End of Retrospective Timelines (and app development)

As of today, I’m giving up on my half-baked plans to make consumer software. I just took Retrospective Timelines off of the App Store and I don’t plan on renewing my Apple developer account. There are a number of reasons I’m making this decision. I’ll try to list a few here.

While I enjoyed the process of developing the app, it’s become clear to me that I will *never* actually do any of the marketing steps needed to promote a consumer product. I’ve made grand plans many times and at the end of the day I just refuse to do the work.

From the coding side, working with Apple APIs has been the most frustrating experience of my career. SwiftUI is a mess and I want nothing to do with UIKit. Core Data and CloudKit are needlessly complex for very little gain over using something else.

From a business aspect, it just doesn’t make sense for me to continue spending time on app ideas and other consumer products (games, VR apps, etc.). It is clear to me that my skills as a software and business consultant are far more valuable than any app I’ll ever make.

I may end up changing my mind someday when I have some hairbrained idea for an app (especially for AR headsets) but for now my time and energy are better spent working on projects that have a clear payoff, and a clear end.

On a personal note, my RSI is getting worse and worse. I can’t afford to do any “hobby” development like I used to. There is a limited time I can spend using a computer and I must spend that time on productive work.