Yes, free lifetime updates through your library, including new Swift and iOS releases, new problems, and corrections.

Share Your Screen, Senior iOS Live Coding & System Design Interview

The problem

You know the material. So why does the live round go sideways?

At the senior level, the interviewer scores what they can hear. A brilliant silent solve and a confused silent solve look identical from the other chair. Most candidates do not lose on the code. They lose on everything around it.

You go quiet and freeze the moment you share your screen, and the silence reads as being lost.
You get scattered when interrupted, jumping between files and losing the thread mid-explanation.
You are judged on communication, not correctness, and nobody ever taught you how that is scored.
You get two minutes to read a codebase, then review and refactor it under three engineers watching.

The answer

Make your thinking visible, and the offer follows.

Built from real senior iOS rounds, this book reverse-engineers what interviewers actually write down and turns the invisible skills into a method you can run in any room.

1

The senior signals

The behaviors that move you from "strong senior" to a staff-level yes, decoded with weak, good, senior, and staff answer ladders for every format.

2

Communication and recovery

Exactly what to say while you build, how to narrate a bug into a display of method, and how to reset when you freeze instead of going silent.

3

Composure under pressure

Stay structured when interrupted, disagree on trade-offs without getting defensive, and read an unfamiliar modular codebase fast.

What is inside

A complete system, not a pile of questions.

Core iOS skills at interview depth: concurrency, memory, modern Swift, request lifecycle, architecture, persistence, networking, testing.
Every format decoded: live app building, code review, mobile system design, take-home, behavioral, and debugging rounds.
9 real, anonymized case studies walked end to end, with what earned the pass at each beat.
A 75-problem bank, each with a complete Swift solution, complexity, common mistakes, follow-ups, and tests.
7 full annotated mock interviews with minute markers, scoring rubrics, and senior-signal notes.
Pressure and communication coaching for interruptions, respectful disagreement, and fast codebase reading.
A four-week prep plan and workbook of worksheets, checklists, and timed drills.
Career and positioning: resume and LinkedIn, rejection handling, and an interviewer's edition.

The difference

You do not just read it. You rehearse it.

▶

A tested companion repo

Reference implementations, build-and-compare exercises, and passing tests. Run swift test and verify the code yourself instead of trusting the page.

👥

Partner-practice kit

Blank practice mocks and interviewer runsheets with built-in interruption cues, so a friend can run a realistic, high-pressure mock and score you against the rubric interviewers actually use.

Who wrote it

Mike Salari

Staff Mobile Engineer, Tech Lead, and technical author

Written from work I have actually done.

15+ years across Apple · Adobe · Cisco · Mastercard · Visa

Staff Mobile Engineer and Tech Lead. 500+ interviews on the screening side. Books drawn from real production systems, not generic advice.

The questions readers sent about his first book, almost all versions of "I know the material, why do I keep failing the live round?", are the reason this one exists.

Buy once

Yours forever, and you are never on your own.

↻

Free lifetime updates

iOS and Swift change every year, and so does this book. Every future version lands in your library free: new Swift releases reflected in the chapters, new problems added to the bank, new case studies, and corrections. Buy once, stay current.

✉

Direct support from the author

Hit a snag, find something unclear, or want a second pair of eyes on your prep? Email Mike directly and he will help. This is a book with a person behind it, not a faceless download.

Readers

What readers say

★★★★★ "Far behind this one, it feels like advice from someone who has actually been through these interviews"

"I've bought many iOS interview books, but they're all far behind this one. What I love most is that Mike shares his real experience instead of just listing questions and answers. It's practical, easy to follow, and feels like advice from someone who's actually been through these interviews. I'm still preparing for my interviews, but this book has already changed the way I think about live coding sessions. I've always struggled with explaining my thought process while coding, and this book really opened my eyes to how to approach problems, communicate my reasoning clearly, and avoid turning the session into complete chaos. Amazing resource! I highly recommend it!"

Ivan Gerasimov ✓

★★★★★ "The mock interviews alone are worth it"

"Most iOS interview books stop at 'here's the answer.' This one shows you the entire conversation: the interviewer's follow-ups, where candidates stall, and what a strong recovery looks like. I ran two of the annotated mocks with a colleague before my onsite, and I got the offer."

Daniel K., Senior iOS Engineer ✓

★★★★★ "From frozen to an offer in two months"

"I'm a solid engineer, but I used to be terrible at live coding, dealing with screen-sharing anxiety and blanking on APIs I use daily. The test-first opening strategy and the mock transcripts gave me a reliable script for the first five minutes, and momentum carried me through the rest. I signed an offer last week with a 24% compensation bump."

David H., iOS Engineer ✓

Get it

Walk into your next senior iOS interview ready.

One purchase. Yours forever, updates included.

The full 581-page book (PDF and EPUB)
The 75-problem bank with tests
9 case studies and 7 annotated mocks
The tested companion Swift repository
The partner-practice kit with interruption runsheets
Free lifetime updates and direct author support

Get Share Your Screen

or read a free sample first →

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Read a free chapter before you buy.

Get the free sample: the full table of contents so you can see everything the book covers, a sample page, and where to get the complete book.

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iOS interview questions, answered

Senior iOS live coding and interview questions

Straight answers to the questions engineers actually search before the live round. The book goes deeper with worked solutions, real case studies, and full mock transcripts.

Why do strong iOS engineers freeze in the live coding round?

The live round scores communication and composure, not just a correct answer. Engineers who ship confidently every day stall because they stop narrating, get interrupted mid-thought, or freeze on a blank editor. The fix is a repeatable method for making your thinking visible and recovering out loud when you get stuck.

What is asked in a senior iOS live coding interview?

Expect a focused Swift problem built live in Xcode, usually 45 to 60 minutes: parsing and modeling data with Codable, an async networking or caching task, or a small feature with state. Interviewers watch how you clarify requirements, structure types, handle edge cases, and test, more than whether you reach a perfect solution.

How is Swift concurrency tested in iOS interviews?

Swift 6 made strict concurrency the default, so interviewers probe async/await, actors, Sendable conformance, and actor isolation. Common tasks include converting completion handlers to async, cancelling in-flight work, and explaining data races. Being precise about why a race happens and how an actor prevents it is a core senior signal.

SwiftUI vs UIKit: what do interviewers expect in 2026?

SwiftUI is now the default for new work, but UIKit still matters for complex custom interactions and legacy code. Strong candidates explain the trade-offs: SwiftUI for declarative state-driven UI, UIKit for fine-grained control and interop. Know how to bridge them with UIViewRepresentable and where each one breaks down.

What does an iOS mobile system design interview cover?

Scenario questions like designing a photo caching layer, an offline-first sync strategy, or a push notification pipeline. What separates senior answers is treating iOS-specific constraints as first-class: memory limits, background execution, battery impact, and conflict resolution when a device reconnects after being offline.

How should I prepare for an iOS take-home assignment?

Treat it like production code a reviewer will read, not a puzzle. Scope tightly, structure the project clearly, write a short README explaining decisions, and include tests for the core logic. Reviewers reward readable architecture and honest trade-off notes over an over-engineered submission that tries to do everything.

How do I recover when I get stuck during live coding?

Say what you are thinking out loud, state your options, and pick one with a reason. Interviewers score recovery highly: narrating a stall, writing a failing case, or asking a targeted clarifying question reads as senior. Silent freezing reads as junior even when you eventually reach the answer.

Is Swift Testing or XCTest expected in interviews now?

Both are acceptable, but Swift Testing with @Test and #expect is the modern default for new code and signals you are current. XCTest is still everywhere in existing projects, so know it too. Writing even one small test during a live round demonstrates the production mindset interviewers look for.

Get every answer worked in full in the book →

Questions

Frequently asked

Who is this for?

Mid-to-senior iOS engineers preparing for senior or staff roles, especially anyone who knows the material but keeps stalling in the live round. It assumes you already ship production Swift, so it is not a beginner's introduction to iOS.

Is it just questions and answers?

No. It teaches the method and communication behind passing, backed by 75 fully solved problems, 9 real case studies, 7 annotated mocks, and a partner-practice kit. The point is how you perform, not just what you know.

What formats and files do I get?

PDF and EPUB for the book, plus the companion Swift package as a downloadable zip.

Does the code actually run?

Yes. The companion repository ships with tests, so you can run swift test and see the behavior proven rather than asserted. A Mac is needed to run the code; the book itself reads anywhere.

Do I get updates?

Yes, free lifetime updates through your library. New Swift and iOS releases, new problems, and corrections are included at no extra cost.

What if I run into a problem?

Email Mike directly. If something is unclear or you hit an issue, he will personally help you sort it out. There is a real person behind this book.

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