Aaron Brethorst

Overview

I recently delivered a pair of iPhone applications to Canonical, Ltd., the makers of Ubuntu Linux and the Ubuntu One online service.

Canonical’s Ubuntu One team wanted an iPhone developer with a proven track record to help them ship a pair of iPhone apps on a tight deadline: a twelve week schedule coinciding with the release of Ubuntu Linux 10.10.

Long story short: I delivered the apps on time and on budget.

Ubuntu One Contacts

This is a contact synchronization app that performs two-way syncs from your Ubuntu One contacts repository to your iPhone’s address book and vice-versa.

The application was an update from the existing Funambol Mobile sync client. I ripped out thousands of lines of unnecessary code and delivered a streamlined, visually much-improved user experience.

Ubuntu One Music Streaming

This is a streaming music application that lets you play MP3s stored in your Ubuntu One files repository on the go.

Here, I took an early version of the iSub Subsonic music streaming client for iPhone and rewrote over 80% of the app:

• New XML parsers
• New user interface
• Monolithic ball-of-mud anti-pattern replaced with a collection of singleton objects with clearly defined responsibilities
• Completely redesigned user interface

Like many Canonical projects, the source code for both of these applications is freely available. Feel free to check out my work by visiting my Launchpad repository.