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Is iOS development worth pursuing?

Louisa212·Mar 07, 2022

Posted in:All Things Remote Early Career

I am a new grad and have had the interest recently to pursue iOS development. I have been self-teaching front end web dev and I am not really liking working with CSS and Javscript. It just seems more uniform for me to work with one language(like swift).

However, most iOS roles I have come across seem to have zero roles for junior iOS devs compared to web dev. This makes me a little nervous lol. Also, how common is it for companies to have native mobile developers instead of using frameworks like React Native instead?

Being remote is also really important to me. However, with the recent shift of companies returning back to the office, do you believe iOS dev roles may remain remote?

kellygebo·Mar 08, 2022

Hey there! I have worked with 2 product companies and 3 agencies. My short answer is it really depends on the product and the type of work you want to do. When I was at a mobile-first agency, we had majority native developers and our web developers supported API development / admin panels. This agency only did mobile apps. Now at my current agency, thoughtbot, we are a premiere web agency which uses things like React Native typically for mobile development. We do some native but not as often and it wouldn't be our suggestion for a new product especially if they are also looking for a web property. The slight benefit I do see if you went with React/React Native is you will stay open to both web and mobile applications potentially. Here are a few resources we have that I thought might help:- https://thoughtbot.com/blog/tags/mobile- https://thoughtbot.com/upcaseWe do offer an apprentice program that is fully remote that I would encourage you keep an eye out for.

JuliaMathias·Mar 08, 2022

I would say it's definitely worth pursuing. It might be a little harder to get your first job but there's a huge demand for ios devs.