Bruno Arias Jimenez

Self-taught iOS Developer | Documenting my journey from Business Administrator to iOS dev #100DaysOfSwiftUI | Building UI components and automation tools.

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@168888888888888 I really like the 'trend' concept with a sparkline! However, since this is a purely time-based focus timer (e.g. 'Study 60 mins'), time flows linearly. There’s no pace to track here. The % and progress bar just give you the satisfaction of completing your focused time block.

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

Designing a popover for a macOS menu bar app is tricky. You want it clean, but full of data.

I’m building a stopwatch where clicking it reveals this UI to track your actual goal completion %

Devs & designers: how does this UI feel to you?

#SwiftUI #macOSDev #BuildInPublic

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@buildwithsubhan "Small surfaces punish clutter fast." Going straight into my design notes. I'm reworking the first view so it's just the timer and goal progress, with the laps one tap away. Thanks for the advice, Subhan

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@AdFlow_ps That 'one number at a glance' rule makes perfect sense for menu bar apps. It's so easy to cram too much data into the popover. I'm going to redesign it so the goal % takes center stage and the rest collapses. Really helpful, thanks.

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@FaithfulGodwinC Appreciate the feedback! I've been building these neumorphic components from scratch. Contrast and font weights are definitely the next thing on my list to polish. Glad the overall flow works for you!

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@iamvishal16_ios Such a solid point! If the Goal % is the only thing shouting, would you hide the lap times behind a simple toggle icon, or just make the whole section tappable to expand? 🤔

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@Gollum0x58577 Thanks! You're right about the lap times feeling a bit dense next to the bar. Adding a hover state sounds like the perfect fix.

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

I was looking for a small animation to make my macOS timer feel less boring.

Then I thought: “Wait… I already have an advanced metallic T-Rex”

So Rexy is getting a new job.

3 states ready. Figuring out how to bring him to life up in the menu bar!

#indiedev #macOS #SwiftUI

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@josephmiclaus If there is, Apple is hiding it really well! I tried every .frame() and layout modifier before giving up.

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

Building a menu bar timer in SwiftUI? Watch out.

MenuBarExtra ignores .frame(). Fast updating text constantly resizes, pushing all your other menu icons around.

The fix? Drop down to AppKit and use NSStatusItem(withLength:)
#macOSdev #SwiftUI #buildinpublic
Before vs After 👇

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@nandanpri Exactly! 100%. It's like a rite of passage for macOS devs at this point. The AppKit workaround is a total lifesaver.

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

If you want to implement this, you have to ditch MenuBarExtra and set up a classic AppDelegate.

Here is the snippet reserving that strict 75px block using AppKit so the macOS system respects the layout. No more bouncy icons.

#macOS #indiedev

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@Shubham_iosdev I liked the first animation

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@leejihoondd I'm updating it every 0.1s right now. I'm using a monospaced font for the time, so I haven't noticed the width jumping. I actually didn't know that was a common clock UI problem 😅 I might switch to .monospacedDigit() though.

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

Tried a bunch of App Store apps, but none fit my "methodical study pace".
So I started building my own macOS stopwatch!

The idea: keep elapsed time visible in the menu bar so I don't lose focus.

Still a work in progress. ⏱️
#buildinpublic #SwiftUI #macOSdev #indiedev #macOS

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@Altawesomeee Glad I could save you from that subscription! The native tools are surprisingly powerful once you dig into them. Let me know how the .atlas approach works out for your next UI pass!

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

No third-party tools needed for sprite animations. I almost paid for Texture Packer, but Xcode handles this natively for free. Drop your image frames into an `.atlas` folder and SpriteKit does the rest.
A quick look at his annoyed motion! 👇
#buildinpublic #iosdev #macdev #swift

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

Here's how it's structured under the hood.

Organizing states into native .atlas folders kept it clean. Combining that with a custom DialogueEngine & breaking behaviors into extensions (RexScene+Behaviors) was a game changer for readability.

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@Altawesomeee Honestly, as a beginner, it took me a solid 3-4 hours just to dial in the rotation math! 😅 Then I spent another 2 hours on the UI polish. It was definitely a lot of trial and error with the parameters until it finally felt smooth and not janky.

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

Trigonometry in UI design is so satisfying.

I’m building this app in #SwiftUI using sin/cos for the circular motion. Removing image backgrounds ( macOS native tools!) made the whole thing feel 10x more premium. Getting closer to a "vendible" app
#buildinpublic #iosdev #uidesign

[Bruno Arias Jimenez @arias_bruno_]

@kt4_12 Absolutely! Just followed you back. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.