The Year in Mac Development 2007

I don't think anyone could have scripted this year. It was more like tumbling along in a hurricane than walking a slow and steady path. There were two big — really big — landmarks for Mac developers this year, so it's hard to pin one as the definitive event.

Leopard

The two big events are, of course, the release of Leopard and the iPhone. For Mac developers specifically, I think we'd have to declare this the year of Leopard. It's such a radical step forward for the entire platform, that it eclipses even the introduction of a new piece of hardware in a new form factor.



Leopard — which has been talked about at length here already — is a complete revamp of Mac APIs. Core Animation shifts our entire perspective on graphics programming, Objective-C 2.0 brought garbage collection and properties, true 64-bit framework support has finally reached these shores, Xcode 3 and Interface Builder 3 arrived, and a mountain of other improvements. All of this will likely filter its way into iPhone, as well.

There's so much new that we saw one app after another jump to Leopard-specific development at the exclusion of previous versions of Mac OS X, and I think that's only going to accelerate.

iPhone

The iPhone was big news too. And that's putting it lightly. It felt like the country absolutely came to a standstill in late June as everyone in creation lined up to make sure they got a phone. There's no question the technology industry woke up to a different world on June 30.



Amazingly, the first round of TV ads featured just the iPhone user interface. That's it. The contrast between this an any other mobile phone ad is jarring. Practically every other manufacturer advertises their phone by spinning them around the screen. The iPhone ads just show the actual phone. The experience of a phone doing calls, voicemail, maps, internet and email — all packaged into a touch-based interface which is a joy to use — is so groundbreaking that it stands on its own.



Although some people have figured out how to write apps without any documentation, the real ride will likely start early this year, when an actual SDK is scheduled to arrive. I'm interested to see how many Mac developers will be born from writing iPhone apps.

Amazingly, the Macworld keynote for 2007 sparked the notion that Apple wasn't going to focus on computers anymore and was just making phones and music devices. The proof? No Mac announcements, no iLife, and dropping "Computer" from the company name. I think that reaction seems positively insane now.

There will probably be a day in the future where there is no line between a phone and a computer, but I don't think any of us know when that will be. For now, nobody wants to edit video on a phone.

WWDC

WWDC was one of the biggest shocks of the year for me. The changes in the platform didn't really sink in until I saw a sea of people in Buena Vista Gardens. This was the first year I remember walking around and going several hours without seeing someone I recognize.



Even more interesting was the attendance level of the "Mac OS X Immersion" sessions, which are aimed at developers coming to the platform for the first time. Our little group has grown up.



I had a blast at the "Going Indie" event at the Apple Store during WWDC week, too. We had Wil Shipley, Gus Mueller, Daniel Jalkut, and Brent Simmons show up to take part, and we absolutely packed the place. People came up to me for days after (and presumably to the other guys as well) just to say how much they enjoyed it. Absolutely one of the highlights of the week for me.



Trends

Mac-specific graphics apps hit in a big way in 2007. For the first time in history, image editing tools written by independent developers have become a legitimate alternative to higher-end tools such Photoshop, which has at least dozens of developers. Maybe hundreds.



Pixelmator stands out as an app that is actively going after this market, whereas Acorn (previously mentioned here), I think, has set out to be a different kind of graphics tool. Neither are enough to be felt by Adobe yet, but the ice has started to melt and the progress is relentless. Both make a strong showing even at 1.0.x with fraction of the engineering staff.

Interestingly, neither of these apps even rely on Leopard API. So contemplate what happens when they can do so.

These are not the only two options by a long shot. DrawIt has been around for a while, Naked Light takes different approach, and Iris lurks in the shadows.

Taking a step back, this was probably the first year that being an independent Mac developer didn't seem weird anymore. The idea that "you can't make money writing Mac software because 'everyone' uses Windows" just doesn't pass the truth test. Wil Shipley first shed light on this way back in 2005 at his student talk, challenging all of those beliefs we assumed to be true.

It turns out that unless you're writing enterprise software, it may actually be more fiscally practical to write Mac software because you have great tools and an audience with a voracious appetite for well-designed software. And they will pay you for it. Happily.

This was also the first year in the modern era that it was no longer unusual to own a Mac. And strangely, there was no one event that triggered it. It just suddenly became so.

There's an entire "generation" of computer users now that weren't around for the platform wars of the early nineties or simply didn't care because it wasn't a mainstream issue. For this generation, there's no perceived stigma for the Mac to overcome. The Mac is a computer made by the people who made the iPod, iTunes, and the iPhone. It's not Apple Computer, it's Apple. The struggle is over, and we're on to something new.

Personally

Finally, this was an amazing year for me personally. There are so many things I'm thankful for and so many unexpected surprises. I'm incredibly thankful for everyone who hangs out here and shares their thoughts. It makes the whole thing more interesting. I also feel very honored and humbled for being voted into the MacTech 25.

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