One of the most important aspects of design is restraint. Designing for  Watch is an exercise in extreme restraint. How so? According to Apple, a user should be able to complete their task in less than 2 seconds.

I’ve been using the  Watch since it came out. Like most people, the main thing I use it for is fitness tracking. I’ve spent more time with the Workout app than all other watch apps combined. I have 2 problems with the Workout app:

1. It doesn’t offer enough choice in workout types.
2. It takes too long to start a workout.

…

While I love the  Watch, particularly as a fitness tracker, the stock workout app leaves me wanting more. My three biggest complaints are:

1. There aren’t enough workouts and activity types.
2. It takes too long to start tracking a workout.
3. I often forget to start or stop workout tracking.

So like any good nerd, I spent my summer eschewing the gym to instead build a better workout app. Without further ado, let me introduce you to Sweaty Bird!

Sweaty Bird addresses the problems with the stock workout app in a few simple ways.

1. Not enough workouts

In the Workout app, everything besides cardio…

I’ll be the first to admit it — I was a huge video game nerd growing up. I don’t play that many games any more. So what happened? Did I become more social, go outside more, meet IRL friends, and ditch my lonely gaming habit?

No, I didn’t change much, except for getting taller and having a bigger appetite. What changed were the games, and how we play them. Video gaming used to be such a social, inclusive experience. I played puzzle games like Dr. Mario and Tetris with my parents. …

Ok — in the interest of full transparency — that was a bold-faced lie to get you in here. I only licked one of the games at GDC. And not in the Mark Twain “we got that problem licked” sense. “Licked” as in a “mouth-based video game.” But more on that later.

First, I want to tell you what it’s like going to GDC. This was my first time at a game industry event, and I had no idea what to expect. There’s lots of unfortunate video gamer stereotypes: that they are difficult to talk to, avoid sunlight, whatever. But…

A Core Data Story

It’s been a not-too-uncommon rhetoric that Core Data is slow, buggy, or needlessly complex. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not a perfect framework. However, far too often it is used as a scapegoat for whatever issues a developer is facing. Core Data is complex, but data management is complex. Attempts to simplify it often don’t scale. With a little bit more effort, Core Data does scale.

Core Data has made great strides in recent years, with additions such as batch updates and deletions, asynchronous fetches, unique constraints, etc. …

The importance of tagging your iOS builds

What?

Every iOS developer should tag all of their releases. What’s a tag? A tag is a label on a specific Git commit.