The `sharedHelper` method is an alternative to the `alloc` + `init` to get a single instance from everywhere in the code (a.k.a. a singleton). Sometimes you want to fire an event from a different class (different view, different window, who knows?), but you still want to use the same instance of `AnalyticsHelper`, and not create and configure a new one. That’s where this `sharedHelper` can be useful. The official Google Analytics SDK for iOS has a similar method, for instance.

NSHipster has a great article about `instancetype`: http://nshipster.com/instancetype/. The short version is that constructors should now use `instancetype` instead of `id` to enforce correct compiler type checks.

And yes, the sample project still works as-is, nothing has been removed, only the optional singleton method has been added.