News
Dashing Back From The Dead
If you are a fan of Dash for iOS, you're in luck. It's been out of the App Store for a while, but the developer has created a personal account and been allowed to offer it for sale again. The app is now free and the dev hopes this helps put an end to the fraudulent copies out there. Much easier than installing from source. :) Interesting that Apple allowed him to create a personal account even though his business account was blocked.
Dash offers offline access to 150+ API documentation sets
Tutorials
Fancy Tables To The Rescue
Create fancy table views with different cell types with this tutorial. I often see a layout I really like and wonder if it's a collection view, table view, or something else. This guide shows you how to not display a cell if nothing is returned from the backend. It also addresses indexing so that the right details show when the user touches a specific type of cell. Each cell can have a vastly different layout, which makes this tutorial a definite bookmark.
iOS: How to build a Table View with multiple cell types by Stan Ostrovskiy
Marketing
Perfecting Your One Line App Pitch
When promoting your app, having a good one line pitch is crucial. You will need to be brief and have a great opening to get anyone to read more. Whether it's an email subject or tweet, make sure you can describe what your app does in one simple line.
Example: Uber
You push a button and in five minutes a Mercedes picks you up and takes you where you want to go.
Example: Quit That! (one of my apps)
Easily track all the things you want to quit without being harassed by ads or limitations
Much of it is avoiding jargon and getting to the need the app is filling. Think of the opposite of how Microsoft may describe exchange server. :)
The Art of Writing One-Sentence Product Descriptions by David Bailey
Sponsored
New Video Course: Reactive Programming in iOS with RxSwift
Reactive extensions for Swift and iOS enable writing asynchronous and concurrent code that is succinct, easy to follow, and flexible. With WWDC right around the corner, now is a great time to check out this new video course. You’ll go from concepts to clicks as you learn the fundamentals of reactive programming, and how to effectively use the reactive extensions for Swift and Cocoa Touch in your iOS app projects. You’ll also get lifetime access to the course and free updates.
Save $15 with the coupon code INDIEIOSFOCUS.
Swift
A Guide To What's Coming In Swift 4.0
Looking for a quick way to find out what's around the corner for Swift? Paul has put together a brief post with examples for you to check out.
When NOT To Add App Security To Your App
Have you ever used something like @"MyPassword" to store a password in an app? If so, you need to read this post about how to do it right. App security issues can kill a potentially successful app. Great post from Pragmatic Swift on how app security is not something you add to your app, but build as a system in your app from the beginning.
Tips
Handy Tips For Swift Dispatch
Five great tips on how to get the most out of Swift Dispatch including adding unit time and testing in Playgrounds.
Revenue
Ads Versus No Ads In The App Store
I missed this link a couple weeks ago, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth showing you now, right? ;) Take a look to see how Stephen earns money on the App Store with his first app. Check out what his results were with and without ads and what happened when he added video reward ads. Good stuff!
Resources
Taking Advantage Of 3D Touch
Find out how cool 3D Touch is and how to implement it in your apps in this informative video from Meghan Kane, an iOS engineer at SoundCloud. Transcript included!
Frameworks
A Light-Weight Deep Linking Library
This is a light-weight library that will create a data object from values in a URL. You can then use this object in your app. Josh created this library because the other third-party alternatives had more features than he needed. Simple is often better!
Podcasts
App Store Pricing Experiments
Always a great listen, Release Notes is at it's best when they bring in an indie developer and pick their brain about how they are making money on the App Store. This week they chatted with Curtis Herbert, a successful indie developer, about his pricing experiments.
#210: Curtis Herbert - Part 1 with Charles Perry, Joe Cieplinski, & Curtis Herbert
Beginners
Understanding Delegate And Data Source
I wish I would have had this good of an explanation when I started coding in 2010. Even if you know how to implement a table view, you may not know fully what's going on behind the scenes.
The Complete Understanding of Swift Delegate and Data Source by Bob Lee
Welcome! This week's issue is packed with more links than normal. Maybe everyone is getting out their posts before WWDC. Whatever the reason, I have extra links in this issue along with at least six more for Patreon supporters. My hosting costs have almost doubled now that I'm over 2,500 subscribers. Thanks so much for subscribing. If you want to help out, join my 11 other Patreon supporters here. On to the links!
@cdbeshore