac”
Thoughts on the most recent Mac Pro rumors, building custom layouts for SwiftUI views in a backward-compatible manner, and the mechanics of making a UI interaction feel responsive and fluid.
12.21.2022
192: “Sundell Silicon”
Building computers, running A/B tests as an indie developer, using UIKit as a layout tool for SwiftUI views, and deciding whether to use Core Data or a more simple on-disk data storage solution.
11.24.2022
191: “Back to the future”
Building custom collection view layouts, introducing new features into a legacy code base, and managing patch releases while also working on a major new version of an app at the same time.
10.02.2022
190: “Actual trips to the Dynamic Island“
John’s got the new AirPods Pro, Rambo’s got the iPhone 14 Pro, so the two share their initial impressions of using these new devices and how features like Dynamic Island and Adaptive Transparency work in day-to-day use.
09.15.2022
189: “The UI equivalent of a singleton”
John and Rambo discuss three of the key announcements that Apple made during their “Far Out” event — the Apple Watch Ultra, the new AirPods Pro, and the iPhone 14 Pro.
08.31.2022
188: “The least risky of the risky ones”
With Apple’s upcoming “Far Out” event just around the corner, John and Rambo share their predictions as to what new devices, services and features that might be announced. It’s Apple Keynote Poker time!
08.12.2022
187: “An endless supply of SwiftUI thoughts”
John gains a new “job title”, Rambo starts working on an iOS version of AirBuddy, and the two discuss how come the Apple developer community tends to be so focused on UI frameworks.
07.14.2022
186: “A relational database using Markdown”
John and Rambo share their initial impressions of some of the new APIs that were announced at WWDC22, and talk about managing releases, learning when and how to apply generics, and the launch of the Gigahertz podcast network.
06.16.2022
185: “A big ‘finally’ moment”, the WWDC22 keynote review
John and Rambo discuss Apple’s WWDC22 keynote, and share their first impressions of the new features and APIs that were announced.
06.01.2022
184: “State of anticipation”
It’s time for John and Rambo to play another round of Apple Keynote Poker! This time the two place their bets as to what Apple might introduce during the WWDC22 keynote and State of the Union session.
05.25.2022
183: “Let’s just call it MVC”
Organizing workspaces and hobby projects, the pros and cons of view models and controllers, and rendering Core Animation layers within SwiftUI view hierarchies.
05.13.2022
182: “Are you ready to enter a rabbit hole?”
A deep dive into how WidgetKit and SwiftUI’s serialization mechanism works under the hood, why John removed the ads from the Swift by Sundell website, and the discontinuation of the last iPod model.
04.27.2022
181: “The banner effect”
Balancing refactoring with feature development, abstracting system services, and building delightful UIs.
04.13.2022
180: “Production software is a lot of work”
Custom macOS virtualization on Apple Silicon, the pros and cons of SwiftUI’s List view, initial thoughts on WWDC 2022, and why Italy is such an amazing place.
03.23.2022
179: “An iMac without the Mac”
New website, new logo, same show! Rambo shares his initial impressions of using Apple’s new Studio Display, along with some interesting spelunking results. Also, behind the scenes of the show’s new website, and a few web development tips.
03.23.2022
Stacktrace has moved!
As we've mentioned in the last episode, the Stacktrace podcast is no longer a part of the 9to5Mac network. If you're seeing this entry in your podcast player, then you probably need to unfollow Stacktrace and follow the podcast again. Start...
03.16.2022
178: “Let’s try something new”
John and Rambo celebrate the show’s 4th birthday with a big announcement, and then talk about security research, project priorities, and how to combine SwiftUI views with protocol-based observable objects.
03.09.2022
177: “The stand is included!”
John and Rambo share their first impressions of the products announced at Apple’s “Peek Performance” event — including the new iPhone SE and iPad Air, M1 Ultra, Mac Studio and the Studio Display.
03.06.2022
176: “Extra Keynote Poker”
On this extra episode of the show, John and Rambo share their bets, hopes and predictions for Apple’s upcoming “Peek Performance” event.
03.02.2022
175: “A Bluetooth fanboy”
Unit testing SwiftUI-based views, view and data architecture, as well as a behind the scenes look at Rambo’s home automation setup.
02.23.2022
174: “An operating system toolkit”
John and Rambo speculate what the SDK for Apple’s rumored AR/VR devices might look like, and what sort of user experiences that we might be able to build using it.
02.16.2022
173: “The fabric of space-time”
SwiftUI for animations, prototyping, and game development. Plus, a second review of the M1 Max-based MacBook Pro, and an update on how well it performs for gaming.
02.09.2022
172: “The ‘weak self’ dance”
How memory management works when using Swift’s new concurrency features, getting out of productivity traps, remote pair programming, and the process of installing Mac apps.
02.02.2022
171: “Three levels of happiness”
Continued discussions around using SwiftUI for custom animations and layouts, more on phased rollouts and prioritizing bug fixes, content exclusivity and acquisitions, and various ways of sharing code across Apple’s platforms.
01.26.2022
170: “Welcome to programming”
John and Rambo revisit the topic of SwiftUI and UIKit interoperability, and discuss which of the two UI frameworks that’s recommend for beginners to start with. Also, the launch of AirBuddy 2.5, and using phased rollouts when releasing new app...
01.19.2022
169: “Choosing what bugs to ship”
Stacktrace is back! On this first episode of 2022, John and Rambo talk about their holidays, using Swift Playgrounds to build apps on the iPad, Mac gaming, and project goals.
12.31.2021
168: “The 2021/2022 New Year’s Eve Special”
Join John and Rambo on this special New Year’s Eve episode of Stacktrace, on which they celebrate some of their favorite moments, products, media, and learnings from 2021.
12.22.2021
167: “iPad is now Turing Complete”
John and Rambo share their first impressions of the newly released Swift Playgrounds 4, which enables developers to build full iOS apps right on the iPad. Also, the value of narrowly scoped open source libraries, and what it’s like using...
12.15.2021
166: “A little bit of compiler magic”
The importance of sleep for both humans and async tasks, transferring apps and Apple developer accounts, and what things John and Rambo carry in their bags at all times.
12.08.2021
165: “It’s not the technology, it’s the people”
John and Rambo discuss software quality trends, async functions and unit testing, Apple’s approach to private data with CloudKit, and dealing with technical debt.
12.01.2021
164: “Your wattage may vary”
It’s time for the first ever Stacktrace Headphone Holiday Guide! Along with discussions about writing technical articles, view models and the MVVM design pattern, and using Swift actors to solve race conditions and data races.
11.24.2021
163: “The Rambo Objective-C Manifest”
Rambo shares his set of principles for when and how to rewrite existing Objective-C code in Swift, John talks about his preferred workshop formats, and the two discuss the current state of Apple’s services.
11.17.2021
162: “Hanging on the cliff for a whole week”
John and Rambo discuss asynchronous unit testing, using Windows as a development platform, SwiftUI previews on laptops, and conclude their deep dive into Swift’s concurrency system by talking about actors and structured concurrency.
11.10.2021
161: “One big data transformation engine”
Rambo longs to get back to UI development, John releases a new open source project, and the two embark on part one of their deep dive into Swift’s new concurrency system. Also, organizing devices, and mechanical keyboards.
11.03.2021
160: “M1 Macintoshes”
John shares his first impressions of the new 14-inch MacBook Pro and how he has been utilizing Swift’s new concurrency features to get the most out of the M1 Max. Also, Rambo’s work with Shortcuts, maintaining SwiftUI-based Mac apps, and...
10.27.2021
159: “A really powerful new toy”
After a discussion about Swift generics and when to use them, Rambo shares his initial impressions of using the new iPad mini, and John explains why he’s going back to the Mac for his portable computing needs.
10.20.2021
158: “Double unleashed”
The 14 and 16-inch Apple Silicon-based MacBook Pros have finally been revealed, and John and Rambo share their initial impressions of these new products and everything else that Apple announced during their “Unleashed” event.
10.13.2021
157: “Very close to folding”
John and Rambo share their bets, hopes, and predictions for Apple’s upcoming “Unleashed” event. Will we finally see a new, Apple Silicon-powered MacBook Pro, and what other products might make an appearance at the event? Also, SwiftUI backward compatibility, and...
10.06.2021
156: “That time complexity problem”
John gets back into game development, Rambo builds a custom Bluetooth packet parser for AirBuddy, and the two embark on another technical deep dive — this time into the big topic of performance tuning.
09.29.2021
155: “Embrace the bump”, the iOS 15 and iPhone 13 Pro review
What it’s been like for John to upgrade from the iPhone X to the iPhone 13 Pro, Rambo’s continued adventures into the depths of Bluetooth LE, and opinions on the final production versions of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15.

What's Stacktrace about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Stacktrace episodes:

203: “The Sherlock Holmes of debugging”

202: “Incrementing the integer”

201: “USB-C utopia”

200: “Expectation recalibration”

199: “Taking the cover off the API”

198: “WWDC23 Keynote Poker”

197: “Perceived fluidity”

196: “That new Mac smell”

195: “The Swift historian”

194: “Definitely not called a puppy”

193: “Build your own Mac”

192: “Sundell Silicon”

191: “Back to the future”

190: “Actual trips to the Dynamic Island“

189: “The UI equivalent of a singleton”

188: “The least risky of the risky ones”

187: “An endless supply of SwiftUI thoughts”

186: “A relational database using Markdown”

185: “A big ‘finally’ moment”, the WWDC22 keynote review

184: “State of anticipation”

183: “Let’s just call it MVC”

182: “Are you ready to enter a rabbit hole?”

181: “The banner effect”

180: “Production software is a lot of work”

179: “An iMac without the Mac”

Stacktrace has moved!

178: “Let’s try something new”

177: “The stand is included!”

176: “Extra Keynote Poker”

175: “A Bluetooth fanboy”

174: “An operating system toolkit”

173: “The fabric of space-time”

172: “The ‘weak self’ dance”

171: “Three levels of happiness”

170: “Welcome to programming”

169: “Choosing what bugs to ship”

168: “The 2021/2022 New Year’s Eve Special”

167: “iPad is now Turing Complete”

166: “A little bit of compiler magic”

165: “It’s not the technology, it’s the people”

164: “Your wattage may vary”

163: “The Rambo Objective-C Manifest”

162: “Hanging on the cliff for a whole week”

161: “One big data transformation engine”

160: “M1 Macintoshes”

159: “A really powerful new toy”

158: “Double unleashed”

157: “Very close to folding”

156: “That time complexity problem”

155: “Embrace the bump”, the iOS 15 and iPhone 13 Pro review