iOS Developers
Every successful (and enjoyable!) project I’ve been on came down to having exceptional talent on a small, elite team. We each had the same exceptionally high bar for how to design and build an application. We each had the same work ethic. We were each in pursuit of simplicity, clarity, beauty, and elegance.
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It’s January 2024 and I am setting out to build an industry-changing application with an elite team of domain experts, designers, and engineers. I am looking for the best of the best to help me make this happen. The team will be comprised of only the highest caliber individuals. This is a complex project and we can’t afford to have any weak links. Everyone will be carefully vetted.
Buddy System
We firmly believe in pair programming, aka “the buddy system”. We know from experience the incredible gains to be had when you are working with someone who is your intellectual equal and who you can trust implicitly. The right person brings clarity, excitement, momentum. Chemistry is everything. If you’re part of a dynamic duo, keep on reading.
Domain Expertise
You will be part of an elite team setting out to build a sleek, high-performing application for shipping container logistics. While you don’t need to have prior experience in the field of transportation and logistics, it should be a topic that gets you excited. You’ll be working closely with individuals who have deep domain expertise, as well as professional designers who are spending a lot of time in the field. We welcome you to join us out in the field.
Field Visits
Our very best work happens when we understand who we are solving for and why we’re doing it. I am a firm believer that all disciplines on a project team should spend real time out in the field (not superficial time), understanding the what, why, and how of what we’re solving for. This will help you think of things that you simply would not have thought about otherwise. Spending time in the field activates both your heart and your mind — and that’s the level of activation we need on something this complex. On this project, we’ll be spending quality time at railyards that handle international and domestic shipping containers, getting to know the people who make this work happen day in and day out. Railroads are the backbone of America. After 200 years, they are still the safest and most cost-effective way to move freight across long distances.
Users
This new iOS app will be used by a wide range of individuals, from executives in a glass office to a crane operator sitting six stories high to a groundsperson standing in a snowstorm. The designers will ensure the app feels modern, simple, intuitive, can’t-live-without. As the iOS engineers, you will make it elegant, real time, responsive, reliable. From live widgets on the lock screen to beautifully crisp screens, every aspect of the application will be carefully considered and coded for a joyful experience.
Problem Solving
You’re a problem solver. You don’t take no for an answer. You don’t look for the easy way out. You know that half-baked solutions and short-sighted shortcuts lead to nothing but trouble down the line. Before you dive in to solve something, you first ask yourself if it’s even the right problem to be solving. You spend time thinking about the problem on your own, you research, you read, you reach out to people. You know that two heads are better than one, so you reach out to your trusted network you’ve carefully curated over the years. Solving for root cause is your mantra.
Architecture
You are a master planner. You know how to architect and build an iOS application from the ground up. You have the opportunity to make every major decision on this application and you don’t take that lightly. Given your depth of experience, you understand the importance of making the right decision. You have lived through many design patterns, you are an expert in MVVM-C design patterns, and your many years of lived experience allow you to intuit your way through to the right architectural decisions each time.
Frameworks
You understand when and how to use frameworks to their fullest extent. Some frameworks are tried and true. Some frameworks are more risky but worth exploring. You study the details, list out pros and cons, and bring these options to the table for discussion. For example, on this project, we may end up using MapKit or MapBox or something else entirely. We’ll need your help weighing out the pros and cons and making the right long-term decision.
Syntax
You couldn’t wait to build your first iOS app when Apple debuted the App Store in 2008. You’ve been honing and refining your talents ever since. You mastered Objective-C when it first came out, then moved on to master Swift. You speak many languages and count Swift among your favorites. You know Swift syntax inside and out.
Latest and Greatest
You’re fully up to speed on the latest Apple UIKit. From the last WWDC updates, you’re up on the latest in productivity, UI refinements, API enhancements, performance, security and privacy.
User Interface
This application will be heavy on editable tables, trigger maps, graphs, and drag-and-drop visualizations. You will be working closely with high-caliber UX+UI design professionals. You will be invited to the Figma file where all pixel-perfect designs have been created and will be carefully detailed and iterated upon, keeping you in close communication every step of the way. The designers are mature and exceptional in their craft. They want to work side by side with UI developers who are equally mature and exceptional in their craft — and who understand the transformative power of design. Good design is good design. Good design is the only design worth building.
Integration
A separate set of high-caliber Python Django developers are responsible for designing and building a powerful new PostreSQL database, APIs, and rules engine. You are wholly responsible for the iOS application and will work closely with this other set of developers to integrate with all back-end services. If something doesn’t feel right, speak up. It’s incredibly important that we get this right and it will require our collective brain power to do so.
Performance
You understand the Apple ecosystem deeply and know how to create high-performing applications. Often times in the railyards, there is poor connectivity. Users will need to be able to work offline on certain functions, with a clean and reliable sync once they have a connection again. Also of note, currently, some applications take 15 minutes to refresh. We are aiming for 1 second refresh rates. While this is standard for most of our day-to-day experiences, this has not been the norm here. High performance standards and modern-day refresh rates will be a game changer for users, removing major frustrations, delays, and mistakes from their day-to-day experience.
Memory Management
Given the volume of information you need to render on screen, you are a whiz at memory management. You know when to use ARC, autorelease pools, and memory profiling tools.
Testing
You understand that unit and functional testing is an integral part of high-scale production applications, and that you sometimes need to push back when testing is being circumvented. Writing testable code is something you intuit, something you commit to, something you take pride in. And you know that any deployment pipeline without testing is asking for failure.
Bug Fixing
There is no such thing as bug-free code, even if you are the very best of the best. Everyone on the team will be kind and respectful when identifying bugs and will provide as much helpful context as possible. When bugs are identified, you take a positive attitude and get on with finding the best fix. Unlike other projects, QA will have a seat at the table from day one. You’ll be working with high-caliber QA engineers to identify and address edge cases before they ever become an issue.
Contact
If you’ve made it this far, that’s a good sign! I’m happy to share more information about the project. Text me at 917–656–5634 and we’ll keep the conversation going.
