Are you a fan of audio recording in GoodNotes? It was one of the most requested features from our users and was built by a group of 6 engineers. Ted, Carles, Pablo G, Inamiy, Calvin and Bret worked together behind the scenes to make the dream happen. We had a chat with Inamiy about what it was like to work on this project as well as what it’s like to be an iOS developer at GoodNotes.
Hi Inamiy! Thank you for taking the time to share more about yourself. What made you want to join GoodNotes?
Two years ago, my friend Tomás who is also an iOS developer at GoodNotes, reached out and encouraged me to interview at GoodNotes. Back then, the timing wasn’t right but the thought of working at GoodNotes stuck in my head. I already knew the product well and it had a great reputation. My personal interest in the educational field and lifelong learning continued growing and I realized that GoodNotes was the perfect match for my passion for iOS and education. I reconnected with Tomas, went through the interview process and luckily got an offer to join them!
Can you describe a day in your life?
As a remote worker in Japan who prefers collaborating with the team in sync, I adjust my working hours to overlap as much as possible with my colleagues in the EU. I usually start my days with 30 minutes of jogging to kick-start my body then spend a couple of hours reading to also kick-start my brain and thinking. I enjoy a silent working environment, as it allows me to focus at a very high level. I attend various virtual meetings with the teams, where I love hearing about what everyone is doing. After work, I spend time with my family and do some hobby programming.
What was it like to work on the audio recording feature?
The audio recording feature was one of the most requested features from our users, for years! We wanted to release the feature very quickly and only had two months to fulfil all the requirements. At first, this seemed impossible, but thanks to our amazing team and their combined passion and skills, we successfully rolled it out on time. The result was amazing! We received so much positive feedback from users all over the world. It was beyond any of our expectations.
Did you face any challenges while working on it?
Since the overall development time for the feature was short, there is still a lot of room for improvements, which we will get to eventually. There are many new, high-priority, and exciting things ahead and the challenge is always to strike a balance between developing new and existing features.
What is your favorite GoodNotes feature?
I love being able to search my own handwriting. It even recognizes my messy scribbles!
What do you love about your job at GoodNotes that you think we need to tell everyone about?
I would say, everyone here is so nice and friendly, and the company has a good culture for collaboration. One of the values at GoodNotes is to ‘Win Like a Sports team’ and the team really embodies it.
What is one surprising fact about you, that very few people know?
I have a passion for continuous learning, that stretches far beyond development. I’m interested in areas like anthropology, psychology, biology and recently AI. Most recently I read a book called Spark, which explains in detail about how the human brain works by chemical reactions and how everyday exercise can improve the overall health. GoodNotes has a generous budget for self-development, which helps me continue to grow as a developer and in general.
What is your proudest moment of your career?
Including the release of the audio recording feature, I feel very proud when the product I worked on is well-received and popular among our users. Our users are the ones who provide the great feedback that allows our product to become even better, which in turn makes me more proud as well.
Do you have any advice for aspiring iOS developers out there?
Working on an app like GoodNotes requires wide and deep understanding of iOS, architecture, algorithms, maths, etc. which first sounds too overwhelming but is really exciting and challenging once you get into it. No one is an expert in all fields, so specializing and gaining confidence in one or a couple of particular areas will definitely help both you and the company to learn and grow fast together.
Can you see yourself working with Inamiy?
Want to stay connected? Follow Inamiy on Twitter and Github.