Under the Radar
Episodes
231: Support Expectations
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Managing customer support, customer expectations, and frequently asked questions.
230: Tackling the Redesign
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Finally starting the Overcast redesign, and pragmatic considerations when tackling modernization of older codebases.
229: Money, Time, and M1 Max Macs
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A healthy balance for subscription-expiry grace periods, and how the new MacBook Pro helps our development workflows.
228: Ask For Money
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Getting over shyness to ask your app's users for money in more prominent and direct ways.
227: Adopting High-Profile iOS Features
29 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How we decide whether, when, and to what degree we should adopt the headlining features of each iOS release.
226: A Quiet Fall
17 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We were given a reprieve with a lack of new developer-facing features in the iPhone 13 line and Apple Watch Series 7, but with the continuation of the...
225: The Fragmented Future
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The effects of legal settlements and regulations on independent iOS developers, and how we can ensure that we still have a place in the scary potentia...
224: Mr. Day One
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Needing to offer different features and experiences to different parts of your userbase due to hardware limitations and OS differences.
223: Defaults
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The power of default settings and choices, and the impact of changing your app's default behavior.
222: Fingers in the Dam
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When fixing a simple visual bug unexpectedly becomes a much larger problem.
221: Optional Fun
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How we're spending our summers so far.
220: The Danger Zone
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Approaching a change with very, very high stakes.
219: WWDC 2021
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The second digital-only WWDC, how iOS 15 and watchOS 8 impact our apps, and what we'll be tackling first this summer.
218: Making the Most of a Virtual WWDC
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What to expect from WWDC, how to prepare for the virtual event, and how to follow the material.
217: Feature Regrets
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dealing with features we wish we'd never added.
216: Shark Battle
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When big-company maneuvers hit the little fish like us.
215: Group Therapy Session
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Forgiving ourselves for a year of greatly reduced productivity.
214: From Subscribe to Follow
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
WWDC 2021's announcement, and whether Overcast should adopt a terminology change along with Apple and Spotify.
213: A Server Disaster
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You should totally run your own servers. It'll be fine! Well, most of the time.
212: A Watchsmith Adventure
03 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A _DavidSmith Story Half-Hour on the surprising journey to build a simple photo complication for Apple Watch. How hard could it be?
211: Logging
18 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Deforestation, timber production, and wood preparation. [taps earpiece] What?… Oh, sorry. Scratch that. Writing lines of text to files for diagnosti...
210: Thinking Like A Business
03 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Trying to remove emotion and assumptions from indie business decision-making.
209: Binary Stars
20 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Copying someone else's work as a learning exercise, and the tricky balance between copying and inspiration.
208: The Road Ahead
06 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The kind of year we expect 2021 to be for Apple-platform developers, and an update on Overcast's SwiftUI progress.
207: Privacy Labels and Analytics
22 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Apple's new privacy labels in the App Store, and how we've designed our custom analytics frameworks for minimal data collection.
206: Pivoting Your App
09 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The tricky balance of making big changes to your app to better serve your current market without upsetting your initial customers.
205: We Got a Raise
25 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How the M1 Macs are game-changers for developers, and our thoughts on the lower fees from the App Store Small Business Program.
204: Adopting SwiftUI
09 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The continued challenges of modernizing Overcast with Swift and SwiftUI, and deciding whether to rewrite Objective-C components in Swift.
203: Modernizing Overcast
28 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Refactoring and rewriting the foundations of a 6-year-old Objective-C codebase using Swift and modern APIs.
202: The Calm After The Storm
14 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Settling into a baseline, leaving no room to be undercut, and where Widgetsmith goes from here.
201: Widgetsmith
29 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Dave's app is number one in the App Store! We explore the mind-bending scale and perspective of such a defining moment in an indie developer's career.
200: Time Flies
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What Apple's event and iOS 14's timing means for us.
199: Spending Dan Riccio’s 2020 Battery Surplus
02 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Our second-annual wishlist for how we hope this fall's Apple hardware spends the efficiency gains from another year of technological progress.
198: Store Wars
20 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How Epic vs. Apple might affect developers like us.
197: iOS 14 Privacy Disclosures
06 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The new App Store privacy disclosures and tracking-permission prompt in iOS 14.
196: Not-So-Secret Plans
21 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What we're working on so far this summer, and why we're not keeping it secret.
195: Apple's Grand Vision of the Future
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Adapting to the continued consolidation of Apple's platforms and frameworks.
194: WWDC 2020
24 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How the online-only format of WWDC 2020 is working out in practice, and how quickly we plan to adopt the new APIs.
193: Unproductivity
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Putting mental health above productivity during challenging times.
192: Backporting
27 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Using compatibility shims and abstractions to gain some of the newest APIs' benefits on previous OS versions.
191: Self-Imposed Constraints
13 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Imposing arbitrary limits on yourself to produce better projects.
190: Custom Fonts
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The risks and rewards of using custom fonts, and how to implement them in a modern app.
189: Watchsmith
15 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The launch of David's new app that pushes the boundaries of watchOS and finally makes our smartwatch faces actually smart.
188: watchOS Business Prospects
02 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The business side of Apple Watch app development in 2020.
187: Uncertain Times
18 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Business decisions for app developers during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
186: Replacing WWDC
04 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Considering how Apple could replace and expand the roles filled by WWDC if it's canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.
185: Advanced Math
19 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How we tackle the occasional need for more advanced math skills than what we actually have.
184: The Past and Future of the iPad
05 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Looking back at the launch of the iPad, and what its present and future hold, from an app-development and business perspective.
183: Compatibility Contrast
22 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As Marco discovers the value of staying with the old, David plows headfirst into the new.
182: Ambitions, Goals, and Themes
08 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Making plans, setting goals, and setting guidelines for decision-making — and, taking a page from our friends at Cortex, our chosen themes for 2020.
181: Supporting The Previous OS
24 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Revisiting the decision to go iOS 13-only with Overcast, and the pros and cons of potentially re-adding support for iOS 12.
180: Shortcuts & Harnesses
11 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Time-saving tips and tricks, and the value of test-harness mini-apps during development.
179: Silent Updates
27 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you ship a major update, but don't announce it anywhere, does it make a sound?
178: 16-inch MacBook Pro
13 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A huge update to the computer that most of you are probably using.
177: Operating in a Hostile Environment
30 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Energy logs, API-misuse terminations, and other unexpected ways our apps crash due to system policy enforcement.
176: That's Great, Apple, But…
18 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Gather around the campfire as Uncle Dave tells the tale of how the conditions formed for today's App Store subscription scams.
175: Moon++
03 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
David's new app, Moon++, and experiences working with SwiftUI and the standalone App Store on the Apple Watch.
174: Always-On Apple Watch
18 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
New possibilities for users and developers opened up by the always-on screen of the Apple Watch Series 5.
173: Summer Report Card
04 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our summers turned out very differently than we had planned.
172: No News is Good News
19 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We didn't think we had anything to talk about, but then we discovered unit testing and version control.
171: Customers, Audience, and Critics
08 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recognizing three groups that only partially overlap, and how to prioritize the feedback we get from them.
170: Spending Dan Riccio's Battery Surplus
24 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How we'd improve the Apple Watch by "spending" the power-efficiency gains likely to come in the next hardware update.
169: The End of an App's Life
10 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Facing the tough decisions when you know, in your heart, that it's time.
168: Working While Traveling
26 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our makeshift travel-work setups, and managing expectations about how much and what types of work you'll get done while traveling.
167: The WWDC Hangover
12 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As the dust settles on an overwhelming WWDC 2019, we figure out what we should tackle first.
166: API Wish List
29 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What we hope to see at WWDC 2019 in Apple's APIs and developer tools.
165: WWDC 2018 Year in Review
15 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As WWDC 2019 approaches, we review the major changes announced in WWDC 2018 and how they've actually played out over the past year.
164: Meaningless Version Numbers
01 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The advantages of switching from semantic versioning to a sequential calendar-based system with no semantic implications, and the different marketing ...
163: CalZones
17 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Launch day for David's new app, CalZones!
162: The Five Stages of Developing a New App
04 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Using David's upcoming app as an example, we take a journey through curiosity, excitement, productivity, despair, polishing, and shipping.
161: Gears, Knobs, and Buttons
20 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The design challenge of a podcast app's now-playing screen, how Overcast's design has progressed over the years, and the unexpected usability failures...
160: Working Staycations
06 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Taking vacations or staycations to get a lot of work done in a short time and take full advantage of being in the zone.
159: New App
22 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Creating a new app as a fun exercise, and making choices that minimize its ongoing maintenance needs.
158: Bundled Data
08 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Including large or small databases and other data files with your app.
157: Editorial Content
23 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Producing and embedding content in your app that changes continuously, such as monthly challenges, directories, and user-generated content.
156: The Nightmare After Christmas
09 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Running servers is easy the vast majority of the time. But sometimes, something goes wrong at the worst possible time.
155: Difficult Bugfixes
27 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Tracking down hard-to-find, hard-to-reproduce bugs that don't show up in your own usage.
154: Knowingly Shipping Bugs
20 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When, why, and how it's OK to ship updates to your app with known bugs.
153: Fear of Major Changes
13 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Good and bad fears of embarking on major code changes to our apps.
152: Removing the Bumpers
05 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Exercising atrophied programming muscles by experimenting with languages, technologies, and environments that lack the safety and convenience of our u...
151: Little Touches
28 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Small design features, flourishes, and other indulgences to satisfy ourselves and make our apps feel more delightful.
150: Showing Up Every Week
21 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Budgeting our time for ongoing commitments vs. exploratory and hobby projects, and an update on iOS device statistics.
149: Algorithms
15 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The challenge of writing complex algorithms, and the joy of finding a simpler way.
148: Low-Work Mode
08 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Accepting that our motivation and productivity are cyclical, with periods of very little work getting done.
147: New MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and iPad Pro
01 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Developer-relevant analysis of this week's Apple releases and how we can use them in our work.
146: Ethical Monetization
24 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
App Store subscription scams, and considering the ethics of how our apps make money.
145: Custom Apple Watch Faces
17 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Why the Apple Watch needs third-party faces, tools to make them for yourself today, and overcoming the reasons why Apple may not want to offer them.
144: Concerns About the Future
10 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Long-term career planning, predicting where Apple is going, betting on the right technologies, and wondering whether we'll still be doing this in ten ...
143: Implementing Step-Counting
04 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Answering the surprisingly difficult question of "How many steps did you take today?"
142: Passion Projects
26 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The value of making apps only for yourself that you never release.
141: Implementing Search
20 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Concepts and considerations for implementing full-text search in your app, with examples from Overcast 5.
140: The Mad Rush
14 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Finalizing our iOS 12 and watchOS 5 updates, and updating our apps for the new iPhones and Apple Watches before we can actually buy them.
139: Taking Breaks
07 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Setting up your business for extended times away, and how to start working again when you get back.
138: watchOS 5
28 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The huge gifts we were given in watchOS 5, and today's environment for building Apple Watch apps.
137: iOS 12 and App Review Changes
21 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
How we're affected by the iOS 12 changes and revised App Store review guidelines.
136: Freshly Cleared Decks
14 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The first things we do after WWDC every year, and why this year might be different.
135: On the Street at WWDC 2018
05 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Live interviews at Social Policy in San Jose, with first impressions from Curtis Hurbert, Joe Cieplinski, and Kaya Thomas.
134: WWDC Tips
30 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Packing, preparation, and logistical tips for a happy, healthy, and productive WWDC.
133: Collective Bargaining
25 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The challenge of trying to form a union or other collective action group for developers.
132: Accessibility
16 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Considering accessibility as part of usability, and testing with the most common iOS accessibility APIs.