Mikk Rätsep

Software engineer in Tallinn. Fifteen years of writing [Objective‑C], .Swift and |> Elixir, much of it on Bluetooth, security and vehicle data, from iPhone apps to the protocol between phone and car to the backend behind it all.

Today I work on a pipeline that moves millions of car data points an hour: integrations across carmakers, multiple layers deep and fault‑tolerant by design.

[Obj‑C]
2011 – 2016

From the Mac to iOS

My first real product was a Mac payroll app for the Swedish market. A year later I moved to iOS and built apps for clients, several carmakers among them.

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.Swift
2014 – today

Every byte counts

For our own hardware, I designed how phones talk to it: an encrypted Bluetooth protocol, a binary format that became the open Auto API, and the security around them.

P

And on the server

Several Swift backends for my own startups and apps, the first one written over a Christmas break, and a few smaller services at work.

|> Elixir
2022 – today

Many carmakers, one format

The data never stops, and no two carmakers send it the same way. I build and run a part of the pipeline: the Elixir services that bring it all in and keep it flowing, even when one side misbehaves.

On the side

Swift

Kegler

A bowling score log for iPhone.

Elixir

LAN Organizer

Plan a LAN party in real time: game votes, Steam libraries and who brings what.

Swift

A startup

A privacy tool, then invoices by email. I led a couple of developers and wrote the backend and the iOS app.

Swift

Every bank, one view

All your bank accounts in one iOS app, with its own Swift backend.

Obj‑C

Nature sounds

An iOS app for nature sound observations, made for the University of Tartu’s natural history museum.

Home Assistant

The house

Dashboards, automations, smart switches and the rest of the smart home.

About

Based in
Tallinn, after three years in Berlin
Background
First program: a Breakout clone in QBasic, at schoolStudied at the University of Tartu and TalTech, then left for work
Community
Organised the Tallinn iOS meetup for several years and gave talks there on iOS and new technologies
Talks
Co‑presented Nearest Neighbors, Distant Words at ElixirConf EU 2024
Off the keyboard
Riding motorcycles