360iDev – Speaker Hendrik Kueck

We’re really excited to have Hendrik presenting on “Effectively using videos to explain and market your app” on Wednesday. Having seen some truly sad demo videos of apps, this session is a must! Especially if you’re doing your own marketing!

Q: How long have you been doing iOS development?

A: I started iOS development in July 2008, initially as a fun side project, procrastinating from my computer science PhD. These days I am a full time indie iOS developer. I released my first app Juxtaposer (iTunes Link) in October 2008.

Very cool!

Q: What do you like most about being an iOS Developer?

A: I love the complete freedom of choosing what to work on and when and how to work on it. And being able to comfortably support myself doing it. Apple created this amazing marketplace for us which eliminates most of the major barriers and pain points of software distribution.

It’s definitely cool to see so many developers able to make a living doing what they love. The software industry needs more indie developers that can survive on their own, and Apple’s done a great job providing a platform for that to happen.

Also, developing and marketing iOS apps has been a huge learning experience for me, and I love learning new stuff. I am looking forward to more learning at 360iDev.

Q: What’s your favorite Game?

A: The game I probably played the most is Toki Tori (iTunes Link). It is a great platform puzzle game with super well designed puzzles. I also really love Osmos (iTunes Link), a fantastic ambient game created by good friends of mine.

I haven’t tried Osmos, but have heard a TON of great things about it!! Hope that friend is coming to 360|iDev :)

Q: What’s your favorite App?

A: I love Yelp for discovering good restaurants. It is especially useful when traveling, but even in my hometown Vancouver I use it a lot to find cool new restaurants to check out.

I also really like the Reeder (iTunes Link), Twitter and Simplenote (iTunes Link) apps.

Reeder is my current favorite news reader, but Net News Wire is always my go to reader. Both are great apps. I never took to simplenote, favoring Elements and Evernote more.

Q: Robots or Ninjas?

A: Definitely Ninjas. Robots are making a lot of progress though. I predict Robots overtaking Ninjas in awesomeness around 2020.

I’m calling my booky

Q: What would you change about the iOS platform if you could change just one thing?

A: Apple has been good about addressing one pain point after another. It is amazing how much better things are today than when things started in 2008. There have been huge improvements in the SDK, the dev tools, the devices, the App Store, payment processing, dev support, the review system and more.

If I could change one thing, I would add a feature to allow for charitable donations in apps. It should use the same simple one-click payment system as in-app purchases. Ideally 100% of the donation would go straight from Apple to the charity and Apple would forward the donation tax receipt via email to the user.

That’s a pretty slick idea. Gifting apps was a huge step, so it’s not far fetched that this could happen someday! I’d love as much flexibility as possible in purchasing/gifting apps.

Q: What are you most excited about 360|iDev Austin?

A: I am looking forward to learning a lot during the sessions, but am maybe even more excited about the time outside the sessions: Making new friends in the iOS developer community and reconnecting with old ones. It will be fun times.

The non session stuff is a blast. It’s great to finally meet people you’ve emailed and IM’ed with, follow on twitter etc. Share a beer, some food, talk about code, and business. It’s a great experience! And of course the sessions are better than you’ll see anywhere else!

Q: Lastly, what would you tell someone on the fence about attending 360|iDev Austin?

A: If you are an indie iOS developer, you absolutely should come. You’ll learn a lot in the many great sessions. But more importantly you will meet many awesome developers who have similar passions and ambitions and are fighting similar problems as yourself and are more than happy to share their knowledge and experiences.

Damn straight!

Don’t miss out on the best indie iOS developer event around! Register now before it’s too late!