Module 4 - Lesson 5
Been doing pretty well going through the challenges and content for this module. For this lecture - my Reciple List View was not showing the actual Recipe List for some reason.
This was the first time I used Breakpoints and after some fiddling, I manage to find the issue and debug my code. Definitely boosting my confidence in my coding abilities.
iOS Databases Module 2 Lesson 2 – Stepping Out of the CWC Bubble and First steps in Creating my Own App
WOW! It’s been a long time since my last entry - so much for having this be my method of being accountable. Thankfully, while I may have been slacking in terms of writing in my journal, I have remained consistent in taking the time to code 6 days a week without fail. Since then I have completed the Foundations course and have moved onto iOS Databases but have momentarily stopped on Module 2 Lesson 2 only because I have been working on my own app idea which im super excited about and I feel like I have made quite good progress on.
With the iOS Design course - I created a wireframes design template and built pretty much all of the UI with hardcoded mock data on Swift. Not the cleanest or most organized Figma wireframes document - but it serves 
Now I have been steadily re-watching CWC videos and perusing other sources of information such as Stack Overflow, Youtube and Udemy in order to build functionality with all the UI I built.
CURRENTLY:
You can register for an account on the app, and also log in with existing credentials. Used firebase for this. Upon sign in you can “use” the app, and by use I just mean you can look at all the mock data and the visual template of all the views
You can sign out of the app and get redirected into the log in screen
Can geolocate user. Upon first opening the app you will see the onboarding screen and get requested for permission to locate the user (thank you CWC!)
Funny thing is - I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how this log in system works (lots of courses and a lot of resources dont do a good job explaining things) but then I realized that in the iOS Databases course, if I had just continued on… literally the next Module is all about Firebase Authentication LMAOO. Serves me right being too impatient.
On the bright side - so far I am realizing that Chris honestly does a great job (arguably the best) in explaining the actual concepts of the code. Bouncing around different video tutorials, I find that when I come across a concept (take for example: EnvironmentObjects)… Upon being exposed to it first from another source (and being hella confused by it lol) and then coming back to Chris and watching him explain things really does enhance the learning experience.
All that to say: It’s probably a good idea to continue the iOS Foundations course and get to the Authentication Module. I’ll probably understand it a WHOLE lot better and fix up some code. Currently trying to figure out how to delete a user off of Firebase (Deactivate your account from the app) and perhaps the module will give me some insight.
Congrats on finishing foundations and getting started with your app idea!! Things are getting real now haha
Can’t wait to see more 
Thank you so much!! Indeed things are slowly starting. I hope to make you proud!! >"<
This is looks great. You’ve done really well considering how you were feeling a bit overwhelmed back in early October.
Thank you very much Chris!! To be honest I still feel lost most of the time - but I’m sort of used to the feeling now! :'D Just gotta keep cracking and chipping away at it
iOS Databases Module 5 Lesson 3 - Still coding…
I’ve still been trudging along with my own personal app. I’ve become quite adept at creating UI designs and doing the Front End, but this Back-End stuff is real hard. I admit that I caved at one point and hired a “code mentor” freelancer to take a look at my logic and to fix my work - but. He wasted my time and money by not doing what I wanted and recreating the work I already did on Storyboard LOOOOL. And to my surprise, this “professional” made it look worse!! I suppose that’s a bit of a confidence booster… but it doesn’t help that I feel like I went no where in the past few weeks.
Lesson learned. I have to rely on my own skills and be more picky with who I hire to see my code.
I feel like I haven’t made very much progress in terms of my own app - but I am trudging through the database course, albeit at a much slower pace than the Foundations course. I suppose it is to be expected. I’ve always been more of an artsy kind of guy, so I expected this material to be harder to grasp and harder for me to keep interested in.
Still. Progress is progress even if it is small. I’m gonna finish this app if it kills me hmmph
Yes!! You should definitely rely on yourself first. You can do this, you can figure it all out!!
E-ve-ry-thing is already available on the internet, and you can reach out to people for help or guidance as to what to research.
For me back-end dev feels natural whereas front-end things drive me crazy. I’m lucky that Flo feels the opposite.
It must be extremely difficult to do it on your own, I don’t know if I could so kudos to you, keep it up!!
Totally relate with this, just gotta keep coding and trust that we’ll make it, one bug at a time
I know right I have redid the first 10 lessons of module 2 2 times now. But I literally completed every single challenge in module 1 so easily ( including the last one and the first one where you had to build the war card game UI ).
Yes!! You should definitely rely on yourself first. You can do this, you can figure it all out!!
E-ve-ry-thing is already available on the internet, and you can reach out to people for help or guidance as to what to research.
Thank youu!! Uhuhuhu - it’s been a challenge, but Stackoverflow and youtube has been my best friend. It does get scary when I can’t find the exact answer / thing I need to learn in order to implement something specific on the internet, hence why I caved initially and got a freelancer. Then again… I havent even asked my first own question on Stackoverflow yet, so maybe i shouldve done that instead of jumping for a “professional” to help me.
For me back-end dev feels natural whereas front-end things drive me crazy. I’m lucky that Flo feels the opposite.
It must be extremely difficult to do it on your own, I don’t know if I could so kudos to you, keep it up!!
Ahh thank you for the encouragement! Im definitely… trying ahahaha.
I know right I have redid the first 10 lessons of module 2 2 times now. But I literally completed every single challenge in module 1 so easily ( including the last one and the first one where you had to build the war card game UI ).
I’m glad you felt the same way!! I dont feel like a total idiot now :'D
Yea, there’s a definitely a difficulty spike, but don’t panic! The more you do it, the less you get overwhelmed with those ‘what is happening?!’ moments and it just becomes something you know you’ll get eventually. As you progress, you’ll see the same things that confused you before again, and when you see it written over and over a few times, it’ll eventually sort of sink in. Sorta hahaha!!
But also everyone here is super nice, so getting help is never an issue!
Yeah true. One thing I like about the course is that you are actually learning how to code. It is kinda weird that when you watch the video you feel like you already know the concept but when you attempt the challenge you have to rewatch the video all over again with a renewed sense of attention
Yeah, it puts to test these concepts! I run into that so much on my own. That’s why I love these classes, so much
What back-end stuff confuses you? Where do you feel your code has weaknesses? You have a strong community here. You can always post any issues that come up 
The back-end stuff is normally easier for me, while the designs are a weaker point. If it has to do with the database layout/ design, you might want to make a schema for that separately, or model how your data works in Excel. I saw the Excel method used in this YouTuber’s quest to make an app a business in the third video around the 11:27 mark. @mikaelacaron told me about this Creator View Chronicles series, where he gives the overview of his app’s launch.
UPDATE:
Still working on this app. I have since found a partner and we are working together to get this onto the Apple app store!
I think we’re nearing a state where we can start beta-testing the app, even though personally I feel like it’s not at a “presentable” state. Things are working as intended: You can upload posts, tag posts, filter posts, view other user’s posts, all ordered by location, you can offer trades, message users and you can receive notifications when you are offered a trade. It’s all “workable” but I definitely feel as though there’s a lack of polish and… well there’s just something missing! Perhaps animations to make the whole thing feel complete and actually ‘fun’ to use?
There’s also one more key feature that we’ve been scratching our heads over. We wanted to include some sort of “scoring” system on the app, where on every user’s profile there is a number displayed. The number increases the more the user uses the app or when they do specific actions, like creating a post, or accepting a trade, etc. Sort of like Snapchat’s Snapscore on their app. We’re kind of scratching our heads at this… if anyone has any idea how we could tackle this last obstacle I would love to hear from you!
Overall, I think we’re nearing the finish line. At least, the first usable state of the app. To be honest it feels a little overwhelming. The closer it is to the end, the more faults and errors and general lack of polish I see - and the more I feel like we should push back and delay. I feel like I’m stuck between: “This is only the first build, and besides people will know that it’s just a beta test and not the final product. You’ve done what you can and now it’s time to just get some feedback and keep making improvements.” & “This is the first time people will see what you’re doing, so you gotta make a grand entrance and WOW them!”
In any case, I think I’m just going to swallow my fear of having this flop and do my best to get it in the hands of people asap. It’s been a long time coming!
Hey man,
First of all much respect to you for all your progress and reaching that point!! That’s amazing!!
You’re ahead of me, but still if I may offer my 2 cents
Use the app with your mind open, and try to picture what cool effects could happen every time you do something. Animations for data updates are really cool. If you need some inspiration, definitely check out Kavsoft’s YouTube channel! Also, padding goes a long way. I personally find there’s not enough padding more often than there’s too much of it haha
I have kind of a simple way to see it, but because all user interactions are not worth the same, I would each give them a “scoring weight”. For illustration:
And you store the sum somewhere on your Database. Be mindful to tweak the weight scoring system to reflect the singular value of each “operation”, as well as the orders of magnitude you want people’s scores to reach. Would you consider a user having 1k points a lot? 20k points? What are the implications in your app for having a great score?
On the back-end side, are you using Firebase? For an MVP I’d simply store the number on the user’s document and increment it from the front-end SDKs. For the App Store I’d try to store this number on a secured document and increment the number with Cloud Functions.
Only a user can do something that increments their own score right? In that case you should never reach the writes per second per document limit so that should be fine.
If you don’t know yet how to increment a number on Firebase, you should start with this post 
My gosh, that’s so relatable. I feel the same way. Honestly both those answers make sense to me, only you can make that decision.
Keep it up, it’s inspiring to read your journey!
SHIP IT TO BETA!!!
There is no point in building something, if you build a product that people don’t want. Get feedback early!
Your app must solve some kind of pain point the user has, that’s how any business succeeds
Your users will also feel closer to the product when they can make recommendations and see you implement those features
Further than you?! I refuse to believe it! 
Even if that’s the case, I’m sure your understanding and mastery far exceeds mine. I still have no idea what I’m doing half the time.
On the back-end side, are you using Firebase? For an MVP I’d simply store the number on the user’s document and increment it from the front-end SDKs. For the App Store I’d try to store this number on a secured document and increment the number with Cloud Functions.
Only a user can do something that increments their own score right? In that case you should never reach the writes per second per document limit so that should be fine.
If you don’t know yet how to increment a number on Firebase, you should start with this post
Oh thank you so much!! We are indeed using Firebase and my partner ended up figuring it out while I kept on polishing the app haha - but ill definitely check out your linked post. I need… to learn more… ahaha.
And yea, your suggestion on the scoring weight is basically exactly what we did haha. Every action increments the score differently.
My gosh, that’s so relatable. I feel the same way. Honestly both those answers make sense to me, only you can make that decision.
Keep it up, it’s inspiring to read your journey!
Thank you so much!! Hopefully we’ll be able to test out both of apps to each other soon!
Yesss!!
I ended up getting some close friends in on it already.
It’s absolutely not done, but the core features are there…
And I think there’s a paint point. However, I’m only going off of personal experience i.e it’s a personal pain point I experience, so I’m just hoping that there are others who feel the same way.
I have a twitter account for my app already and it seems like there are people who like the idea!! So… HOPING FOR THE BEST!!
https://twitter.com/_PlantTrader_
Where’s the download link on the App Store?? Been three months, hoping it’s moved out of beta 
