Rudrank's Dispatch: The World Outside of My Bubble.

Singapore was the third country I visited after the United States and Estonia last year in January.

It felt unreal.

Tall, beautiful buildings, mesmerising views, and delicious food from different cultures.

I loved that country. But. I felt money flowing from my credit card. Everything was expensive, from the cab to the food to the hotel. I was coming from a developing country where I could get a decent lunch for $5; getting just a coffee and croissant for $10 hit the wallet like a heist.

In January 2023, I promised myself I would not feel the same when I visited the country again next year. And, sigh, I did. This world outside my bubble probably requires me to be a millionaire to feel comfortable spending dollars.

Pre-Conference Experience of iOS Conf SG

I am still writing about my experience at the first conference of the year, but I realised early that it would be around 3000-4000 words and may end up in my draft's graveyard.

Instead, I divided the post into pre-conference, day 1 and day 2. Here's my pre-conference experience!

Exploring Conferences: iOS Conf SG 2024, Pre-Conference

After attending many conferences, I have realised it is better to arrive a few days earlier than the conference to battle jet lag, even if it is a few hours of time difference. After an exhausting experience of travelling to San Jose last year, and barely being able to talk

RudrankRudrank Riyam

Release of Apple Vision Pro

Finally, Apple Vision Pro is arriving on the 2nd of February to the lucky people in the US and those who can travel to the US and get it from there or are rich enough to get it shipped to their country!

I am excited to try the device in real life at the Apple Vision Pro labs in Singapore in a few days. 🕶️

I feel lost when I work with the app in the simulator, and it is a pity to get a music app working on a simulator because you cannot. Experiencing my app in a spatialised environment should motivate me enough to start writing about it—a lot about it.

Articles

I stumbled upon this post by Jordan, and I loved reading a non-technical post. A breath of fresh air.

"But the truth is, there is no better time to be happy other than right now."

Happy When?

Indie development is about having a strong mental game as much as it is strong development skills.

Jordan MorganJordan Morgan

Sponsor

A shoutout to RevenueCat for sponsoring the website and this newsletter! I have been an unofficial advocate since 2020, using it for personal and client apps. 

Their latest feature, Paywalls, helps you add paywalls in one line of code. I already used it at work, making it much quicker to iterate, edit, remotely configure and test your app's paywalls!

Quote of the Week

While I do not have a quote out of a book this time, I read this line in one of the presentations at the conference that stills is at the back of my mind.

You cannot pour from an empty cup.

The line is open to interpretation, but I feel that it means that you cannot give love to others if you do not love yourself in the first place. The friendships, relationships, and everything in between will feel empty because you are hollow yourself.

Conclusion

It was an exhausting month, but I am still looking forward to a better February. I hope you had an amazing January!