The Mac App Store

I was one of two engineers who built the Mac App Store client app. We achieved over 1 million downloads in the first 24 hours without issue. As engineering manager I oversaw a small team that shipped automatic app updates, In-App Purchase, and the first over-the-internet OS upgrades.

We now take automatic app and simple OS updates for granted, but I got to play a key role in the transition to making that normal. The iOS app store launched first and that smoothed major parts of the path, but OS X is by nature a different OS and had a decade of legacy. OS X apps at the time weren't designed to be terminated at any moment. Users can move apps or make copies, even between computers. We also had to be rigorous about memory and storage, not eating user hard drive space and downloading quietly in the background.

It was an extremely cross-functional role, something I loved. Not only did I coordinate with many other store related teams (iTunes, Books, the iOS App store) and OS X teams for deep integrations (Installer, Dock, launchd) but also managers of Apple apps that shipped through the store and program teams who wanted to coordinate how their big announcement would show in the store. For one promotion, I coordinated with factory teams so that customers received free access to certain apps with new hardware purchases.

Apple was a formative experience and I'm grateful for my years on IL.