rock and scroll

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My name is Steven. I'm an independent iOS developer at slidetorock.com.

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Writing a novel in a month with Chapters

Every year writers sign up to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and begin the task of writing an entire novel in a month.  Those who have written 50,000 words (roughly 175 pages) at the end of the month win the contest.  They're novelists.  It's a great challenge.

A couple days ago I heard from a Chapters for iPad user that won NaNoWriMo using the app.  I thought that was amazing and wanted to mention it here.  She has over 600 entries; everything from notes to chapters in her novel. You can follow her on Twitter.

For me, it's a lot of fun creating apps that serve as useful tools in people's lives.  Chapters is a kind of canvas.  No matter how much work I put into it, it only comes alive when someone's at the helm, filling the pages.

Filed under  //  app   chapters   ipad   nanowrimo   novel  
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Posted by Steven Romej 
 

Summer iPhone apps

LoveMySkin, my mole tracking app, was released last year just in time
for summer...in Australia. Now it's coming for us in the northern
hemisphere and will usher in long days of laying in the sun. If
you're going to do that, please keep an eye on your moles.

(download)

Filed under  //  app   apps   awareness   cancer   iphone   skin care   summer  
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Posted by Steven Romej 
 

Creating an iPhone app - Math Legend

I really enjoy posts on the creative process or evolution of a product from initial thought to completion.  Below you'll find some images of my most recent app, Math Legend.  The app follows the design of games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band and offers a unique way to practice math problems. 

I accidentally left the app available for free for a couple days and something like 4,000 grabbed it.  That's exciting.  One mother wrote me to say her girls were having fun practicing math.

The first screenshot shows a proof-of-concept I created after thinking about how this game might feel.  I played around with this on a real device, letting my imagination run with my fingers.  I also wanted to make sure the device could handle the 2D rendering without being jerky (I ended up doing some work trying to get things to run smoothly, but the demo reassured me that things would be in the realm of doable).

The second image shows a playground of icons and fonts.  I experiment with many looks while coming up with my icons and logos.  The designs that became final are towards the left.

The other images are from the final product.

(download)

Filed under  //  app   creative   design   iphone apps  
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Posted by Steven Romej 
 

Daily to do list - YouDo for iPhone

Youdo-1-1

I've tried a lot of handheld devices, task management programs, and calendar applications over the years in my quest to stay organized.  The one I always come back to: pencil and paper (with Ta-da lists coming in a close second).  If you've got a lot to do, the last thing you need is a task list application that adds to your workload by throwing menus, checkboxes, categories, and all kinds of metadata fields on top of each to-do.

If you like paper and simple lists, try my new daily to-do list app, YouDo.

Each day gets its own sheet.  You can scroll through the week to take a peek at what's coming.  Small vertical bars flank each day to give you an idea of how many previous and upcoming tasks you have.

Add new tasks inline: tap, type, reorder, delete from the same screen.  No submenus to wander through, no extra seconds shaved off your day.

Bonus feature: Set the background to white and use the app as a flashlight in times of darkness.

Learn more at the product page.

If it's Jan 23rd, 2010, you may not see the app in the iTunes store.  Tomorrow and onward, yes!

 

Filed under  //  app   postit   productivity   task   todo   youdo  
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Posted by Steven Romej