Ryan Grier Dev

DS_Store Cleaner 1.6 (native version)

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:35:05 -0500

I have written an application called DS_Store Cleaner and it’s been available for almost 10 years now. It was originally written in Java and always available on both Windows and Mac OS X. The Java version is still available for Windows and older versions of Mac OS X. I am now launching a native version of DS_Store Cleaner for Mac OS X.

DS_Store Cleaner (native) was going to be available on the Mac App Store. I purchased a Mac Developer Certificate, rewrote the app in Objective-C and submitted the app to Apple.

I submitted the app to Apple on August 14, 2011. The app went into review on August 18th, 2011. Apple rejected the app on August 31st, 2011. Their reason for rejecting the app was that the app had limited functionality. I appealed to Apple showing proof that they had already approved a similar app (which I won’t promote here). I got a call from a gentleman named Steve (not that Steve) and we discussed the app for about 30 minutes. He went on to say that they couldn’t approve an app that modified files that the Finder created. He said that they would not approve the app in it’s current state. He finished by saying they would look into the other app they already approved (which today is still on the App Store). I guess the morale of the store is, submit to Apple early to avoid any new regulations they add.

I decided instead to keep DS_Store Cleaner free and just release it on my site. I was planning on charging $1.99 on the App Store. Instead it’s free here.

MarkIt Up 1.2 - Fixes an Issue

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:05:22 -0400

Yesterday, MarkIt Up 1.2 was approved and released by Apple to the Apple iTunes App Store. This update has two important updates.

Firstly, it fixes an issue that was created in MarkIt Up 1.1. This was an issue when a user would perform a calculation and then tap on the results (to perform another calculation with the results). The number that was moved into the Price field was in the wrong format and would break the app. That is fixed now.

Secondly, the update includes a new feature. Now, you can enter two different prices and calculate the difference between the prices (percentage). This is a feature that I wanted to add to the app from the begining, but held it off so I coud release the app.

Enjoy the update. There are more to come.

MarkIt Up 1.1 - Has an Issue

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:20:22 -0400

MarkIt Up 1.1 was approved by Apple yesterday and released to the masses. I found out this morning that I sent an old(er) build to Apple.

The issue occurs when you perform a calculation and then tap the results to perform another calculation on the results. The number put into the price field is in the wrong format and causes an error.

The good news is that I submitted an update to Apple (last night) which has some new features and should fix this issue. I hope that Apple approves the fix shortly. I have a feeling that the update will be approved by Apple in a week or so.

Please bear with me until Apple approves the fix. Thanks.

MyCntdwn HD - Building an iPad App

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:25:07 -0400

MyCntdwn HD, my first iPad app, has been approved and released by Apple.

My original plan was to just port (slightly modify) the existing MyCntdwn code to work on the iPad. After doing this for a bit, I decided that this just wouldn’t work. I needed to start from scratch.

MyCntdwn (and MyCntdwn 2) didn’t allow for the iPhone to be displayed in landscape mode. The layout of the screens were also very iPhone-centric. I needed to rethink most of the app for the iPad verison.

I developed and tested this application without owning an iPad. I hadn’t even touched an iPad until I had been developing the app for a few weeks.

During development, I decided that I needed to see how the pop-overs work, I ran to a local Apple Store and played with an iPad over lunch. I am glad that I did, my idea of how the pop-overs should work was wrong and I needed to change things.

I had an excellent tester though. He played with the app for a number of weeks. He provided a ton of feedback. He also let me play with MyCntdwn HD on an iPad a number of times. It let me find a number of issues that I couldn’t find just using Apple’s iPad simulator.

Some of this must have been what the initial iPad developers went through while developing apps before the iPad was released.

Even thought MyCntdwn HD was released last night, I have already submitted a small update to Apple. My next goal is to get the push notifications working on the MyCntdwn HD. I also have a few more updates planned to get some of the editing screens to work better (more intuitive).

Look forward for more changes.

MyCntdwn 2.2 Released (w/New Themes)

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:33:34 -0400

MyCntdwn 2 2.2 has been approved and released to the Apple iTunes App Store.

This latest update has two new themes for you to use. The new themes are ‘Due Date’ and ‘Wedding’. These themes were highly requested.

I’ve already started thinking about the next big update. My plan is to move the server syncing (which can be annoying) to the background. It ruins the flow of the application when you are adding/editing events and you see the ‘Syncing with server’ screen a lot. I haven’t started on this work yet, but I plan to make it my main goal once the new iPad app has been submitted to Apple.

Enjoy the new themes!

MarkIt Up 1.0

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 14:20:01 -0400

I am happy to announce that my latest application has been approved by Apple and placed on the Apple iTunes App Store. The application is called MarkIt Up.

This app is another collaboration between Brad and myself. We wanted to make another iPhone app together. This is one of the ideas that we came up with.

So what does MarkIt Up do?

Brad wanted a way to add a mark up cost to certain freelance and work projects. He needs to do this a lot in his profession and wanted a super simple app to use.

For Brad it was important to be able to mark up costs. For me, I wanted to be able to easily apply a discount to a price. I can often do these in my head, but I wanted something easier.

MarkIt Up is also a great way to add sales tax to the price of something quickly. If something is $59.99 and there is 6% sales tax, use MarkIt Up to find out the final price quickly ($63.59).

In the future, we plan on adding a way to find out the percentage marked up (or down) based on two prices. We were going to try to add this to the initial release, but we wanted to get the application released. We plan on adding that shortly in a free update.

MarkIt Up keeps a running history of the calculations you perform. This makes it easy to go back and look at what you’ve marked up or discounted down in the past. You can clear the entire history, or individual history items.

Updates All Around!

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:24:53 -0400

This past week Apple approved updates for all four of my iPhone apps.

MyCntdwn, Mycntup, and LearnIt have some minor defect fixes. I have also added a way to collect some basic usage stats. I want to know a bit more about the iPhone OS versions and devices that are using the app so if I can move up an OS version.

MyCntdwn 2 has already been sending this information. MyCntdwn 2 was updated with some minor defect fixes.

If you are concerned about the information I am collecting by these apps, don’t be. I am only collecting the following information: application version, iPhone OS version, device type (iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone), and a piracy bit. MyCntdwn and MyCntdwn 2 also send the number of events and the number of events ending soon. I do not send the device id, phone number, or any personal data.

I plan on submitting a new update to LearnIt in the next day or two. This update adds “swipe to change” the flashcard. In addition to pressing the previous/next button to proceed, you can swipe left or right to proceed.

On Father’s Day, I submitted one of the completely new apps to Apple. If there aren’t any issues, it should be approved within the next week. Expect a new blog post about it when it launches. If you want a hint of what’s coming, check out the “Info” tab (Or About LearnIt button) in one of my apps.

Updates, iPhone, iPad, Android?

Fri, 28 May 2010 12:30:00 -0400

I have been planning for updates to all of my apps (MyCntdwn, MyCntup, and LearnIt). The updates for these have been a long time in the making, but may not be that large in reality.

I am also working on two new applications. No details on this yet, maybe in the next week or two. One application is completely different than what I am used to doing, so there won’t be any updates for a while. The app may even become lost (like a few others that I have worked on).

I have also started the process of designing and developing a few iPad applications. I am still unsure if I am going to make iPad specific versions of my existing applications, or working on completely new applications.

I have also thought (a lot) about dipping my toes into the Android marketplace. I think my initial dip would be an Android version of MyCntdwn. I have a solid background in Java (which is the Android SDK language), so I should be able to port MyCntdwn over fairly easily.

I have a lot of items up in the air right now. I hope that I don’t drop them all.

So Many Plans. A General Update.

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:46:00 -0500

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 - Now with In App Purchases

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:13:00 -0500

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. :)

I Suck.

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:05:34 -0500

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.

Developing Again

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:14:56 -0500

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 Launched

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:47:00 -0500

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.

On Hiatus

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:07:00 -0500

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.

New Site Launch

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0500

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 on App Store

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0400

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.

MyCntdwn Testing & New Site

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:30:00 -0400

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.

MyCntdwn is Test Ready

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:30:00 -0400

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.

Still Working, I Promise

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:31:50 -0400

I’ve been working on MyCntdwn 2.0. I promise. It’s been taking longer than I had hoped because of two things. First, I’ve had a lot of freelance work in September that’s slowed me down. Second, I needed to move my webhosting to a VPS in order to do the push notifications.

I have added code to the iPhone app to subscribe and unsubscribe to my service. I’ve also added the code to push the events to the server. I need to make some optimizations to the iPhone code. I also need to do more testing.

I also need to do more work on the server for optimization. I’ve also sent some test notifications to the iPhone from the server, but I need to do more of that.

Long Time, No See...

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:17:41 -0400

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. I’ve been super busy with a freelance job that I needed to take care of before making more progress with MyCntdwn 2.0.

I also had to move the websites to a new hosting company. This is in preparation for adding push to MyCntdwn 2.0.

I think that the freelance job has finally been wrapped up and I can get back to iPhone Development. Most of my current work will be on the server side for a few days while I get the background processing in place.

I had hoped to have MyCntdwn 2.0 released by now. I’m sorry for the delay. I hope that I can knock this functionality out and get the update to you.