Ben Dodson's Weblog - Freelance Apple Developer

IMPORTANT Apple removed this feature in iOS 26.4, meaning that any app using the below code will revert to the default tab bar.

iTunes added the ability to purchase TV shows in 2005 with movies following a year later.

For over a decade, I’ve been providing a way to easily access high-resolution album artwork through my iTunes Artwork Finder and Apple Music Artwork Finder.

Text to speech has been around on iOS for over a decade, but Apple added a few new features in iOS 17 that could make interesting additions to your app.

When TipKit was first mentioned during the WWDC 2023 State of the Union, I assumed it was going to be a way for apps to appear within the Tips app and maybe appear within Spotlight.

As we get to the final month before WWDC 2023, I’m reminded of all the new APIs that were released at WWDC 2022 that I haven’t made use of yet.

It’s been 4 weeks since the v2.0 update for Music Library Tracker launched so I thought now was a good time for a retrospective to detail how I promoted the app and how well it performed.

This is part of a series of blog posts in which I showcase some of the side projects I work on for my own use.

Return to Dark Tower is a really cool app-driven board game that comes with a physical tower that you connect via Bluetooth to an iPad.

The Elgato Stream Deck is a fun device with 15 LED buttons that can be programmed to do whatever you want through an app that runs on PC and Mac.

For the past few months I’ve been meaning to start a newsletter; partially as a way of motivating me to finish some of my many projects, partially as a way of building up a mailing list so I can market my own apps better.

A little while ago, my chiropractor recommended that I take up the “Couch to 5K” program in order to improve my fitness in a way that wouldn’t see me literally running before I could walk.

I love Spatial Audio.

Back in 2015 I was commissioned to rebuild an iOS app for models1, the leading modelling agency in Europe.

Over the past few weeks I’ve worked on a number of projects that have necessitated me working with HTML and JavaScript be that via Safari on iOS, an SFSafariViewController, or in an embedded WKWebView.

I order a Chinese takeaway most weeks and my regular order is half a crispy aromatic duck.

This is part of a series of blog posts in which I showcase some of the side projects I work on for my own use.

Last month, outspoken CEO of Epic Games Tim Sweeney ranted about the App Store in an interview with CNBC: Apple has locked down and crippled the ecosystem by inventing an absolute monopoly on the distribution of software, on the monetization of software.

This is part of a series of blog posts in which I showcase some of the side projects I work on for my own use.

This is part of a series of blog posts in which I showcase some of the side projects I work on for my own use.

I’m pleased to announce the release of a new client app I’ve been working on over the past few months: Revival, truly uncomplicated task planning for everyone: I was originally contacted by Wonderboy Media with the intention of working on updating their e…

I’m pleased to announce the release of a new client app I’ve been working on recently: Gyfted, the free universal wishlist.

With iOS 12.3, Apple unveiled a new design for the TV app featuring an industry unstandard 16:9 aspect ratio for cover artwork.

On our The Checked Shirt podcast yesterday, Jason and I were discussing the announcements at WWDC and in particular the new “Dark Mode” in iOS 131.

At WWDC 2017, Apple introduced the Vision framework alongside iOS 11.