Apr 9 2016
Software I use

  Recently as part of the 30wdc Darren Beale wrote about his essential software I thought as part of my post for today I’d list the software I use everyday.

  • Webstorm – I use to be a sublime text fan, but recently ST has stopped progressing, version 3 seems to have been in beta for years. So I have switched to Webstorm and in my opinion I think it is the best JavaScript editor there is. It has support for Ionic, Angular 1 and 2, TypeScript, ES6 and Node. The support and innovation that the Jetbrains team put behind Webstorm is fantastic.
  • Todoist, I’ve used other task apps like Wunderlist, Any.do and Trello, but for me Todoist is my favourite todo app. I’m currently trying to use GTD and Todoist can really support GTD. I have been watching a lot of Carl Pullein’s YouTube channel all about using Todoist for GTD (his channel is well worth checking out)
  • Evernote, this is where all my notes, ideas and business ideas go. Being able to record everything in your brain into one app that you can access from anywhere is great. I’m a big Evernote fan.
  • DeskPM, is the tool I use to write my blog posts. It’s been created by indie dev John Saddington. It links to multiple blogs, WordPress, Blogger and Medium. Has a full screen mode so you can just concentrate on writing, it’s a great app.

So these are the main apps I’m using right now. 

Stephen Adams 0 Comments
Apr 8 2016
Why I like using web technologies for mobile

I was walking my dog this morning, thinking why do dogs like sniffing where other dogs have peed (pretty gross) and if I was asked why I like using mobile technologies for building mobile apps, what would my answer be.

Well there are a couple of answers to that question. First I think that if you are running a web agency and one of your major clients comes to you and says ‘we love the website you created for us, can you also build us a mobile app that uses a feature of the site, and we want it in the next 6 weeks’. This a great example of when a hybrid or mobile technology built app (NativeScript or AppCelerator) is a great solution. Because it allows the web agency to use their in house skills straight away on the project. They don’t have to hire either an iOS or Android developer, they can get the web developers they have starting on the project.

Another time a hybrid app is a good solution is when someone has an idea for an app, but don’t have the skills required for building the app. They do know that they want to hit both iOS and Android (and now Windows with the latest beta of Ionic 2). Getting a developer who can build a hybrid app will allow the app entrepreneur to get a version of their app out there to customers to see how well the app does and if their idea takes off.

I do think that hybrid is not the answer to everything. Apps that need to be high performing, or need to closely integrate with OS native is the way to go. Also if your company is large enough to have it’s own in house native developers then it make sense to use what skills you already have.

On the flip side of this argument is this article by Keith Elliot – Your Hybrid App is Going to Kill You (a bit harsh title, but still an interesting read).

Stephen Adams 0 Comments
Apr 7 2016
Free Work, does it pay

Recently I was contacted about a small project, which is fine. It’s nice when someone reaches out to you about a project. The project is a small mobile app (using Ionic) with probably a tight deadline. This is all I know so far, but from the tone of the message I received it does sound like it would be a ‘do this for nothing so we can see if we will send more work your way’ type of thing.

These type of projects do seem to come up more and more for mobile apps, just ask Jason Keen he’s a AppCelerator developer who I follow on Twitter, who has discussed this issue many times.

Now I like the sound of this app, it would be another example to add to a portfolio, something it the app store. I also have time while looking for a new full time contract to do the app, but is free work ever a good thing? (This ending a sentance with a ? reminds me of when my wife watched Sex in the City, terrible program)

So what to do when something like this comes up. It’s a bit of a gamble, especially if you are starting out. You like to have some work coming in and if a new project could lead to more regular work (though there is no guarantee of this).

Well there are still plenty of more questions than answers so it’s worth seeing where this goes.

What do others think? Is free work ever worth it? (Dam!! I have to stop finishing sentances with question marks)

Stephen Adams 0 Comments
Apr 6 2016
Micro Blogging

As part of Marc Jenkins’s 30 day writing challenge I’ve been trying to get a blog post out every day. So far it’s gone ok. I have noticed that others who are taking part in the challenge are writing nearly 500 word essays every day, which is great but it looks hard to keep that consistency.

My aim in the challenge is to commit to generating a post every day. No matter what the topic is or how many words the post should be. It all depends on what I’m writing about and what I have to say about it.

There is a blogging movement (if there is such a thing) called microblogging where the idea is to write small posts, both in size and aggregated size. I think this came out from when services like Twitter and FaceBook started to become really popular and people used these social media services to put out content. A few years ago everyone had a website, with a blog inwhich they put out their content. Now everyone has a Twitter account instead of a website URL (or a GitHub account as a lot of web developers use instead of their website).

Eventually more people started to get a bit sick of Twitter and 140 character posts and went back to blogs, but started to mix the short form of Twitter with blog posts. Now a blog post doesn’t need to be 500-1000 words (like a school essay) 200 words is fine.

I do enjoy reading peoples blogs, especially web developers I look up to. People like Remy Sharp, Marc Jenkins, Ray Camden and Rachel Shillcock people who are actively blogging.

(Hey look at that just over 200 words, exam passed)

Stephen Adams 0 Comments
Apr 5 2016
Freelancing Websites

Over my last few posts I have been talking about contracting and why I personally like contracting. There are two main ways of finding work as a contractor either through recruitment agencies or via freelance websites.

There are many of these freelancing websites, Upwork, Freelancer (UK), PeoplePerHour and Toptal. Sometimes I have shied away from these sites and they are usually swamped with developers offering very cheap services that I cannot possible compete on, full websites for £100 or a complete mobile app for £250. Now I’m not to sure about the quality of the work that these offer would receive, but I can see how a client with a small budget can be tempted with offers like these.

For me to use one of these sites at the rate I’m looking for I need a site that both has a high number of users and has a high level of entry. So the clients who look for freelancers on this site know that the quality of developer they are looking at is at a high standard, and they are willing to pay for this high standard.

One site I have looked into that fulfils these two requirements I have is the Toptal Web Developers group who, on their website, say ‘hire from the top 3% of freelance web developers’. The main reason I like Toptal is that there signup process is very thorough, you have to complete a signup form, give examples of work and even write a blog post about them, which is actually a good idea. Because sitting and writing out your thoughts on why you want to signup to Toptal makes you really think through the process and what you are looking for from a freelancing website.

I’ve seen a fellow Ionic developer Julien Renaux who is on Toptal, I contacted him via Twitter to see if Toptal was a good service, he said that it is and he has had no problems with it.

So if you are looking to become a contractor/freelancer and want to find work from places other than recruiters (who are still a valid and useful resource) then one of these Freelancing websites maybe an option.

Here are some links to podcasts where people have spoken about how they have succeeded using one of these freelance marketplace websites:

Stephen Adams 0 Comments
Apr 4 2016
Why should startups pick hybrid

When starting an app based startup you have a couple of options, one you could pick one platform to target first, two pick to hit all platforms at once with their own native app or build a cross platform app using a technology that allows you to build cross platform from the one code base.
Depending on the size and budget of your startup maybe a factor for which option you pick. For those single founder companies, a guy with an idea but not the technicial skills to build an app the cross platform approach is a good option.
Going down this route allows you to find a developer who can build apps with one of these cross platform technologies and then work with them to build the app you are after.

Usually this developer is a solo developer who will/should work with you hand in hand helping you build the app you have in mind. Finding this developer can be tricky you need someone you get on with, someone who delivers and someone who will help advise you. It’s your idea but they need to use their skills in order to create the best cross platform app for your business.

So if you have an idea for an app, but don’t know how to build one, maybe a cross platform hybrid solution would be the best option to see your idea come to life.

Stephen Adams 0 Comments
Apr 3 2016
Being a fan of Indie Devs

I remember a few years ago reading about MicroISVs, it was a term created by Eric Sink it stands for independent software vendor. I always liked the idea of being a one man/person software shop. Being your own products, making a living for yourself.

When the app store was launched there were hundreds of developers now using the app store to make their living, the Indie Dev movement was born.

Like I mentioned I’ve always been a fan of this indie dev movement. I liked reading blogs from developers like David Smith, Daniel Jalkut, Marco Arment and of course John Saddington who created DeskPM the tool I’m using to write this post.

While I was always a fan of these people, I always had the plan to eventually become a Indie dev, spending all day developing my apps (usually from the beach) making a comfortable living from my own apps, but I’m a web developer. I have no Objective-C experience. So making apps for the app store was just a dream.

Now thanks to platforms like Ionic, NativeScript and AppCelerator a web developer like me can start building apps for the app store (both Native and Hybrid). This is great, but there is another thing that was holding me back the horror stories of developers trying to make a living on the app store and failing (as a family man with a mortgage I really can’t take the risk).

But after listening to David Smith and Marco Arment’s new podcast Under the Radar in the episode about Work/Life Balance David Smith mentioned that you shouldn’t just jump into Indie Development from working full time. He said that it took a few years of building apps in his free time until he could make the move over to full time indie. Using this balance between consulting and his own apps, he eventually moved over when he was making enough to go full indie with his own apps.

So now with tools that allow you to use web technologies to build apps there is no reason why I shouldn’t start this slow movement over to becoming a Indie Dev/Micro ISV owner (sounds like a good theme for this blog)

Stephen Adams 0 Comments
Apr 2 2016
Contracting Setup Options

Yesterday the start of the 30 day writing challenge from Marc Jenkins. For my first post I wrote about why I like being a contractor. I originally wrote this post on Medium, but for the rest of the 30 day challenge I’ve decided to just use this site.

For today’s article I’m going to continue writing about life as a contractor, part of a series I’m going to call the Contractor Chronicles.

So if you want to become a contractor in the UK there are two main ways you can go about this. Either be a Limited company or work for an Umbrella company. For me I decided to be a Limited company.

If you don’t know the difference between the two is when you are a Limited company you work for yourself as an employee of your own company. If you work for an umbrella company, then you work as an employee for that larger company. They handle all paperwork, the invoicing, the tax and accounting aspects of running a company. As a Limited company you are responsible for all these jobs (though you can and should get an accountant to handle the tax and accounting parts of running a business).

I went for the Limited company route the reason for this is if I decide later to be a company that sells a product (apps for example) then this is easier to do as a Ltd company. Also if I wanted to grow the company and get employees it’s far easier to start this as a Ltd company.

I prefer the Ltd company approach. It may not be for everyone, yes there is paperwork to do, but with tools like FreeAgent, this is so much easier. So if you want to be a Ltd company, get registered, get a good company name (PooWoo Tools is not a good name), get an accountant and get started, good luck…..


Stephen Adams 0 Comments
Mar 28 2016
Picking a new theme for site

I’m in the process of picking a new theme for this site. Instead of having a free theme I’m looking for a paid one that matches the type of business CGCSoftware aims to be over the next 12 months.

So I’m looking for one that reflects that CGCSoftware is a mobile web development consultancy who can help other software companies with their mobile development needs, a hard thing for the theme to sum up.

What my theme does need to do is, be responsive (can’t be all about the mobile web and not work on phones), not be to design agency that’s not what I am and look clean and professional.

When entering the world of WordPress themes its amazing how many there are, the theme industry is massive. It may take a while to find the one I want.

Stephen Adams 0 Comments
Mar 20 2016
30 days of blogging 

I’ve recently signed up for Marc Jenkins’ 30 Days Writing Challenge to improve my blogging output. I do like reading blog posts from developers who writing about their day to day working lives as well as technicial posts.

I’ve not really written many technicial posts, just because I don’t want to write something that is incorrect, but I do remember what Remy Sharp once said that he wrote a blog to remind him of something. So he could look back and be reminded of something he learnt. Great idea.

So Marc’s course starts soon I’m looking forward to the course and see what is involved.

Stephen Adams 0 Comments