PSA: My side projects, time, and platforms
Announcements like this one are never easy, not for me and also not for others. In order to get stuff finished and done, I have to streamline my efforts when it comes to my side projects, though.
A list of my current side projects
I have quite a few projects running at the moment. Some are already released, others are not even close to release. Here is a list of the stuff I am working on:
- #CASBAN6 – A serverless blog engine in .NET (6)
- FishingKnots +
- A reader app for this site (MSicc’s Blog)
- A runner’s tools application (details to be announced)
- A Fediverse (desktop first) application (details to be announced)
- Learning the Swift programming language
- msiccdev.net – ASP.NET CORE website for my apps
I will have a look at each of the projects and their future below.
#CASBAN6
The serverless blog engine series was thought to be a learning series for me and also my followers. The raw blogging engine (database and API) are finished and working (See the #CASBAN6 posts on this blog). The next step would be to create a website for both administering and also consuming the blog.
We have learned already a lot, but at this time, I will freeze the project. I do not know when and if it will be continued as of today. I will also shut down the current used Azure resources to save some money.
FishingKnots +
My FishingKnots + application is the reason I became a software developer. It started all back in the days of Windows Phone 7 (2011), and I want to keep this app alive on at least one platform. As I am now at home in the Apple ecosystem, the platform choice is easy to guess.
Android is a mixed bag, and I need to update all of my apps to meet the new Play Store rules (API level and so on). As I have no incentive besides seeing my apps in the Play Store, I will remove this app from the Play Store and stop its further development.
Blog reader app
The blog reader app for my personal blog was intended to serve as a demo project for my WordPressReader library. The app itself has very low download numbers on all platforms. Most user’s read my posts on the web or in their feed reader application. I will pull the app from both the App Store and the Play Store. I invested a little in making my blog better on the web (which you may have noticed already). Additionally, I will also shut down the Azure NotificationHub that is empowering the push notifications in that app.
Runner’s tools app
As I finally became a non-smoker about 2 and a half years ago, I immediately restarted with sport activities. I ended up to fall in love with running as my principal sport. I have written a small but helpful app which has some nice features I need. Originally, I started with .NET. Due to the fact the app isn’t overly complex, I will port it to the Swift language and release it to the App Store then. This will be one of the projects I am focusing on from now on.
Fediverse desktop app
I am currently working on a .NET MAUI desktop app that incorporates traditional social media and the Fediverse. If you remember my past with UniShare on the Windows platforms, you may have a direction what that app is for. The app will be in the Mac App Store and the Microsoft Store on Windows. If it will ever come to mobile, it will be iOS/iPadOS only. More details will be announced soon.
Learning Swift
During my summer holidays this year, I started to learn the Swift programming language. As I wrote already above, I will soon work on my first app that is written completely in Apple’s native programming language.
msiccdev.net
There will be one remaining web project that I actively work on. The website for msiccdev.net where I showcase my apps will be my ASP.NET (Core) project to keep up to date in that area. The current status of the website is work in progress.
The future of Android
As I wrote already above, I have little to no incentive of having my app in the Google Play Store. As the time for my side projects is limited, and I do not use Android in the foreseeable future, I will pull all of my apps out of the store and stop their development. I am considering to port SimpleLeet over to iOS and the Mac as another Swift project once I am done with the other two projects.
Blogging focus
I will keep blogging about my experiences, no matter which platform they occur on. You will continue to see blogs about tools, .NET, .NET MAUI (and Xamarin), but also Web/Cloud stuff and additionally, I will be blogging on my experiences with Swift. It will still be interesting and helpful to follow my posts!
Until the next post, happy coding, everyone!
Title Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay