Worst Case Scenario

A very special episode with guest Stephen Coyle. Stephen talks us through the development process of Tapt, WordFlash, Hyperbolizer and Déjà, and talks about his download numbers and revenue models for each app. What Apple could do to improve App Store economics. Different strategies for marketing your apps. Musical notation as a programming language. Hackintoshes. … Continue reading "051 – All Our Indie Dreams Have Been Crushed – with Stephen Coyle"

Thomas cleans AirPods. Baz wants to talk Android. Messages annoyances. AR. Teaching the next generation. Dave makes a DAWG. Building for iPad and keeping track of your children view controllers. New games. Libraries. Bidding Audible farewell. Recommendations. YouTube and their schneaky Apple TV web view. The general disappointment of Apple TV. HomePod and its niche. … Continue reading "050 – Is it about your ears?"

Opinions on notebooks. Resolutions. Quitting Facebook. Planting trees. Apple slowing down your old phone. What we might spend money on next year. Raising screen quality standards. Future of the iPad. YouTube shenanigans. Developing iPad apps. Programming ≠ essay writing. Developing Mac apps. Delphi nostalgia. Cross platform desktop UI toolkits. Losing an AirPod. Links Rocketbook Everlast … Continue reading "049 – Return Immediately Or Your Tree Will Die"

The latest updates to the Amazon Echo platform. Alexa now knows where Ireland is. Lifx really wants you to have colour. The state of e-reader platforms in 2017. Dopamine hits and loot boxes. Being unimpressed with Star Wars (no spoilers). Amazon’s Apple TV App. Nobody cares that the HomePod is late. The iMac Pro is … Continue reading "048 – Technology to enable me to use less technology"

Dave gets an Apple Watch. Can more technology make us depend less on technology? We talk iPad Pro productivity. We’re all on AirPods. We discuss the new Amazon echo Line-up. What’s making us Happy Thomas: Sleep Well Beast by The National Baz: The Canteen Kickstarter,  The Witness Dave: Star Trek Discovery and The Orville  

We review the latest Apple Event and talk about the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X. What’s making us happy Baz: Million Yen Women (Netflix), BoJack Horseman (Netflix) Thomas: Casio MQ24-7B Watch Dave: Devil’s Bargain

Baz reflects on the iPad Pro with iOS 11 and the decreased use of his Macbook Air. The iPad needs a home server for long running tasks, if only there was some kind of mini Mac we could use, we discuss Raspberry Pi and some potential money saving configurations. Pencils over Keyboards. We discuss our … Continue reading "045 – I’m drawing a blank"

It’s a beautiful sunny day and we’re live (not really) from the Wickham Tap in Limerick, a new pub from the Galway Bay Brewery. Dave is preparing a talk on Swift Enums and Thomas is half-heartedly Swifting on the server. After two and a half years Apple Pay has finally arrived at our bank and … Continue reading "044 – Live and Dangerous!"

We walk through a different kind of dongle hell, adding bluetooth to a car stereo and end up going all the way back to tapes, vinyl and digital distribution. iPhone 8 rumours abound as Qualcomm debuts their through-screen fingerprint scanner, we wonder how big and expensive it’ll be. Baz informs us that you can get … Continue reading "043 – Crank the Handle"

Baz got bored and installed the latest beta, we discuss some of the new features and talk about the perils of public betas. We discuss the Surface and discuss if Apple users are more elitist than users of other platforms, Dave really likes Macs. We love nine year old cars and now Baz has one … Continue reading "042 – So many gigaflops"

In a break from our usual format we try something new and record an episode about Apple’s new reality show, Planet of The Apps… but then we end up talking about the business of Apps and have a far too heated discussion about how podcasts should handle bonus episodes. This is not a bonus episode. … Continue reading "041 – Planet of The Apps"

After a brief period of upheaval in real life we are back with our WWDC episode. WWDC took place this week in San Jose and watched the keynote live from the comfort of Thomas’s couch 8000km away in Ireland. We discuss the revelations in the keynote and the state of the platform. Apple recommits to the Pro … Continue reading "040 – The Boys Aren’t Back in Town"

New Overcast watch app. Baz returns to Úll and almost escapes a room. This year’s new iPhones. AirPods. Live-buying an Apple Watch. Apple and the environment. Uber. Susan Fowler and Increment. Stripe. Spinal Tap. Links Canteen – where our Apple Pay Stickers ended up Uber’s C.E.O. Plays With Fire – New York Times Increment Indie … Continue reading "039 – 2 Women Can’t Have 1 Baby in 4½ Months"

We get a very accurate review. Fantastic iPads and when to buy them. We finally get Apple Pay, but we don’t. A new reason for rejection. Push notification fundamentalism. Mac Pros. Panic and my Uncle works for Nintendo. Links Baz lets AIB know what’s on his mind Apple Pay stickers Using Clips to make passive … Continue reading "038 – Nappies and Obviously Wine"

Baz gets some feedback on WordSnap from listeners of the podcast, and Dave loses his top spot on the Endless Mode leaderboard. Thomas goes on a brief nerd holiday. Baz has a new toy. iPads. Force Touch. Dave shares screens. We go deep on Indie Games. Links Still looking for beta testers for WordSnap (email … Continue reading "037 – Harness your controversial states"

It’s our one year anniversary! Baz discovers he’s not alone in finding trouble finishing projects. Dave talks about being in demand and Thomas promises to ruin things by making them in Swift. Links Frog Fractions – Part 1 Frog Fractions – Part 2 Still looking for beta testers for WordSnap (email link) How to *never* … Continue reading "036 – It sure is, Ceelo"

Dave is Thomas’s Swift Spirit Animal. Firewatch reviewed. Baz asks for your help with WordSnap and we discuss what keeps us from finishing projects. Things go wrong, again. Links Firewatch The Stanley Parable Ask for a beta test of Wordsnap (email link) The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative … Continue reading "035 – Resisters Anonymous"

Dave can hear clearly now. Baz edits a podcast. Optionals in Swift. Thomas finds out Swift 2 into 3 won’t go. New shiny stuff. We finally learn something new. Thomas threatens to write a blogging engine in server-side Swift. Hipster database engines. From Firebase to Firewatch: Thomas doesn’t do his homework. Nintendo Switch. Zelda. Making … Continue reading "034 – Dense in a Good Way"

Baz has a broken keychain. Thomas has a broken phone. New iPads. Dave disrupts some national stats. Finding Friends. Upgrading a Mac Mini. Hard drive reliability. Anecdata. Switching. Mistrusting Windows. Baby Duck syndrome. Urban design and JavaScript. Thomas gets hacked. Steam Reforming. Firewatch. A normal lost phone. Links Why would Apple release a 10.5″ iPad? … Continue reading "033 – I get to admit to some bad practices here"

LED whine. New things in iOS. Chasing ratings. Death to 32-bit. Wall Street Bets. Paying Apple every month. Renting movies. App nostalgia. Links iOS 10 and iOS 10.3 features and updates – TechRadar iOS 10.3 beta 32-bit alert suggests Apple may drop legacy app support in iOS 11 Apple Said to Work on Mac Chip That … Continue reading "032 – I resemble that remark"

Making Office Harmony Great Again. Quiet is the New Loud. One AirPod each. We go deep on tea. Schwift. Modern app development techniques. Container Views. Auto Layout. Stack Views. Design tools for great apps. The benefits of native UI. Links Bose QuietComfort 35 headphones The other drinking habit – An Irishman’s Diary on tea and … Continue reading "031 – Getting excited about development again"

Decentralising social media. Waking ourselves gently. Trolling Alexa. AirPods and where to find them. Bluetooth. Safari extensions. Thomas makes a big announcement. Links Micro.blog kickstarter Manton Reece’s website TV anchor says live on-air ‘Alexa, order me a dollhouse’ – guess what happens next – The Register PSA: Finder for AirPods has been removed from the … Continue reading "030 – More of a fetish than a weakness, really"

Dave has to program over Christmas. Baz ponders the monetisation of Wordsnap. Thomas left-pads his home. Baz and Dave go deep on lighting. Thomas tries to listen to music from this decade and ends up giving out about apps from this decade. Money saving options for subscription services. We discuss recommendation engines. Links Thomas’s blogpost … Continue reading "029 – I tried that, but it resulted in me getting elbowed"

We review a posh handbag and a posh Kindle. We go deep on Soviet mechanical watches. Remembering the game Papers Please and celebrating all things Soviet. Feedback on our coding style guide discussions from episode 26. Thomas can’t understand why he’s an idiot for conflating sci-fi with role-playing games. The awfulness of The Big Bang … Continue reading "028 – A broken 24-hour watch is only right once a day"

Dave is living in the future. Thomas is living in the past. Baz is proved right. Links Bose Hearphones The Retr0bright project Polygon – Top 10 mechanical keyboards Logitech Wall of Keyboards Compelling Science Fiction magazine What’s making us happy: Thomas – Black Mirror Dave – Alexa and LIFX bulbs Baz – Final Fantasy XXV … Continue reading "027 – Any part of your computer that you touch with your body"

One of us has no heating. We argue about trivial stylistic differences in code, and the pros and cons of style guides. The noise that the new MacBook Pro keyboard makes. Battery life and browser choice. Dave gets an Amazon Home and reflects on 11 years on Reddit. Links raywenderlich.com Objective-C styleguide Objective Clean What … Continue reading "026 – With Alexa, I can do whatever the hell I want"

Thomas abuses WordPress and writes some JavaScript. Another take on cross-platform app development.  Apple stops making wireless routers. We imagine a world without the Mac. What do the alternatives look like on the PC side? We give some surprisingly useful advice for Christmas presents. Links NSHipster Thomas’s code swap plugin – hipsterpress Thomas’s syntax highlighting … Continue reading "025 – A resounding meh"

A listener asks us about the best way of getting in to iOS development, we give wildly contradictory answers. We take another look at Swift. The many faces of Visual Studio. We discuss the new UK surveillance law and paranoia takes hold. Links Alan Gill – Twitter Big Nerd Ranch Ray Wenderlich Britain has passed … Continue reading "024 – And then you cry in the corner quietly"

We give our verdict on the new MacBook Pros, and discuss what is a professional anyway. Dave reminds us that “Bitchin’ ain’t switchin’”. Dongles. Thomas and Dave get overfamiliar with podcasters in real life. Baz and Dave discuss their recent trip to Ull. We discuss David Smith’s lessons from the app store. Baz reveals a … Continue reading "023 – You can just stroll up to someone and start talking to them"

This week we discuss our experiences with Baz’s new PSVR, and Nintendo’s announcement of its Switch hybrid handheld/console. Dave discusses life with no internet and his new iPhone 7. We discuss the potential for new Macs and iPads ahead of Apple’s announcement. Links Giant Bomb PSVR launch day special – YouTube Satoru Iwata: CEO, Game Developer, Gamer … Continue reading "022 – I’m not going to develop an operating system"

Followup on Baz’s new iPhone 7, the recent Google event, abandoning Apple in the home, and competing VR platforms.

macOS Sierra has arrived and we talk about the new features: Baz collects his windows and Irish Siri makes her debut. We talk about our OS update styles, varying from cutting edge to maybe sometime. Dave bought a house and is looking at home automation solutions, what’s the state of the ecosystem and how does it all … Continue reading "020 – If you squint you’ll notice it"

We discuss the aftermath of last week’s iPhone and Apple Watch announcements. Baz and Dave discuss what phones they will buy. Thomas updates his phone to iOS 10 live on air, and then starts to fret as he is told that the update is bricking lots of phones. Baz gets enthusiastic about the new features in … Continue reading "019 – You Wouldn’t Download A Perfume"

Recorded immediately after Apple’s event on Wednesday, we discuss the new iPhone and Apple Watch announcements.

A slightly later episode this week due to some technical difficulties: Dave gradually descends into incoherence but he assures us that it’s was just his recording setup. So, Baz is still on the betas and Barbara Streisand leaks the release date of iOS 10! We talk about the latest rumours about the next iPhone. Dave talks … Continue reading "017 – Siri, what is The Streisand Effect?"

Dave spent a while away with very slow internet. We discuss how lack of broadband is stopping people from buying houses in rural areas and we test our mobile broadband speeds. Thomas launched his WordPress Theme but don’t expect him to announce any more projects on the podcast! What’s involved in making a WordPress theme these … Continue reading "016 – How do you pronounce T-U-P-L-E?"

We have a slightly shorter episode this week as we’re in the midst of the summer holidays. Thomas designs his own WordPress theme and we talk about WordPress and blogging platforms in general. We talk about what product or platform we would recommend to someone wanting to start a blog or website. Thomas talks about … Continue reading "015 – I’m left handed, as you can probably hear"

This week we talk about Uber (which we can’t use): their database switch and the acquisition of their Chinese brand, Dave makes a bad database joke and perpetuates conspiracy theories. We talk about Hailo (which we can use), which is merging with MyTaxi. We have a local taxi app: Swify Taxi. This leads Thomas to … Continue reading "014 – OK, You’re a Taxi"

We talk about the current state of the App Store, service supported Apps, the race to the bottom, subscriptions and upgrade pricing. iCloud CoreData is deprecated, Thomas talks about replacements and how he’s grappling with sync for his app. We fix our first bug as a programming mob and Thomas makes his first contribution to … Continue reading "013 – Cheap Development at Breakneck Speed"

This week we talk about Pokemon Go as it is finally released in Ireland. Nintendo to release a retro NES console with built-in games and they finally open up their developer program to anyone who can afford the devkits! We deep dive on the Top iOS SDKs in the top 200 free apps and muses on … Continue reading "012 – A bunch of men in their 30s hanging around"

This week we talk about the non-gaming applications of VR, Baz has pre-ordered Playstation VR. We discuss the latest in Hackintoshs… and why we never built one. Dave has discovered NativeScript: use HTML, CSS and Javascript to make app, has he gone to the dark side? Thomas tell us of his experiences as a tech recruiter, … Continue reading "011 – BSc in Ruby on Rails"

We discuss the new features announced at WWDC for tvOS, watchOS, iOS and macOS. We have a discussion about Messaging Apps and the new Messages Extensions. Baz installs the iOS 10 Beta and then uninstalls it. Will we start learning Swift? We talk about the new playgrounds tutorial and we talk about which WWDC sessions … Continue reading "010 – Data Driven Fun"

We discuss our hardware and software predictions and hopes for Apple’s platforms ahead of WWDC. Followed by a discussion of Apple’s announcement of app subscriptions and how it might affect us as developers, and as users. Links Daring Fireball’s summary of the forthcoming changes in the App Store, and from the same site, a summary of … Continue reading "009 – Something in the keynote we have to pay money for"