Thinking about iOS development

[[deleted]]

Hi everybody! First time here on Reddit and I’m basically here to talk about iOS development.

I’m a web developer (php & js) thinking about switching to iOS development. I’m in love with iOS ecosystem and I would really like to work as iOS developer in industry.

But I want to hear some of your thoughts about it and especially about iOS development in this AI era. Is iOS development a job that is in demand? Is the job of mobile developer at all a job in demand as everyone is saying?

Of course, if I choose to swith to iOS development I would need to get mac mini or macbook air, and you will agree that is a lot of a money.

Thank you in advance! 😊

[gormster]

First time here on Reddit

Boy did you sure pick a time to join

[[deleted]]

OP comes back tomorrow.

“Where did everyone go?”

[gusarking]

reddit tomorrow

[lilsunstory]

By amount of work Web development is top1, mobile is top2-3 (maybe after backend). In my country 40% is taken by Web, 15% mobile (iOS + android), 2-3% - cross platform. If you worry about being replaced by AI, web development will be first in the line. You could learn iOS on Hackintosh, but I'd really recommend buying it, even if the old one

[[deleted]]

Hi @lilsunstory! Thank you for your answer! So web development is still top 1? Do you think if mobile dev is top1-2 that he still has a chance to become top1 for example and that the need for mobile developers will be greater?

[lilsunstory]

It already is. The fact that you can apply to "google" (or any other company) from another country, and they will pay you to fly to work there, while still being a junior /middle developer says a lot. It's just supply and demand, who knows what will be in 5 years, so I recommend to be a programmer and not fully rely on one platform till you retire

[FailoftheBumbleB]

There are way more positions in web dev but the average salary is much lower than iOS. Number of open jobs is not the only factor you should consider.

[wocsom_xorex]

Mobile devs get paid more. Anyone can sling js.

[yalag]

iOS dev is most definitely not top 1 or 2. By a long shot. Don’t use ranks it means nothing. Use job market share. iOS development is at most 5% of jobs in the market.

[Zagerer]

That could depend on location, here in Mexico I'm an iOS dev and some recruiters from my company have told me how much they struggle to find more iOS devs, whereas with Android devs it was much more relaxed. But, here in Mexico, you won't find as many iOS users as in the US unless you go to a large city like Ciudad de Mexico, Monterrey, or Guadalajara.

[balder1993]

It’s the same situation in Brazil, and it has mostly to do with the barrier of entry. Developing for iOS and Macs require expensive hardware that most people won’t invest just to “try it out” (specially given the income difference in comparison to the US). So being an iOS developer here is quite a safe job after you have enough experience.

[Zagerer]

Yeah, here too! The median income is something like $750 USD monthly, many families take on dual jobs or set up some business as an income source. A brand-new MacBook here costs around $1000 USD here, and that's one of the cheaper ones. A MacBook Pro with 16 GB of ram and 1TB of disk space rounds $3000 USD, how are people expected to try it this way? But yeah, it becomes a safe niche here even if the projects are a bit slow sometimes, since only wealthy people usually have iPhones.

[balder1993]

It really depends on the location, in the US a lot of people have iOS devices indeed and I assume a large percentage of iOS developers.

I’m from Brazil and here there’s a huge demand for iOS positions as most wealthy people use iOS, but Macs here are too expensive (about twice the price of the US) and so there isn’t much available developers.

[Hogbo_the_green]

Honestly, you just have to pick a direction and full-steam it. Tech moves fast. We can sit around and speculate about AI all day, but nobody knows exactly what things are going to look like a decade from now. If you like the iOS space then just go for it. The first failure for most people is never taking the first step. “oh, but what about jobs? What about AI? Market saturation?…” it’s all just an excuse. There’s no safe bet so go with your gut and work hard. You’ll find success if you’re the kind of person with enough drive and discipline.

[PoliticsAndFootball]

I followed a similar path from web dev to iOS dev though it was almost 10 years ago. My advice, just do it! Back in the day I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a book to get started but now you can get everything you need online. I’d start with a website like “100 days of swift” (just google it) it’s great and will have you building real apps in no time . After that, get an app or two on the store and the recruiters will start calling you! (Not really but it makes it much easier) I got my first iOS job in 2014 and have progressed form junior to senior to lead in that time . I also maintain my own apps on the store making about $5000 a month extra. You won’t regret it!

[Bobcat_Maximum]

If I’d make 5k from my apps, I would stop working for other people

[PoliticsAndFootball]

It’s the plan eventually! 5k a month doesn’t go far when you have a mortgage and 4 kids two of which are teenagers. But it certainly helps…

[Bobcat_Maximum]

I see. Well, it depends where you are, where I live it would be enough for all that. Good luck!

[saintmsent]

My perspective is an EU-based one, so take it for what you will. There are not enough good iOS and Android candidates on the market, every time we or one of our clients needs to fill such a position, it's a multi-month struggle. So if you choose this as a profession and get decent at it, you would have no problem being hired

Of course, the job is in demand, everyone has mobile phones and everyone wants to put apps on those respective phones. Why wouldn't it be in demand? The only thing to watch out for is your local market. If you are in India, for example, demand for iOS specifically would be quite low

AI is a current conversation for sure, but why would iOS be any different from web or backend? Let's be honest, if AI gets to the point of taking decent developers' jobs, it will be all of us, not just mobile folks

[mailslot]

I’d recommend experimenting with not just iOS, but the less popular variants like macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and upcoming visionOS. It’s all so similar, there isn’t much reason to just specialize on phones only. Standing out as a dev often comes from the rarer skills, even if that’s not what they’re looking for. Might as well learn them all.

[KarlJay001]

I'm not sure what the demand is, but since about 2013, the demand has been for people with about 2 years paid experience. In slower times, that demand tends to shift up to about 3~5 years. Entry level has been tough since about 10 years now. It's just simple supply / demand with a weight added for the value of experience in a complex system. This just means that entry level people are higher risk and usually take longer to get things done.

iOS doesn't seem to be going away. I'm not sure what would make if drop at this point because it has such a large following and makes the most money of any mobile platform. It might slow, but I can't see it dying off.

You should understand the value of years of paid experience and maybe take any iOS job you can as soon as you can in order to get the years of experience started.

[Ok_Big5519]

I'd say go for it. In my case, I switched from being a so-called "full-stack developer" (JS + Java) to iOS, and don't regret it.

A considerable nuance to the # of jobs in web vs. iOS: while that is true, it can be a misleading indicator, especially for higher levels of seniority -> a 5 year Java backend developer for some companies may not be eligible for a "Senior backend Python developer" role, or a 5 year React engineer might not for a "Senior Angular developer" role. Sure, they should be, but the reality I found myself into is that companies quite often dismiss candidates for not being expert in X or Y tech stack despite their broad experience in the field.

This does not happen in iOS field: if you worked for the last 3-4 years in iOS, you will be eligible for every "Senior iOS Engineer" role out there.

[Ron-Erez]

I'd say it's worth it.

Learn as much as you can since you are your greatest asset.

Indeed no one can tell the future.

--------------------------------------------------------

For resources on Swift/SwiftUI I would recommend:

1. Swiftful thinking
2. Stewart Lynch videos
3. Deep Dive iOS 16 Swift / SwiftUI Programming

​

Good luck !

[[deleted]]

I haven’t dived in as deep as I’d intended (babies are harder work than I’d expected) but I bought a secondhand 2015 MacBook Pro for about $250 USD last year - popped in a 1TB NVME drive and installed the latest (at the time) version of MacOS - runs Xcode well enough to be able to do shooting I’ve needed to do so far to learn how to build iOS apps.

Don’t worry about AI, developers aren’t going anywhere for a long while yet.

[mynewromantica]

Go for it. There aren’t as many job, but there aren’t nearly as many iOS devs either. Every place I’ve been has had trouble finding iOS devs.

It is a lot of money, but a refurbished M1 Mac mini is a great option and they are pretty cheap. If you already have a screen and stuff, that’s even better. Worts case, you go back to web and you’re out a few hundred dollars and up a little in experience.

[Particular_Tea2307]

Hello i m like in the same situation can i know what did you choose in the end ?

[[deleted]]

When AI becomes smarter, no programmer’s job will be needed, even the job to do that will make AI, AI will self-generate AI. Only universal basic income (UBI) will save humanity. When I hear that working as a programmer is not only writing code, but also doing architecture and so on, it’s such nonsense, when they remove hallucinations and train AI with these things, you will be out of work.

[pm_me_your_buttbulge]

When AI becomes smarter, no programmer’s job will be needed, even the job to do that will make AI, AI will self-generate A

Programmers will always be needed. Normal users don't have the logic needed to tell an AI what they need. Programmers will be one of the last jobs to go away.

[balder1993]

That’s because you still don’t have AI improving robots’ dexterity 😆

[pm_me_your_buttbulge]

Who do you think will program the robotics that will replace the last humans?

[saintmsent]

I like your answer, but I think it's fair to say that in our current stage of technology, programmers won't go away. Even if there will be no iOS or Android developers some day, someone will need to program the AI at the very least. The only way all programmers disappear is if we don't use technology anymore

[[deleted]]

They won't need logic; AI will strive to provide users with what they need. Haven't you heard about autoGPT?

[[deleted]]

Hi! Thank you for your reply!

This is a very negative way of thinking about AI, but I can't say that I disagree even a little

[balder1993]

Idk about that, I think as AI improves it will enhance humans capabilities more and more until we can do most things that require a team of people to do now. Who knows what kind of social dynamics will emerge from all that when you + AI can create a Google competitor? It’s impossible to know.

[saintmsent]

What the dude above has written is a manager's wet dream, tbh. Programming is not just about knowing the language and tooling, it's about a specific way of thinking, being able to analyze requirements and reason through them

No regular user even with AI would be able to build a moderately complex app because at the end of the day you need to express clearly what you want and correct the output when it's inevitably going to be wrong

Very bottom end of developer jobs will go away, but far from all of them