Alexander is available for hire
Hire AlexanderAlexander Edge
Verified Expert in Engineering
iOS Developer
Location
London, United Kingdom
Toptal Member Since
March 20, 2020
A technical leader with over ten years of experience building apps for Apple platforms, Alexander is used to working with product teams in large and small businesses alike and can explain complex engineering concepts to stakeholders. He has successfully launched multiple apps and written software used by millions of people around the world. Fluent in both Swift and Objective-C, he has worked with a wide range of technologies including SwiftUI and Combine.
Portfolio
The Guardian
Objective-C, Swift, iOS, Mobile Development
ustwo
Model View Viewmodel (MVVM), Swift, iOS, RxSwift, Mobile Development
Novoda
Unit Testing, Dependency Injection, MQTT, Swift, iOS, Mobile Development
Experience
Availability
Part-time
Preferred Environment
Combine, SwiftUI, Xcode, Swift, iOS
The most amazing...
...achievement I've accomplished was leading an engineering team to launch one of the most successful fitness apps on iOS.
Work Experience
Senior iOS Engineer
2019 - 2020
The Guardian
- Worked on the Guardian's flagship app, Guardian Live News.
- Identified performance bottlenecks and increased scrolling smoothness by over 25%.
- Developed a strategy for implementing dark mode in a legacy codebase.
- Contributed to the open-source International Advertising Bureau (IAB) consent management Swift project.
- Added self-sizing elements to UICollectionView, reducing total lines of code to be maintained in the future.
- Transformed a Proof of Concept for a WKWebView to native communication bridge using Apache Thrift into production-ready code.
- Added protocol multiplexing and Swift 5 support to the open-source Apache Thrift project for native-web view communication.
Technologies: Objective-C, Swift, iOS, Mobile Development
Senior iOS Engineer
2019 - 2019
ustwo
- Rebuilt an existing health app prototype using a new design direction.
- Recommended using container view controllers to allow multiple developers to work on the same screens with minimal overhead.
- Delivered the final prototype ahead of schedule.
Technologies: Model View Viewmodel (MVVM), Swift, iOS, RxSwift, Mobile Development
Senior iOS Engineer
2019 - 2019
Novoda
- Worked alongside another engineer (pair-programming) on an Internet of Things (IoT) framework based on MQTT.
- Increased the unit test coverage and created documentation for framework consumers.
- Used Reactive programming experience to make the existing codebase more readable, maintainable, and testable.
Technologies: Unit Testing, Dependency Injection, MQTT, Swift, iOS, Mobile Development
Lead iOS Engineer
2018 - 2018
New Look
- Devised a strategy for tackling technical debt while delivering new features and maintaining test coverage in a live app.
- Reduced total lines of code by 35% and removed multiple external dependencies.
- Improved the App Store rating from one star to five stars.
Technologies: Leadership, Model View Viewmodel (MVVM), Dependency Injection, Unit Testing, Xcode, RxSwift, Swift, iOS
Co-founder
2014 - 2018
Peeps
- Launched a messaging app based around sending 10-second video clips between groups of users.
- Designed a custom SMS-based system for verifying users based on Twilio REST API.
- Implemented high-compression H.264/MPEG-4 AAC video recording using AVFoundation.
- Wrote server-side business logic in JavaScript for Parse (now Parse-server running on Heroku).
- Added custom view controller animations using UIViewControllerAnimatedTransitioning APIs.
- Added a notification extension for viewing video messages on Watch.
Technologies: Objective-C
Senior iOS Engineer
2017 - 2017
ustwo (Freelance)
- Developed a connected-car app for Jaguar Land Rover in use worldwide.
- Used reactive frameworks in conjunction with web sockets to make an instantly-updating UI.
- Participated in BDD workshops to define scenarios and system behavior.
Technologies: Model View Viewmodel (MVVM), Unit Testing, WebSockets, Xcode, RxSwift, Swift, iOS
iOS Engineer
2014 - 2015
Curator (freelance)
- Used the UITraitCollection APIs to add adaptive layouts for portrait and landscape on iPad that paved the way for a launch on iPhone.
- Added interactive and non-interactive transitions between view controllers.
- Designed and implemented a syncing Core Data API using Parse as a back end.
Technologies: Core Data, Objective-C
Experience
The Body Coach
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/the-body-coach/id1502129212I helped lead the engineering effort to build an iOS capable of supporting a large number of users complete with video workouts, tailored meal recipes, live-streaming, and in-app subscriptions. I called on my experience writing readable, maintainable, and testable code to minimize complexity while providing a rich feature-set.
Guardian Live News
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/the-guardian-live-world-news/id409128287I worked alongside the mobile apps team at Guardian News and Media on an award-winning news app. I used my experience as a senior engineer to add features while improving the existing Objective-C and Swift codebase.
Jaguar Land Rover – In Control Remote
https://www.ustwo.com/work/jaguar-land-rover-remoteAn iOS app utilizing WebSockets to communicate with Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles. The app features climate control management, journey tracking, status information, and theft notification. The app uses reactive UI frameworks to show the user up-to-date information about their vehicles.
Skills
Languages
Swift, Objective-C, GraphQL
Frameworks
SwiftUI, Core Data
Tools
Xcode, Git, MQTT
Paradigms
Unit Testing, REST, Model View Viewmodel (MVVM), Model View Controller (MVC), Mobile Development, Dependency Injection
Platforms
iOS
Other
Combine, Leadership, APIs, Mobile Apps, WebSockets
Libraries/APIs
RxSwift
Education
2004 - 2008
Master's Degree in Electronic and Communications Engineering
University of Bristol - Bristol, UK
Certifications
JANUARY 2020 - PRESENT
Codility Golden Award for the Rhodium 2019 Challenge
Codility