Ryan Grier Dev

I currently have about 4 or 5 ideas for new apps or updates to my existing apps. I just need to find the time to implement these updates.

I may try to see if I can port my existing apps to Android and possibly Blackberry. I have a solid Java background and porting these may not be too difficult. I still need to investigate this though.

I may also look into making some iPad specific applications. But I would like to get an iPad for development purposes. I did the same thing with an iPhone (among other reasons) and an iPod Touch and that was worked out well.

Some large freelance iPhone and web development opportunities may be coming up soon. So, I really need to get to work. I’ve had discussions with several people about developing iPhone apps for them. I’m not sure where this will go yet, it may be a great opportunity for me. Plus there is always the constant possibility of freelance web development.

With all of this potential work, I need to get cracking on my own ideas. With luck, I can deliver one or two of these apps/updates before any outside work comes in. And if the work falls through, I will have gotten my updates out and may make some more money.

The traffic to my software site (http://software.ryangrier.com) has been on a steady increase. I think that this also coincides with slight increase in my iPhone app sales.

I often wonder how I can get more development time into the day (without losing my mind). I also wonder if I am too ambitious. Either way, I’ll keep moving forward.

LearnIt 1.2 was approved by Apple in the Apple iTunes App Store yesterday. This update is a big one because of one significant item. It includes an In App Purchase item.

The In App Purchase available is called Barnyard Animals and costs $0.99. It includes 12 barnyard animal flashcards. LearnIt 1.2 also includes another free module called Shapes. Shapes includes 9 shape flashcards.

In App Purchase (or Downloadable Content) has been something that I promised to add to LearnIt when the application was first released. It took about 6 months of time for me to get the feature in there, but it’s there now.

Apple initially rejected this update. But they rejected it because I hadn’t submitted the In App Purchase for review. I thought that I could submit the In App Purchase after LearnIt was approved by Apple. It turns out that you have to submit the In App Purchase first (or at the same time). Apple was nice enough to send me an email to let me know this. They were also nice enough to allow me to reply to the email to get the approval moving again. So, thanks Apple!

If you own LearnIt, please help support me and check out the In App Purchase. If you don’t own LearnIt, please purchase both. :)

Yikes. It looks like I haven’t been around in a while. I am busy plugging away though. I just submitted updates to the Apple iTunes App Store for LearnIt, MyCntdwn, MyCntdwn 2, and MyCntup.

This updated version of LearnIt finally includes a DLC pack. You can download a set of Farm Animals DLC for $0.99. I haven’t enabled the DLC pack yet. I may wait until the application is approved.

I’m still looking into a brand new app. I am doing a lot of investigative work, but I don’t have anything concrete yet. Maybe in a month or so.

After my brief hiatus, I am developing again. It was nice to have some time off to relax. But my ambition is starting to get the better of me. I am kicking myself now, I could have spent the time working on the updates below.

I almost have an interim update for LearnIt wrapped up and ready to test. This update has no noticeable features. The only changes are background changes which will eventually setup the ability to add DLC.

I have updates for MyCntdwn and MyCntup planned. I want to fix a nagging issue with the data layer. I am going to change the data layer to use SQLite. The data layer currently has a proprietary implementation which crashes more than I like. MyCntdwn 2 doesn’t have this issue because it uses Core Data.

I don’t have any plans for MyCntdwn 2 updates. Maybe by the time I’ve updated the other apps, I’ll have thought of some key updates for MyCntdwn 2.

MyCntdwn 2 was approved and released by Apple today. What is MyCntdwn 2? It’s like MyCntdwn, only better. Seriously.

MyCntdwn and MyCntdwn 2 are two separate apps. You’ll have to pay for this update. I did this for a few reasons. The most important reason is that MyCntdwn 2 is not compatible with iPhone OS 2.x. It requires features that are only available in iPhone 3.0. If you are still running iPhone 2.x, you can still use the latest MyCntdwn.

Let’s face it. Another reason that I am charging for this version is that it has Push Notifications. Honestly, I have to pay for the increased server load. MyCntdwn 2 as a separate app will help to pay for this. I fought with this for a long time. In the end, I didn’t want to force anyone to upgrade to the latest iPhone OS, so I made it a separate app.

MyCntdwn 2 has a number of new features. The features include Push Notifications, Themes, Swipe to Delete (for events), and more. I’ve also rewritten much of the data layer (moved to Core Data).

Push Notifications allow you to know when an event is ending without having to open Mycntdwn 2. MyCntdwn 2 will remind you of an event 2 days before, 1 day before and when an event is ending. You can essentially set the event and forget it. You can opt out of these notifications.

Themes allow you to customize your events. I have included a number of themes to start with. You can chose from the following themes: Birthday, Calendar, Christmas, Default (What you’re already used to), and Sports.

For more information about MyCntdwn 2 (and screenshots), check out the MyCntdwn 2 page: http://software.ryangrier.com/mycntdwn2

My goal was to release this app at the end of September. I missed that goal by just over a month. I had a lot of freelance work come up over the summer which was a blessing, but it caused my iPhone work to be pushed back.

Now that I’ve finished my summer project, what’s next? Well, I am not sure. I have plans to update LearnIt. I also have some vague ideas for a new app. I am currently working on prototyping to see if the idea is even plausible. Firstly though, I have some freelance work coming up that I need to work through. After that, who knows.

I’ve been taking a short break from iPhone development (and web development). I’ve been running strong with iPhone development and freelance web development for over a year. I decided that I needed a break.

For the last week, I haven’t done anything significant with iPhone or web development. I’ve been nice. I’ve been making small progress here and there, but I’ve been enjoying other things. In my eyes, I’ve been lazy.

Part of it is that I needed a break. The other part is that I am waiting to see if Apple approves MyCntdwn 2. They rejected it last week because of an icon that I’ve been using it in MyCntdwn and MyCntup for over a year. Anyway, I’ve replaced the icon (but not the screenshots - yet) and sent it back to Apple for the waiting game.

I’m sure that I’ll get back into it shortly, but it’s nice to have a small break.

I am launching a new site.  software.ryangrier.com is replacing a few existing sites and merge the content into one new area.

This new site is a holding area for all of my iPhone apps along with some of the older software that I have written. Now you can find more information on various software projects that I am currently working on and have worked on in the past.

Older projects, like as DS_Store Cleaner, have been moved to the archive area of the site. The old site that used to host this will be shut down shortly.

The site also has a new look, which is something that I wanted for the site. How does it look?

LearnIt 1.1 has been approved by Apple and released to the iTunes App Store. I submitted the update about a week ago. I was surprised on how fast the approval came in. I was expecting to wait another week.

This version includes a new flash card module “Colors.” The new module includes 12 colors. Colors includes the various colors, with an isolated view of the color, along with an accompanying photo of an object that represents that color. It also includes the option to listen to the color being said audibly.

Future updates for LearnIt are currently being planned.

More Information on LearnIt:

LearnIt is a collection of flash cards and a fun tool to help keep your child entertained and learning while interacting with them.

Initially LearnIt included two flash card sets - Numbers & Letters. These sets can be displayed in order, or you can “shake-to-shuffle” for a random card in that set.

The latest update added the flash card set Colors.

Download LearnIt today.

I have been testing MyCntdwn for almost a week now. I have fixed a number of issues (server and client side). I have also tweaked a few things and added small features. All of this is an attempt to bring you a better experience.

I have three known issues that I want to fix before submitting the app to Apple for review. Two of these issues should not take long to fix. The other one I’ve known about for a while, but have not fixed yet.

I was originally going to have the server portion check to send event notifications every five minutes. I have since changed that to every one minute. I have also reduced the window of notification from a few hours to a minute or two. I found that the longer notification wasn’t presenting the greatest user experience. I may need to tweak things further as I move forward.

I feel as if I am partially dragging my feet. I have the feeling that I am missing something important. I think its because this update has many more moving parts than previous updates. I also wonder how the server portion will hold up to any demand that the application sees.

The new site is coming along. I am almost finished. I have the layout finished and am currently adding the content.

The latest MyCntdwn is finally ready for testing. I need to make some more adjustments on the server side. I also need to add one more feature to the server.

I have been doing some testing here and there, but I need to do quite a bit more. I expect that testing and any bug fixing will take about 2 weeks. Then it will be ready to submit to the iTunes App Store.

In other news, new updates to MyCntup and LearnIt have been submitted to the iTunes App Store. I think that they should be approved within the next week. The new version of LearnIt has a new “Colors” module. MyCntup has a new icon.

In yet more other news, I have finished the design for the new iPhone app site. I just need to finish adding the content and it should be ready to go. I expect that it will be finished around the same time as the MyCntdwn update is ready.