I'm very happy to announce Runtime, a simple run tracking app designed for iOS 7 and optimized for the iPhone 5s.

It was a busy summer for me (as I imagine it was for many iOS developers). In between WWDC and the launch of iOS 7 I also took some time off to hike the John Muir Trail. I haven't had time to write about the trip yet, but don't worry. I will soon. In the mean time, there are plenty of pictures up on 500px.

But really this summer was all about iOS 7. A lot of us spent the summer speculating on how iOS 7 would be received and how developers would adapt to it. Well, we don't have to speculate any more. Many apps have been updated and today Apple released new versions of many of their apps as well.

As I spent time talking to people about iOS 7, writing about it both here and for Mutual Mobile, and using the beta versions I couldn't help but want to get started building something with it. I saw iOS 7 as the opportunity to build better products for our users. I wanted to put that feeling to the test by actually building something with it. Runtime is the result of that experiment.

I intend to write a lot over the next few weeks about the process of building Runtime. I'll write about both the product and engineering side of the development process. Part of the motivation for building Runtime was to learn as many of the new APIs in iOS 7 as quickly as possible. I've always learned better by doing, and so using all of the new tools to build a product was the best way for me to learn. I'm looking forward to writing about my experiences with those APIs, especially the updates to MapKit, CoreMotion, and CoreLocation.

What I will say for now is that iOS 7 has been an absolute joy to develop for. The decision to go iOS 7 only for a new product was a very easy one. iOS 7 now has 64% share of the iOS install base. Thats a huge market for the delightful experiences we can build with it.

Runtime is in its final round of testing and should be ready soon. I can't wait to show it to you.