January 2017 marks the tenth anniversary of being an independent developer. It all started in August 2006, when I got laid off by my employer and found another job that turned out to be very bad for me. So bad that I thought I would end up with a nervous breakdown so I had to do something about it.
I resigned later in December, took a few weeks off during the holidays and started being my own boss in January 2007. Then a few weeks later the iPhone was announced.
I still had to work as a contracting web developer, which I hated but not as much as that last job. It wasn’t up until April 2008, when my application to the Apple Developer Program was approved, that I could finally do what I wanted: make my own apps.
I was able to release two apps for the July 11 App Store launch and since then, I’ve been very fortunate to do what I love. Every year brings its challenges but I wouldn’t be doing anything else.