Blog
Native apps, the App Store, mobile development. Notes from the work itself.
· 7 min
How to tell if your app is working: three numbers that matter more than downloads
A download counter goes up and almost never goes down, which is why it tells you so little. Three numbers are worth more: the install to uninstall ratio, what happens in a session, and where your installs come from. What each one means, where to find it, and its limits.
Read the article· 7 min
The early-adopter bonus: why Apple rewards the apps that move first
Most of what Apple asks of developers is optional for a few months, then normal, and sometimes required. In between, doing it earns something extra. Where that bonus comes from, what it costs, and the two that are open in October 2026: iPhone Duo in the app, header and search assets on the store.
Read the article· 9 min
Header and search results assets: a new step in App Store optimization
App Store Connect now has a Header and Search Results tab next to screenshots. Two optional slots, a wide header on the product page and an asset that replaces your screenshots in search, that do not have to show the app in use. The specs, the rules, the Asset Library, and where they fit in ASO.
Read the article· 16 min
iPhone Duo: is your iPhone or iPad app ready for Apple's first foldable?
iPhone Duo goes on sale October 23 and runs every iPhone app from day one. One that has not been rebuilt opens on the big screen as a narrow column with black bars. What changes, what optimized means in four levels, your odds of Apple featuring you at launch, and what to do before then.
Read the article· 9 min
Apple clears 90% of submissions in under a day. Expedited review is not what fixes the other 10%.
The button exists and it works. What it cannot do is fix the situation most people are in when they press it, which is a six-day wait that was never about how long the queue is. What the wait actually means, and what to do instead.
Read the article· 8 min
An app I built was featured by Apple. You cannot download it today.
Supérette was featured by Apple. It is not on the store anymore. Both things are true, and the second one is the reason to be careful about what featuring is worth. Here are the numbers, and the form Apple added in 2024 that most developers still do not know exists.
Read the article· 11 min
Old apps do not rank higher. Apps that started accumulating earlier do.
I started on iPhone OS 2, when the store held 500 apps, and I always suspected long-history apps had leverage a new app could not buy. They do. The reason is not seniority, and once you see the real mechanism it becomes the best argument there is for releasing early.
Read the article· 10 min
An AI app with no server, no account, and nothing leaving the phone
A French spelling app that reads the family calendar, writes with Apple's on-device model, and sends nothing anywhere by default. What it took to build, the numbers from my own logs, and what iOS 27 changes in September.
Read the article· 6 min
Apple is rejecting useless apps: the answer is not to spend weeks on them
Since June 9, 2026, Apple has been culling apps with no value. Many read this as a call to spend weeks on every project. It is the opposite: the real test is usefulness, not hours logged.
Read the article· 7 min
The real cost of hiring a developer is the month you wait to see anything
Most developer engagements show you nothing you can hold for weeks. Why that wait is the real risk, and how I deliver a working native app on your own device by the end of day one.
Read the article· 6 min
Why Replit, Lovable and Bolt apps get rejected from the App Store
In March 2026 Apple blocked updates for several vibe coding apps. A look at the technical reasons and the guidelines behind it.
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