SmartClock 1.4

Good news everyone!

Apple approved 1.4 update for SmartClock. You might think – wait a minute – I have 1.2 installed so where’s 1.3? Well – it’s a version which only us and Apple knows and saw. I don’t want to get into it but 1.3 update was rejected few times by Apple review team and we didn’t agree on some technicalities of that decision. The bad news was – you had to wait for some updates for some time longer. The most annoying one was the bug which was reported by some of our cool users which – on some devices – caused alarm not to work with screen locked on iOS 5. It was fixed quickly with 1.3 but as you now know – that one was rejected.

Good news – 1.4 not only contains some bugfixes (including the one I described above) but also a new feature I was thinking about for some time. Now SmartClock not only wakes you up in the morning but also is your companion when you’re going to sleep. On the bottom-left part of the screen you will see a new button. It’s a new sleep player. It allows you to choose songs, audiobooks you like, specify time and SmartClock will play those for that chosen time, allowing you to fall asleep with some fine sounds in the background, instead of (irritating to some) silence. It will even fade out the music to let you fall asleep more easily.

The update should be available on your App Store already so download it and have fun! And thanks for all the patience and kind words through the contact form!

Jarek  avatar May 19, 2012, , ,

SmartClock 1.3 update problems

After review process of our last SmartClock update, Apple rejected the update. I’m trying to talk with Apple to push the update as soon as possible. I hope it won’t take much more time and Apple App Store team will understand our explanations and will make 1.3 update available to you very soon.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Jarek  avatar April 13, 2012, ,

Important SmartClock update

In few days maybe there will be important SmartClock update available on the App Store. Due to some changes in iOS 5, on some devices, the alarm wouldn’t work with the screen locked. The problem was reported, I looked into it right away, made some extensive testing (that’s why I say it’s not a problem on all devices), found the “bug” and fixed it. It should be fine now when Apple proves version 1.3 but if you want to use SmartClock until then and you have similar problems, the workaround is to disable screen auto-lock (app’s options – dimming screen is fine) and not lock the device by yourself (using power button). As soon as Apple will review our update it will be available on the App Store and you should be able to lock you device once again (that is if you don’t want to check the hour on our beautiful clock when you wake up :) ).

Jarek  avatar April 6, 2012, , ,

iCassette 1.1 is here

It took Apple about a week but iCassette has been reviewed today and accepted for the AppStore! As you can see – we have a new icon. Some said that the old one was cool but a little bit too dark and depressing so now it’s much more positive and shows much more features of the app itself.

What else changed? Well – there were a lot of bug fixes (if you’re one of the people who wrote me about it – thank you!), tweaks and changed under the hood which you may not even notice but it will improve the way the app works and feels. We also changed the database somewhat so we could add more features now and in future updates. The downside of this – if you update the app it will delete your playlist and favorite radio stations, but it had to be done and I hope it was the last time – database is now designed with more future ideas in mind and future updates should be less destructive. Thanks to that decision you can use iCassette right after install without waiting for it to download and install newest pack of radio stations.

What else? Now iCassette has one of the coolest features I was thinking about – multiple mixtapes! And not only that – you can not only create more mixtapes but also choose one of thousands of colors for each tape you make so you can see right away which of your sets is playing now. Some romantic songs – maybe something red? Music that gives you energy for the day – some bright shade of green? You decide!

There’s also a new button – shuffle. I was planning to include that in the first release but decided not to since there were no such thing back when we had our cassette players but since some of you did request it – here you go, I always listen to my users – I hope it won’t break the retro feel of the player :)

For those of you which likes to have a lot of songs on your playlists (or mixtapes if you’re using our small app) – there’s a progress screen now so you won’t be confused why the app “freezes” for several seconds after you decided to add 1500 songs to your mixtape (there are people like that – believe me! :) ).

I hope you like the new version of our app – I sure do. And it’s not over – I have still few ideas for next features but as always – if you have any suggestions, please contact me – even if that’s something I already thought of at least I would know that it’s a good way to go. And it really brighten my day when I can read that you love one of all of my apps – it adds up to those few cents I get from Apple for selling those (and if only you could pay bills with that love I would make those apps free and use this love as a currency :) )

Jarek  avatar February 9, 2012, , ,

Quick news – iCassette 1.1 very soon

Just wanted to let you know – thank you all for your patience – iCassette just has been submitted to Apple for a review process so it should be in store very soon!

A lot of changes – both – visible right away and under the hood but we’ll get to those when you will be able to download/update you own one. For now – just a “leak” of new icon :)

Jarek  avatar February 3, 2012, , ,

iCassette update is comming

Recently one of our users contacted me with a sort of a bug in one of your app. I was really busy for some time – teaching, helping other people to get into iOS development, working on new projects/apps/prototypes and I pushed update plans for our apps. He loves the app (as most of users which contacted me in the past – which makes me really happy) but this one thing annoys him and breaks that cool experience which he normally has with the iCassette.

We test our apps as much as we can but this guy really loves music and was using the app with much bigger iPod library which I ever had on my iPhone and that’s where the bug was. You can push your update plans but if there’s a bug, even if it’s only for maybe 1% of your users – you have to fix it and you have to do it quick. That’s why your feedback is so important. Sometimes the app for some reason doesn’t work well on your device and it works fine on ours. Sometimes it’s an iOS problem, sometimes it’s a problem with the device but sometimes it’s our fault – it’s a bug we want to fix but we know nothing about. So please – if you find any of our app crashing or working in an odd way – contact us, don’t just delete the app from the device and forget about it. We want you to be happy with your purchase – it doesn’t matter if it was a $10 or just $0.99 app. If we can do something to give you better experience – we will but we have to be aware of the problem. And it works the same (I hope) with other apps and companies. If they give you an email or contact form on their site – use it – even if all you have to say is how crappy the app is (e-mail we never got to this day and hopefully never will). It helps.

That being said – I decided that since it takes some time for Apple to process the update anyway – instead of just making the bug fix I could add at least some of the features I was planning to add in the future. The other result of that email is that one of those features will be there not just because I was thinking about adding it (but wasn’t sure) but also because that special user suggested that it would be nice to have that option inside of iCassette.

So be prepared – we’re still testing, tweaking some stuff but pretty soon there will be quite big update for iCassette on the App Store and it will make the app even better!

Jarek  avatar January 10, 2012, ,

Love and share your love

AppStore isn’t a easy place to work. There are over 400’000 apps on the AppStore which can be good and bad at the same time. iPhones and iPads users have a lot to choose from and competition is always good – you get better quality for lower price – perfect. Unfortunately the same fact of 400k apps means that if you need some app you have to search through this large amount of apps which isn’t always that good and easy. You have Top 25 but even though Apple increased the amount of apps displayed on that section to 300 not many people go that far. And it’s still just 300 apps which – let’s be honest – aren’t always the best of those out there – they somehow get popular just like the song “Friday” and get their 10 minutes of fame (and thousands of dollars). You have your review sites and blogs but it’s also not the best place to look for apps, some of them made a business out of it and are interested in cash paid for the reviews and not the reviews themselves. Plus – when you’re looking for something you don’t have time to read tons reviews written by people you don’t even know and trust.I know that it might sound a bit strange from an iOS developer but before I became iOS developer I was just a user like you guys and still am. What I think is the solution for this problem (which – I’m not gonna lie – would help a lot people like me or other small, indie software monkeys) is – promote your favorite apps! Don’t keep them to yourself, don’t wait to be paid for advertisement or review like some sites out there – if you really like an app you bought (or got for free) – say it to the world. We live in a world where there are so many ways you can express yourself, your individuality – you have blogs, Twitter, Facebook – let the world know what you love.

Me and few friends just finished an interesting project which was mainly based on writing a lot of iPad apps (I’ll try to write a bit more some other time), plus we talked a bit about Apple devices (so people would know what can they get out of them). The interesting thing that came up in the meantime was that with millions of devices out there, after we weeks of using, it’s hard to find two of them with the same collection of apps. Apple changed the mobile world that way with iOS. 10 years ago you had your Nokia, Samsung or Motorola and it was basically the same as your friend’s phone – you might had different background or ringtone but that was it. Now we all have our iPhones, iPod touches and iPads and they are all different – they are much more personal than ever before. Why not share this with the world? If you like a song or a movie – you tell your friends about it – do the same with your apps. Do it in places you like – don’t get me wrong – the rating system on AppStore isn’t bad but I’d rather see your opinion about my app on Twitter or Facebook wall than hidden somewhere in the AppStore app. It believe it can make a difference, it can help others to find really interesting, useful and fun apps – apps which their friends love, not some paid reviewer or irritated Mr. Anonymous on the AppStore. Plus it helps us a lot. Selling $0.99 (or even $3-5) apps isn’t easy – especially if you want them to be high quality apps and you want to support them, keep them alive. I love your emails saying that the app changed your life, that SmartClock rocks, that you love what we do – it always puts a huge smile on my face (which isn’t an easy task with me) – but always feel free to share with the rest of the world – it’s good for us developers and for you – our users.

To give a good example and conclude this post with something positive – I decided to get more healthy and to work out more that usual (which is almost none). Some time ago I bought and app which would help me truck my struggle with my laziness and help me motivate myself. The app is called RunKeeper and it’s free right now on the AppStore (although I would pay for it wouldn’t). It allows me to track my activities, choose music for my exercise, listen how I’m doing every couple of minutes, sync with my RunKeeper account and the web app and much more. They’re also working hard to work with different devices like WiFi Body Scale or FiBit activity tracker (or even track how you swim – insane!). If you don’t have it and want an app which will help you to stay in shape – try RunKeeper.

Jarek  avatar June 29, 2011, ,

Meme lesson of the day

I found this one on 9gag today. As it turns out you can learn something very important even from internet memes.

One of the biggest mistakes people do when it comes to sleeping is that they don’t take sleep cycles into account. They want to sleep 9 hours and if they wake up after 8.5 they get back to sleep (or at least they try really hard to do so). Big mistake. The best thing you can do is to sleep your full sleep cycles – when you wake up you will be the most rested and you will have the most energy you could get from that sleep. That’s why we worked so hard to make algorithms for SmartClock to learn and use your sleep cycles (or even tweak it with last update when Enhanced mode was added). That’s also why we spend some extra time to pick the right sounds for the smart mode alarm – to wake you up gently, without the stressful and annoying sounds of loud alarm. We worked hard (and are still working) to make SmartClock the best way to wake up in the morning but it won’t work if you won’t change your habits. If you hear the smart alarm in the morning – wake up, get out of your bed and do something for yourself with those few extra minutes you have before your normal alarm time. Read few pages of your new interesting book, listen to your favorite music, do some morning exercises – any of these will be much better then laying in bet, trying to get those “10 more minutes”. You wont get any more energy from this “10 more minutes sleep” – in fact you will feel much worse after this short nap – I can guarantee you that!

But I’m sure you already know that – right? I know that from my own experience too well – that’s why one day I decided to create a tool which will help me sleep better and get the most of my sleep – SmartClock – and from that point I sleep much better and wake up much more rested, always with few extra minutes to do something for me and for a better day. You should do that too – get SmartClock, start using it and change your sleeping habits.

Jarek  avatar June 27, 2011, ,

Did you know that Slovakia is a very cool country?

Slovakia is a relatively small country just south from Poland. It has beautiful landscapes, one of the fastest growing economy in Europe and apparently – pretty good taste in iPhone apps. Beside being featured in iTunes App Store around the world our newest product iCassette has been noticed in Slovakia and is now on the second place in Music’s New & Noteworthy. It’s really nice to be noticed, especially that we’re getting good reviews for our app (thank you consik for yours).

We also decided to keep the lower price for a little bit longer – how long? Well – it depends almost entirely on you and the sales – so buy yours for $0.99, it’s really a lot of retro-styled fun for just a buck.

Jarek  avatar April 1, 2011, ,

iCassette on the App Store

Were proud to announce our newest product for the iPhone and iPod touch – iCassette. It’s a retro style music and radio player which will get you back in time of portable cassette players, mix-tapes and everything you love from those “better times”. There’s something really awesome in being able to fast-forward to a favorite part of a song, watch the tape reels spinning or change radio station with a knob. We hope you will really like our small app. It comes with retro look and feel, over 1500 radio stations, AirPlay and multitasking support. It’s also on a sale right now so go ahead and buy it while it’s cheap.

Jarek  avatar March 25, 2011, , ,