
2024 in Review and What's Next in 2025
This was a big year for me and in the Apple development world. From speaking at conferences to career shifts, let's go through what happened in 2024 and what we might see in 2025.
My 2024 Journey
This year was pretty huge for me personally. I got to speak at the Server-Side Swift conference in London and even made it to a WWDC side conference. My first time at WWDC. But that wasn't all - my family and I decided to make a move (don't worry, we stayed in the same town), and I made some big changes in my career path too.
So... How Was the Job Market?
2024 was tough for tech folks. Three big things really shook things up:
- Those sky-high interest rates had companies playing it super safe
- Everyone was both excited and nervous about AI
- We're still dealing with that post-COVID hiring spree
Even more frustrating - ghost posts became a huge thing this year. These are job listings that companies put up without actually planning to hire anyone. With HR teams getting hit by layoffs, the whole hiring process became a mess. I found those job board posts were a waste of time - it was all about personal connections.
Apple's 2024: Hits and Misses
Remember when the Vision Pro launched back in February? And then Apple Intelligence came along? Unfortunately neither were a smash hit. The Vision Pro's $4,000 price tag was pretty hard to swallow and developers weren't rushing to make apps for it.
However, the redesigned M4 Mac mini was a big hit showing that the Mac is still very popular. Financially, Apple services (you know, iCloud, Apple TV+, Apple Music) are still going strong. With the announcement of Swift-Java interop, I'm sure Apple is moving much of their older Java-based services over to Swift. Good news for Swift developers!
What Developers Actually Cared About
Looking at what people were clicking on and listening to this year:
SwiftUI is still the star of the show. Anything SwiftUI-related just blows up! Whether it's tips on moving from UIKit, dealing with state management, or creating cool animations, it seems you can't get enough.
Swift 6 got everyone talking too, especially with more thread safety being introduced. Having Matt Masicotte on the podcast to chat about it was always a hit.
Lastly, people are very interested in software architecture. This makes sense whether it's improving the maintenance of your app or upgrading your career.
Career Changes and Future Plans
With all the challenges in finding new contracts and having just purchased a new home, I made the decision to take on a full-time position. I've been at it for over a month now, and it's been great - steady paycheck, benefits, and I'm working with a fantastic team I already know from previous work.
This change doesn't mean I'm stopping my other work though. I'm just approaching it differently. For app development, I'm going to focus on smaller apps and implement Jordi's 2-2-2 method. I'll continue updating my existing apps, including the ongoing rewrite of Heartwitch (soon to be rebranded as Bitness).
Bushel development will continue in 2025, and I've got some exciting plans there. I've already started open-sourcing parts of the codebase:
- DataThespian My library for interfacing with SwiftData using model actors for background operations
- RadiantKit A collection of reusable SwiftUI views from Bushel
- BushelKit The core open-source component that enables CLI access and third-party development
I'm also wrapping up PackageDSL, which helps create large and complex Swift packages more easily.
As for the podcast, I'll be more strategic with the schedule. The analytics showed that months around WWDC and September's iPhone release are the busiest, so I'll focus more content during those periods and take breaks during quieter months.
Looking for Subcontractors and Community Involvement
Even with my move to full-time work, BrightDigit's work isn't stopping. I still have existing clients and new opportunities coming in, which is why I'm actively looking for subcontractors. If you're an iOS developer, especially with experience in macOS, watchOS, HealthKit, or Server-Side Swift, I'd love to hear from you. Experience with VueJS or TypeScript is a plus too. You can reach out to me with your resume and availability.
Thank You
I want to thank you, the audience, for being such an inspiration to me throughout 2024. Your engagement and feedback have really driven me to keep creating content and sharing my thoughts about Apple development and Swift. Special thanks to my Patreon supporters - your contributions have been fantastic, and I really appreciate you being early readers of articles and tutorials like this one.
Looking forward to continuing this journey together in 2025. If you have any suggestions or topics you'd like me to cover, please reach out. And hey, if you enjoy the content, consider subscribing to my newsletter or leaving a review for the podcast - it really helps!