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Matthew Bischoff Independent iOS Developer

Who are you and what do you do?

Hi. I’m Matthew Bischoff (@mb) and I make things. I’m ⅓ of an independent iOS company, Lickability, and an iOS developer at The New York Times.

Most people probably know of me through of an app I make called Quotebook, but my family is probably most proud of me for appearing on Jeopardy!. Some super nerds might remember that I was the first teenager with a podcast back in 2003.

I love designing and building software, but I’m also interested in marketing and more formal usability. I was studying Human-Computer Interaction before I dropped out to make apps, and I still read books about Interaction Design. I also love performing and public speaking and I recently gave a TEDx Talk about making things.

How did you get started in developing for iOS?

In the summer of 2008, I had an idea to build an app for Broadway shows and tickets and I pitched it to my high school classmate Brian Capps. We formed Lickability, built Broadway, and had a blast doing it. We tried to sell that app to many of the big Broadway players, but instead of buying it, they decided to copy our UI and build it themselves. That was an unfortunate way to learn an important lesson: don’t build something you can’t control.

What does your computer and workspace setup look like while developing?

It’s pretty simple. When I’m developing at home, I’m usually just on a 13“ MacBook Pro from 2011 and when I’m at The Times, I connect it to a 24” Dell external monitor.

I have an Apple Cinema Display at my apartment, but I rarely use it because I like to code in the living room.

I type on an Apple Wireless Keyboard and use either a Magic Trackpad or a Magic Mouse Depending on my mood. When I’m not pair programming, I listen to podcasts or show tunes on Bowers and Wilkins P5 headphones.

I have a Macbook Pro with Retina Display ordered, and it should arrive any day now.

What are your favorite Apple iOS API’s to use within apps that you develop?

NSLinguisticTagger, NSURLConnection, and of course the venerable UITableView (and UITableViewController, which everyone should use).

I also have a love-hate relationship with Core Data, because its iCloud support has been absolutely terrible until iOS 6.

What is some essential software that you use outside of Xcode for development?
If you had two minutes to tell another developer your favorite iOS development tip, what would it be?

When you write code, don’t write it for the operating system, or the device, or the processor. Write it for yourself, your future self, and your teammates. Write code for humans. Strive to make your code as clear, concise, and beautiful as possible, and everything else will fall into place. Use long, good names. Pay attention to style.

Your app is not a website, don’t treat it like one. Don’t be afraid to draw everything out on a whiteboard of a piece of paper. Ask others for help. Go to WWDC if you can afford it and watch all of the talks if you can’t.

Oh, and don’t forget to be awesome.

From a developer’s perspective, what are your hopes for the next major iOS update?

Well, since iOS 6 is pretty much out of the bag, I get to talk about iOS 7.

I hope iOS 7 has a radical redesign of SpringBoard that supports more apps that the original design, a Siri API for developers, and more of the little touches that only Apple knows how to include.

I would also love it if Apple were to fix all of my personal bugs in TWTweetComposeViewController in iOS 7, but knowing them, they probably won’t.

Finally, what is your favorite app?

Dropbox. I keep my life in it and with a Pro account, it makes doing work wherever you are possible.

But if we’re talking iOS app, Instapaper by far. Marco just gets it, and I use Instapaper every single day to read the stuff I should have read yesterday.