Independence

Pants optional.

This podcast is no longer in production.

Surviving in the muddy waters of the App Store as an indie isn’t easy. Alice Zhao, Curtis Herbert and Daniel “Jelly” Farrelly explore what it means to them, what they do to make it work, and how to claim your independence.

67: A Milestone, Not a Disappointment

Published 14 June 2022 • 35 minutes, 7 seconds

Curtis has won an Apple Developer Award, so Alice and Jelly give him the ultimate gift: an Independence reunion. They discuss what it’s like to win such a coveted award, what they’ve been doing in the last couple of years, and whether or not any of them are actually still indies.

66: Keep Not Wearing Pants

Published 19 November 2019 • 40 minutes, 1 second

Curtis had a topic planned, but Alice and Jelly ruined everything. The three talk about their experiences through out the course of Independence, how things have changed, why it’s ending, and ultimately answer the question of whether they still aim to be independent.

65: Subscriptions

Published 5 November 2019 • 31 minutes, 42 seconds

If you’re considering doing an app with subscriptions, there’s some things you may want to consider before you make that move, as it’s not necessarily the best answer for every situation. Curtis and Jelly have been using subscriptions for a while, so Alice quizzes them on how things have been going, in the hopes that it’ll give her an answer on whether she should move to using them herself.

More Episodes

Alice Zhao

Alice is the co-creator of Gus on the Go, a series of language learning apps for young kids. She focuses on developing educational content, business development and devising a marketing strategy on an indie budget.

In a former life (i.e. pre-kids), Alice and her husband used to run a fun food photography blog: eataduckimust.com. These days, they dream of raising their boys to be globe-trotting polyglots… but will also just settle for them becoming adventurous eaters.

Curtis Herbert

Curtis Herbert is an independent iOS app creator, writer, speaker, and Apple enthusiast. These days he spends most of his time working on Slopes, a tracking app for skiers and snowboarders.

Curtis spends his free time snowboarding, gaming, and enjoying life in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

Daniel “Jelly” Farrelly

The creator of GIFwrapped, Jelly spends his days as an independent developer, moonlighting as a freelancer where it suits his whims.

When he’s not working on code, Jelly spends his time illustrating, building Lego, thinking about a future controlled by robots, or occasionally unpacking the dishwasher.