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iOS. Apple. Indies. Plus Things.

> Indie Development Articles|

Explore first-hand writing about shipping apps, marketing them, pricing them, learning from launches, and staying practical while building as an independent developer.

65 articles tagged The Indie Dev Diaries

  • The Best-in-Class iOS App Book Series is moving to a pay what you want model. Just ten bucks or more.

  • A Month of Marketing: A Recap in The Indie Dev Diaries

    After spending a month on marketing, here's what I learned. And more importantly, what comes next.

  • A Month of Marketing for Elite Hoops in The Indie Dev Diaries

    For the next 30 days, Xcode is closed. And marketing channels are open.

  • The Business and the Boutique in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Some apps are focused on building a business. Some are for the love of the game — meet Alyx.

  • The Joy of Vibe Marketing in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Marketing is quite an art, one that I'm not even great at. But the journey to getting slightly better at it is where the fun is.

  • Deep Dish Swift 2025 has been a blast. Here are some key takeaways from my talk over indie app marketing.

  • The Great App That Nobody Knows About in The Indie Dev Diaries

    You might have a great app, you might not. But you'll never know until a fair amount of people see it.

  • Introducing Scores for NCAA Sports in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Somehow, my third sports app is launching. Today, I'm shipping a way to view NCAA Division 1, 2 and 3 scores.

  • 2025 Indie Thoughts in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Another year turns the page. Where to go this year?

  • The Big Feature in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Years ago, I wrote a post about the effects of a large update to Spend Stack. Now, I'm here to tell you the effects of a large feature.

  • I just wrapped my most ambitious updates for Elite Hoops, a full-on practice planner. Here are eight fun SwiftUI tidbits from it.

  • Now that the one year mark has passed, here are twleve quick lessons I've learned along the way. Some about acquiring customers, others about tech stack stuff and more.

  • To AirDrop a custom model from your app, you need to know about a few different APIs. Unfortunately, it's not as smooth as it used to be as of iOS 17.

  • Sometimes, you need a property to be versioned. However, this isn't easy in Swift — but it is possible.

  • Project Management Flow for Indies in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Eventually, the need arises for some form of project management. Indies are no different, so here's how I handle it.

  • Asking AI to Refactor Swift Code in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Are the robots coming for our Swift jobs? I wanted to run a little test to find out.

  • Introducing Elite Soccer Club in The Indie Dev Diaries

    My next app is ready for prime time. Here's a quick primer on Elite Soccer Club.

  • Lately, I've drastically changed my thinking in terms of how to price indie apps. In short, we should be charging more.

  • Introducing Elite Soccer Club in The Indie Dev Diaries

    My next app is ready for prime time. Here's a quick primer on Elite Soccer Club.

  • Time to take stock of my goals! Where do I want to go in 2023?

  • Keeping Up with Swift and iOS in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Part of being in this industry is keeping up with the changes. Here's a quick rundown of how I tackle it.

  • Checking Out Assistive Access in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Assistive access was launched alongside iOS 17. Today, I took a longer look at the new accessibility feature and what it means for our own apps.

  • My end of year goal was to acquire 100 paying customers. I hate that number a month early, so here are some thoughts on the first 100.

  • On Launching your Indie App: Part 2 in The Indie Dev Diaries

    It's been a bit since I've launched an app - years, in fact. Here's how it went down this time.

  • The Tips Journal Free Preview: plutil in The Indie Dev Diaries

    To celebrate the book series nearing completion, I thought I'd include a journal entry from the upcoming Tips Journal. It's included with the series for free, here's what the co...

  • The Prelaunch, Launch in The Indie Dev Diaries

    I'm gearing up for an app launch, and I'm doing some more audience reach out this time around. Here's what I'm trying to generate interest ahead of time.

  • Introducing Elite Hoops in The Indie Dev Diaries

    It's been years since I've shipped, and I'm ready for my next project. Introducing Elite Hoops, a fantastic tool for basketball coaches.

  • The Book Sabbatical in The Indie Dev Diaries

    So, about that book series. It's time to get it to the finish line, and with the help of my work sabbatical I hope to do just that.

  • It just occurred to me that programming has been my primary vocation for over a decade now. Today, I just take a second to look back at it all.

  • Overinspired? in The Indie Dev Diaries

    There are so many wonderful things to see. I've started to wonder, am I ingesting too much of a good thing?

  • Spend Stack is Now Open Source in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Even though Spend Stack has been sunset, I've gained permission to make it open source. Now, anyone can peek through it and build it on their own!

  • Just a Little Nicer in The Indie Dev Diaries

    This year I've been thinking about tiny little touches. When done right, a little piece of joy in software goes a long way.

  • This year, I wanted to take a different approach to goal tracking and forming habits. The result was a little hack project I made over Christmas break.

  • Things I Did in 2022 in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Oh look, another one of those end-of-year posts. Here's how I stacked up to my aspirations birthed in December, 2022.

  • So Long, Old Friend in The Indie Dev Diaries

    It's somewhat the end of the era, as Spend Stack's owners have seemed to remove the app from the App Store.

  • Remembering My First App in The Indie Dev Diaries

    There's nothing like the first one. Today, I went on a trip down memory lane by looking at the source code from my first app.

  • If I don't have a roadmap, I feel stressed. Here's the one I use for my own apps to help keep my thoughts together.

  • The best change to come from W.W.D.C. 2022 didn't show up on a slide or a session. Rather, it's a change that gives indies much more flexibility.

  • For years, I've used the same set of constraints to design for iOS to make sure I cover edge cases. I call it min-mid-max design.

  • Only Just Because in The Indie Dev Diaries

    If you're early in your career, it's easy to think you need to learn your thing and your thing only. Expanding outside of those bounds, though, presents several advantages you'r...

  • Building Things and Raising Children in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Indie life has never been quite within reach than ever before. So, how do you build things while raising children?

  • Introducing Swiftjective-C Sponsorships in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Today I get to kick off somewhat of a bucket list item. I'm happy to bring sponsorships to Swiftjective-C, and I hope it begins an era of a lot writing from me, and affordable, ...

  • The Early Access Retrospective in The Indie Dev Diaries

    As I near a major milestone of $100,000 in sales for my book series, A Best-in-Class iOS App, I take a second to look back on what's gone great and what's not been so great.

  • A Best-in-Class iOS App: Free Preview in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Check out a sample from my book. This one covers one of the five main topics, Accessibility.

  • The Best-in-Class Book Beta Launch in The Indie Dev Diaries

    My first digital launch is in the books. How did the decision to go early access go?

  • My next big project is ready for beta launch. One, gigantic book covering everything I know about iOS.

  • How to Be Okay When You're Not in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Tough times are no fun, but like anything else they provide a unique learning experience. Here's what I've recently picked up from mine.

  • Introducing The Daily iOS in The Indie Dev Diaries

    A tour of different technologies contributed to my newest mini project, The Daily iOS.

  • Things I Made That Sucked in The Indie Dev Diaries

    We don't all hit homeruns on the first go around. Today, I celebrate the misses.

  • The popular CSS framework came to my rescue when redesigning my site. Here's how it went.

  • A New Home for Spend Stack in The Indie Dev Diaries

    A chapter of my professional life comes to an end. Spend Stack has been acquired and will get the full team it deserves!

  • Happy When? in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Indie development is about having a strong mental game as much as it is strong development skills.

  • Spend Stack: Year One in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Spend Stack has been out one year! Today, I take a second to reflect on all that has happened since it released.

  • The Big Update in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Spend Stack just recently wrapped up its first big update. Turns out, they are critical to paid up front apps.

  • How a Feature Ships in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Creating a feature is a process that should be as scrutinized as much as it is celebrated. Here's how I go about it in my own indie apps.

  • It's Okay to Do Nothing in The Indie Dev Diaries

    COVID-19 and your productivity. There are inexorably linked, so let's talk about it.

  • Creating a Retail Demo for Apple in The Indie Dev Diaries

    Spend Stack was selected by Apple to be included as a retail demo on iPhones & iPads across the globe. Here's what the process was like.

  • A Best In Class App: Spend Stack Checkup in The Indie Dev Diaries

    I've often written about what it takes to be considered a best in class app on iOS. So, how am I doing personally according to my own definition?

  • On Forming Habits in The Indie Dev Diaries

    What indie dev isn't short on time, wants to ship a new app or write that book? It only happens with realistic goals which beget good habits - here's how I work to create, and f...

  • Can You Learn Design? in The Indie Dev Diaries

    There's a lot of discussion in our industry about whether or not designers should learn to code. But, what about the other direction?

  • On Launching Your Indie App in The Indie Dev Diaries

    The art of launching is a mystical, debated art. Yet, in many ways it's the cornerstone of our initial success.

  • Introducing Spend Stack in The Indie Dev Diaries

    If I write about indie development, I suppose it's time to reveal my indie project. Many years in the making, here's Spend Stack.

  • I Made Some Pancakes in The Indie Dev Diaries

    What can fluffy butter cakes teach me about indie development? Apparently, just what I needed to learn.

  • A Best-in-Class iOS App in The Indie Dev Diaries

    What is a best-in-class iOS app? How are they built, and can we quantify what makes them great?

  • The Chart That Lies in The Indie Dev Diaries

    On being realistic about the things we make, and the relationship that time has with them.