4 Years of Swift and I [the journey so far]

October 16, 2021 | A random Saturday afternoon

The weekends are the days I try to make the most out of. The weekdays go by with long commutes back and forth to school, assignments, exams, and occasional school projects. Saturday and Sunday are reserved for my personal projects, showcasing what I have worked on, and learning new things. All this was possible because my uncle visits us almost every weekend, and he always has his portable Wi-Fi router with him when he is around. Otherwise, I wouldn’t do much with the campus network because I used to hate staying at uni for long.

I was at my desk doing things that I don’t vividly remember when a LinkedIn message pops up on my phone. The message reads:

Hi Yohannes

Just wondering, can you send me your phone number.

I would like to talk to you a potential opportunity.

thank you

I immediately sent the person my phone number. They called right away. It was an offer to help them with their side quest as an iOS developer. But there was a problem. In fact, it was a big problem. I don’t know how to build iOS apps. No, no, I don’t have a MacBook to build apps for the iPhone. No, no, I only knew C++, Java, C#, and a little bit of Python and JavaScript at the time. Oh, I forgot. I was just on my semester break right before 3rd year of BSc. in Information Systems at Addis Ababa University.

The person insisted that they would help me learn the basics of iOS development if I am willing to take on the challenge. And I was curious to see how far this help may go, because I barely had the skills, tools, and timing to get started in a real job. They promised to subscribe to my internet, bring a MacBook for work, and buy me courses to get me started in Swift and iOS development. Well, they also gave me a chance to think about it before deciding.

It was an interesting offer to ignore or hesitate on. I agreed to be their partner in crime (building stuff).

My first “Hello, world!” with Swift on Coding Rooms

For the next two months, I was learning Swift from Kodeco (at the time it was called raywenderlich.com) and compiling my code on Coding Rooms (https://app.codingrooms.com).

November 2021

They got me and my friend MacBook Air M1 (8 GB Memory, 256 GB SSD).

The next months were filled with excitement and passion towards iOS development, because we started building demo apps and personal projects with UIKit. SwiftUI was a year or two old back in 2021.

In a few months, the company (now has 15+ members) won a project, and we all started working on our first professional/commercial app. Kemer Habesha became my second family. I started learning a lot. The imposter syndrome was crippling, but everyone in the company was supportive and inspiring.

What started as a part-time thing grew into a full-time commitment once my friends and I graduated. We shipped 3 iOS/Android apps. We deployed numerous web apps. Kemer Habesha became an entity in January 2022 and still houses sharp developers and has an incredible track record of alumni.

Kemer Habesha’s Projects

Beyond Kemer Habesha

One thing I am proud of is that I documented the entire journey on my social media presence, and it is way easier to look back in time and appreciate the journey.

May 2023

I found a gig and worked on a sleep tracking SDK and POC app development. I had to learn how to build frameworks with XCFramework and distribute them using Swift Package Manager. It was tough, but one of the best times in my entire career-building journey, because everything I discovered then still helps me.

At Kemer Habesha, I got promoted to become a project manager and oversee a portfolio of projects and teams. But I still contribute to the codebase.

2024

This year was filled with opportunities to work on legacy code. A specific kind of legacy code… taxi-hailing apps.

Big 2025

Desk setup

Got hired by a German-based company as a Senior iOS Engineer with an hourly rate of $20.

September 2025

I am doing interviews for iOS developer roles and investing much of my time in learning SwiftUI.

Footnote

I am extremely grateful for every little step I took to reach this point and am always delighted when I think of the people who helped me through this. Much of my love and respect goes to Kemer Habesha, its management team, and my previous and current colleagues. I would also like to thank everyone who has vouched for my name and helped me get opportunities by mentioning me on job posts, referring gigs to me, and recommending my name.

You can find all my socials here: https://jami.bio/yohanneshaile