Ruby Native apps are running on 100,000+ devices
And how Herb, now bundled with Rails 8.2, keeps the native apps from breaking.
Archive
All of Joe Masilotti's writing, covering Hotwire Native, Ruby on Rails, and running a thriving independent business without sacrificing family time.
I've spent 10+ years helping Rails devs reach the App Store. Today, someone shipped without me.
Yesterday Ruby Native launched. Today the first customer app went live. And the developer never opened Xcode.
Ruby Native is here
Ship your Rails app to the App Store without opening Xcode. $100 off through May 18.
How to build a Rails app that's ready for the app stores
The five rules I'd hand to my past self to save months of mobile-prep refactoring.
How I built a native iOS app with Rails and one YAML file
And didn't open Xcode once.
A different kind of tired
Six months with AI and the code got easier. But something else got more difficult.
What I'm saying when nobody's paying me
Two podcast appearances, zero polished takes, and a whole lot of thinking out loud.
On building a framework-agnostic Ruby gem (and making sure it doesn't break)
What I learned supporting ERB, React, and Vue from a single Ruby gem. And how I keep it from breaking with automated iOS tests.
Why I ditched monthly pricing
Ruby Native isn't a traditional SaaS. So it shouldn't be priced like one.
The tool I wish I had 25 apps ago
Ruby Native turns your Rails app into an iOS app. No Xcode required.
The kid at the co-working space
My son got a day off from school. I got a reminder of why I chose this life.
Getting your Hotwire Native app into the App Store
A practical, step-by-step guide to submitting your first Hotwire Native app. From setting up your developer account to hitting Submit for Review.
What I've learned from shipping 25+ mobile apps
And what I tell my clients when they ask which framework to use for their Rails business.
The Rails developers' guide to mobile app frameworks
Understand the benefits and tradeoffs of native, React Native, PWAs, Hotwire Native, and Ruby Native.
AI makes it easier to build the wrong thing faster
Why I threw away 20,000+ lines of working code and started over with nothing.
Introducing Permission Not Required
A new podcast with Colleen Schnettler about building independent businesses on your own terms in the age of AI.
I went off the deep end with AI
What happens when code becomes the easy part? Excitement, dread, and what this means for my solo-run business.
Hotwire Native deep dive: In-app purchases on iOS
The full flow from HTML paywall to real-time success message, and how a single UUID is all it takes to tie it together.
I finally built the in-app purchase tool I wish I had years ago
Native payment sheets on iOS and Android. Subscription data in your Rails database.
2025: The year consulting wasn't the only thing
For the first time, I built things that can stand on their own.
Hotwire Native deep dive: Native Polish
Practical ways to make your Hotwire Native app feel right at home on iOS and Android.
Missed the Fizzy livestream? Here’s the recap.
From a blank Xcode project to a working Hotwire Native prototype.
The week my products finally felt real
I made $6,000 in product sales last week and it changed how I think about my business.
Hotwire Native Black Friday sale
Discounts on my book, Bridge Components PRO, Jumpstart Pro, and more.
Hotwire Native deep dive: Push notifications
Native push notifications are tricky because there's a ton of moving pieces to get right. Here's my step-by-step process to get them working in your Hotwire Native apps.
Hotwire Native around the web - November
Links to articles on debugging Hotwire Native, deep links, Google Sign-In, and more from other Hotwire Native developers.
Ruby already solved my problem
One great question in office hours led me to delete a whole class.
New bridge component: NFC scanner
And an official GitHub Project to share what components are coming next.
My failed live stream yesterday
Yesterday I hosted my first live stream on Substack. And it was kind of a failure.
Using Swift to build… Android apps?
Apple just announced the first preview release of Swift for Android. Does this mean we can finally build mobile apps with only one native language?
Hotwire Native deep dive: Authentication
How to handle authentication across web, iOS, and Android. All without writing tons of native code or adding new API endpoints.
Offline mode for Hotwire Native apps
How a small service worker unlocks offline mode for your Rails-powered mobile app.
Mobile apps, the Rails way
Reuse your existing HTML, CSS, and business logic to go from web to the app stores faster than ever.
Bridge Components v0.10 is out
Introducing a new API for communicating with components. And one breaking change.
4 board games my 4 year old loves
Perfect picks for pre-readers that make dining out easier (and more fun).
Hotwire Native iOS v1.3.0 BETA
Lazy tabs, animated replace actions, custom error views, and more.
Add 16 native features to your Hotwire Native app in 5 minutes
Introducing official package support for my Bridge Components library on web, iOS, and Android.
I'm officially a published author!
My book is available for sale on Amazon and at your local book store.
Welcome to the new home of Hotwire Native Weekly
I moved my newsletter to Substack. Here's why and what that means for you.
This talk pushed devs to try Hotwire Native
My Rails World keynote recording is live - watch how we're making native apps possible for small teams.
Hotwire Native at Rails World
Hotwire Native takes the Rails World 2025 keynote stage, plus updates on Ruby Friends for Android, native-feeling modals, and community projects.
RailsConf workshop recording and Ruby Friends v1.2
Hotwire Native workshop recording, new bridge component tutorial, and Ruby Friends v1.2 with QR scanning, Universal Links, push, and Wallet integration.
Ruby Friends is in the App Store!
250+ Rubyists have already joined. Want to make a new friend next time you say "hello world"?
RailsConf inspired me to build something new
Reflecting on RailsConf chats, building Ruby Friends, and learning new things in the Ruby community!
Hotwire Native at RailsConf
Join me at RailsConf for a Hotwire Native workshop and a book meet-up later!
Hotwire Native v1.2.x and Hotwire Native LIVE #4
A quick update on the latest Hotwire Native releases and a countdown to RailsConf.
iOS 26, Hotwire Native LIVE #3, and a new bridge component
Apple's iOS 26 debuts Liquid Glass, enhancing Hotwire Native apps with no code changes required!
Book sale, Hotwire Native LIVE #2, and Hotwire Native around the web
Summer kicks off in Portland with a new Hotwire Native LIVE episode and a book sale!
This Thursday: Hotwire Native Live #1
Join me Thursday for Hotwire Native Live to build features and get coding tips in real time!
Opaque navigation and tab bars in Hotwire Native – iOS
A two-line fix for web content rendering "through" your transparent top and bottom bars (navigation bar and tab bar).
Add a native tab bar in Hotwire Native – iOS
Use HotwireTabBarController to configure a native UITabBar to switch between contexts in an iOS app.
Maintainable Software Podcast with Robby Russel
Hotwire Native means maintainable software - yes or no? Also, a new speaking announcement.
Hide content with Tailwind CSS in Hotwire Native
Get rid of duplicate page titles and make your app feel more native with a Tailwind CSS custom variant.
Present forms as modals in Hotwire Native
Set up a remote path configuration to dynamically render pages as modals, helping isolate tasks and align with native UX patterns.
Set native screen titles in Hotwire Native
Make your Hotwire Native apps feel more native with dynamic screen titles - all from your Rails codebase.
Hotwire Native v1.2 video
Hotwire Native v1.2 launches with two exciting updates: new tab bar components and a fresh demo app!
Hotwire Native by example
I've launched a new Hotwire Native tutorial series, updated my bridge library, and will speak at RailsConf 2025!
A library of bridge components for Hotwire Native apps
Announcing a collection of iOS and Android bridge components to drop into your Hotwire Native apps, all extracted from real-world applications.
New bridge components, a book milestone, and a question for you
New bridge components are here, my book is finished, and I chatted with Dave Thomas about mobile MVPs!
Two new chapters and recent podcast appearances
Two new chapters from my book on Hotwire Native, my recent podcast recordings, and some highlighted community content.
What you'll learn in "Hotwire Native for Rails Developers"
Curious about my new book? Here's a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of what you'll learn, with screenshots.
Hotwire Native book, in beta!
Learn how to build mobile apps powered by Ruby on Rails. The beta release of Hotwire Native for Rails Developers is here.
Hotwire Native 1.1 released
This release simplifies configuration, resolves bugs, and introduces new features, making it easier to build web-first native apps with Rails.
10 tips from 10 years of Hotwire Native
After a decade of building Hotwire Native apps, I’m sharing my top 10 tips to help you keep logic on the server and make hybrid app development even easier.
Turbo Native is dead, long live Hotwire Native!
Big news: Turbo Native is officially retired in favor of Hotwire Native. Plus, I’m back from parental leave and sharing book updates on Hotwire Native for Rails Developers.
Burnout today, parental leave tomorrow
How I crammed 12 months of work into 5 and, as expected, burned out hard.
The power of Turbo Native path configuration
Level up your Turbo Native apps by moving behavior to the server with remote path configuration.
Rails Authentication: Gems vs. Recipes vs. Generators
Three different ways to handle authentication in Rails: from quick gem installs to custom-built recipes and flexible generators.
Turbo Native and pull-to-refresh
How to set up pull-to-refresh in Turbo Native apps for iOS and Android via path configuration rules.
Turbo Native iOS and Android apps in 15 minutes
A quick-start guide to building Turbo Native apps for Ruby on Rails developers, no Swift or Kotlin experience necessary.
Rails link_to and nested data attributes
A cleaner, easier to read approach to nested data attributes for Turbo and Strada when creating anchor tags in Rails.
The secret tool to launch your Rails business in the app stores
Explore Hotwire Native: a game-changer for launching your Rails app on iOS and Android, blending speed and simplicity with real success stories.
A roadmap for building Hotwire Native apps
The approach I follow for every Hotwire Native app I build, including which app store to submit to first and how to prioritize work.
Safer Rails partials with strict locals
Rails 7.1 introduced strict locals which we can use to make our partials safer and easier to work with.
Idea to App Store in 7 days
The story of Daily Log, a web and iOS app that I built and launched to the App Store in 7 days.
How to use Strada with Turbo Navigator
A step-by-step Rails and iOS guide to integrating Strada with your Turbo Native app powered by Turbo Navigator.
Rails World 2023: Just enough Turbo Native to be dangerous
Turbo Native gives Rails developers superpowers. Learn how in the recording of my Rails World talk in Amsterdam.
Turbo Navigator: Gearing up for the merge into turbo-ios
Turbo Navigator is making progress to merge into turbo-ios, reducing boilerplate code and introducing new features.
Strada officially launched!
A first look at Strada, the last missing piece of Hotwire. Let's explore how it unlocks native components driven by the web in Turbo Native apps.
Hotwire Native: When to upgrade screens to native?
Deciding when to go native and when to use web views in Hotwire Native apps, from experience.
Solopreneur on vacation
How I recognize when I need a break as a solopreneur and the benefits of taking time off.
App Store submission tips for Hotwire Native
App Store Review Guidelines to watch out for when submitting your own apps to the App Store.
Turbo Native tabs
Learn how to add a native tab bar to a Turbo Native app. And some hints for fixing common gotchas.
Dynamic UIMenu in Turbo Native apps
Build a native UIMenu from existing HTML elements on your server, powered by a Stimulus controller.
Call Swift APIs from Stimulus in Turbo Native
Wire up your iOS app to call Swift code from events triggered in Stimulus controllers, like native share sheets, push notifications, and more.
JavaScript alerts in Turbo Native
Learn how to handle data-turbo-confirm in your iOS app so you can render native Swift alerts directly from your Rails code.
Interacting with Stimulus from Turbo Native apps
A low-maintenance approach to interacting with Stimulus controllers from native Swift code.
A Rails-like endpoint switcher for iOS apps
A copy-pasteable code snippet to bring a little Rails magic to your iOS app.
Enhancing Turbo Native apps: How to hide web-rendered content
Learn two ways to conditionally show web content in your Turbo Native app. One quick and dirty and one cache-friendly.
Swift for Ruby developers crash course
If you're a Ruby or Rails developer looking to dive into iOS development, this crash course on Swift is exactly what you need! Ideal for anyone interested in Turbo Native development.
How to debug Hotwire Native apps with Safari
How to attach a Safari debugger to the simulator with some tips on dealing with "No Inspectable Applications".
I'm leaving Twitter for a bit
And I’m not returning until I know that opening the app will make me feel better, not worse. Here's how to keep in touch until then.
The RailsDevs developer bounty program
Every contribution to the RailsDevs codebase will now reward $25 or more to the developer.
Doing more only makes a to-do list grow longer
How crossing more items off my to-do list somehow makes it fill up even faster.
Staying focused as a solopreneur
How I decide when to double down and when to move on from a new idea.
Progressively enhanced Hotwire Native apps in the App Store
Hotwire Native is a game changer for small teams. Here's how folks are leveraging native SDKs to enhance their hybrid apps.
How a cold DM in 2016 changed my life
How a single message kick started my consulting business, personal brand, and niche expertise.
Being more intentional in 2023
Too many days last year ended with me feeling like "I didn’t get anything done." Here's how I'm hoping to fix that in 2023.
Free Ruby on Rails communities
I use online communities to ask for help, offer advice, and keep up to date with the latest trends. Here are 10+ of my favorites.
My favorite podcasts
The podcasts I listen to every week – mostly about Ruby on Rails and bootstrapping.
Zero to App Store in 7 weeks
New record! I ported a client’s Ruby on Rails app to iOS and went live in the App Store in 7 weeks.
Custom Rails configuration
TIL about ActiveSupport::OrderedOptions and config_for. Here's how I'm using them to configure my Rails app.
🎙 Positivity and RailsDevs - guest on The Ruby on Rails podcast
I was on another podcast! We talked about building RailsDevs in public, challenges I have faced, and the technical decisions I am proud of. Also, a bit about my upcoming workshop.
My sane approach to test fixtures in Rails
My approach on how I keep my test fixtures manageable, sane, and obvious. Not hard and fast rules, but guidelines to help you implement the same in your app.
RailsDevs has a gender diversity problem
It is not OK that RailsDevs represents 180+ developers but fewer than 10 identify as women. This is how I'm learning to create a more inclusive platform.
How I took my SaaS from idea to sold in 14 months
I built an MVP in one month and grew the product for a year. But now it’s time to pass the torch. It’s official, I sold Mugshot Bot! Here’s how it all went down.
Hybrid iOS apps with Turbo
How to build hybrid iOS apps with Turbo and Ruby on Rails. An ongoing series covering authentication, the JavaScript bridge, architecture, and more.
Hybrid iOS apps with Turbo – Part 6: Tips and tricks
Tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the years that help make the app feel more native and development easier.
Hybrid iOS apps with Turbo – Part 5: Native authentication
Authenticated requests, how to share cookies, and Devise-specific helpers to implement native authentication.
Hybrid iOS apps with Turbo – Part 4: The JavaScript bridge
The JavaScript bridge is the intersection of client and server. It enables passing messages between the two worlds without waiting for someone to tap a link.
Hybrid iOS apps with Turbo – Part 3: Forms and basic authentication
How to install Turbo in Rails 6, custom iOS form handling, and web-based authentication in hybrid apps.
Hybrid iOS apps with Turbo – Part 2: URL routing
Part 2 covers visit actions, path configuration, error handling, native view controllers, and more with Turbo iOS.
Hybrid iOS apps with Turbo – Part 1: The Turbo framework
Hybrid mobile apps powered by Turbo: Basecamp's not-so-secret formula for producing large scale apps with small teams.
XCTest tips and tricks that can level up your Swift testing
10+ of my favorite techniques that I've picked up over the past few years of testing Swift code.
Improving XCTest test name readability
5 lines of code go a long way in making your test names much more readable.
Clean up your Swift test suite with XCTUnwrap
Learn how to avoid force unwrapping optionals in your test suite without any trade-offs.
How to set WKWebView's title under test
Learn how to "set" a computed property by taking advantage of the internals of WKWebView.
Dynamically verified Swift mocks
How to verify which messages a Swift mock receives with less boilerplate and no third-party code.
Swift mocks without protocols
How to reduce boilerplate by abusing inheritance to create mocks in Swift.
Roll your own dependency injection in Swift
Our own DI without third-party libraries. Build a robust, extendible micro-framework you can use in all your apps.
Testing the UI without UI Testing in Swift
Feature tests: three techniques to try before reaching for XCUITest.
Redirect www traffic to a naked domain in Rails
A single Rails route gets you what you need, but watch out for a small gotcha.
Regexes with multiple slashes in Ruby
A tiny tip to make regexes with multiple slashes a bit more readable in Ruby.
My Product Hunt launch: what worked and what didn't
Yesterday I was the #5 product of the day on Product Hunt. Here's what I learned.
Idea to paying customer in one month
A month ago I ran into a problem. One week later I solved it. And three weeks after that I turned it into a (tiny) business.
Tailwind CSS everywhere and a new Masilotti.com product
It’s been a busy month! I’ve gone all in on Tailwind CSS, launched a new product, and started building a newsletter. Here’s what’s been keeping me busy.
How to test deep links with UI Testing
Embedding a tiny HTTP server inside our test suite opens up a world of opportunity.
How to manage multiple sheets in SwiftUI
A step-by-step journey on how I refactored an app to handle any number of sheets with ObservableObject and an enum.
Zero to Tailwind CSS over the weekend
How I built a landing page and redesigned my blog in Tailwind CSS over the weekend. And why I’ll never go back.
How to play board games online with your friends
BGA, TTS, Steam?! This guide is for anyone who wants to play board games online with your friends but isn’t sure where to start.
Better unit testing with Swift
Ideas and best practices for real world Swift testing, including protocols, dependency injection, and Equatable.
Great two-player board games
Deck-builders, card games, tile placement, and more. Some of my favorite board games to play with only two players.
I just deleted 2500 records from production 😬
1249 records in prod. 3775 records in dev. Something's not right.
How to Test UIAlertController
Learn how to test UIAlertController with protocols, mocks, and dependency injection. No swizzling required.
BeerMenus & Turbolinks
How our small team supports 600k+ monthly users on four platforms with Turbolinks.
Where has Joe been?
What has Joe been up to since his last post?
Waiting in XCTest
Waiting is hard, and waiting in Xcode is no exception. Learn a new approach with classes introduced in Xcode.
XCTest documentation
Apple has officially sent me a cease and desist letter to take down my host of the XCTest Documentation.
SwiftCoders podcast
Earlier this month week I spoke on the SwiftCoders podcast. The host and I talked about getting started in Swift, and, obviously, testing.
Testing Dictionaries with Swift and XCTest
A type-safe approach to testing dictionaries in Swift with clean failure messages.
UI Testing with stubbed network data
Learn how to stub network data when running UI Tests with the magic of some "secret" XCTest APIs.
Flattening Asynchronous Tests
Shave time off your test suite by flattening asynchronous tests. Learn how to mock more of URLSession to test response data, network errors, and status codes.
Joe's favorite things
All the stuff I'm enjoying right now: iOS apps and games, Mac productivity apps, card games, and programming books.
Mocking classes you don't own in Swift
Not owning a class doesn't mean you can't mock it! Learn how to unit test URLSession with Swift and protocol-oriented programming.
Concepts in Code podcast: Testing
Last week I spoke on the Concepts in Code podcast. The cohosts and I chatted about testing in Swift, TDD, and pair programming.
Custom helpers in XCTest
How to extract XCTest helper methods and keep sane failure messages.
UI Testing cheat sheet and examples
Answers to common "How do I test this with UI Testing?" questions. A quick reference for everything from tapping buttons to reordering table cells.
Three ways UI Testing just made test-driven development even better
Generic querying syntax, first-class support, and native asynchronous assertions make for a great TDD experience on iOS.
Capture completion blocks with Cedar BDD
Flatten out your asynchronous tests with and_do_block().
One macro to help Objective-C dependency injection
Better dependency injection on iOS with NS_UNAVAILABLE.
Getting started with UI Testing in Xcode
How to navigate around an lightly documented but powerful framework in Xcode 12.
NSDate Manipulation in iOS
Create and modify dates by taking advantage of iOS 8's NSCalendar APIs.
Building NSURLs with NSURLQueryItems
Build and manipulate complex URLs with NSURLQueryItems. No more ugly string concatenation to append query items to URLs.
How to test PDFs with Capybara
Use familiar HTML testing tools to test drive PDF generation by combining wicked_pdf with some asset pipeline knowledge.