Side Project Spotlight Philly CocoaHeads Association

The trio discuss the new M4 iPad Pros, both the updates and the use cases. Who are these devices for and do the new models really represent the biggest update in the iPad lineup in years? Plus, Kotaro teases a new game to be built with Godot.



## Topics Discussed:

- Introductions

- New iPad Pros

- What are iPads useful for?

- Pencil Pro updates

- What Nobody Else Told You About Tandem OLED and M4! (Snazzy Labs)

- https://youtu.be/3moprE5S3Qc

- Kotaro teases a new game to be built with Godot

- https://godotengine.org

- Killer Klowns from Outer Space

- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095444/

- Wrap-Up & Jokes

- https://phillycocoa.org



Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

Joe Cieplinski returns to the pod to talk about his latest app, The Last Word, a journal app for tracking your personal cocktail journey. Built using the latest iOS 17 technologies from SwiftUI to SwiftData with a cross-platform design that includes visionOS, our discussion touches on many topics that will be of interest if you are starting your own greenfield side project app.



## Topics Discussed:

- Introductions / Welcome Joe Cieplinski

- The Last Word in Cocktails app

- https://havethelastword.app/

- iOS 17, SwiftUI, SwiftData, VisionOS

- Story behind the name

- Opinionated Design

- Custom Artwork

- App Store Optimization

- App Store Subscription

- RevenueCat article about using StoreKit 2

- https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/engineering/ios-in-app-subscription-tutorial-with-storekit-2-and-swift/

- Meet StoreKit for SwiftUI WWDC23 Video

- https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2023/10013/

- App Store Analytics

- AppFigures

- https://appfigures.com

- VisionOS Apps / Development

- MKBHD Disney VR floor video

- https://youtu.be/1KEtxTQUzxY

- Future plans for The Last Word

- Where to find Joe

- Mastodon

- https://mastodon.social/@jcieplinski

- Web

- https://joec.design

- Get the App!

- https://havethelastword.app

- Wrap-Up

- https://phillycocoa.org

- One More Thing…

- WWDC wishes from Joe

- New PencilKit

- SwiftUI photo capture & other updates

- SwiftData updates

- VisionOS Window Management



Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

This episode is all about SwiftData. Steve has started using it a lot lately and talks about his experience so far trying to sync a bunch of API data into a SwiftData model as well as using a Swift Actor to control write access to the data container in a thread-safe manner. There are some really useful links in the show notes this week. You'll want to bookmark them all!

## Topics Discussed:
- Introductions
- Steve’s Real World SwiftData Experience…so far
- Maintaining a local copy of server data
- https://developer.apple.com/documentation/swiftdata/maintaining-a-local-copy-of-server-data
- Practical SwiftData: Building SwiftUI Applications with Modern Approaches
- https://fatbobman.com/en/posts/practical-swiftdata-building-swiftui-applications-with-modern-approaches/
- Concurrency of SwiftData | Donny Wals
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG4oCnQ0bfw
- Observable Architecture: Structural Identity | PointFree
- https://www.pointfree.co/episodes/ep260-observable-architecture-structural-identity
- Populating SwiftData from Server (ETag) Explained | Azam Sharp
- https://youtu.be/f_Amhej1bkM
- Tangent: Rendering HTML in SwiftUI with a WebView
- Wrap-Up & Jokes
- https://phillycocoa.org

Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

Jumping off from one of our topics last episode, this week we are tackling the idea of working a 9 to 5 with a side project. What are the challenges? How do you maintain motivation? What time management strategies work? Are there any tools that can help you stay organized? Steve has some concrete tips based on his recent experience trying to juggle side projects and a day job while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Kotaro and Aaron provide the perspective of developers working a traditional in-office, corporate job and the challenges that creates for side project success. Along the way, we discuss how to make a website using Swift, the WWDC24 announcement, and Kotaro shares his latest insights about Reality Composer Pro. There are some good tips, tools, and techniques in this episode for those trying to find a healthy balance while working towards that side project dream.



## Topics Discussed:

- Introductions

- Using Swift to Build a Website

- https://github.com/twostraws/Ignite

- https://github.com/johnsundell/publish

- Flutter vs React vs Native

- News: WWDC24 Announced

- Fun With Reality Composer Pro

- 9 to 5 Lifestyle with a Side Project

- Four Thousand Weeks book (not an affiliate link)

- https://www.amazon.com/Four-Thousand-Weeks-Management-Mortals/dp/0374159122

- Sleep++

- https://sleepplusplus.app

- Wrap-Up & Not a Sponsor

- https://AzamSharp.school



Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

Kotaro has been doing the 9 to 5 thing for a while now and he's been thinking about his days as a consultant and what it means in 2024 to "go indie." The trio discuss some of the options they see in the present day including consulting or SaaS, making educational content, traditional app or game development, whether the Vision Pro gold rush might be the most attractive option and more. Plus, Aaron finally tries a Vision Pro and Kotaro waxes nostalgic for his former indie app, "Dividend Calc." This is a great episode for anyone looking to "go indie" in 2024.



## Topics Discussed:

- Introductions

- Indie Opportunities

- Our last discussion on this topic: #40: “Going Indie”

- https://podcast.phillycocoa.org/episodes/40-going-indie

- Consulting or SaaS Business

- Bombing Brain Interactive

- https://www.bombingbrain.com/

- Release Notes Podcast

- https://releasenotes.tv/

- RelaNet

- https://relanet.com/

- Educational Content / Workshops

- AzamSharp

- https://azamsharp.school

- PointFree

- https://www.pointfree.co

- Design+Code

- https://designcode.io

- Indie App Success

- https://getslopes.com/

- Indie Game Success

- 9 to 5 with a Side Project

- Vision Pro Gold Rush!

- https://sandwich.vision

- Tangents & Our “Going Indie” Strategies

- Tangent: SPM Problems

- Tangent: Aaron tried a Vision Pro!

- Tangent: Dividend Calc History

- Wrap-Up & Jokes

- https://phillycocoa.org



Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.

On the day the huge iOS 17.4 update drops, the Trio come together to talk about apps we love from budgeting software to productivity to 3D design and even fitness. The Apple ecosystem is full of amazing apps. Sometimes it's good to take a break, smell the roses, and gain some inspiration.



## Topics Discussed:

- Introductions

- Breaking News

- iOS 17.4

- Xcode 15.3

- Other platforms are still in RC

- https://developer.apple.com/documentation/financekit

- Jon Prosser’s Vision Pro Review

- https://youtu.be/krpbAMJlLTc

- Apps We Love

- YNAB (Steve)

- https://www.ynab.com

- RIP Mint (Kotaro)

- https://mint.intuit.com

- Training Peaks (Aaron)

- https://www.trainingpeaks.com

- OmniFocus 4 (Steve)

- https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus

- Trello & GitHub Projects (Kotaro)

- https://trello.com

- https://docs.github.com/en/issues/planning-and-tracking-with-projects/learning-about-projects/quickstart-for-projects

- Sketch (Kotaro)

- https://www.sketch.com

- Strava (Aaron)

- https://www.strava.com

- Bike Outliner (Steve)

- https://www.hogbaysoftware.com/bike/

- Modo (Kotaro)

- https://www.foundry.com/products/modo

- Zed (Kotaro)

- https://zed.dev

- Zwift (Aaron)

- https://www.zwift.com/home

- Concluding Thoughts

- Wrap-Up & Jokes

- https://phillycocoa.org



Intro music: "When I Hit the Floor", © 2021 Lorne Behrman. Used with permission of the artist.