iOS Dev Tools is introducing a new series of posts where developers share what their daily workspace looks like.
The format is pretty simple. Along with photos of their workspace, we ask participants to share:
- Gadgets or devices that help them in their daily work
- Applications or tools that make development faster and more efficient
Our first guest is Natalia Panferova.
She is an iOS and macOS developer based in New Zealand and a co-founder of the software development company “Nil Coalescing”.
Natalia works on her own apps and occasionally takes on contract and consulting work. She’s also a content creator and author: she runs a technical blog, writes and self-publishes books for Swift developers, and recently launched a YouTube channel covering various topics related to building apps for Apple platforms.
What’s your workspace like?
What devices and gadgets do you use in your daily work?
For my daily work, I like to use my MacBook Air since it’s easy to carry around the house or take to a café. I also have a Mac Studio with a Studio Display for when I need a larger screen or more processing power than the Air can handle.
In terms of test devices, I have an iPad Pro (11-inch, 3rd generation) and a new iPhone 17 Pro in Cosmic Orange. I also kept my old iPhone 12 mostly for testing my apps on iOS betas.
What applications and tools do you use?
I don’t rely on many setup tools beyond the essentials. I use Xcode for development, GitUp as my Git client, and Sketch for creating graphics for my blog and books.
What AI tools (IDE, CLI, Skills) are you using?
I use ChatGPT and Gemini for brainstorming, mostly; I don’t use AI for coding.
Where can people find more about you?
I regularly share my iOS, macOS, and Swift learnings on my blog.
For more in-depth and structured content, I’ve written several books on Swift and SwiftUI. Integrating SwiftUI into UIKit Apps is a guide for integrating SwiftUI into existing UIKit projects.
Swift Gems focuses on advanced Swift techniques that can be applied across all platforms. And my most recent SwiftUI Fundamentals book helps developers strengthen their understanding of the framework, drawing on my experience contributing to it at Apple.
I’ve also been making YouTube videos where I share short, focused tips and techniques for building iOS apps.
