Expert macOS Developer
Khaled was engaged through Toptal as a specialist for a short-term performance optimization project on Quill Notes' audio transcription application. The app allowed users to record voice notes, transcribe them, and extract highlights. Khaled leveraged his extensive media processing experience from Axle Media to optimize the audio processing pipeline, implement parallel background queues, and improve threading operations.
Why I Joined
Short-term specialist engagement through Toptal that perfectly matched his deep macOS media processing expertise
- •Profiled and identified performance bottlenecks in the audio transcription processing pipeline
- •Implemented background parallel queue architecture using Grand Central Dispatch for improved concurrency
- •Optimized threading operations to prevent UI blocking during audio processing
- •Enhanced AVFoundation audio processing to reduce transcription latency and improve throughput
- ✓Optimized the audio transcription pipeline resulting in measurably improved processing performance
- ✓Implemented GCD background parallel queues that enabled non-blocking audio processing during user interaction
- ✓Applied lessons learned from Axle Media's AX1 and Ascribe products to solve similar media processing challenges
- ✓Completed specialist engagement within the one-month timeframe with all performance objectives met
Technology Stack
Situation
Quill Notes LLC had developed an audio transcription app for note-taking that allowed users to record voice notes, transcribe them, and extract highlights. However, the audio processing pipeline had performance issues that affected user experience.
Task
Khaled was engaged as a specialist to identify and resolve the performance bottlenecks, particularly around threading and audio processing.
Action
Drawing on his extensive experience with media processing from Axle Media (AX1 and Ascribe products), Khaled profiled the application to identify bottlenecks. He implemented GCD background parallel queues for non-blocking audio processing and optimized the AVFoundation audio pipeline. His deep understanding of macOS media frameworks allowed him to quickly identify and implement effective solutions.
Result
Within one month, Khaled delivered measurable performance improvements to the audio transcription pipeline. The optimizations enabled smoother user experience during recording and transcription, and the app could process audio more efficiently in the background.
Size: 3 people
Structure: Specialist contractor embedded with product team
Reported to: Product Lead
0Skills Gained
Skills Deepened
- 💡How media processing expertise translates across different audio applications
- 💡The importance of specialist knowledge for solving specific performance challenges