Release Notes

Welcome to episode 300! 🎉 Today we respond to a discussion that happened on the Core Intuition podcast. They talked a bit about our conference, and posed some really good questions about why we are moving the show to Mexico, how using a beach resort as a venue might affect the conference, and a few other things that we thought would be interesting to people who have attended (or are planning to attend) Release Notes. Release Notes 2019 We’re happy to announce that Release Notes 2019, the fourth edition of our conference, will be happening October 3-5, 2019 in Playa Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico. We’re really excited about the move to Mexico and the extra opportunities that the change in venue will provide. More details will be announced on the conference website at 2019.releasenotes.tv and on our mailing list in a month or two. In the mean time, mark your calendars. We hope to see you there! Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Core Intuition #358: Accidental Dark Mode – This is the episode of Core Intuition that sparked this episode. Daniel Jalkut – on Twitter Manton Reece – on Micro.Blog

Today we tackle a hodgepodge of topics including a small pre-event gathering we’re hosting at FemtoConf, Charles’ attempt to control costs by changing email marketing automation platforms, Joe getting his tax information ready for his accountant, and a key dependency of Charles’ business discontinuing a service he relies upon. Release Notes 2019 We’re happy to announce that Release Notes 2019, the fourth edition of our conference, will be happening October 3-5, 2019 in Playa Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico. We’re really excited about the move to Mexico and the extra opportunities that the change in venue will provide. More details will be announced on the conference website at 2019.releasenotes.tv and on our mailing list in a month or two. In the mean time, mark your calendars. We hope to see you there! Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links FemtoConf 2019 The Pre-FemtoConf 2019 UnEvent – A small gathering that we’re hosting in Bacharach, Germany the day before FemtoConf. We invite you to join us for a day of castles, wine, and great conversation.

Today we answer a question from a listener who asks how we handle support (whether we use homegrown or third-party tools) and if it’s possible for an indie business owner (particularly one with customers) to go on an offline vacation. In our answers, we share some of the tools we use for support, our individual philosophies surrounding vacations, and some other considerations that we think are important when listener consider these questions for themselves. Thank you Keary for sending in today’s question! Release Notes 2019 We’re happy to announce that Release Notes 2019, the fourth edition of our conference, will be happening October 3-5, 2019 in Playa Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico. We’re really excited about the move to Mexico and the extra opportunities that the change in venue will provide. More details will be announced on the conference website at 2019.releasenotes.tv and on our mailing list in a month or two. In the mean time, mark your calendars. We hope to see you there! Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist.

Today we are pleased to announce Release Notes 2019, and this year it’s in Mexico! That’s right, your favorite conference about the business of software will be returning October 3-5, 2019 in Playa Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico. So mark your calendars, and listen to this episode for all the details. Release Notes 2019 We’re happy to announce that Release Notes 2019, the fourth edition of our conference, will be happening October 3-5, 2019 in Playa Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico. We’re really excited about the move to Mexico and the extra opportunities that the change in venue will provide. More details will be announced on the conference website at 2019.releasenotes.tv and on our mailing list in a month or two. In the mean time, mark your calendars. We hope to see you there! Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Release Notes 2019 website

Today we discuss how Joe might improve his free trial conversion rate in his caffeine tracking app RECaf. We talk about nurturing customers before offering the free trial, the difference between selling to businesses and consumers, and some of the unfortunate limitations that affect developers who offer free trials in Apple’s App Store. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist.

Although it might some days seem nice to be able to hold your customers at arm’s length and communicate with them only through email, sometimes there’s really no substitute for a phone call. Today we talk about communicating with customers on the phone and discuss when we try to reach someone on the phone, the mechanics of seeming like a “real business”, and some of the tools we use to make phone calls more convenient. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist.

On this New Year’s Eve, we look forward to 2019 and the things we want to accomplish in the year ahead. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist.

Today we take a look at the goals we set for ourselves in 2018 and how we did at accomplishing those goals. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist.

Today we speak with Pádraig Ó Cinnéide and Oisín Prendiville of Supertop who make Castro, one of the top podcast apps in the iOS App Store. Although Pádraig and Oisín still work on Castro, they recently had an “exit” of sorts when they sold their app to a firm called Tiny. In this episode we talk to Pádraig and Oisín about how that acquisition came about, what the sale process was like, why they did it, and how their roles have changed. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links @Padraig – Pádraig on Twitter @prendio2 – Oisín on Twitter Supertop Castro Tiny

Today we continue our conversation with Justin Harter, owner of SuperPixel and author of What Does Your Website Do All Day? Today we talk about saying “No” to clients, how Justin has grown his agency, and why he felt compelled to publish his new book on dead-tree-paper. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links @jlharter – Justin on Twitter SuperPixel – Justin’s web and design agency Justin Harter of America – Justin’s personal blog What Does Your Website Do All Day? – Justin’s new book, available on Amazon

Today we’re joined by Justin Harter, owner of SuperPixel and author of What Does Your Website Do All Day? We talk about how Justin has built a business serving “the vast middle” – successful small businesses that need web, design, and marketing services, but don’t have this talent in-house. We also talk about Justin’s new book that helps agency owners and their clients better understand each other. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links @jlharter – Justin on Twitter SuperPixel – Justin’s web and design agency Justin Harter of America – Justin’s personal blog What Does Your Website Do All Day? – Justin’s new book, available on Amazon

Today we talk about what’s on our gift lists for 2018. We talk tech, gadgets, travel gear, and even a some cooking equipment. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Flux Portable Charger (4,000 mAh) – Charles’ pocketable portable iPhone charger Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD – Joe’s bigger portable charger that can even charge his MacBook Waterfield Designs Air Porter Carry-On Bag – Joe’s computer bag and carry-on Tom Bihn – The computer bag that Charles is considering, but hasn’t tried Food Safety Infrared Thermometer – The infrared thermometer that reminds Charles of a Star Trek phaser Ecobee thermostat Phillips Hue Bulbs TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini

Today Charles talks to Joe about subcontracting. We talk about the role that subcontracting (as opposed to direct contracting) plays in Joe’s business, how he handles communication with the end client, and the fine line that sometimes must be walked in balancing his relationships with the end client with the contractor that hired him. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist.

Today Charles mines Joe’s experience on how to handle deadbeat clients – those customers that seem happy with the product, but just won’t pay. We talk about how to avoid these sorts of clients to begin with, and steps to take once you have a client in your debt. Joe briefly indulges Charles’ revenge fantasies, but ultimately counsels him to responsible behavior. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Akimbo: A Podcast from Seth Godin – Ignore Sunk Costs Better Off Dead – "I want my two dollars!"

Today we talk about Charles’ decision to remove his last app from the App Store. We talk about the background of the decision, the change that made him finally remove the app, and what’s next now that he’s out of the App Store. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Metakite Software: A Letter to Our Customers – The customer letter announcing to customers that Benjamin has been discontinued RelaNet – Charles’ new business for small accounting firms. (Go tell your accountant! Charles needs the revenue! 😉)

Today we talk about ways to build up enough of a financial “runway” to allow your new business to take off. We talk about ways that both Charles and Joe have used to support our new businesses; Charles’ current strategy of cannibalizing one business to build another; and newer options like Tiny Seed, a newly announced startup accelerator for bootstrapped businesses. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Tiny Seed – a newly announced startup accelerator for bootstrapped businesses Startups for the Rest of Us: Episode 414 – Rob Walling publicly announces Tiny Seed and explains how it works

Joe is joined again today by Ariel Michaeli of Appfigures. They talk about making it easy to consume complex data, tracking the financial performance of subscription-based apps, and Appfigures’ soft-launch strategy for their new product Explorer. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Ariel Michaeli on Twitter Appfigures on Twitter Appfigures Appfigures Explorer Appfigures Chats: WWDC 2018 Recap – The video of Joe and Ariel’s chat about WWDC 2018 announcements Sponsor Instabug is a lightweight SDK that provides mobile apps with comprehensive bug and crash reporting and in-app feedback. More than 20,000 companies rely on Instabug to iterate faster and enhance their app quality including Lyft, eBay, and T-mobile. Go to instabug.com/release and you can now receive a cool Instabug t-shirt if you signup and integrate the SDK which you can do completely for free.

Charles is out sick today, so Joe is joined by Ariel Michaeli of Appfigures. Joe and Ariel talk about how Appfigures got started in the mobile developer financial data space, how Appfigures addresses its customers’ privacy concerns, and Appfigures’ new product “Explorer” which lets Appfigures customers make informed decisions when exploring new markets and new opportunities. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Ariel Michaeli on Twitter Appfigures on Twitter Appfigures Appfigures Explorer

Today we continue our discussion with Joe about the rough road his new app RECaf traveled into this world, Joe’s efforts to fix the problems that occurred, and some of the things he’d do differently next time. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links RECaf

We’ve all been there. The difficult launch. Today we talk to Joe about the rough road his new app RECaf traveled into this world, Joe’s efforts to fix the problems that occurred, and some of the things he’d do differently next time. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links RECaf

Today we deliver on the promise we made last week by weighing in on the recent event where Apple announced their new fall line up for mobile. We talk about the Apple Watch as your “health guardian,” racing stripes, the iPhone XS, XR, XYZ, and any other letter combinations Apple can invent. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links September 2018 Apple Event

Today we get an update from Joe about his new app RECaf. We talk about beta testing, marketing preparations, subscriptions, and more. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links RECaf – More information about Joe’s new app

Apple has announced that all apps submitted to their App Store must have a privacy policy as of October 2018. With that as background, we talk about privacy policies for mobile apps, websites, and SaaS products. We talk about why they are important for legal reasons and marketing reasons, how to account for third-party integrations and their use of personal information, and a few strategies for creating a privacy policy for your product. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Apple News and Updates Privacy Policy Reminder – Apple announces that privacy policies will be required for all apps as of October 2018 A Deceitful ‘Doctor’ in the Mac App Store – “Adware Doctor,” a top app in the Mac App Store, is discovered to be sending personal information to China

Today we talk about two conferences that we recently attended. We spend most of the episode talking about 360iDev which Joe spoke at in Denver, and discuss his talk as well as some of the presentations that he sat in on. We also talk briefly about a conference for accountants that Charles recently spoke at, and how it helped him get to know his customers better. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist.

Today we’re talking about an email promotion that Charles recently ran in support of his RelaNet business. The promotion was an email sent by a professional organization to its membership on behalf of RelaNet. We talk about the approval process, the responses it garnered, and Charles’ follow-up process. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist.

Today we talk about RECaf, the new caffeine tracking app that Joe is working on. We talk about RECaf, what it will do, where the idea came from, the value of side projects, as well as RECaf’s target market, pricing, and landing page. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links RECaf – More information about Joe’s new app

Apple recently started removing apps from individual developers that implement gambling or “simulate a gambling experience. Today we use this development as a starting point for a discussion on mitigating the risk that third-party platforms and dependencies bring to our businesses. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Patrick McCarron’s tweet – Includes the letter he received from Apple

We’re joined again by Mike Taber, founder of Bluetick.io and co-host of the podcast “Startups for the Rest of Us.” Last time we talked to Mike about his start in entrepreneurship. Today we talk to him about his new email follow-up product, Bluetick.io. We talk about how the conception and validation of Bluetick.io differed from his earlier products, the difference between how he planned for customers to use his product and how they actually use it, customer churn, and more. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Mike Taber on Twitter Bluetick.io Startups for the Rest of Us Microconf

Today we’re joined by Mike Taber, founder of Bluetick.io and co-host of the podcast “Startups for the Rest of Us.” We talk to Mike today about some of his background, his start in entrepreneurship, and how he almost founded CompUSA. We also discuss the importance of choosing the right market, “product-founder fit,” and all the work he did to validate his idea for Bluetick.io before building it. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Mike Taber on Twitter Bluetick.io Startups for the Rest of Us Microconf Sponsor Instabug is a lightweight SDK that provides mobile apps with comprehensive bug and crash reporting and in-app feedback. More than 20,000 companies rely on Instabug to iterate faster and enhance their app quality including Lyft, eBay, and T-mobile. Go to instabug.com/release and you can now receive a cool Instabug t-shirt if you signup and integrate the SDK which you can do completely for free.

Today we talk about top-level domains like .com, .biz, .app, and others. How important is it to get a .com these days? From there, our conversation wanders into the importance of having an SSL certificate for your site, Google’s role in the new .app top-level domain, and we find and purchase a domain for Joe’s new project. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Namecheap’s list of top-level domains Google’s info on the .app TLD publicworking.com – Joe’s new domain!

Today we return to a topic that we’ve discussed before: Pricing. We talk about about pricing for the value you provide, the pro vs. prosumer vs. consumer markets, and why both Charles and Joe feel so strongly that Affinity Designer for iPad is way, way underpriced. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links “That’s just bonkers.” – The conversation that spawned this episode. Affinity Designer for iPad Agenda Agenda pricing Sketch subscriptions – Sketch’s interesting take on subscription pricing

Today we continue our discussion about masterminds, with Ken Wallace of Mastermind Jam, a service that helps people form mastermind groups. Today we talk to Ken about the natural lifespan of a mastermind group, strategies for starting or joining a mastermind, and the structure of a mastermind meeting. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Ken Wallace on Twitter Mastermind Jam – Ken’s business that helps people form masterminds

Today we’re talking about masterminds, which are groups of like-minded entrepreneurs that periodically discuss the details of their business. It’s sort of like a business support group. To help us learn more about masterminds, we brought on Ken Wallace of Mastermind Jam, a service that helps people form mastermind groups. We talk to Ken a little about how he got started in business, then we dive into masterminds: what they are, how they are organized, and how they can help. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Ken Wallace on Twitter Mastermind Jam – Ken’s business that helps people form masterminds

If you’re anywhere near social media you may have recently seen lots of posts along the lines of, “By age 35 you should have X saved for retirement.” Today we take a look at that advice, and discuss what exactly we need to do to plan for retirement. We talk about the importance of saving at least something, the importance of time in the market, the magic of compounding returns, and Charles’ love of spreadsheets. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Home Retirement Money Milestones: This is how your finances should look in your 30s The Magic Spreadsheet – Charles’ spreadsheet discussed in this episode. The Bogleheads’ Guide to Retirement Planning – If you read only one book on saving for retirement, this is the one that Charles recommends. Your (Virtual) Future Self Wants You To Save Up – The virtual reality study that Joe referenced. Sponsor We are sponsored this week by Bitrise. Bitrise provides mobile continuous integration and delivery for your whole team, with dozens of integrations for your favorite services. Learn more about Bitrise on their website at bitrise.io.

Today we continue our conversation with Andrew Culver, founder of SaaS products like Bullet Train and Churnbuster. We talk to Andrew today about his new product Bullet Train – what it is, how it came to be, marketing, risks, and more. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Andrew Culver Bullet Train

This week Charles talks to Joe about his time in San Jose at WWDC, and we chat about some of the changes that were announced. We talk about the event itself, some of the technology announcements that were made, and why we think some of the most important changes made last week were once that weren’t even announced from the stage. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links App Store Review Guidelines “Ersatz Free Trials” by Daniel Jalkut Sponsor We are sponsored this week by Consent Monitor. Consent Monitor is the best GDPR consent solution for iOS. If you run ads in your mobile app, or if your app collects any kind of identifiable user information, GDPR requires that you gather specific consent from your users. Consent Monitor makes this easy by requesting the right consent in the right way as required by GDPR, retaining a complete record of all provided consent, and making it easy for users to update their consent and to submit a request “to be forgotten”. Learn more about how Consent Monitor can help you comply with GDPR at ConsentMonitor.com. .

We’re joined today by Andrew Culver, founder of SaaS products like Bullet Train and Churnbuster. We talk to Andrew today about how he got into entrepreneurship, his start at Borrowed and Blue, and how his experience at Borrowed and Blue led to his first SaaS product Churnbuster. Along the way we talk about combining consulting with product work, the power of word-of-mouth marketing, and more. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Andrew Culver Bullet Train

Today we discuss different ways that we can help foster a sense of community within our development community and help make things better for those who come after us. We talk about Developers Union, mentoring, and the importance of meeting new people with different outlooks. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links The Developers Union Sponsor We are sponsored this week by Bitrise. Bitrise provides mobile continuous integration and delivery for your whole team, with dozens of integrations for your favorite services. Learn more about Bitrise on their website at bitrise.io.

Today we’re talking about Twitter’s newly announced pricing structure for access to their API, and we use that as an excuse to to talk more generally about the risks and benefits of building your business on a “platform.” Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Apps of a Feather Twitter API Pricing Micro.Blog

Today we talk about Charles’ adventures in implementing automated testing in his WordPress-based client portal. We talk about why Charles has resisted unit testing, his epiphany about feature testing/integration testing, how he implemented automated testing with Perl, and more. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links The Testing Renaissance – Twitter’s approach to feature testing Rogue Startups #122: Rethinking How You Test Your SaaS App with Andrew Culver – the podcast that convinced Charles of the benefits of automated testing in some cases Test Automation Using Perl – the online course Charles used to learn software testing in Perl WWW::Mechanize – the Perl module used for automating web browsing Test::More – the Perl module used for software testing Perl Testing: A Developer’s Notebook by Ian Langworth and Chromatic – the only paper book Charles could find on software testing in Perl Sponsor We are sponsored this week by Instabug. Instabug is your app’s super-intuitve bug and crash reporting system. Get more feedback from your beta testers with in-app feedback, screenshots and screen recordings. Fix bugs faster with automatic steps to reproduce, network logs and view hierarchy details. The top apps in the world rely on Instabug for beta testing, user engagement and crash reporting, and you can too. Sign up for a free 14-day trial at https://instabug.com/release, and use promo code release2018 for 20% off your subscription.

Today Charles talks about his recent experience at MicroConf in Las Vegas, and then we dive deeper into networking events and discuss our “elevator pitches” – how we explain to others what it is we do in just a sentence or two. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links MicroConf

Today Charles and Joe reflect on their recent trip to Peers Conference. We talk about the great community and give a quick rundown of a few of our favorite talks. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Peers Hatch Sponsor We are sponsored this week by Bitrise. Bitrise provides mobile continuous integration and delivery for your whole team, with dozens of integrations for your favorite services. Learn more about Bitrise on their website at bitrise.io.

Today we have a quick update on Apple’s preparations for GDPR which are soon going into effect, as well as a discussion about Charles’ first hire on UpWork. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Allowing Your Users to Manage Data Stored in iCloud

Backing up your computers isn’t sexy, but it’s important for the long-term health of your business. So today we (once again) discuss our backup strategies, and in particular how they have changed since we last spoke about the topic. We talk about improvements that Joe has made to his backup system, and changes that Charles made to his on-site and cloud backups in light of CrashPlan discontinuing its consumer plan. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links World Backup Day International Verify Your Backups Day Carbon Copy Cloner – the tool both Joe and Charles use for cloning their boot drives Backblaze – Joe’s cloud backup service of choice SpiderOak ONE – the cloud backup service that Charles now uses Synology DS418 – an updated version of the NAS that Charles is using for local backups (Charles is using the 2016 version of this device, the DS416)

Today we talk about Charles’ recent trip to Darmstadt, Germany to attend FemtoConf, a conference for indie/bootstrapped/self-funded entrepreneurs. We talk about what it’s like to attend a conference with only 30 attendees, navigating a new conference community, the talks Charles attended, and all the great people he met. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links FemotoConf

After a few months of talking and learning about business websites, we wrap up this series with a real-life example. Joe takes a look at Charles’ new RelaNet website and does a live tear-down of what he likes and what he would change. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links RelaNet – The website that Joe analyzes in this episode New RelaNet Website Images Homepage Services Templates Pricing Customers Contact Us Old RelaNet Website Images Homepage Pricing

Today we continue our series on business websites with a discussion on analytics and maintenance. We talk about how we measure who’s coming to our website, where they are coming from, the tools we use to maintain our website and save it from link rot, and more. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links Google Analytics Vigil – Charles & Joe’s preferred website monitoring tool Sponsor RayWenderlich.com has been the best place to learn iOS development on the Internet for a long time, and now the team at raywenderlich.com is expanding in a big way into Android and Kotlin development, with an avalanche of new Android and Kotlin books, courses, and screencasts! And the team at RayWenderlich.com is celebrating all this new content by offering a 20% discount on their Android and Kotlin books. Go to store.raywenderlich.com before March 30th to take advantage of this offer.

Today we continue our series on business websites by talking about testing. We share some of our favorite tools for testing for correct markup and CSS, how our sites look on mobile devices, the speed of our sites, and even automating some of this testing. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Show Notes and Links W3C HTML Validator W3C CSS Validator Selenium Browser Automation Testing With Perl – A collection of articles about using Perl for testing Test::WWW:Mechanize – The Perl module used for automating web testing UnusedCSS Google PageSpeed Insights Pingdom Website Speed Test WebPageTest Sponsor The all new FreshBooks makes ridiculously easy accounting software that’s completely transformed how freelancers and small business owners deal with their day-to-day paperwork. It’s been redesigned from the ground up and custom built for exactly the way you work. Right now, FreshBooks is offering a 30 day, unrestricted free trial to our listeners. To claim it, just go to FreshBooks.com/releasenotes and enter RELEASE NOTES in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.

Continuing our series on websites, today we talk about the software tools that we use to develop our websites. We discuss IDEs, text editors, image editors, and more. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Sponsor The all new FreshBooks makes ridiculously easy accounting software that’s completely transformed how freelancers and small business owners deal with their day-to-day paperwork. It’s been redesigned from the ground up and custom built for exactly the way you work. Right now, FreshBooks is offering a 30 day, unrestricted free trial to our listeners. To claim it, just go to FreshBooks.com/releasenotes and enter RELEASE NOTES in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.

Today we continue our series on websites and landing pages by talking about the technology that underlies those sites. We discuss hosting options, content management systems, and more. Mailing List Every month there are more great articles and content about the business of Mac and iOS development than we have time to discuss on the show. If you’d like to receive our monthly newsletter with the best of these links, be sure to sign up for our mailing list at http://releasenotes.tv/mailinglist. Sponsor The all new FreshBooks makes ridiculously easy accounting software that’s completely transformed how freelancers and small business owners deal with their day-to-day paperwork. It’s been redesigned from the ground up and custom built for exactly the way you work. Right now, FreshBooks is offering a 30 day, unrestricted free trial to our listeners. To claim it, just go to FreshBooks.com/releasenotes and enter RELEASE NOTES in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.