Musings From the Software Underground

The iTunes App Store: Year One

2009-07-10T18:30:00.002-04:00

So, here we are, one year into the iTunes App Store... Where are we, exactly? For some, the App Store has brought fame and riches... for others... not so much.

In January MacGourmet touch was released, after months of development. How did it go? Well, I can honestly say that considering the amount of time and effort that went into it, it still hasn't broken even. This is one of the main reasons why a) it's not a free add-on and b) why it's priced at $4.99. As much as I'd like to spend time doing things for free or for the "ultra low price of just 99¢", it's just not possible with this app. It can be complicated and every minute of every day has a dollar tag attached to it, and I'm just not at a point where I can give away my time for free... Still, it's sold well enough that I am planning and working on future free updates, so stay tuned.

As a Developer

One thing that's killing me, as a developer... is that there is absolutely no way for developers to comment or respond to comments in the App Store without including a rating. This is a huge hole in the process. We'll often see things posted there that could be responded to, but at the same time we don't receive email about the issue... so what are we as developers to do? Post a comment with a 5 star rating? A 3 star rating? If the reviews were all truly reviews that'd be one thing, but often comments are made about problems or misunderstandings that could be cleared up for the poster and other users... but there's no way for us to do that. There is also no way for us to send them email.

Another thing I have trouble with is the loss of control over my product releases. You never know how long it will take for your release to get through the approval system. Sometimes, rejections happen for very simple reasons, but the related rejection can set you back for weeks now. Things have only gotten worse since my January post entitled: The App Store Product Release Cycle: An Exercise in Frustration

As a User

As an iPhone user, I see a TON of apps of dubious quality, and it gets worse every day. More and more one-off 99¢ apps that are clearly money grabs. There are people out there who clearly see the "shot gun approach" as a quick (or possibly the only) way to make money, but all I see is more and more noise. Searching for apps is getting harder and harder.

For all the frustration we developers have with the App Store approval process, Apple seems to have no problems letting apps of questionable value into the store. And the more of those that get submitted, the longer it takes for all of us to get approval.

A post on pocketgamer.biz, on the 10 lessons learnt about the future of iPhone gaming has some interesting but not particularly surprising observations.

Almost all iPhone game developers we spoke to are increasing their number of releases...

The thinking is so many games are being released on the App Store, there's less point spending a long time polishing your game. Best take a shotgun approach and immediately support any success with fast updates and sequels.

Translation: more and more cheap no-effort dreck to wade through. Honestly, I hate to sound like a "Mac snob" but more and more the App Store is looking like Windows software sites on the web: lots and lots of apps that individually and as a whole, aren't really worth a damn. We don't see this lack of quality and overabundance in the Mac software market. That's always been a difference from the Windows-world. Now, we're seeing this weird convergence of the Mac and Windows applications worlds in the App Store...

Pricing

At least the iPhone game-makers seem to realize that the crapware model is unsustainable:

Cheap games are long term suicide

The contrary attitude, particularly from more established developers, states that selling games at 99¢ - despite micro-transaction support - isn't sustainable even for the smallest companies. Of course, there will be some examples of success, but the majority of examples of using 99¢ for both the razor and the razor blades will end in failure.

Craig Hockenberry, in an extensive year one review entitled Year Two (recommended reading) also says:

I�ve talked about pricing before, but not much has changed. The addition of in-app purchase is great for certain kinds of applications: our upcoming title, Ramp Champ, makes great use of it. But most apps cannot take advantage of this new feature and are left struggling at the ringtone price point.

These low prices are making decisions for us... The problem is that the long-term success of the iPhone platform will be defined by killer apps, not throwaways that you replace on your home screen after a few months.

Potential Piracy Issues

The App Store also seems to give rise to an easy single point of failure for piracy, again, according to pocketgamer.biz:

Not widely spoken about, especially on the record, but iPhone piracy is certainly out there and growing. One developer told us he thought it was running at about 25 percent on iPhone - compared to 90 percent for his Java games.

From a Mac app sales perspective 25% isn't just bad, it's TERRIBLE. True, there is piracy in the Mac universe too, but we all use a variety of registration systems, so one hack won't typically break the security of all Mac apps... this isn't true when talking about talking about iPhone apps. With the App Store and Apple's security, there is one single point of failure. Break that, and you open up every single iPhone app. This, on the surface is not a huge issue, but when you're talking apps that use servers, bandwidth, etc. all of these pirated apps could be costing small developers a bundle in bandwidth and support charges.

The Future

So where do I think we go from here? I do really appreciate Apple opening up another venue that Mac developers can use to generate much needed revenue, don't get me wrong. But personally, other than Cloudburst, a simple 99¢ app that I recently released, and new, improved versions of MacGourmet touch, I don't see myself dedicating much time to iPhone development.

Unless you have an iPhone companion to a Mac app, like MacGourmet touch does, how do you find any kind of traction? Unless Apple finds your app interesting enough to feature, most apps are liable to get lost in a sea of releases. With that in mind, it can be hard to justify spending a lot of time on something, only to see it sink like a stone in a sea of mediocrity.

There's also the matter of coming up with an app that never gets approved... after you've finished it and submitted it to the store. That can be quite a deterrent. I think Craig Hockenberry puts it best in Year Two when he says:

At present, it�s a crap shoot. When you roll snake eyes, you have no other channel to sell your product and you�ve lost a lot of time and money."

What would help? Quicker turnaround on submissions (it can take up to 3 weeks now, and it's only getting worse), a way for developers to respond to reviewers with problems and questions and better methods to search are just some of the ways that Apple could really improve things. Apple's done an amazing thing in the first year just getting the store up and running and in general working well, but we can only hope that they are listening to our feedback when deciding on the necessary changes for year two.

New iPhone App: Cloudburst released for iPhone

2009-07-10T15:00:00.001-04:00

I recently added a side project of mine to the App Store: Cloudburst. It was one of the things I was noodling on while trying to learn app development for the iPhone. It got to a point where I finally decided to get Jordan Langille at OneToad Design to put some graphics and an icon together for me afterwhich I packaged it for release. You can get the full story here: Welcome to Cloudburst for iPhone!

Macworld Gives MacGourmet Glowing Review

2009-06-06T10:03:00.004-04:00

Macworld just reviewed MacGourmet as a "Mac Gem" giving it 4.5 mice out of 5!

According to the reviewer:

If you�re a recipe geek and need a place to store, organize, and categorize your current and potential meals, look no further than MacGourmet. From the program�s recipe box metaphor to its flexible visuals, plug-in architecture, auto import functions, and smart searching, this is one of the most versatile and extensible programs available for any cook.

The review is pretty extensive and hits on just about everything. It's a great read for even current users: you may find out about things in the product you didn't even know were there!

The reviewer sums up her review with:

If you work extensively at cooking or event planning, or you�re just intensely organized and interested in exploring the subject, MacGourmet should be in your shopping cart. Its functionality and extensibility add convenience and ease to tasks that can become mundane over time. Its automated features and flexible presentation are appealing, and the core program is priced attractively. If you want to add features like nutritional information, meal planning, and cookbook publishing, you can add on the items you�re interested in piecemeal or just purchase the Deluxe version.

You can read the entire review here: MacGourmet organizes and helps find new recipes

BumpTop: Yet Another Desktop Replacement?

2009-04-08T22:34:00.006-04:00

Ok, at first when I heard about BumpTop I thought, "great, yet another lame desktop replacement app" but this actually looks pretty cool. It includes some elements of what you see in Mac OS X, and some that were rumored (like piles).

Hands-on: BumpTop may be desktop revamp you've waited for

It's only available for Windows right now, but the site says it's coming for Mac OS X and Linux too.

MacGourmet "Featured" in Latest iPhone Ad "Office"

2009-04-06T21:35:00.003-04:00

Not as good as really being featured, but still kind of neat, I must say... MacGourmet "Featured" in Latest iPhone Ad "Office"

Creating an iPhone Companion App: Simplify, Simplify Simplify

2009-02-02T11:30:00.000-05:00

Unlike many apps developed for the iPhone, MacGourmet touch is more of a "port" of MacGourmet to the iPhone. It's meant to work tightly with the desktop version of MacGourmet, and comes with a certain set of built-in expectations. In some cases, this makes things easier, in others more difficult. Existing users have a certain set of expectations, created by the desktop version, that will carry over into the iPhone version. Because of that, It takes some thought and planning, and a tight focus, to meet the key expectations, without building something that just doesn't work on the iPhone. That said, I have a number of things learned during the process of designing and building MacGourmet touch:

Remember, the iPhone is not a Mac, not even close. Don't try and include every feature from the desktop app, and every option. In a lot of cases, it won't even be possible. Simplify, Simplify Simplify.

Concentrate on the core feature set. Yes, a desktop app can be about every feature from A-Z (not that you SHOULD do this even for a desktop app, but it IS possible). Design for focused functionality. MacGourmet touch focuses on taking your recipes, notes and shopping lists with you. This means that quick and simple display of information is more important than say, advanced Find, advanced organization, publishing, web site import, etc. or even editing (though I do plan on allowing editing more than just shopping lists in the future).

Some of your desktop code will come over to the phone just fine. Some won't. Test, test, test. You'd be surprised by what does work on the Mac, but doesn't work at all on the iPhone, especially if your desktop app has been around for a while.

Build for the device as early as possible. As I write this, the simulator will let you include and build with libraries and APIs that aren't available in the iPhone OS. A good example bit me in the butt: I built the original sync code using NSArchiver, got everything done and working in the simulator, only to later find out that NSArchiver isn't supported, only NSKeyedArchiver is. This meant taking a huge step back and changing a lot of working code. Ouch!

Port your code with an eye towards improving both the desktop and iPhone versions of your application. I've found that the iPhone code I've been writing has actually been improving some of the code that the desktop version uses. This cross-pollination is a very useful and beneficial thing, if done right.

MacGourmet touch will continue to evolve in the future. There are some things, like editing recipes and notes, in addition to editing shopping lists, that definitely make sense. Something like simple meal planning would also make sense as a future feature. How the product evolves though, will be influenced and largely dictated by the points I've listed above.

For another great take on building a companion iPhone app, Cultured Code's post on how they developed their companion app for Things is a good read.

The App Store Product Release Cycle: An Exercise in Frustration

2009-01-30T10:15:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure how others have found the App Store approval to be, but I found it anything but smooth. In trying to get MacGourmet touch approved for the App Store, it was rejected three times:

The first rejection, 3 days after submission, was because I didn't acknowledge that there might not be an active connection available. OK, I've noticed that other apps don't necessarily do this, but I found the reference, sort of, so fine, it's a logical request. Resubmit.

The second rejection, 3 days after resubmission, was because I didn't provide "login information" for testing... which shows a lack of understanding about syncing that the average MacGourmet user wouldn't share. Syncing is with the app, not a web site that requires a username/password... Fine, I provided a download link for the prerelease of 2.4 and a link to the set up instructions. Resubmit.

The third rejection, after another 3 days, was the result of the wrong build hastily getting placed on the server. A 30 second fix. Turn around time on that one? 4 days.

As a developer who is used to complete control over my release schedule, and when products are "ready for release", this whole exercise is an exercise in frustration. Not to mention, the whole process is time consuming. 3 days for each turnaround, which is probably decent, is just too long. Does everyone experience this kind of submission experience? I'll bet that once Apple decided to relax their standards and let iFart into the store, that it wasn't rejected even once...

There IS a flip side supposedly too though, as detailed here: Android app uproar sparks debate over open app store model. Apparently an app store can be a little TOO loose, at least according to the writer, who advocates needing submission standards similar to Apple's. Really, though, how is software downloaded from the Android app store different from software you can download and install now for your Mac or PC? These problems are all possible when you download a Mac application, but you hope that the developers are good citizens and do their best to "do no harm" and for the most part, that works.

As you can see, the problems with the App Store go beyond just what Craig Hockeberry refers to in his open letter to Steve Jobs, Ringtone apps. Anything more complicated than a fart "Ringtone app" is bound to also be a LOT more difficult to get approved, if for no other reason than the testers don't read or misunderstand requirements, and don't know how to use the companion apps the iPhone apps are made to work with.

Add to that, it's getting harder and harder to make a compelling business reason to even produce apps for the store, at least anything beyond what you can develop quickly and sell for a buck: The future of the crApp Store as detailed by the folks at Chilli X.

Now that MacGourmet touch is out, I do plan to add to it, but I'll have to balance that time with development on the main MacGourmet product and I have no choice but to base that time on what MacGourmet touch can generate for revenue. I love developing for the Mac, don't get me wrong, and that extends to the iPhone, but everything has a cost, and if the App Store doesn't have a significant enough return on time investment, then I'll have to spend a larger bulk of my time every day elsewhere.

MacGourmet Updated to 2.4: Adds iPhone and iPod touch support, bug fixes

2009-01-29T13:05:00.001-05:00

MacGourmet 2.4, a free minor update, is now available.

This version adds support for syncing your information with your iPhone/iPod touch using MacGourmet touch, available very soon exclusively from the iPhone App Store. For a full list of changes, please see the release notes.

As always, MacGourmet can be downloaded from the MacGourmet download page or by using the built-in software update service.

MacGourmet Deluxe version 1.1, which includes MacGourmet 2.4, can be downloaded from the Mariner Software download page as soon as they make it available.

This new release is primarily targeted at the iPhone/iPod touch support so, what, you may be wondering, is coming next? I plan to have long overdue updates for Mealplan, Cookbook and Nutrition out before too long, changes are already underway, hopefully due out over the next month or so. They've seen a delay because of how much work developing MacGourmet touch took.

Then, after that, it's head down and into development for version 3. I've got a very long list of requests and new features planned, so stay tuned for that, as well as updates to MacGourmet touch in the coming year!

Apple Pulls Out of Macworld. Why is This a Surprise?

2008-12-17T14:03:00.003-05:00

Honestly, I don't know why it didn't happen sooner. Macworld has always required that Apple build their products and announce them around a date outside of their making. I'm sure this never set well with Jobs and Co. who can really do things as they darn well please, thank you very much.

This writing has been on the wall for some time now. Apple has stores everywhere. They have also started doing their own "mini keynotes" whenever THEY see fit. Development based on a date, rather than a date based on when development was actually finished has never set well with me, as an engineer. I can see now that it never really set well with Apple either, and they've finally decided to do something about it. And in this down economy, why NOT do it now?

Oh and can we PLEASE STOP making everything about the health of Jobs?

The Realities of Building and Selling Your iPhone App

2008-12-12T12:55:00.014-05:00

The App Store has been open for some time now, and it's become clear that we're at the dawn of a new market. Right now, it definitely has a "Wild West" feel to it. I mean there are tons of questions, and not nearly as many answers, not yet any way. People have started blogging about their experiences though, and it's useful to read these, as they cast some light onto the current state of the things.

One of the main concerns right now, is pricing vs. exposure and subsequent sales. Some personal experiences are starting to fill in the details, but the picture is still mixed.

The App Store seems to be really "hit driven" at least at first blush. Being featured, and very aggressive pricing, seem to be the paths that lead to ongoing success, by some accounts anyway.

In Craig Hockenberry's recent post, Ringtone Apps, (he created the really nice Twitterific app, both on the desktop and the iPhone at IconFactory, among other things), he talks about how it seems that the only successful App Store apps are "ringtone apps": those that are sold for 99 cents; and how it's nearly impossible to really fund iPhone app development at this pricing level.

"As an iPhone developer who�s been in the App Store since its launch, I�m starting to see a trend that concerns me: developers are lowering prices to the lowest possible level in order to get favorable placement in iTunes. This proliferation of 99� �ringtone apps� is affecting our product development."

I would tend to agree. I mean if you think of what your time is worth as a developer, now many hours it takes to create an iPhone app of any substance (as I've found out, this is far from trivial), and the price at which you must sell an application, the numbers have a hard time adding up in favor of the developer. This leads to a situation where developers don't spend "real" time on apps, but instead do "drive by" apps (or ringtone apps as Craig calls them) that take far less time and effort to produce.

What happens, if the pricing levels are set so low, to those who want to invest a great deal of time into their apps, and need to charge more for them to make up for the development cost? Can they succeed?

Well according to the source listed in this TUAW post, Stats: 99 cent apps aren't selling any better, pricing your app at 99 cents DOESN'T increase sales. The data in the post they refer to is interesting. But I agree with Gruber, when he says:

"grouping all apps that cost more than 99 cents together spoils the whole thing."

It's interesting, but far less enlightening than it could have been. It fails to show how different prices ABOVE 99 cents effect sales. What's the "sweet spot" for app pricing, if it's not 99 cents? Is there one? Is it largely dependent on the app?

The current problem with the store, as I see it anyway, is that it is the ONLY real source for apps right now. It's the only way to distribute, buy and sell iPhone apps. It's also for the most part, the only way to get real exposure for apps. There are a few complementary ways I suppose, Daring Fireball ads for one, which seem to have helped apps like Classics and "Where To?". John Casasanta blogged about what tap tap tap did to get exposure for their apps at the beginning. Remember though, that when he posted this, there were far fewer apps and far less competition. Still, it's interesting to see what worked and didn't.

But for most people, it's the App Store or nothing, and honestly, it currently doesn't do a great job of giving non-featured apps exposure yet.

This is backed up by the experiences of David Barnard (he doesn't say in his post, but I think it's David) at AppCubby who says:

"If I can find a cost effective way to market my apps, I would be willing to borrow money for marketing, but so far the strategy that has made the most fiscal sense is to spend money on development and hope for good placement with Apple and the press."

in his Financial Realities of the App Store post.

Honestly though, I've been doing indie Mac development for a long time now, and the Mac market isn't much different in this regard, success can be based on who blogs about and who features your product. Still, the Mac market has so many more avenues for exposure, "good placement with Apple and the press" isn't quite as key for your typical Mac app to be a success, but it really helps. I actually like Gruber's idea:

"What Apple could do is weight the best-seller list by revenue rather than unit sales. That way a $10 app with 1,000 sales could get ahead of a $1 app that sells 5,000."

At least I think it's his, at any rate, it'd go some distance towards fixing the race to the bottom we seem to be seeing now. But, being devil's advocate, is a $10 app more "valuable" than a $1 app, just because the developer wants 9 more dollars for it? Is this any more useful? I'd say that at the very least, it puts the brakes on the drive to the bottom in pricing at least.

So, what's a developer to do? I face this exact question myself. MacGourmet Touch, a MacGourmet companion app for the iPhone (and iPod touch), is currently in beta. Now, it remains to be seen how things work out for it when released. For one thing, it won't be going into the store without an existing audience. There are already lots of MacGourmet users clamoring for a companion application that will let them take their recipes with them. But, as detailed in the previous posts, iPhone app development isn't cheap. Will MacGourmet Touch pay for itself? If it does, how long will it take, and at what price point? In the current incarnation of the App Store, which seems to be largely "hit driven" it remains to be seen. One thing I might try is making it more attractive to the non-MacGourmet users, maybe by including more sample recipes, etc. At any rate, it has to pay for itself and the effort required (though honestly, it's possible that it's release will also work in reverse, and sell copies of MacGourmet...).

I plan to blog about approaching the app store from this angle, adding another perspective, once MacGourmet Touch is out, so stay tuned...

Trials and Tribulations Developing for the iPhone

2008-10-01T09:00:00.003-04:00

Just a bit over a year ago Apple released a revolutionary device, the iPhone, to great fanfare. At the time, there was no way to develop applications for it. Apple's answer to developers' demands that they be able to create new products or the iPhone? Make iPhone-optimized web sites, that should be all you need...

Well of course that WASN'T all we wanted, or needed. We wanted to be able to create first-class iPhone apps, with all of the "bells and whistles" of the built-in iPhone apps. After much developer gnashing of teeth, Apple recanted (or maybe it was always their plan), and announced an SDK for the iPhone. There was much rejoicing. Yes! Mac developers WOULD be able to create products or the iPhone and iPod touch!

As has been covered more and more on the Mac web though, Apple is a harsh mistress. Months after the release of the iPhone SDK, all developers are still bound by an NDA that prevents them from mentioning anything iPhone development related. Having problems with your code? You can't ask other developers for help. Don't understand something? Again, there is no sharing of information allowed. The only samples you get are what Apple provides. And, ridiculously enough, even if your app is rejected from the App Store... you aren't allowed to talk about it. I can't tell you how much this is stifling development, at least from my perspective.

I've been working on a mobile version of MacGourmet for way longer than I expected I'd be. Why? Because what I am trying to do either isn't possible, because of bugs in the SDK, or isn't because I'm doing things incorrectly. Do I have any sources to try and find out WHY things aren't working? Just one: Apple's already overworked, over-stressed, overburdened developers.

More than anything else, the NDA is holding up the development of MacGourmet: To Go. I've had to spend WAY too much time trying to figure out why my application just seems to crash randomly when trying certain things. I've already cut back the feature set, so that I can try and get SOMETHING shipped, but I'm still running into problems. It seems every time I step outside of the "box of simple" I get slapped back down by random crashes in the SDK code.

If we were allowed to discuss development freely, this wouldn't be a show-stopper. All it would usually take is a post to one of the developer lists, where someone could spot any SDK misunderstandings or problems in no time. Chances are, someone reading would have tried to do what you are doing, and figured out how it works. It's this collective, that serves the Mac community so well, that makes all Mac developers so productive. The wealth of sharing is amazing. You can always seem to find the answers to any development questions, or at least find information that helps lead you to your own solution. The least they could do is provide registered NDA developers a place where we can talk and exchange information freely, but they don't even give us that, all they do is keep us from talking.

Right now, Apple is preventing the free exchange of information regarding iPhone development from happening. And it's hurting the whole development community. I mean just look at my own app. It's not just a simple viewer of static information, a simple to do or shopping list app. It's an iPhone application that I ultimately want to be a handheld version of MacGourmet, not with all of the same bells and whistles, but with the basics still largely intact: recipes, wine notes, cooking notes and shopping lists. I'm currently having trouble producing this though. The NDA is largely responsible.

I realize that the SDK is new, and is still evolving. I've submitted potential bugs to Apple, in the hopes that they are fixed, or that I get information on what I'm doing wrong. This is a really slow way to develop though. Granted, for personal reasons, where I for years spent the bulk of my time working at the expense of personal life, I've now switched things around and am spending less time on work at the moment (an 8 hour day instead of working all the time), I've still been trying my damnedest to ship an iPhone product, while keeping up with MacGourmet support and development. A lot of time I just seem to be spinning my wheels, and scaling features back and finding less-optimal workaround ways of doing things, because the way I should be able to do things doesn't seem to work. Not having access to the Mac developer "collective" is what I see as one of the major causes (at least for me personally).

Apple really needs to lighten up, and drop the NDA. It's not serving anyone well, and it's stifling the platform.

[UPDATE: No sooner do I post this, then do we get word that APPLE IS DROPPING THE NDA for released versions! Yea! This makes perfect sense. I don't mind being bound by NDA for say, iPhone 2.2, which isn't out yet. But now we can discuss iPhone 2.1 as needed. Thank you Apple!]

MacGourmet Deluxe Gets "Great" Rating from Mac|Life

2008-09-13T19:12:00.004-04:00

Check out this month's Mac|Life magazine for a 4 star review of MacGourmet Deluxe! They have this to say: "...the app cooks up some nice features, including menus, meal planners, shopping lists, nutrition guidelines, and, of course, your favorite recipes available at the click of a button." You can read the full review online here.

Some Nice New Reviews of MacGourmet

2008-09-04T14:21:00.001-04:00

I've been updating the MacGourmet Quotes page a lot lately! Some new quotes from recently added reviews are:

"With so many ways to sort, organize, and search for recipes, MacGourmet Deluxe is invaluable for anyone who loves cooking and collecting recipes."
First Look: MacGourmet Deluxe, recipe management (MacNN)

"In all, MacGourmet Deluxe packs a whole lot of functionality into one application. While some of the additions are not for everyone (I won't use the Wine Notes, for example), the things you don�t use stay out of the way, and the focus remains on recipes, ingredients, and preparation - as it should."
MacGourmet Deluxe: A Chef�s Dream Come True (MacApper)

"It all boils down to this: if you need a database to manage your recipes, there are several available, though none has been more pleasant for me to use than MacGourmet Deluxe."
MacGourmet Deluxe 1.0.3 (ATPM)

You can find these reviews and more at on the MacGourmet Quotes page!

Buy a PanMass Challenge Bundle, Support a Great Cause

2008-08-28T08:34:00.001-04:00

Seth Dillingham is again trying to raise money for his Pan Mass Challenge run. This year, he even lets you build your bundle!

Included again, like in past years, are copies of MacGourmet and SQLGrinder, and this year adds copies of MacGourmet Deluxe. It's a great cause, so if you're hankering for a bunch of new Mac software and want the money to go to a great cause, head on over to Seth's build-a-bundle page.

Yep, That's Me on MacVoices

2008-08-07T11:23:00.002-04:00

Chuck Joiner of MacVoices was nice enough to have me on his show recently, to talk about MacGourmet and MacGourmet Deluxe. We had a great conversation about where MacGourmet has been, and where's going. You can listen to it here: Michael Dupuis of Advenio Gets Cooking with MacGourmet

iPhone App Store: Impressions

2008-08-05T20:20:00.000-04:00

So, iPhone 2.0 has been out a while now. I thought I'd post some of my impressions and experiences so far. As I'm diligently hard at work on my own App Store product, a mobile version of MacGourmet, it's obviously in my best interest that it be the best possible experience for people. My experiences so far have been mixed.

First off, the concept and overall execution of the App Store is brilliant. It's so easy to use, and so easy to get applications on your iPhone and iPod touch. Buying is as simple as buying music or movies, which is great.

That said, already there have been many reported problems. Things like developers "gaming the system" by using spaces and other characters to influence the sorting of products. I can't tell you how annoying I found that to be while browsing until Apple (THANKFULLY) fixed it. The whole concept of doing that with your product name isn't something I'd ever do, and it strikes me as very sleazy, but whatever, you are no longer able to do that now.

One other thing that has been sort of surprising is the seeming lack of any editorial control by the App Store. This leads to a LOT of duplication, both in application name and function. Maybe part of the reason is the very limited number of characters available for an application name. I don't know, but there are a LOT of "to do" and shopping list applications that all seem to do the same basic thing. Duplication seems to be rampant. Maybe Apple will eventually remove things based on low sales? I don't know. Considering a lot of these duplicated apps aren't free, and there is no way to demo them, how do you even decide amongst them?

As many others have mentioned, the review system is leaving much to be desired. There are lots of low ratings submitted on things like price (it should be FREE!!!) by people who haven't even tried the application. As a developer, it's not great to see your application rated 2 out of 5 stars, by people who haven't even tried it. Apple could fix this by only allowing those who have downloaded or purchased the application to review and rate it.

Installation, I've found to be a breeze. I have, like a lot of others, had some real problems though. I've frequently had to reinstall applications. I've updated applications and had them crash, taking down my iPhone in the process. So far, the first iteration of iPhone 2.0 seems to be very unstable. I've also had one application crash and from that point on, not been able to launch any of my 3rd party applications, even after rebooting. I could only get things working by reinstalling most of my applications. Not an ideal situation if you are away from your Mac and/or a wifi connection.

As far as apps go, I've found them to be of mixed quality. The games I've purchased have been great. I purchased both Trism, and BubbleBash, and both are of high quality and stability. I've also downloaded the free Aurora Feint and been happy with that as well.

I've purchased MLB.com's At Bat, and find that right now, it's really not worth the money. All you get is a part of the schedule. You can't get standings, you can't get any information on your favorite team, and you can't set a favorite team. What they are selling for $5 I find to be of limited use to me. The fact that apparently it's only good for this season is also not a point in it's favor. If they plan on charging $9.95 for this each year, I'll definitely pass on future versions.

Some of the free apps I've downloaded do a much better job.

NewNewsWire works really well (even the version that Apple has made available to us so far, despite all of Brent's hard work).

The New York Times app is great. It works well and has a very usable design.

AIM from AOL I find to be very unstable, so I haven't really been using it. It also doesn't support push notification yet, so it's of limited use.

WeatherBug on the surface isn't bad, but I find it to be very limited. No radar in motion and no clear way to update the radar picture without quitting and restarting. The static picture is really of limited use. I also find the locations available for my zip code to be odd, compared to what I'd find on, say, weather.com.

Box Office is simple, and it works well.

Shazam I think is one of the cooler apps I've downloaded. It's deadly accurate in identifying songs, and the UI is really well done.

I can understand that building an iPhone app, even though much simpler than, say, a Mac app, isn't really easy. Design is so key to creating a great iPhone app I think, even moreso if you are trying to pare down a desktop app to an iPhone one, like I'm in the process of doing with MacGourmet. You want to strike a perfect balance between what's there and what's not, and that's not always easy. This is one of the things that is delaying my own work. Another is the lack of any easy way to get your desktop information from your Mac application to your iPhone application.

Those things aside though, development on my own application is progressing pretty well. The fact that MacGourmet isn't JUST a recipe application is extending development time. It's not enough for me to do just recipes, I also have to do wine notes, cooking notes and shopping lists. Each one takes a certain amount of dedicated time. People have been asking me when the iPhone version of MacGourmet will be done, but I don't have a date yet. I'm doing my best to make a quality app, and not just throw something out there to "catch the wave."

MacGourmet, Mealplan, Cookbook, and Nutrition all Get Updates

2008-07-01T09:34:00.001-04:00

MacGourmet 2.3.3, another free, minor update is now available.

This update fixes a handful of issues, and updates the web importer for FoodNetwork.com. For a full list of changes, please see the release notes.

As always, MacGourmet can be downloaded from the MacGourmet download page.

Also released today are updates to all 3 plug-ins:

Mealplan 1.0.3 is now available. It resolves printing issues for Leopard users, and fixes a handful of issues. For a full list of the changes, please see the release notes.

MacGourmet:Mealplan can be downloaded from the Mealplan page.

Cookbook 1.0.1 is now available. It resolves some cookbook creation problems, an occasional crasher and fixes a handful of issues. For a full list of the changes, please see the release notes.

MacGourmet:Cookbook can be downloaded from the Cookbook page.

Finally, Nutrition 1.2.2 is now available. It resolves fixes a couple of calculation errors. For a full list of the changes, please see the release notes.

MacGourmet:Nutrition can be downloaded from the Nutrition page.

For MacGourmet Deluxe users, you don't need to worry about these individual updates. You will be able to receive Deluxe 1.0.1 using the built-in software updater, when it becomes available shortly.

Announcing: The MacGourmet Plug-in SDK

2008-06-05T08:30:00.000-04:00

Coinciding with the now sold out WWDC (which I'll be attending) and after some time promising an SDK for MacGourmet, I can now finally announce that the MacGourmet Plug-in SDK is now ready for public consumption.

What is the MacGourmet Plug-in SDK? It is the same framework that I use to create file importers and exporters. It's what I use to create web site importers. And it's what I used to add the Nutrition, Mealplan and Cookbook plug-ins to the product. As you can see, the SDK gives you quite a lot of power.

The SDK includes the MacGourmetPlugin framework, with documented headers, for inclusion into your own projects. It also includes working and commented samples that demonstrate pretty much all aspects of the framework, from exporting and importing items, to handling drag and drop from MacGourmet, printing, and more.

The SDK and framework are written in Objective-C and the examples are XCode projects (pretty much what you'd expect these days). If you are interested in developing a plug-in for MacGourmet, please send a request to macgourmet [at] advenio.com, and if possible include a brief description of what you'd like to do with it (just so I can track things).

Updates Galore: MacGourmet 2.3.1, Nutrition 1.2.1 and Mealplan 1.0.1

2008-06-02T10:56:00.001-04:00

MacGourmet 2.3.1, another free, minor update is now available.

This update fixes a handful of issues. For a full list of changes, please see the release notes.

As always, MacGourmet can be downloaded from the MacGourmet download page.

Nutrition 1.2.1 is also available and resolves a few minor issues. For a full list of changes, please see the release notes.

MacGourmet:Nutrition can be downloaded from the Nutrition page.

Finally, Mealplan 1.0.1 is now available, and along with some minor fixes, this update adds planner notes. Planner notes allow you to add items to your planner that are not recipes. For a full list of changes, please see the release notes.

MacGourmet:Mealplan can be downloaded from the Mealplan page.

Announcing: MacGourmet 2.3, MacGourmet:Mealplan 1.0

2008-05-06T09:53:00.000-04:00

MacGourmet 2.3, a free, minor update with some great new features, is now available.

Also available today is Mealplan 1.0, a new optional plug-in that adds meal planning, menus and more to MacGourmet. Mealplan includes a weekly meal and recipe planner, menu and planner printing and integration with iCal. Mealplan is available for $9.95 and requires MacGourmet version 2.3.

For more information check out MacGourmet News.

Breaking News: Advenio and Mariner Software Partner for MacGourmet Deluxe

2008-03-25T23:18:00.001-04:00

Mariner Software "unofficially" broke the news today of a new publishing partnership between Mariner and Advenio for a new product to be known as MacGourmet Deluxe. More details will be released over the next few months, but you can read the news here: Announcing our new product!.

This is great news for MacGourmet, as it will open many new markets for the product, and will allow many things people have been asking for, like localizations, to move forward finally. Keep following MacGourmet News for the latest updates, as they are announced!

MIT's Siftables

2008-03-15T18:27:00.003-04:00

I always find clever new user interfaces used in cleaver ways interesting. The kids at MIT have created "a collection of small, self-contained input / display devices wirelessly link together to form an independent mini-network, or a control system for a PC. The cubes feature OLED screens, a 3-axis accelerometer, Bluetooth, flash memory, and a haptic actuation driver, and feature additional ports for attaching other devices." Why you ask? To demonstrate cool new ways of displaying and manipulating data.

Check out the video: MIT's Siftables let you juggle your data... for real

TheMacWeblog Asks: MacGourmet for iPhone?

2008-03-09T13:59:00.004-04:00

TheMacWeblog posted their 5 Mac Applications that should really, really be iPhoneized (and why the developers would make a mint) and sent me some questions regarding MacGourmet on the iPhone. My responses were posted in a follow-up: MacGourmet on iPhone/iPod Touch? Yes!

The iPhone SDK: Revealed

2008-03-06T17:10:00.004-05:00

Well Apple released the details of the iPhone SDK today, and I have to say that what they unveiled was as much as I'd hoped and way better than I expected.

The Details:

Developing for the iPhone will utilize XCode and will include the use of an iPhone simulator (yea!) so that you can develop for the iPhone without always being tethered to your iPhone. Development will be done with "Cocoa Touch," an API optimized for iPhone AND iPod touch development. What's really cool is that the networking and media layers are virtually the same as for the desktop version of the OS and include both Core Animation and OpenGL for graphics as well as Core Audio and OpenAL for audio. Developers have access to much of the iPhone's hardware, including the accelerometer sensor and the camera. Awesome. This isn't a neutered SDK.

Applications will be distributed via both iTunes, and an on-phone app store, in much the same way that music and videos are now. Apple takes 30% off the top, and pays developers their 70% monthly. That's it though. For that 30% Apple takes care of EVERYTHING for you. That, I think, is awesome. This isn't just Apple collecting money in your name and taking a cut. No, this is Apple providing developers an easy, high-quality way to distribute their apps, and providing the users with a great, simple experience. Could you make more distributing apps yourself? Possibly, but fees for normal sales still range between 5% and 18%. Distributing on your own however would never get you in front of as many users as Apple's store will. It's hard to put a price on that. It's as if Apple is letting anyone into the Apple Store.

iPhone support for the enterprise is going to make the install base HUGE. Over 80% of enterprise users surveyed (online) by CNBC said they could use the iPhone for business once the announced changes for the enterprise are released.

One odd turn was the announcement of the iFund, a $100 million venture capital fund for iPhone developers. What this means, and how you get funding wasn't detailed, but it's just strange to see this happen, when really, it'd have been nice to see something like this for Mac apps YEARS ago.

We're getting the beta SDK as soon as Apple's servers can handle the load. I plan to start playing with it ASAP. The full version of the SDK will be made available in June (at WWDC) so apps won't ship until then. This means that we all have plenty of time to work on our iPhone apps in the interim. I can't wait...

[Update: More developers chime in with interesting thoughts - Hello App Store, Obligatory iPhone SDK post]

iPhone SDK and App Distribution Musings, from a Developer

2008-02-16T11:42:00.012-05:00

There's been a ton of speculation and opinion floating around about the forth-coming SDK for the iPhone, what development will entail and how iPhone apps will be distributed.

Development

I personally can't wait to write code for the iPhone. I actually wrote code for the Newton before I had ever written a single line of code for the Mac, so my handheld roots go back pretty far. One thing that has to be remembered when writing code for a handheld is that, in all cases up to this point, writing for a handheld is not the same as writing for a desktop. There is not going to be as much available to you, as a developer: there is less memory, less processing power, less screen space, and usually less functionality (to keep things simple).

Craig Hockenberry's excellent recent post (So you�re going to write an iPhone app�) on writing a native iPhone twitter app (using a "jailbroken" phone), MobileTwitterrific, bears this out. What Craig describes doesn't surprise me at all, and I think his account is probably pretty close to what we'll see from the SDK. The gist of his findings is:

Don�t expect to reuse much of your existing code.
You�re given approximately 64 MB of space to work with (about half of what�s available.) If you go beyond that, Springboard shuts you down unceremoniously.
There are no NIBs. None.
Don�t think that your desktop and mobile application will share any look and feel.

From what he's discovered already, we won't have Interface Builder, nibs, etc., but I think that's fine. User interfaces, if the existing iPhone applications are any indication, are pretty simple and are pretty limited in their layout anyway. Granted, not having a way to easily lay out a form, and having to do it in code won't be as simple as what you might do when making a Mac application, but that will also have a way of forcing you to keep things "light" and simple. iPhone applications are not going to have a lot to work with. They will be limited in how much memory they will have access to. You will also not want iPhone applications loading lots of user interface elements unnecessarily. I learned lessons like this when I developed applications for the Newton, and the iPhone won't be any different I'm assuming.

Distribution

So, once you've written that killer iPhone application, how will you distribute it? Most speculation falls into the "iTunes store" realm.

From Wired:

It will also turn iTunes into a software store, because Apple will probably use iTunes as the primary distribution vehicle for what's likely to be a massive community of iPhone software developers. In so doing, it could usher in a new way of buying low-cost software that's both easier and faster than downloading shareware or purchasing shrink-wrapped boxes.

I, for one, expect that, and welcome it. I don't think that some of the concerns people have voiced are "stoppers" for anyone who wants to develop iPhone apps. Pricing will probably be low, which should be fine. iPhone applications in general will probably not be the "behemoth" applications that a typical desktop application is in general, and will be priced accordingly. iPhone apps SHOULDN'T be like their desktop counterparts and SHOULD be simpler, so the speculated pricing isn't off putting to me, because think of the potential volume. Not everyone agrees:

From Infinite Loop:

This presents two problems. If Apple dictates the price at which applications can be sold, then Apple dictates the percentage of the sales that the developer takes in addition whether their application is featured, or even listed. Developers might be motivated to only make their apps worth $4.99. Those truly robust, worthwhile applications might never be made, or only be available to jail-broken iTouches or iPhones.

I don't think this is a valid fear. Honestly, it think this comment shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how we as developers work. We don't create things based on their "worth" but on fulfilling what we perceive as a need, and fulfilling it in the best possible way.

Another bit of speculation is on what Apple's cut of each sale will be. We don't have any idea what that would be yet, in an "iTunes store" distribution scenario, but whatever it is, you have to figure it will be reasonable. You also have to understand that Apple will be providing to you a high-quality buying and distribution experience. As a developer, you won't have to set up your own storefront, distribution etc. What's that worth to me, as a developer? A LOT. The way I figure it, whatever their cut, I'll more than make up for it in sales because they'll provide more exposure and a better means of distribution than just about any indie developer could get on their own. That's highly valuable. The less work I have to spend on things like this, and the more time I get to spend writing application code, the better, at least as far as I'm concerned.

What about speculation that Apple will have to "approve" applications for the platform? I fully expect this, how could they not? I'm not sure if "certification" will include code "reviews" or submissions (I kind of doubt it). More likely is a suite of tests all applications will have to pass to prove that they will "play nice." Apple is all about a "quality" experience for the end user. Unlike a desktop Mac, a handheld can be much more of a "closed" system and I expect that Apple will keep things that way. Does this limit who can and will develop for the iPhone? Yes, but I'm not sure that in this case, that this is a bad thing.

One big question is "how will we provide demos?" Will be even be able to? Will buying iPhone apps be like buying shrink-wrapped software? It's possible that "demos" will actually be an easy return policy. Buy the app, but if you don't like it, just ask for a refund.

Vs. Developing for Google's Android

Finally, some people may ask, "Why even develop for the iPhone at all, when there's Android?" Well a lot of us, as developers for Apple products, develop for Apple products because we believe that Apple makes the best platforms to develop for. The existence of Android doesn't really change anything. I see Android as being more of a replacement for Windows CE/Mobile/whateveritiscallednow than a competitor for the iPhone SDK. As we've seen before, it's about developing for one, focused platform, or many, diverse platforms, and any iPhone SDK vs. Android battle doesn't change this at all. By many indications, developing for Android is not exactly a picnic, and think about the application design process: you could have no idea what platform you are really developing for. It could be a compact Nokia with a small screen and limited resources, or a smart phone with a larger screen and more resources, but you might not have any idea. The alternative is to pick only certain targets, but then how is that better than developing for the iPhone instead? I'll put my money on the iPhone thanks.

All this being said, I can't wait to see what is unveiled by Apple, supposedly by the end of this month. I'm hopeful that we'll be allowed to write 1st-class iPhone applications using Objective C, with all the goodness inherent, and a slimmed down version of the frameworks we're used to using to build applications now for Mac OS X. Time will soon tell.