Why It’s so Difficult to Retain Talented App Developers
Engineering talent is often difficult to find, and even trickier to retain. Even as engineering salaries range into the hundreds of thousands, the dramatic shortage of educated and reliable talent leaves many companies fighting for top AI app developers with perks that go far beyond Ping-Pong tables and free meals. While most Americans struggle to make […]
Ignoring Tech Education for Generation Z Is a Mistake
America has a tech education problem. According to government reports, over a million tech positions went unfilled in 2015, forcing many companies to outsource or bring in outside help rather than hire locally and participate in their local economy. Meanwhile, the average salary for technical code-centric careers like mobile app development hover between $90,000—$100,000. Multiply […]
Microsoft the Latest Tech Titan to Enter the VR Space
Virtual reality (VR) is a hot topic among mobile app developers these days. We’ve lead panels on the technology with investors worldwide and seen some of the latest and greatest new technology at SXSW. Now, even Microsoft is getting into the VR game through the aggressive expansion of HoloLens, their “mixed reality” headset. Microsoft’s device […]
Why Experience Is the Least Important Trait for Tech Teams
Building a team is no easy feat, especially for a scrappy startup with short industry traction and limited funding. Even at big companies like Facebook, hiring takes up an enormous part of leadership’s time. The reason for this is simple: startups are an emotional rollercoaster for early team members, so it’s critical that they are […]
Why STEM Education Matters for the Future of US Tech
Computer science and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education are something we feel very strongly about at Dogtown Media. Many members of our mobile app development team are involved in tech education advocacy — our CEO Marc Fischer even teaches app development at Santa Monica college, and has spoken to student groups on the […]
How to Build Secure Mobile Apps That Keep User Data Safe
VR may have ruled the product side of this year’s SXSW Interactive, but security was the public issue most on the minds of iPhone app developers. The recent Apple vs. FBI court case over encryption very much drew security to center stage, with President Obama commenting that “this notion that somehow our data is different […]
Virtual Reality Is Here. What Does That Mean for Developers?
SXSW Interactive is unpredictable. The eclectic mix of startups, brands, corporations, app developers, and media changes every year, with the only constant being a sense of playful innovation. One other thing that never changes, though, is the tendency for what’s trendy at SXSW to become trendy with the general public within the year. (Think Twitter, […]
What Is a Minimum Viable Product in Mobile App Development?
One of the defining characteristics of startups is that they seek to capitalize on new market needs rather than replicate old ones. In other words, the goal is to innovate. If all goes well, your idea disrupts the less-than-perfect solutions that exist for daily problems we all face in banking, health, transportation, entertainment, and every […]
Facebook Mobile App Developers Re-Prioritize your Feed
Tired of dodging clickbait traps while you scroll through your Facebook feed on the subway? So are the app developers at Facebook, who’ve been experimenting for months with new ways to prioritize the stories you see when you open the ubiquitous Facebook mobile app. To date, it’s mostly been a process of tracking likes and […]
Apple Updates GarageBand App With Innovative New Features
Apple’s iPhone and iPad app developers released a big update to their GarageBand iOS app recently, and the new features could potentially draw the oft-belittled software suite into the limelight — particularly for electronic artists, who will find the new features much more aligned with digital music creation. Garageband has long been familiar to anybody […]