With Apple being the market leader in the world of tech products, there is a high investment in research and development. This makes the earning potential of developers proficient in iOS significantly higher than that of their counterparts. Even today, the industry availability of iOS developers is less than their demand, making things even better for the developers.
Now in any organization working on iOS, there will be different roles available for developers. This article explores some of the highest paying jobs and the technical skills and professional experience needed to bag those roles.
Swift Developer
Swift has been an essential tool on which Apple is banking to lead it forward. Swift gives developers a lot of flexibility in coding, and people proficient in this have the right place in the job market. Basic understanding of the Swift programming language and the coding background will make you eligible for jobs in this field.
In fact, in today’s market, traditional Objective C developers are hired only to work on legacy iOS programs. There is nothing much to explore here besides working on codes that have been handed down by several developers. Swift developers, on the other hand, work on the more challenging and innovative aspects of iOS developmental projects.
Senior iOS Developer
In the necessary sense of coding, every developer working on the iOS platform has the same skill set. It is the understanding of complex concepts that makes one eligible for the role of a senior developer. For example, most iOS developers are well versed with ideas like the main thread and background thread.
As a senior developer, you are expected to go beyond that and have a thorough understanding of GCD (Grand Central Dispatch). That way, you will be able to understand the working of iOS concurrency under the hood and guide your team of developers as and when they need it.
This role requires both technical as well as managerial skills and comes with excellent monetary compensation.
iOS Database Architect
The iOS platform is one of the most dynamic and comes with a host of database options such as Mongo DB and Realm. Core data, Firebase, and SQLite are some of the other standard options.
Knowing how to prioritize factors like storage, server type, and build parameters and find an optimization between efficiency and cost is a Herculean task.
Developers who are an expert in this are an asset to the organization and are suitably rewarded. The technical challenge of this role is that one needs to be proficient in the various database architectures and core iOS coding to be eligible for this position.
Unit Tester Lead
In any significant iOS developmental project, you will have multiple developers involved. Often, it may be that such developers will end up submitting their codes concurrently because of the short deadline (or large magnitude) of work.
Such concurrent submissions are bound to take a toll on the functionality at some point, and by then, it may be too late to rectify.
A unit tester must prepare for such situations by creating test suits. The test suits should be such that it tests the functionality of an iOS app at different stages of work and thereby prevents any major mishap.
Because of the criticality of the work, every team has a high level of dependency on the unit tester, and such professionals are paid well.
Xcode developer
Most iOS development projects use Xcode as the preferred integrated development environment (IDE) mode. While most developers do have a basic understanding of Xcode, knowing the advanced features (particularly expertise in the debugging features needed to measure an app’s performance effectively) will make you eligible for the role of an Xcode developer.
While for most people, it takes years of industry experience to gain expertise in the field certification gives you an edge over your peers when competing for the high-paying Xcode developer positions. This is why, on any given day, you will find lesser developers applying for Xcode expert position compared to the number of ruby on rails developers for hire.
iOS UI Developer Architect
For any app, its user interface (UI) is its representation to potential users, and the better the UI, the higher the chances of the app being a success. It is due to the importance of this role in the app development lifecycle that UI developers are very highly paid.
In the world of iOS, there are some easy shortcuts (in the form of storyboards and interface builders).
To take a call on whether to go for the automated interface builders or to program the UI manually, one needs to have a good understanding of both the concepts.
While some organizations prefer to go for either of those, others like to combine automated UI with coded UI to create unique apps that will leave an impression in the market.
The Design Developer Lead
As an iOS expert, identifying which design elements can be coded in Swift and which require the use of a graphic asset (developed with assistance from a designer) is of utmost importance.
When you code it, the image loads faster on the screen. However, it is not possible to obtain sophisticated graphics just by programming.
A thorough understanding of the UIKit elements will enable developers to know their scope of work. This will allow them to find an optimization between hiring an external designer to get high-quality graphic work and using programming to ensure that results load faster.
As this role involves decision making that impacts not just the outcome of the app but also the company’s finances, it is highly rewarding from a monetary aspect.
As Apple continues to be one of the few tech companies investing a significant part of its revenue on research and development work, iOS development’s future looks promising.
With the appropriate knowledge, experience, and upskilling, the sky is the limit when talking of earning potential. The above job roles and the high pay packages associated with them clearly illustrate the same.
