My first iOS app

Ever since I got my first iPhone (a white 3G) I’ve wanted to build my own iOS app. I tried a few times and even got quite far, but I never ended up shipping anything to the App Store. Last month I decided to finally change that. I got back into SwiftUI, and while my original app idea turned into a side quest (which itself became overly complicated), I realized the best approach was to just build something simple. Not wait until iOS 26 is out, just build something I wanted, and see what it takes to get it into the App Store.

It took me about 10 days, but here it is: PeekCard

PeekCard

The primary goal was to store loyalty card barcodes so I could show them on my home screen via a widget. I know plenty of apps already do this, but I didn’t want one that bombards me with ads or harvests my data.

While building PeekCard, it quickly became more than just scanning a simple 1D barcode. The app supports most 1D and 2D barcodes, lets you edit the data, and even convert between barcode types. For example, if you want to know what URL is hidden in a QR code, you can scan it, inspect it, change it, and generate a new QR code to share; even via a home screen widget. Or if you’ve ever wondered what’s inside that complex barcode on your parcel, now you can just scan and see.

You can find the app in the App Store or on its landing page.

Now I can finally go back to working on my original app idea 😎.