Manton and Daniel lament the long-standing shortcomings of the Mac App Store, discuss Bohemian Coding’s recent decision to pull Sketch from the store, and Daniel shares his growing admiration for Swift.

Download (MP3, 53 minutes, 25 MB)

• Leaving the Mac App Store – Bohemian Coding’s announcement of Sketch departing the store.
• Pieter Omvlee – Founder of Bohemian Coding and speaker at Release Notes.
• Too Late? – Manton’s blog post about the prospects for saving the Mac App Store.
• 59 Days – Round-up of Mac App Store news from Michael Tsai, including remark about his long approval delay.
• Swift Expert – Daniel’s do{iOS} post-talk interview.
• Swift Blog – Apple’s public blog about Swift, long predating the open-source project.

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Daniel and Manton celebrate Manton’s new Pencil, discuss the iPad pro as a sleeper hit, and talk about the marketing value of supporting the latest and greatest Apple technology in your apps. They also talk about changes at WordPress and the implications for Daniel and MarsEdit.

Download (MP3, 45 minutes, 22 MB)

• Pencil at Best Buy – The unlikely source of Manton’s Apple Pencil.
• iCape Solutions – The Cape Cod Apple reseller where Peter Cohen works.
• The Hype is Real – Gus Mueller reviews, and gushes about, the Apple Pencil.
• Fully Charged Pencil – John Gruber and Jason Snell find minor ergonomic faults in the Pencil.
• No Country for Old Macs – Jason Snell reviews the iPad Pro.
• Editorial – Manton’s favorite iOS text editor awaits an iPad Pro update.
• Target the Forward Fringe – Daniel’s 2012 blog post about embracing leading-edge tech in apps.
• A New Canvas – Federico Viticci reviews the iPad Pro.
• Better iPad Pro Apps – Ben Brooks highlights apps that work particularly well on iPad Pro.
• Byword – An app whose iPad Pro support wins Ben Brooks over.
• WordPress for Mac – New standalone app for WordPress from Automattic.
• Calypso – The open source project behind WordPress’s new JavaScript based UI.
• The Year Without Pants – Scott Berkun’s book about the experience of working for Automattic.

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Manton and Daniel discuss Apple’s acknowledgement of “MASpocalypse,” Manton’s continued waiting for an iPad Pro Pencil, sideloading iOS apps, and whether the iPad pro’s sophistication demands a “Gatekeeper for iOS” or Xcode for the iPad Pro.

Download (MP3, 43 minutes, 21 MB)

• Apple Acknowledges… – TechCrunch reports on the email sent by Apple to Mac App Store developers.
• Apple Pencil Stock – iMore describes the slow arrival of Pencils in stock at Apple Stores.
• I’ll Tell You in a Month – Diesel Sweeties comic for iMore about the shortage of Pencil supplies.
• F.lux Sideload – Short-lived App Store workaround to get f.lux installed on iOS devices.
• Saving the iPad – Jared Sinclair with a variety of suggestions to Apple regarding the iPad’s future.
• System 7 Pro – Strolling down memory lane with an OS release Apple targeted specifically at “power users.”
• Why the iPad Pro needs Xcode – Steve Streza makes the case.
• Coda for iOS – Web site editing software from Panic.

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Daniel returns from Amsterdam to find Mac App Store issues abound. Manton buys an iPad Pro but has to wait for the Pencil. The two discuss the Mac App Store’s 6-year failure to evolve substantially, and dig into the emotional highs and lows of enjoying and surviving Apple’s platform constraints.

Download (MP3, 53 minutes, 26 MB)

• Star Bikes – An affordable bike rental in Amsterdam.
• Connected #65 – Federico talks with Myke Hurley and Stephen Hackett.
• The iPad Pro – John Gruber’s review.
• Desktop Computer – Horace Dediu’s video on the history of desktop computing.
• No One Minding the Store – Michael Tsai’s roundup Mac App Store issues.
• Just Inexcusable – Federico Viticci’s response to Mac App Store issues.
• #DirectOrGTFO – Dan Counsell tweet that embodies his change of attitude about Mac AppStore.

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Daniel frets more about public speaking, while he and Manton talk about taking inspiration from brilliant apps, and share impressions of the Apple TV now that it’s public.

Download (MP3, 33 minutes, 16 MB)

• Acorn – Gus Mueller’s image editing app for Mac.
• Sketch – Vector editing app for Mac from Bohemian Coding.
• Pieter Omvlee – Founder of Bohemian Coding and nice guy.
• Release Notes – Recent conference at which Pieter Omvlee spoke.
• Under the Radar – New development-focused podcast from David Smith and Marco Arment.
• ATP – Marco’s popular tech podcast with Casey Liss and John Siracusa.
• The Talk Show – Guy English joins John Gruber for a discussion of Apple TV.
• Amazon Echo – An amazing voice recognition device enjoyed by the Reece household.

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Manton and Daniel evaluate Daniel’s public speaking procrastination, confess their evolving attitudes about Swift, and discuss strategies for balancing paid consulting with personal indie pursuits.

Download (MP3, 40 minutes, 19 MB)

• Do{iOS} – Amsterdam-based conference that Daniel will speak at on November 9.
• BBEdit – Venerable Mac text editor that started life as a Pascal-based project.
• Stairways Software – Long-time Mac developer and Pascal-enthusiast Peter Lewis.
• Object Pascal – History of the object-oriented version of Pascal and Apple’s role in it.

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Daniel and Manton discuss the Release Notes Conference, the value of getting feedback from people in real life, Daniel’s Apple TV rejection, and Twitter’s apology to developers.

Download (MP3, 44 minutes, 21 MB)

• Release Notes – Indianapolis business of software conference, just concluded.
• David Smith – One of many speakers at Release Notes.
• A Great Developer… – Manton’s thoughts on the “that’s fine for” dismissal of developer success.
• Release Notes 2015 – Manton’s follow-up blog post from the conference.
• Rob Rhyne – Speaker at Release Notes who discussed accrual accounting method.
• @riverfold – Manton’s indie-software business Twitter account.
• Is It App? – Daniel compares gatekeepers at Apple to those who would judge e.g. art.
• Craig Hockenberry – One of the early developers of Twitter client apps.

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Manton and Daniel discuss the paralysis of choosing what to work on as an indie, Manton’s mysterious Kickstarter campaign, and the allure of company stickers and other marketing stuff.

Download (MP3, 40 minutes, 20 MB)

• Release Notes Conference – Indianapolis conference about indie software business.
• Kickstarter – Crowdfunding site on which Manton will soon launch a campaign.
• MarsEdit – Daniel’s Mac-based blog editing app.
• Why can’t it be like email? – Brent Simmons’s original notes about the design of MarsEdit 1.0.
• Studio Neat – Austin based product design company.
• Obi – In-progress Kickstarter from Studio Neat for a “smart laser toy for cats.”
• Thoroughly Considered on Relay.fm – Podcast from the Studio Neat folks.
• Indie Go Go – Kickstarter alternative that lets you keep the money regardless of turnout.
• Patreon – Crowd-sourced patronage contribution service.
• Typed: A Better Blog Platform – Indie Go Go page for Realmac’s blogging service.
• Manton’s New Stickers – Mysterious star-based logo for a forthcoming product.
• StickerMule – Really nice folks who make really nice stickers.

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Daniel and Manton discuss Manton’s search for indie development contracts, the market in general for iOS and Mac contracts, and the range of options for obtaining free and low-cost SSL certificates.

Download (MP3, 30 minutes, 15 MB)

• Let’s Encrypt – A “free, automated, and open certificate authority.”
• Namecheap – Low-cost reseller of SSL certificates from more reputable sounding vendors.
• StartSSL – SSL certificates that are free at the lowest level.

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Special guest Marco Arment joins Manton and Daniel for a lively, longer conversation about his enthusiasm for keeping the podcasting market diverse, hints about progress towards Overcast 2.0, and his atypical approach to customer support. The three also talk about the value of non-monetary priorities in development, and the pros and cons of “scratching one’s itch” in software pursuits.

Download (MP3, 1 hour 23 minutes, 40MB)

• Marco.org – Eponymous blog of our special guest, Marco Arment.
• Accidental Tech Podcast – Podcast hosted by Marco, John Siracusa, and Casey Liss.
• Top Four – Marco’s podcast with Tiffany Arment on Relay.fm.
• Worst Weezer Singles – Marco and Tiff select four Weezer songs they deem ill-suited as radio singles.
• Bitsplitting Episode 8 – Daniel’s interview of Marco Arment on the Bitsplitting podcast.
• Overcast – Marco’s iOS podcast-listening client.
• Instapaper – Marco’s “read later” service and app, now developed by betaworks.
• The Magazine – Marco’s iOS-based magazine, later run by Glenn Fleishman.
• Pocket Casts – A well-liked podcast client for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
• Howl – A “Netflix for podcasts.” Ad-free podcasts from … an ad company.
• Happy Birthday Grandma – One of the many business ideas Marco has but probably won’t get to.
• Perfect Table Planner – Dedicated software for seating at weddings and other special events.
• Successful Software – Andy Brice’s blog, developer of Perfect Table Planner.
• Discontinued – Home page of Vemedio, the former makers of Instacast.

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