AppForce1 Worklog

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Jeroen shares his real-world iOS development journey working on a legacy app at Dawn Technologies. He details his systematic approach to modernizing an 8-year-old codebase that serves as a critical tool for companies.

• Breaking down a monolithic App Delegate into dedicated managers with single responsibilities
• Leveraging the existing feature flag system to safely deploy new implementations
• Refactoring the walkie-talkie functionality with real-time audio streaming over WebSockets
• Completely rewriting the chat system to use a modern service-based architecture
• Overhauling the location tracking system to use iOS 17's new async location tracking APIs
• Implementing WiFi settings fixes for iOS 16 compatibility using modern APIs
• Maintaining a cleanup branch to remove deprecated APIs and fix compiler warnings

Check out Do iOS, the iOS development conference I'm organizing later this year. Visit do-ios.com for more information and tickets - link in the show notes.

Join me in Amsterdam for Do iOS 2025, tickets and details available now.
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Lead Software Developer
Learn best practices for being a great lead software developer.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show
Do iOS: https://do-ios.com

Rate me on Apple Podcasts.
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Or contact me:
Mastodon: https://hachyderm.io/@appforce1
X: https://x.com/appforce1
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/appforce1.net
LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenarts/
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My book: Being a Lead Software Developer

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Make sure to let me know what you think of this episode.

I completely refactored an audio system for a work app, splitting a single AVAudioEngine into separate engines for recording and playback. This architectural change fixed a bizarre bug where the system volume slider moved unexpectedly during audio operations.

• Split AVAudioEngine into separate recording and playback engines
• Fixed the MP Volume View movement issue by unifying audio session management
• Improved background task management for location tracking services
• Removed dead code and deprecated functionality
• Explored solutions for audio session conflicts, threading issues, and memory leaks
• Implemented dedicated dispatch queues for different audio operations
• Created a robust background task management system for location updates
• Added extensive logging to better understand audio session lifecycles

Looking ahead to SwiftUI integration, audio performance optimization, and iOS 26 compatibility testing. Do iOS 2025 is happening November 11-13 at NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam - check out do-ios.com for more information.

Support the show
Do iOS: https://do-ios.com

Rate me on Apple Podcasts.
Send feedback on SpeakPipe
Or contact me:
Mastodon: https://hachyderm.io/@appforce1
X: https://x.com/appforce1
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/appforce1.net
LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenarts/
Support my podcast with a monthly subscription, it really helps.

My book: Being a Lead Software Developer

Send me a text
Jeroen returns to AppForce One with a pivot to a new format focused on his journey back to iOS development after working in developer relations at Stream.

• Now working at Dawn Technology (formerly Egeniq), returning to hands-on iOS development
• Introducing "AppForce One Work Log" - a bi-weekly, 25-minute show sharing real development experiences
• No corporate speak or fluff - just honest developer-to-developer conversations about real coding challenges
• Each episode will include: week in review, code deep dives, tool discussions, and lessons learned
• Currently working on refactoring an 8-year-old UIKit app for emergency response (bedrijfshulpverlening)
• Excited about modernizing legacy code while keeping the app running for users who depend on it
• Organizing DoiOS 2025 conference in November with practical, real-world iOS development content
• Actively seeking listener feedback on what topics would be most valuable to cover

Reach out with your iOS development challenges on X, Mastodon, LinkedIn or through my website. I'm genuinely interested in your feedback and may feature your questions in future episodes.

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Lead Software Developer
Learn best practices for being a great lead software developer.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show
Do iOS: https://do-ios.com

Rate me on Apple Podcasts.
Send feedback on SpeakPipe
Or contact me:
Mastodon: https://hachyderm.io/@appforce1
X: https://x.com/appforce1
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/appforce1.net
LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenarts/
Support my podcast with a monthly subscription, it really helps.

My book: Being a Lead Software Developer

Send me a text
Join me in Amsterdam for Do iOS 2025, tickets and details available now.
Lead Software Developer
Learn best practices for being a great lead software developer.
Support the show
Do iOS: https://do-ios.com

Rate me on Apple Podcasts.
Send feedback on SpeakPipe
Or contact me:
Mastodon: https://hachyderm.io/@appforce1
X: https://x.com/appforce1
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/appforce1.net
LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenarts/
Support my podcast with a monthly subscription, it really helps.

My book: Being a Lead Software Developer

Send me a text
Drew is founder of The Mental Faculty, developer of Mental Case and the Ensembles sync framework. He works on Agenda. Agenda is an Apple design award winner, editor’s choice, and is featured a lot in the App Store, particularly for the Mac. Agenda made a switch to an interesting business model a while ago.
Join me in Amsterdam for Do iOS 2025, tickets and details available now.
Lead Software Developer
Learn best practices for being a great lead software developer.
Support the show
Do iOS: https://do-ios.com

Rate me on Apple Podcasts.
Send feedback on SpeakPipe
Or contact me:
Mastodon: https://hachyderm.io/@appforce1
X: https://x.com/appforce1
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/appforce1.net
LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leenarts/
Support my podcast with a monthly subscription, it really helps.

My book: Being a Lead Software Developer