The point about learning Swift and directly building an app is a good one. I was thinking recently that a general rule of thumb should be "don't learn a programming language unless you have a project in mind". I have learned so many languages, Swift included, that I just didn't have a project for. As a result, I either gave up or just forgot what I'd learned.

I'm happy for OP that his hiring process went this way, wasn't this also how John Calhoun got into Apple?