Some Thoughts - Make a Meme and Stuff

Make a Meme+ has taken off, with 800-1000 downloads a day. Im glad to see this app be this successful! Also so far (knock on wood) it's been getting great reviews! The only thing I don't get is with these numbers, it has only touched the top charts once. I guess the entertainment category is just extremely competitive or something. Oh well, its successful and thats all that counts!

This week I also had the pleasure of visiting the Gearbox Office in Plano. I'm not allowed to say anything about why I was there but it was cool. They're office is great and it's definitely a place I'd like to work someday.

Lastly, today for fun I decided to create a random weapon generator similar to what is currently in Borderlands. I love that in the game you will most likely never encounter the same weapon twice in the game. So for fun I coded a system that would create a weapon with random specs. It was mainly just generating random numbers for damage, accuracy and what not. Then it would pick from a list what type of gun it was and what to name it and the brand. Now for testing purposes, I didn't put a lot of work into the lists for the names and brands XD. My system is primitive and probably could use a lot of work. But for a quick fun project I think I did pretty good. For testing purposes, I just had the program print information about the weapons onto the screen of the iOS simulator. Here's a screenshot:

Thats about it for now. Another update has been submitted for Make a Meme+. This one is just some minor fixes. It includes a preview for the in-app purchases. So if you thought about getting them but never did, maybe this will help! If you have any memes you want to see in the app, just let me know!

Make a Meme+ v1.1 Delayed and a Cute Kitten

So upon further testing i found another bug in the in-app purchases where if you hadn't bought anything before the update, you would never be able to buy anything at all. So thats been patched up and the update re-submitted. So in about a week (again) the update will be out. Sorry about the delay...to make up for here is a kitten:

In-app Purchase Issue in Make a Meme+

With the release of Make a Meme+ came a bad bug in the in-app purchases. Unless you buy the all packs the app seems to only remember one purchase at a time. (i didn't do this on purpose to make people buy all the packs XD)

Currently if you quit the app and try to re-purchase one of the packs you already bought (you won't be charged again) you can use that pack.

I've already submitted a fix for this with the new update and is currently waiting for review. So this should be fixed by next week. Until then I hope that you are all enjoying the app!

The new update will also include the ability to use your own pictures! :D

Make a Meme+ and Some Other Things

Some time this week (hopefully) I have a new app, Make a Meme+, coming out for iOS. I know there are other meme apps out there but I figured I'd give it a try and put my app out there. As the name implies, you can pick from a list of meme templates and make your own memes. You'll be able to buy more memes through in-app purchase. Let me tell you, in-app purchases were the biggest headache ever! I was so busy tearing up the online portal where I am supposed to set up the in-app purchases that I didn't even realize that the real problem was in the code -_- But eventually I got it working so it's all good now. The first time I submitted the app it was rejected due to the icon. This was because I didn't realize my graphic designer snuck pedo bear into the icon XD. So it's been removed and the app has been resubmitted and is waiting for review. Here is the new icon, it's really pretty cool:

In other news, there's a new update out for Search Me! Just a couple of bug fixes and support for the Retina iPad. I've been neglecting Dual View Browser, so hopefully i'll have an update for that one soon. Tag also had an update recently but it still hasn't been seeing a whole lot of sales. But i am happy that both Search Me! and Dual View Browser have passed 1000 downloads! So theres some good news. And one last thing, I'm starting to learn some C# in order to get into the Windows/Xbox development game. So hopefully I can get something good going there. And thats all i've got for now.

Slayter

iPad 3 Renovations and Other Stuff

So the iPad 3 has been announced as "The New iPad". I'm not sure I understand the name but nevertheless its another great product from Apple. Anyhow, because of this new announcement and the release of iOS 5.1 i now have to update all my apps to accommodate the changes (mainly the 1536 x 2048 retina display o_0). I just finished updating "tag" today to support the new screen as well as some other changes. This was my first time using the new iPad 3 simulator which shows the screen at native resolution. So the new retina display is supposed to have more pixels than an HDTV. This is extremely true. Here's a picture of Dual View Browser running on the iPad simulator at native resolution on my 13" screen:

As you can see it hardly fits. But this is what I have to work with. So this weekend I'll be working on updating Dual View Browser and Search Me! for the retina display. Search Me! however already has an update waiting to add support for Yelp. So it will be a while before that one comes through. Anyway thats all I've got for now. Be on the look out for those updates and if you're not following me on twitter then you should: @SlayterDev

Some Notes About Tag

<tag> has been submitted. A minor update to Search Me! submitted (with search on Wolfram Alpha supported). Lack of progress on tabs for the Dual View Browser :( Much coding has been done this month. (I'm sure that sentence was grammatically incorrect) I'm very excited about the release of <tag> though. Hopefully many people who do web development will find it useful. So here's a screenshot of it for you :

Pretty cool right? Well its gonna get a pretty good overhaul once its released. I realized after submitting the app that there was a much better way to handle the files and general layout of the iPad version. Split View!! So basically it would be like the Dropbox app or the Mail app for iPad. I would have the files on the left side and the file content on the right. Naturally you'll be able to collapse the files view so you can edit the file full screen. I think this will be a much better change for the app, it'll live up the UI a little bit. As far as the iPhone version goes i think that will be staying practically the same....but we'll see. Still looking for more app ideas. Thats the hardest part. But anyway I'll leave you with a screenshot of the iPhone version of <tag>. Enjoy!

Tag: For web devs

I think I had too much free time this weekend. I spent pretty much the entire weekend starting from when classes ended on friday til just about now programming this new app. <tag> ladies and gentlemen, is a HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and whatever other languages that can be embedded in HTML editor for not just iPad but iPhone as well. Basically you use this app to write web pages and then preview them in a built in web browser. It's good for developers who also do mobile web pages, this way they can see how the page will look on a mobile device. Probably the most valuable feature in this app is the dropbox support. This way you can sync files between devices and your computer and edit them anywhere! :D. So the app is basically finished. I'm just waiting on dropbox to approve it while i polish it up, and also after i get icon graphics from my awesome Graphics Designer Jack, then its off to apple for their review.

In other news I've also submitted a very basic search app for iPhone and iPad that allows you to search the web using the search provider of your choice (including YouTube! :D). Its pretty basic and theres ways around using it but hey, it was fun to make and its a free app. So no harm there. Anyway that will go into review early this week i believe so it should be on the app store some time during the week. It will be called Search Me!

Thats all for now :)

1.0.1 Released

Changes:

- Open in left/right side button
- Dedicated home button
- Address font color changes when page loads
- Open in safari button
- Settings view shows your home pages if they have been set
- Clear button now shows properly in all text fields
- Code improvements

Enjoy!

100 Downloads

After just 4 days on the app store, Dual View Browser has passed 100 downloads! I never expected the response I got on this app. I was expecting a few downloads every couple of days or so. Especially with this being my first real app. I just hope sales stay this good :D

Release!!!!!!!

Finally after a little over a week of waiting the Dual View Browser has been released! You can find it on the app store here. It was rejected at first yesterday due to the age restriction I set. Since my app is a web browser that gives the user unrestricted access to the internet, I have to account for all the bad and unpleasant things that the user might come across. Therefore my age limit (which i think was the lowest since i wasn't thinking about this XD) had to be raised to 17+. So if you're under 17 be sure to ask your parents first! (Or just tap ok when it asks XD) Aside from all that I have already submitted an update with some bug fixes and new enhancements for review. So ill be able to push that down in about a week or so. Anyway for those of you planning to buy the app, I hope you enjoy! Be sure to let me know of any bugs or issues you come across in the app!

Sent for Review

As of yesterday, the "Dual View Browser" (yes that was the "secret" feature) has been sent to apple for review. Since my last post I have completed home pages, tweet link to page, and e-mail link features as well as fixing a few bugs. For this 1.0 release I believe I have done everything I can. For 1.1 (or whichever version I decide to call it) one of the first additions I'm considering is facebook sharing. But we'll just see how things go after release. Just have to wait for Apple's approval. Lets just hope it doesn't get rejected! As of now I'm beginning to brainstorm for my next app.

By the way, the Dual View Browser will be available for $0.99. Tell your friends!

Slayter

A Different Kind of Web Browser

For the past 3 weeks I have been hard at work developing an iPad web browser that I hope will change the way some people browse the web on their iPad. This browser has one key feature to set it apart from all the rest. But i dont want to say too much about it yet...however if you are friends with me on facebook then you've probably already seen it. This project is my baby and i've built from the ground up. I have a trusted group of highly qualified testers (my dad and girlfriends family) and soon a couple more. Its getting very close to completion. I will soon be adding a "tweet link to page" feature as well as a few other things. I hope to have it released by early February. Ill continue to update here about how things are going and more info about release.

If you have questions, suggestions, or would like to tell me anything just send me an email or tweet or get me on facebook.

Fight SOPA (cuz it sucks)
Slayter

Slayter Development

My name is Brad Slayter. This is my developer blog/website for my "development company". I make apps for iOS. Im just starting out and still learning a lot. However you can come here for news and such for my apps and what I'm doing. I'm currently developing a web browser for the iPad. But its not just a regular web browser. Its a different kind of web browser. But more about that in my next post. Anyway i am a freshman at the University of North Texas in Denton. Im majoring in BCIS (Business Computer Information Services) and am trying to learn as much programming as possible. This blog will mainly be about my development projects but I may throw other stuff in there that I feel is relevant. Anyway this is just my little introductory post. So I hope you enjoy reading this, if not i understand and it doesn't hurt my feelings :) Next Post: Whats going on with my Web Browser.

Fight SOPA,
Slayter