News
Beth on Brushes
Every iOS developer/designer should watch this video. Thank you to Fraser Speirs (and also to Beth of course) for sharing this.
The Road to Appsterdam
I am ashamed to say my plans to get to Appsterdam this year did not work out, something which I am definitely going to fix next year. Mike Lee talks Appsterdam (and various other things) in this interview with Channel 9.
Tools
Zucchini
A cucumber like framework for testing iOS applications. It seems to compile down to UIAutomation compatible JavaScript which can then be run with Instruments. Worth a look.
Silkscreen
Just a super simple way to get mockups previewed on a device. The iOS app could use support for scaling the images but apart from that it does exactly what it says it will.
Code
retainCount is useless
Any post which includes the while ([obj retainCount] > 0) [obj release]; joke gets a link from me, that's just how it works here.
Design
BBC iPlayer: Designing the iPhone app
Chris Elphick from the BBC gives a detailed look into the design of their iPhone app which was released a couple of weeks ago.
The Icon Handbook
I book on about icon design from Jon Hicks, count me in. Jon's icon work has always been exceptional but I also saw him talk a couple of years ago and he obviously has an incredible passion for it so it should make a good read.
Business and Marketing
When it comes to launching your app, Sunday is tops
I think the most shocking bit of this article for me was that 91,754 (new?) apps were released over a 17 week period. Crazy.
Comment
Almost the end of 2011 and I really wanted to say thanks for all the amazing feedback since this little email started (and of course for staying subscribed). I am going to taking a short break next week so this will be the last iOS Dev Weekly of 2011 but don't fret as it will be back nice and fresh for your inbox on the first Friday of 2012. But before that, this week's links!
Dave Verwer