Hi HN. I'm an early career iOS dev at BigCo in SF, considering finding a new job in web. I'm hoping some more experienced devs from either side could weigh in.

My thinking goes something like this:

// Vaguely pro-web

1) My long term goal is to acquire the skills that best enable me to execute my own ideas. It seems like more ideas lend themselves to web than to apps. The app goldrush is over. Web may be a more versatile skillset.

2) Jumping to web should allow me to learn more fullstack/backend - skills I currently lack.

3) I love Swift (truly), but I'm not an Apple fanboy. It seems like you must live and breathe the Cocoa APIs to truly excel as an iOS dev.

// Vaguely pro-mobile

4) Web seems like the wild west. JS framework churn is still everpresent. It seems like best practices haven't solidified. It feels like anything goes.

5) In iOS, I encounter software engineering problems and grapple with difficult design questions daily, and grow as a result. So far my experience with web has felt more like gluing shit together. Am I going to grow as much in web? Will I become bored?

6) The web job market in SF seems more saturated than mobile. I sense that good mobile devs are highly sought after, and probably paid more. I don't have hard data to back this up.

7) I see lots of people switching from web -> mobile, not the other way around. I'm not sure why this is but it gives me pause.

Finally, there's the cost of retooling. I'm not a total web noob (some React/Redux/JS/TS experience), but I'm not an expert, so a switch would come as a cost.

Even better, if anybody has a compelling framework to think about these kinds of career decisions, I would love to hear about it.

1.	Ask HN: Should I focus on mobile or web in 2019? 3 points by zzaip 7 years ago \| 1 comment
2.	Ask HN: How do you decide when you've done enough work for the day? 288 points by zzaip 7 years ago \| 120 comments

user:	zzaip
created:	September 29, 2018
karma:	109