I’m Thomas Dohmke, I co-founded HockeyApp and now lead a team making mobile developer tools at Microsoft. I’m here with my colleague, Ryan J. Salva. Ask us anything!

Hi! How do you describe the cloud to non-developers? Also what new tech is your team most excited about? Thanks!

Hm, good question. Depends how much the person knows about technology. I guess I would say something like: It's a lot of computers in a lot of factory buildings around the world, where companies can run their web pages and web apps. Those computers are owned and maintained by a company like Microsoft, which offers all kinds of services in addition to just the hardware.

Technology: AI/AR/VR is very exciting. On a day-to-day level, we do a lot of stuff in Node.js, React, React Native, and all kinds of container technology like Docker.

So...why did you name it "HockeyApp"? It has nothing to do with hockey, I was confused.

Haha, I had to answer this question so many times over the years. :D

Our product started as an open-source project named "Hockey" which allowed you to install iOS beta apps on your iPhone (that's all it did, no crash reporting, no Android, etc). Apple calls this installation process ad-hoc distribution. The name "Hockey" was a word play on the Hoc in ad-hoc distribution and the word key. When we launched the HockeyApp in spring 2011, the open-source project had already gained traction in the community, so we kept the name and added App at the end.

Would I do it again? Maybe. Some people were and are confused as it has nothing to do with the sport, but then it enabled us to do all kinds of cute things, for example Our Mac app has a Zamboni icon and in 2015 we were sending out real pucks to product fans (https://www.hockeyapp.net/blog/2015/11/24/score-a-free-puck.html), and once you remember the name, it's pretty unique.

1. What are some advices that you can give a junior developer that's just starting up? (what was your experience like starting up?)
2. Can you share your job/career experience?
3. They say do a lot of side projects. What are your experiences with that?

@1: Always keep learning (that's true for junior and senior developers), read blogs, new books (tech and non-tech), go to conferences, and ultimately find out what you love and don't love doing.

@2: Almost the same answer as #1. In big companies, you need to pick your battles wisely. You can't change things over night and you have only limited time, so focus on the most important things that you can influence. In a startup, the customer is everything. No matter if you are the CEO or a junior developer, always keep in touch with your customers and take their concerns very seriously.

@3: How many are "a lot"? ;) I always have some, but focus on the stuff I really love doing. You need to be able to let things go and be honest to yourself if a project had failed.

How long windows mobile be supported before noone buys anything but IOS and Android devices?

It is supported in HockeyApp and Mobile Center, and we have no plans to not support it. If you are asking how long the Windows Group will support it as an OS or launch new devices, then I don't honestly know.

Are there any exciting new features coming to the Analytics and Crashes API's that you can talk about?

Continuous export is coming for both Analytics and Crashes to Azure blog storage or Azure Application Insights. In Crashes, we will add Windows support, breadcrumbs (i.e. what happened before a crash), search, and handled exceptions. We are also bringing over the bug tracker integration from HockeyApp and more alerting features.

Are you working on any exciting projects right now?

My team & I are still working on HockeyApp and the next generation of it: Visual Studio Mobile Center - http://aka.ms/mobilecenter. We also own Xamarin Test Cloud, Xamarin Insights, Azure Notification Hubs, Azure Mobile Engagement, and CodePush (which is very cool if you do React Native stuff). All of those will become part of Mobile Center.

Have you guys been through an office hours review for office 365?

I don't know if it was called "office hours review", but we are constantly giving feedback to the Office teams.

It's a security and privacy compliance review you need to be in boundary for O365

We are part of Azure and as such our products are offered under Azure Online Service Terms, and are not part of Office 365.

Does HockeyApp have a end of life? It seems like Mobile Center will reach feature parity with HockeyApp soon. Which platform do you recommend on a new project?

The way it works is that at some point we will announce the end-of-life for HockeyApp, then you will have at least 12 months before the actual shutdown. This announcement has not happened yet and we are at least a few months away from it.

Today, HockeyApp is a stable service, while Mobile Center is in preview with limited terms, SLA (i.e. uptime guarantees), and support. Feel free to use Mobile Center for new projects, but for your production apps you should definitely stick with HockeyApp (unless the app is only a hobby project).

Oh, and after we have shut down HockeyApp, the old SDK will continue to work for much longer and forward the data to Mobile Center instead of HockeyApp. This way, your old builds will still be able to send telemetry.

Cordova has a bad name. Xamarin has issues.

Do you really see a unified mobile development platform happening?

Yes, I do think cross-platform development has a future. If you have issues with Xamarin, please report them to the Xamarin team - https://open.xamarin.com - they are eager to fix them and also accept pull requests.

I don't believe there will be a single winner. Developers want choice, whether it's the native languages - Objective-C, Swift, Java - or the cross-platform platforms - JavaScript through React Native / Cordova and C#/.NET through Xamarin, they have "product/market fit" and as long as the respective communities keep pushing, those tools will survive.

Why should I use HockeyApp over Testflight for an ios only app?

I wouldn't say it's an "either or", they both complement each other. HockeyApp is great if you want to quickly distribute a build to a small audience (like your own team or a small group of testers, especially if they have a technical background), to all employees of your company (with an in-house provisioning profile, which requires no UDID), and if you really have a high frequency of builds, like one on every commit. And HockeyApp supports multiple platforms (Android, iOS, macOS, and/or Windows), so you can manage all testers in one place.

TestFlight is great to pre-flight your store submission, when you want to check if you pass the Apple review, when you are close to the public launch, and to target a larger external audience.

What do you think and can you relate to the hit tv show known as Silicon Valley?

I haven’t seen it, not enough time for TV.

Are you looking at Fastlane and how that suite of tools greatly ease the overhead of provisioning and deploying apps? Specifically integrating these features into Visual Studio and more specifically with azure features like notification hubs and app services?

Yes, we are looking into Fastlane and recently launched two things: Fastlane integration in Visual Studio for Mac, see here: https://blog.xamarin.com/easy-ios-app-provisioning-fastlane-visual-studio-mac/

A fastlane plugin to upload builds to Mobile Center, see here: https://www.hockeyapp.net/blog/2017/06/06/mobile-center-fastlane.html

More is coming, stay tuned.

Hello! I am curious why was an ios version of HockeyApps was never created?

You mean a native app? We have one internally, but it would violate the App Store Guidelines which prevent apps that can install apps from other sources. Maybe this will change in the future.

Hey!

1. How many Microsoft workers actually use a ipad/Mac as opposed to a glorious Surface/book, for example? Why?

2. Is anything being done to help improve the app experience on Windows Phone? I absolutely hate iOS and Android, yet my WP (Win10, Lumia640XL) keeps letting me down over and over again, what with random app crashes, apps that simply refuse to open (I can deal with a "longish" load time, but not what seems to be stack overflow resulting in CTD).

3. Is there anything in the works to emulate Android/iOS apps on Win phones?

4. What about cloud based apps? Kinda like how office365 works - you can access and edit basic word/excel/ppt stuff online but .... how about say, accessing Mangafox or .... TempleRun online?

5. What happened to Photobeamer? It was absolutely fantastic as a service - just scan the QR code on your screen and your image would be beamed there.

@1: We have lots of developers that work on iOS and macOS apps, most of them use a Mac and have been doing so for a long time.

@2: I don’t know details, but the last insider build for mobile was released just yesterday.

@3/4/5: No idea, those things are driven by other teams.

Hi guys, congratulations on your success. Let's get real for a second, the Microsoft Store is a joke compared to the Itunes Store and Google Play:

• What is it going to take to bring high quality apps and business into the MS App environments?

I love MS and have been working out of Redmond for some time now, even got a Windows OS phone recently, but the third party offerings are just tragic. What keeps big companies from transferring their product to America's most ubiquitous platform?

Cheers.

I don't think there is one single recipe that will make the Windows Store successful. Microsoft needs patience, persistence, and continuous improvement as well as constantly engage with customers. At the Build conference, Terry Myerson announced that iTunes will be in the Windows Store later this year (Spotify is already there). If you love Windows, I would recommend to join the Windows Insider program and give feedback through the built-in Feedback app. There are several project managers and developers that constantly read this feedback and derive new user stories and work items from it.

Are there any plans to introduce bundle signing to CodePush (React Native) apps? I'm a bit worried about pitching it to customers because of security concerns like MITM-attacks or similar.

Yes, this is in our roadmap: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/mobile-center/general/roadmap#codepush-service

What is your favorite desktop and mobile operating system?

iOS on mobile, macOS on desktop. I am using an iPhone 7 and the latest 13” MacBook Pro for everything, personal and work stuff.

I'm more of an android guy myself, but...

I have an Android phone as a secondary phone, but all my friends and family are on iMessage and iCloud Photos, and it’s really important to me to stay in touch with them.

Yeah, I use iOS as secondary for the same reasons. As a follow up question what's your experience of working at Microsoft like?

Microsoft is a great place to work, and it has changed for the better in recent years under Satya. I love how much open source Microsoft is publishing, how it is open to all platforms and developers, we are really active in inclusive hiring and supporting diverse communities, and I am meeting with cool teams every week and get to see their products. On the downside, it’s still a big company, so lots and lots of meetings and Microsoft is really crazy when it comes to how many emails one would get on a single day.

Haha, thank you. And good job on HockeyApp.

Thanks!

Does it concern you that if Microsoft doesn't establish more of a presence in mobile, it will become irrelevant? Does it compound that concern when Microsoft employees freely talk about the non-Microsoft operating systems they prefer let alone use? Does it send your concern over the edge when I tell you that you are sending a clear message that even Microsoft doesn't want to write apps for its devices?

No, this doesn't concern me in the same way that it doesn't concern me when we support Linux, Docker, or Node.js in Azure, or when the Windows and Xbox teams are launching their apps on iOS and Android. Microsoft would become irrelevant if it would still think in the silos of the 1980's and 1990's and only ship software for Windows. That said, HockeyApp supported Windows and Windows Phone long before we joined Microsoft and we continue to invest heavily in it with our next generation product.

Hi Thomas, fellow MSFT FTE here. Serious question(s): If you aren't much of a fan of the Microsoft hardware/software ecosystem - Why do you work for Microsoft? Are there any Microsoft products that you are passionate about and advocate for? Just genuinely curious (and I truly mean no harm).

I work for Microsoft because Microsoft acquired my company (HockeyApp) and I love working in the Developer Division (DevDiv) on cross-platform tools. I have tons of Microsoft apps on my home screen and on my Mac from Office to Outlook to Skype to Azure Mobile and Azure Authenticator to Minecraft, and of course Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio for Mac.

What's going on with Windows Phone?

All I know is what is publicly available, for example here: https://www.windowscentral.com/satya-nadella-comments-future-windows-phones-im-sure-well-make-more

What should i know about a developers work life so that i don't get as mad when my app isn't working?

Eating, drinking, and sleeping helps. :P Ryan and I gave some further advise down here: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6iun25/im_thomas_dohmke_i_cofounded_hockeyapp_and_now/dj99g2n/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6iun25/im_thomas_dohmke_i_cofounded_hockeyapp_and_now/dj98lbz/

How did you initially start the project? I am having a hard time knowing if I have the right skillsets and whether I can form a team or not.

We were developing mobile apps (iOS and Android) back in 2010 and needed a tool like HockeyApp for beta testing and crash reporting. We initially build it to solve our own needs, and then made it a real product for other developers.

Why did MS kill SQL Compact (sdf files)? I have several apps that rely on this (these apps used merge and transnational replication to MS SQL Server) and as a result, we will be using windows mobile 6.x forever OR... simply move all the mobile apps to Android.

Sorry, we are not in the SQL team and don't know why they deprecated certain products (I hadn't heard of SQL Compact before your post).

Why did you call it HockeyApp?

I explained this here: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6iun25/im_thomas_dohmke_i_cofounded_hockeyapp_and_now/dj9lz38/

Can you find whoever wrote the azure docs and slap them for me?

Sure, heading over to their building now. :P You can also provide a pull request here or simply open an issue with your feedback, all the docs are open source: https://github.com/Microsoft/azure-docs

How does education ie. a Bachelors in CompSci versus contributing to open source projects and having a strong CV with references factor in with the hiring process at Microsoft? Do you guys look for anything in particular such as knowing the latest and greatest in used technologies or is it more along the lines of 'deep fundamentals, everything else you can learn on the job'?

There is an official FAQ here: https://careers.microsoft.com/help/studentfaq

We don’t require specific courses of study. A degree in computer science (CS) may be helpful. While we don’t require this degree, it typically provides the kind of experience we need. Solid experience in the CS field, work on CS projects outside your regular course work, and a great GPA are also nice to have on your resume. For any position, regardless of your degree, we look at the skills you’ve gained through your education and experience.

Getting an interview may be harder than without a degree, so make sure to build a strong network, for example by contributing to open-source projects on GitHub, sending pull requests, writing technical blog posts, etc.

CodePush looks neat. Does it work with CRNA/Expo?

As of today, Codepush does not work with CRNA/Expo, which has it's own update feature.

which of you if not both are here by h1b visas thereby robbing a citizen of his livelyhood?

Neither of us.

What is your favourite dinosaur?

The ones that you can build with Lego. 😎

How accurate is the show "Silicone Valley" to actually doing business in the tech world? And did you get the idea for this app whilst in an idea incubator?

I have not seen Silicon Valley, so no idea. We got the idea for HockeyApp while working on iOS and Android projects, no incubator, no VC, nothing like this involved.

Will HockeyApp be integrated into Intune for enterprise app deployment?

We have announced a connector between Mobile Center and Intune at the Build conference this year. It will allow you to publish your builds to Intune once you have a completed one or more build-test-distribute cycles and are happy with the quality of the app.

Is it on your team roadmap to improve the build clean vs. build changed logic in Mobile Center? (E.g., Make it so it's not always a full clean build, but more like a local recompile of only the changes.)

It's not on our roadmap as this would mean we would need to cache your project and source code on the VM. Today, if you start a build, we boot a new, clean VM, clone your repo, install certs and profiles, then throw away the whole VM after the build is finished and the artifacts were uploaded to distribution, crashes, etc. We will never keep a copy of your source code or a copy of the VM for that matter.

As an alternative, you can use Visual Studio Team Services with your own build agents, then you have full control over what's stored and what not.

We are working on a UWP app (targeting Win 10 Creators Update) and have had a lot of trouble getting Mobile Center Build to build and deploy it. From what I understand, the issues are due to the build servers that Mobile Center uses. Can you shed a bit more light on the underlying problem and what steps are being taken to address it?

I believe the underlying problems are the hosted VMs that we utilize for Windows builds from Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS). We are working with this team very closely and will get more flexibility with these VMs and their configuration later this year. I assume you already opened a support thread through the blue chat bubble in Mobile Center?

Yes. Support thread is active. Is there any guidance on building from VSTS and pushing the package to Mobile Center?

If you build in VSTS, you can use the built-in Mobile Center Upload task to upload and distribute your builds to Mobile Center. I can't find any docs right now, but will follow up with the team; if you can't figure out how to use the task, please open a support request.

I'm an asp.net dev I rely heavily on visual studio/tfs but cordova and others seem to hate ms stuff. How can I transition to mobile dev most efficiently?

Visual Studio comes with specific Cordova tools. Getting started is here: https://taco.visualstudio.com/en-us/docs/get-started-first-mobile-app/

VSTS / TFS also have support for Cordova: https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/docs/build/apps/mobile/cordova-build

If you prefer to stick with .NET and do mobile development, have a look at Xamarin. It's free, cross-platform, and included with all Visual Studio editions.

I've been using cordova for VS but its ios compatibility requires me to offload code onto a mac. Plus I've been forced to do blackberry development with it and the VS cordova explicitly forbids it :(

The Mac requirement comes from Apple. You can use Xamarin Live Player to do some iOS testing without a Mac: https://www.xamarin.com/live

When making your app, what did you use to beta test and collect crash reports for it?

Did you use a beta version of your app to test the beta version and collect crash reports?

We use HockeyApp to distribute the betas of our native apps and to collect crash reports, including from the HockeyApp backend.

Was not expecting a response to my joke question! (Although I was actually curious) Thanks!

Pt 2: Why the name HockeyApp?

I love jokes. :) I explained the origins of the name here: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6iun25/im_thomas_dohmke_i_cofounded_hockeyapp_and_now/dj9lz38/

Do you have developer tools for the developer tools?

We use the same developer tools to develop our developer tools. :D Our team is very diverse in what tools they prefer, for example, I like to edit in Sublime Text, others prefer Visual Studio Code or even vim.

Thanks for doing this AMA. I know I missed the window, but I'd appreciate your insight.

I have a great idea for an app, how the UI should look and perform, but no coding experience. Other than the general advice of 'just teach yourself', is there a realistic option of say, photoshopping the entire experience, tactically creating a slide-show and pitching a VC for the resources to hire people who can code?

How viable of a strategy would this be?

Personally, I would rather find "partners in crime" that are willing to found the company with me and complement my own skills. VC or not, you would still need to find the right people to hire and work with you.

[deleted]

Correct. HockeyApp is a platform for mobile and desktop app developers to distribute their apps and collect telemetry like crash reports. I explained the history of the name here: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6iun25/im_thomas_dohmke_i_cofounded_hockeyapp_and_now/dj9lz38/

What do you think about white boar coding interviews? Do you think they reflect accurately how good of a developer you are?

I don't think they do, but opinions vary widely on this and every company has different hiring practices. At our startup, we did not do whiteboard interviews.

hey, when's the last time you released software under a free software license?

Oh, we do it all the time. All our SDKs are open-source under the MIT license, for example: https://github.com/Microsoft/mobile-center-sdk-ios and https://github.com/Microsoft/mobile-center-cli

Most of my conference demo apps are open-source on GitHub as well.

how siloed are departments at msft? is it possible to pull personnel from other projects without a lot of politicking? how difficult would it be to start your own skunkworks project within msft?

Silos: Highly depends on the team and project. Personally, I meet with other teams in Windows, Azure, Visual Studio / .NET, and even our IT folks every week and we have very close partnerships across most features. Almost all Microsoft apps are using HockeyApp for internal dog-fooding, crash reporting, and analytics, and they give a lot of feedback and we have great discussions.

Personal projects & skunkworks: Very easy. Microsoft has an internal project called The Garage, which allows everyone at Microsoft to launch their personal project to the public or pitch new ideas in existing product areas. People meet in multiple Garage locations around the world every week, pitch their ideas to advisors (I am one of them), and then can launch with the help of Microsoft marketing, legal, and other support teams and without the boundaries of existing product groups (like Office). Check out The Garage homepage, lots of cool projects there: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/garage/workbench.aspx

What are the benefits of using a high quality IDE?

I would say integrated debugging, user interface design and resource management (like localized files), and the overall project and solution management. This blog post has a good summary: https://salfarisi25.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/advantage-and-disadvantage-of-using-ide/

Hey can I get a job w you guys? I think that's a valid question that warrants a response

We are hiring for the HockeyApp / Mobile Center team. Check our openings here: https://careers.microsoft.com/search.aspx#&&p2=all&p1=all&p3=all&p4=all&p0=hockeyapp&p5=all

Do Microsoft encourage you to work on open source projects?

Yes, but it highly depends on the team and project. It's unlikely that you will see Windows, Office, or Minecraft being open-sourced. But a lot of developer tools are (at least partially) open source, like .NET, Xamarin, Visual Studio Code, or our own SDKs. Most of these of projects are listed here: https://opensource.microsoft.com

We can also work on other (non-Microsoft) open-source projects, for example Docker or React Native.

How did you go from hockeyapp to Microsoft? I.e. how did u get hired?

Microsoft acquired HockeyApp in December 2014 and this is how the whole team joined Microsoft: https://www.hockeyapp.net/blog/2014/12/11/hockeyapp-joins-microsoft.html

Why does microsoft hate Windows Phone?

I don't think anyone here hates Windows Phone. We do support it in HockeyApp and Xamarin, for example. The latest public statement from Satya is here: https://www.windowscentral.com/satya-nadella-comments-future-windows-phones-im-sure-well-make-more

What is the very best cheese?

Thomas says that since I'm American, my choices are white or yellow, so I'm going with yellow.

There is pretty great orange Cheddar cheese. :D

Please say that was a pun.

A little :D

I really like Tilsit cheese, and for your pasta, you obviously want a real Parmesan cheese (from Italy!)

Yes, i need a job can i work with you ?

You can find and apply for our open positions here: https://careers.microsoft.com/search.aspx#&&p2=all&p1=all&p3=all&p4=all&p0=hockeyapp&p5=all

Thanks! What is your most used IDE in the field you are in?

The native IDEs for each platform: Xcode for iOS and macOS, Android Studio for Android, and Visual Studio for Windows, ASP.NET, etc.

Hi! I'm a stay at home mom of three and I'm about to start working! Is it worth it for me to learn anything coding/computer science related? Is the market saturated? I feel too old, but at the same time- I loved math in high school and early computers are in my family history.... Am I too old(37)? Are females needed in the industry? Are post kid-popping ladies a thing? I've started learning some on Khan Academy and Lynda.com- but I'm wondering if I should invest the time?
Even asking this makes me feel old! If you read this- thanks!!!

It's never too late, and - yes - more women in tech are needed! You can learn more about Microsoft's diversity efforts here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/diversity/inside-microsoft/women-at-microsoft/default.aspx

So why do you think it's okay to collect data on people through apps without so much as an opt in? Maybe some of us don't want our devices and apps tattling on us to companies.

Opt-in is the default in HockeyApp. Besides this, we do not collect any personal data, we do not track you in any way, and Microsoft does not sell your data and does not use it for any kind of advertisement, promotions, or similar. HockeyApp and Mobile Center are products that help developers to make better apps, for example by fixing a common crash.

I'm familiar with BitHockey and this sort of tech. I work in networking and security professionally and make it a point to review the apps that run on my own device. I can't recall ever seeing one that bundled Hockey and had an opt out. I can barely recall any that ever tell users their apps are being used to log data and report it over their own internet connectivity.

Personally, I'm sick of hearing the "but we don't collect any personal data" excuse--all info is one step from being connected to a person. You do uniquely identify and fingerprint devices in order to track them, and I know most of these tools explicitly function to cross-track over multiple apps and devices. It is a privacy concern. I wonder why you guys feel entitled to seize this info without a more express consent from users. Are you afraid that if properly notified and given a choice people may resent being tracked like this?

We do not fingerprint devices, and there is no (and never was a) way in HockeyApp to cross-track over multiple apps or devices.

First of all, great work on the product. You saved me and my team lots of stress and time. Thank you.

Q: what was life like in the weeks following Apple's takeover of testflight and announcement to drop support for Android/absolutely mangle your competitor's product?

It was a very busy time for us on-boarding all these new customers. I was at a ski trip in Austria shortly after the announcement and remember vividly how I did a lot of demos and customer support instead of being on the slopes. ;)

What financial incentives do independent software vendors have to publish their software as open source? Should they expect to subsist on donations? Should they expect to police the internet looking to reverse engineer code to see if their code is being used without their permission? And while we're at it, what incentives does Microsoft have to publish open source software other than to gain favor with zealots?

Windows, Office, Outlook, Skype, Minecraft, Visual Studio, Azure, HockeyApp, and many other products are not open source and Microsoft makes money from them. What is open source are frameworks, libraries, SDKs, docs, sample apps, and other companion products that help driving and growing the core business.

When they asked if you use Windows Phone in your interview, did you chuckle and lie or just laughed?

Neither. I have been an iPhone user forever and it's full of Microsoft apps. Remember this? http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-used-iphone-2015-9

Hey Thomas. As a recent boot camp grad, I'm feeling a little lost on where to go from here. I have a few class assignments in my portfolio but that's it. What would you recommend doing to beef up my portfolio, gain attention from/stand out to potential employers?

I would start a hobby or side project, learn an additional programming language, and extend my network by going to developer meet-ups or a local conference. Ryan had provided some additional advise here: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6iun25/im_thomas_dohmke_i_cofounded_hockeyapp_and_now/dj99g2n/

I've had an idea for an app for a couple of years that I'd love to share with someone with the know-how to actually put something together... I'm an industrial engineer but I have no programming experience. In short, I have the idea and know how to implement it and monetize it, but no idea how to create it.

Would you be interested in working together?

I am not interested. I would recommend to learn programming or start going to developer meetups to find partners that are interested in your idea.