App: The Human Story - My Story like many others

A recently posted kickstarter project is making a documentary about the inception of the App and they want to hear about app stories.

A recently posted kickstarter project is making a documentary about the inception of the App and they want to hear about app stories.

I decided to write my story because watching the trailer for the film I get the feeling that most of the stories will be about runaway successes from large companies and indie studios. My story is probably like most of the community especially for developers around my age; a view point of the App Revolution from a developer starting his career around the beginning of the iPhone release.

In late 2007,  I was almost halfway through my  computer science degree and working as a web developer for a digital agency in Perth, Australia. Someone in the office had one of the first iPhones. It was one of the early 2G devices the SDK was still be announced so as a developer it just felt like every other phone.

Like many others I purchased a iPhone 3G when it came out as a consumer not a developer. I had an interest in the SDK and began downloaded the SDK and ran the demo apps and started writing some code for the iPhone. However I didn't see the commercial success of the app revolution coming and didn't have the jump right in approach that many more successful app stories have. Still I built a simple app of my own that displayed the local traffic camera images. I made the app for a good reason, I wanted to solve a problem, the website wasn't viewable on mobile and I wanted a quick way to check the traffic. The app was free, so I didn't win the app store lottery however it had a purpose it got me noticed and helped me land a new more senior job, at the beginning of the "my company needs an app attitude was growing". I've always had the philosophy that a good native app should solve a problem (I'm sure I read that somewhere). Working on an app and then releasing it into the app store gives you a wonderful feeling of accomplishment that I love and still crave today whilst also keeps you grounded and vulnerable as frustrating app reviews come in.

I hope to provide balance from some of the "app store riches" stories that will be most likely highlighted and sensationalised in a documentary about apps. I think its important to tell the other, less discussed but still common story. The developers that have been walking the line between agency life and working on that app itch and are still going even though the app gold rush is well and truly over. As you can see whilst I've been trying to itch, I've built a decent number of apps for other Australian companies ranging from a small shoe retailer to a national shoe retailer (Betts) and a national car park operator (Wilson Parking) but unfortunately are now apps that are either a bit long in the tooth or no longer available.

Making a successful app is hard, very hard. It takes a dedication team with the perfect balance of skill, perseverance and a generous amount of luck, well so I've heard, I'm yet to make my own runaway app success story!

In June 2014 I started a new company in pursuit of the app store dream, freelancing/contracting as a web and iOS developer to pay the bills whilst I work on an app project of my own....

Squidee App Development

Squidee - Web and Mobile App Development by me!

I've always said that if I ever won lotto I'd start a company doing web development mobile apps, unfortunately theres no lotto money but I have decided to go freelance and work on a few of my own projects and some other exciting stuff. So I'm excited to announce that I'm now working under a new company called Squidee

I'll still be posting on this website for blog posts but for any web or mobile app development work this is my new 'brand'

STYLEAID App

I recently built the app for Style Aid whilst working for Gatecrasher Advertising. A mobile game of Pass The Parcel was played on the event night (27th of July 2012), where 15 electronic parcels will were passed around the room and won at random. Users who had downloaded the app and then register. Push Notifications using UrbanAirship were sent as each parcel was sent around.

Guests at STYLEAID had the opportunity to have their very own red carpet moment. Photographs were taken and uploaded into a CMS and then users could share on facebook or twitter.

I used .NET MVC to handle the requests from the app in a REST methodology  and a simple windows service was created to change update who had the parcel and to send the push notifications.

More info about the event can be found at the West Yahoo website http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/video/watch/30111603/21086646/

Appirater github Fork

I forked appirater yesterday and have made a pull request to the master repo.It was a simple change but I believe a very important one. I've always added the appirater code to all the apps I've submitted to the app store. Its kind of annoying for the user but the fact of the matter is to get downloads you need app reviews and the simplest way of getting app reviews is asking. After doing my usual research of asking a few people about the usual dialog message as seen below

They said they usually only rate if the app is bad! So whilst appirater does a good job of waiting a few days and a number of opens. People might still not like the app but have no choice and use it anyway (just checkout the Facebook app reviews), these are the people you want giving you feedback and want to keep them well away from the app store rating your app. So instead we present them with this message

And if they say yes I have issues bring up a the Mail Composer Controller

Its not perfect but until something awesome like http://majortom.bonobolabs.com/ is available it will have to do!

Will the iPad Fail: God no

I wrote this post whilst at Sumo Group but thought it would be good to repost it here since the Sumo Blog seems to have a few cob webs on it. At the time I remember thinking that the iPad was going to be become one of Apples rare failed products like the ROKR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_ROKR) or Mobile Me how wrong I was. I hate to say it but the iPad has been a game changer and has brought about a Post PC world with 15.4 million iPads sold in Q4 of 2011. I'm excited about the iPad more than ever and I can't wait to release my first iPad app for my second job at Bingy Bongy.

"The iPad was released last week in the US and as with all major apple product releases there’s major turbulence in the ‘blogosphere’.  Some are saying it’s the best thing since sliced bread the iPhone whilst others are saying it just a large iPhone.

Apple is going into unexplored territory, whilst yes you might be jumping up and down saying Microsoft have been making tablets for almost 10 years and they have. However companies have also been making mobile phones for years and look how much of a stir the iPhone created? It changed the way mobile phones and interfaces are made (just have a look at other mobile phones on the market today and see the similarities). There is no denying it, Apple creates great products but more importantly they also sell their products well. Keynote speeches that have charisma and charm, littering the internet with hype and rumours months before product release dates. But the question remains will the iPad be as successful as the iPhone?

I believe the iPad will be an enjoyable browsing experience literally flicking through pages on the web.  Speaking from experience typing large amount of text is difficult on the iPhone, however typing on that large screen virtual keyboard does appear very handy for simple document creation. This could come in handy for writing say blog entries. Or more explicitly, writing blog entries on The Dojo…

Unfortunately Sumo and the rest of Australia will have to keep waiting as the release date isn’t until late April. Once the iPad does finally get to Australia I’ll definitely be giving it a try. As a programmer I’m not sure I have the requirement (or the cash) for another device. Don’t get me wrong I love gadgets, but with a computer at work and a laptop at home (and an iPhone for any time in between) there isn’t really a requirement for another screen. Whether I’ll be handing over the exorbitant amount of US$499 (just for the wifi version) remains to be seen.

So what do you think? Is the iPad going to change the internet forever or is it just Apple trying to squeeze more money out of us all again?"

Betts Mag App Launch in the Apple App Store

UPDATE: I'll be submitting an updated 1.1 version this afternoon which really polishes the app so be sure to lookout for that. The iPhone companion app uses String™ Augmented Reality which was really easy to work with, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to develop a few more apps using it. In the Betts Spring 2011 catalog which is currently instores you'll see the Betts Mag App iPhone app is featured. Here you can scan the icons inside the printed mag and unlock extra app features.

Also there are about 8 rich media shoe products where you can see 3 Ways to Wear and touch to spin 360 view spin of the products.

The iPad app allows you to browse the Spring Summer Catalog.