“Thanks to CWC, I got to release an app in 3 months!”

The CWC Success Story of Thomas (Germany) by Arthur Nielsen Demain and Chris Ching Last updated Mar 11, 2022 The CWC Success Stories is an ongoing campaign where we feature the diverse iOS app development learning journeys of our students from all over the world. Every type of success has a place in this campaign:… View Article
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Last Updated on

28 Apr 2022

The CWC Success Story of Thomas (Germany)

by Arthur Nielsen Demain and Chris Ching


The CWC Success Stories is an ongoing campaign where we feature the diverse iOS app development learning journeys of our students from all over the world. Every type of success has a place in this campaign: from overcoming initial learning setbacks to landing exciting developer jobs, from releasing iOS apps to just simply feeling the joy of learning a new skill. Whatever success stories our students have, we will all celebrate them here! 

For the first installment of this campaign we are very excited to showcase the CWC Success Story of Thomas from Germany. Thomas did not let the pandemic stop him from achieving his iOS app development goals. Read his inspiring story below!


“I better start today than tomorrow”

One day or Day one? Thomas chose the latter. The prolonged lockdowns brought about by the pandemic gave Thomas plenty of opportunities to reflect on his career as a Java backend developer. He noticed that the codes he worked on at his job just faded into the background. He also realized the importance of finally sticking around to master one skill instead of just giving up on it immediately when things get difficult. With all the lockdown free time that he had coupled with his growing interest in iOS app development, Thomas finally decided to pursue his Day One. He started. He committed. All for fulfilling his goal to have his own app on the AppStore.

“I almost gave up on my dream to create an app”

Thomas initially bought books to help him learn how to build iOS apps. Though initially helpful, the resources he gathered only provided him with theoretical knowledge and to-do lists that were not enough to compel him to put everything into practice. Thomas became familiar with the steps, but he didn’t really understand the logic behind them. 

“But when I reflected on those and tried to recall how I got there, I noticed that I hadn’t really learned a thing. Without the books I wouldn’t be able to replicate those apps. Somehow, through all the theory in those books, I ended up in a trance-like state, just following along and creating an app without understanding why they worked.”

Just like most students, Thomas felt the frustration during the initial stages of his iOS app development learning journey. He felt demotivated that at times, he thought that he would probably never be good enough to build his own iOS app. 

“The calmness of Chris captivated me”

Despite all the confusion and struggles to piece everything together, Thomas went back to his Day One promise: he would stick with his goal of releasing his own iOS app no matter what. He consulted some peers for advice. He patiently looked for additional resources. He just kept on going and going until one day, he stumbled upon the CWC YouTube channel that provides free iOS app development video tutorials. Instantly, the calm voice of Chris in the videos hooked him. Before he knew it, Thomas was already watching one CWC video tutorial after another, just feeling so motivated to follow along and put all of his newly acquired knowledge into practice. 

“In Chris’s calm voice he explained why things worked the way they worked and how you could combine them. I felt motivated to confirm those things and play around myself. At that point I was hooked and I wanted to learn more about him. I then came across some video testimonials and I saw others who were successful in pursuing their dreams by following Chris. There and then I was convinced that Chris was my best shot at achieving my own dream, of publishing my own app.” 

“It was really fun”

Clearly, the difference this time around is that with CWC, Thomas started to have more fun while coding. He finally understood the “why” behind certain coding techniques instead of just blindly following a list of steps. Having realized that this is a worthwhile investment, Thomas eventually committed to a year-long CWC+ subscription to learn more advanced iOS app development topics. He diligently did the exercises and persevered to master the fundamentals that two months into his CWC+ membership, he finally gained the confidence to start his own iOS app development project. 

“Yes. I was surprised by my ease of understanding iOS coding, thanks to CWC. Previously, I always struggled with understanding how things worked in the app development territory. I knew my way around in Java backends, no trouble there. But after all these years of being unable to apply my iOS tutorial book-based attempts, I ended up with a beta-tested and published app on the AppStore after just 3 months with CWC. I was in awe.”

Day One promise fulfilled

Much to his amazement, Thomas fulfilled his dream of launching his own iOS app on the AppStore after only 3 months with CWC+. And all of this happened just because he finally chose to stop waiting. His wise decision to finally start learning iOS app development and to not give up on it clearly bore fruit:

My app is called “bezahlt bis…?” which literally translates to “paid until…?”. It’s an app that focuses on calculating the length of time it would take to pay back a loan based on loan details. It will also tell how much a person can afford to pay back each month. It’s completely free (no ads) and doesn’t collect any data. I built this app to help myself understand the implications of loan contracts. Other apps of the same nature are focused on fixed-time intervals, whereas mine was meant to calculate how long a person would be bound to a contract depending on the payback amount.

Check out the “bezahlt bis…?” app here.

“You’re probably halfway there!”

Thomas believes that you too can build your own iOS app even if you have no programming background. You might not build your app as fast as him, but it doesn’t matter: believe that you too can build that dream iOS app of yours, no matter how long it will take you! 

His first tip to those who want to dabble into the world of iOS app development is to fight past the intimidation. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed and confused especially if you are coming from a non-programming background. But Thomas points out that you should not let that intimidation or fear stop you from starting your Day One. You’ll never know unless you try, right? So take the plunge, watch the CWC tutorials, and do the exercises. What’s there to lose anyway? If you get confused on anything, then  there’s always the CodeCrew forum where you can ask all your questions to the tech support staff of CWC, all for free! In short, you are and will never be alone in your iOS app development learning journey with CWC.

Lastly, Thomas wants you to focus on how far you’ve already come in your learning journey instead of how far you think you still have to go. Just like most students who are only beginning to learn how to code, Thomas initially struggled with the idea that his app development goal is too far-fetched because there seems to be an endless path ahead of him. But this is what he had to say regarding this:

Whenever I feel compelled to give up, it’s mostly because I have a feeling that there’s so much more to do. That’s when I feel too exhausted to go on. But in reality it’s just all in my mind. I feel exhausted because I think that there’s an endless path ahead, but in reality, I am probably already halfway in my learning journey.

We hope that the CWC Success Story of Thomas has motivated you in some way.

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Thomas!

We are so proud of you!


Are you a CWC student who has a success story to share? Get in touch with us at care@codewithchris.com

Are you inspired by Thomas to start your own iOS app development learning journey? Learn with us today. 

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