TiPb's developer spotlights are like DVD/iTunes Extras for the App Store -- a weekly look behind the scenes at the programers and designers that bring you the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games you love. This week Rene talks with Jonathan George and Josh Viney of Boxcar.
What should we call you? Jonathan George, Josh Viney
What should we call your company? Boxcar (App Remix Corp.)
Where are you located? Wichita, KS and NYC
What's your website address? http://boxcar.io
What are your Twitter handles? @boxcar, @jdg, @joshviney
What apps do you make? Boxcar
What apps, other than your own, are currently among your favorites? Jonathan: iA Writer, Tumblr, Alien Blue (unofficial Reddit client), Instapaper, Calendar. Josh: Foursquare, Calculator, Netflix, Instagram, Words with Friends
How long have you been a developer? Jonathan: Developer / 16 years, Entrepreneur / born with it. ;) . Josh: Product Manager / UX Designer 12 years
How long have you been an iOS developer? Jonathan/Josh: ~3 years
Do you develop for any other platform in addition to iOS? Jonathan/Josh: Web
What primary computer setup do you use for your iOS development? Josh: Macbook Air. Jonathan: MBP 15" + 27" Dell Monitor
What iOS device(s) do you personally use most often? Josh/Jonathan: iPhone 4 and iPad
What mobile devices, other than iOS, do you currently use? None.
What's your favorite thing about developing for iOS? Josh: Mobile interfaces that don't suck, and being able to reach a wide audience. Jonathan: Being able to immediately show (and relate what you're doing) to people you interact with everyday.
What's your least favorite thing about developing for iOS? Josh: It can be tough to QA and changes can't be made as quickly as on Web. Jonathan: Apple's draconian, yet understandable, policies around the app store.
What feature would you most like Apple to add to the iOS 5 SDK? Josh: Make call and sms data available via API. Jonathan: Greater flexibility around notifications
What feature would you most like Apple to add to the App Store? Josh: Better ways for people to tell their friends about their favorite apps. Jonathan: More insight and analytics into where your users are coming from.
If we were to eavesdrop on you while you were coding, what curse word would we hear you use the most? Josh: The usual, but louder and with more frequency. Jonathan: "What the f--k?"
What do you do when you're not coding iOS apps? Josh: Designing UX and thinking up new ways to get people to connect. Jonathan: Race motorcycles and practice putting my pants on.
What should we look for from you next? Jonathan: Boxcar 5. Just guess.
How do you use Boxcar? Josh: I use Boxcar for two things. For work, I use it to quickly reply to and manage customer service for Boxcar, and check out the newest Github commits. Socially, I use it as a replacement for RSS readers, and as a way to keep track of social happenings on Twitter and Foursquare
Jonathan: I use Boxcar to follow people. Using our Twitter @anyone service, I follow the people I care about, and know when they do something.
Thanks Josh and Jonathan
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