Top 10 Best App Store Games
iTechnology  Apple Mac, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad quarterly magazine
5 May 2011 ÂŁ3.99 www.itech.com
The New MacBook Pro
Plus!
How hard is it to make an app?
iPhone and iPad developers Shiny Development reveal the truth
iPad 2
How to make an app stepby-step guide inside
Thinner. Lighter. Faster. but better than the first?
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The latest news on all things Apple
A review of the new groundbreaking MacBook Pro
iTech investigates: iPad 2
Is the iPad 2 better than the original?
I use my iPad for...travelling!
George reveals how he uses his iPad in Europe
How easy is it to make and market an app? iTechnology speaks to developers at Shiny
12 Top 10 App Store games
A list of the most addictive and best games ever
14 Guide to making an app
A step-by-step guide to making your first app
15 Map of Apps A map pointing to the best tourism guide apps in the UK!
Welcome...
to iTechnology, the UK’s No.1 Apple Magazine
The growing number of applications in the App Store never ceases to amaze me, this issue focuses especially on the process of creating apps and reading our special feature How easy is it to make an app? on page 8 should help you get started.
Enjoy the issue and I’ll see you again in August for more!
Nia Roberts, Editor
nia.roberts@itech.com twitter.com/iTech 2
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(Front page photography/ Apple Ltd)
Similarly, a review of the new MacBook Pro on page 5 and iTech investigates iPad 2 on page 6 discuss the new additions to the expanding Apple family.
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News from Apple iPad 2 released worldwide
The highly anticipated iPad2 finally went on sale in the UK and 24 other countries on Friday March 25, almost a year after the original iPad. Despite rumours that the release would be delayed in the UK due to high stock demand in America, the new wonder-tablet hit stores on time with a bang as people rushed to add to their collection. The slimmer, faster version of the tablet computer sold out in under 24-hours and by Saturday lunchtime stores across the UK were reporting the device, whose original made its debut last April, had sold out. Although no official statements have been made, industry analysts estimate that in the first weekend of the iPad 2 USA release in February, between 500,000 to one million tablets were sold, similar to their first ever launch. And it’s not just the UK and the USA that have been hit by iPad 2 fever, similar waiting times of 3-4 weeks in France, Germany, Spain and Australia prove Apple is perhaps trying to spread their distribution. The all new design, described by Apple as “less in your hands, more at your fingertips”, is 15 per cent lighter, 33 per cent thinner and features two cameras and an all new Dual-core A5 chip capable of not only faster graphics but also 10-hours of battery life. They are available to buy from the Apple Store, prices starting at a much cheaper £399!
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Get better soon Steve!
Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Ltd and one of the most important personalities in the technical world, has taken indefinite medical leave. This news comes after Jobs suffered an extensive history of ill health including being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004 then having a liver transplant seeing him absent for six months between late 2008 to mid-2009. Despite the initial bad news in January this year, it’s evident that Jobs is continuing his involvement in major decisions as he introduced the iPad 2 in March this year at a captivating presentation in San Francisco. After day-to-day running of the company was handed to Apple’s chief operating officer Tim Cook on Valentines Day this year, shares in the technology giant dropped all over the world, by as much as 6% in New York. iTechnology and the millions influenced by Jobs’ initiative and stage presence wish him a speedy recovery, but during his time off we have a feeling he will be planning his next digital breakthrough. Rumours of the mystical iPhone 5 are floating around, with a possibility of it being announced at the Apple Worldwide Developers’ Conference on June 6, 2011. But wait, as if this wasn’t exciting enough, iPad 3 rumour mills are over-run with feature predictions and the release date is said to be a mere 6 months after the iPad 2.
New MacBook Pro Apple updated the highly-soughtafter MacBook Pro family in February with next generation processors and graphics, a high speed Thunderbolt expansion port, and a new HD FaceTime camera linking all Apple products further. The new dual-core and quadcore Intel Core processors ensure it is up to twice as fast as its predecessor. The device, which comes in three sizes, will start at £999 and are available from http://store.apple.com/uk. To find out more about what we thought of Apple’s new aluminium refreshment turn to page 5 and start saving now!
APPLE CHAT It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. Steve Jobs I take my running shoes and my iPod with me everywhere. I listen to music when I run. Having my music with me is really motivating. Lance Armstrong If there is something good in the world then we copy with pride. [i.e Apple] Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia VP iTechnology
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The New MacBook Apple unleashes the new members of their expanding digital family...
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e were very excited when we revealed to you in the last edition that Apple are releasing updated MacBook Pro’s… but now they are here! Apple have released their latest update to the MacBook Pro family with three new different sized models that are faster, clearer and better. The MacBook Pro line-up is equipped with state-of-the-art processors, HD Facetime cameras and Apple’s latest I/O technology with a new speedy Thunderbolt expansion port. Visually they are still timeless laptops sculpted by the hands of Jobs, not looking much different from the previous ones to hit our shelves but with plenty of hidden treasures to top it all off. The aluminium laptops are little pricey: a 13-inch model will start from £999, a 15-inch version from £1,549 and a 17-incher from £2,099. iTechnology suggests avoiding the 13-inch younger brother as it simply isn’t as powerful as the two larger ones, but does still have the majority of features. The main difference between the three is the processors; the bigger devices feature Intel’s quad-core i7 processors, whereas the smaller 13-inch only comes with a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 processor. When it comes to features www.itech.com
these MacBook’s are a treat. All three versions contain an Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor, but the beauty of the two larger MacBook’s is that they automatically switch to the new highperformance AMD Radeon graphics processors giving out thrilling and fluid graphics when you start up demanding applications such as computer games, or high definition tasks such as FaceTime. Each version comes with a 720p webcam built-in designed to connect the MacBooks with other Apple software such as the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad to video call people using FaceTime. Apple has also enhanced control of the new laptops with a glass multitouch trackpad described by Apple as
‘the most natural way to interact with what’s on your screen’ by letting you zoom, flip and rotate by using different finger movements on the pad. The ‘breakthrough high speed I/O’ described by Apple is just that, up to 20 times faster than a USB 2.0 port this Thunderbolt technology will connect high-performance peripherals to this high-performance computer. What’s more, seven hours of battery life mean this is one of the longest lasting laptops available, and can provide this for to 1,000 full charges, nearly three times longer than a normal notebook. And this is all whilst giving out state-of-theart graphics, high-sensitivity control and professional speed.
>> Technical Specifications for 15-inch model Basics: • 2.0/2.2/2.3/2.7GHz quad-core depending on size • Intel Core i7 (i5 for cheapest model) • 4GB 1333MHz • 500GB 5400-rpm1 (320GB 5400-rpm1 for cheapest, 750GB 5400-rpm1 for most expensive) • Intel HD Graphics 3000 • AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256MB GDDR5 (Not featured in13-inch) • Built-in battery (7 hours) Additions: • Quad-core processor up to 2.3GHz, with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.4GHz5 • Memory up to 8GB • Hard Drive up to 750GB
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Words: Nia Roberts Photography: Apple Ltd
iTechnology investigates
Is the iPad 2 better than the original?
iTechnology investigates the improvements and drawbacks of the new tablet described by Apple as Thinner, Lighter and Faster than its predecessor
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he iPad 2 hit our shelves in March this year and surprised everybody with inbuilt cameras, an all new A5 processor chip, and a lighter, thinner design. In competition with the likes of Motorola Xoom, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Dell Streak 7, HTC Flyer, LG Optimus Pad, Blackberry PlayBook and more, we’d say Apple are so far ahead in the tablet race. But does it match up to our predictions, and is it worth the 10-month wait? iTechnology predicted last year that the iPad 2 would be slimmer, have better performance and include better speakers…but we also predicted it would be high definition, with a bigger screen and a decent camera. So we got some parts wrong, but we don’t think there will be a long wait until the future models turn into everything we’d hoped. Although Apple have not given any specific sales numbers, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicts about 70% of iPad 2 buyers are new users which Apple will be more than pleased about. Apple spokesperson Trudy Miller said in an interview with The Loop: “Demand for the next generation iPad 2 has been amazing. We are working hard to get iPad 2 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible.” But despite months of distribution planning Apple reportedly sold out of the iPad 2 within the first weekend. Why? Apart from rumours of stock shortage due to it going on sale in America weeks before us, we’re not sure. As far as we’re concerned the original iPad has just had a 6
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facelift and a kick up the backside. The 9.7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD with 1024 x 768 pixel resolution is exactly the same, you can still only get it in 16, 32 or 64GB and the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth hasn’t been upgraded. But it does get better. The first obvious improvement is how slim and light the iPad 2 is. At just 8.8mm wide and weighing 1.33 pounds the new device is 33% thinner and 15% lighter than the original. This, along with angled edges to reduce weight, seemed like a brilliant transformation until we realised how flimsy it made it. Also, brand new to the iPad is not one but two cameras. A frontfacing VGA camera and rear-facing 5MP camera allow users to take photos, 720p HD video recording and use the new FaceTime feature to connect the iPad to other Apple products such as the iPhone. Although the cameras aren’t iPhone 4 quality, it’s more than the original offered and it’s a nice addition that can be worked on. The new Apple A5 chipset was something we had hoped for given the original iPad’s tendency to crash and stall on some applications. Apple claims the 1GHz dual core application processor is twice as fast
iPad 2 shown with case design
as the original A4, meaning “multitasking is smoother, apps load faster and everything just works better.” The clock speed of the A5 processor is described by Apple as nine times better on graphics whilst still being able to maintain a 10hour battery life. This, along with the doubled RAM size of 512MB compared to 256MB in the first iPad, means these tablet generations are moving fast in the right direction. Apple have also greatly improved the browsing experience on the iPad 2 by an iOS 4.3 upgrade which shows 80% better performance than the first iPad, also loading pages at around 35% faster. Other additional features such as the HDMI capability, parental control restrictions, wireless keyboards and docking stations push the iPad 2 to the top of the tablets chart… but the colourful covers that are being sold to protect the delicate device are feeble and not sufficient enough for us. Whatsmore, we can appreciate the benefits of the iPad 2 knowing your whereabouts by combining the gyroscope, accelerometer and compass to navigate maps and play games, but with recent news of Apple’s secret hidden files tracking our every move…we’re just a little cautious. So the answer to our question is yes it is better, but certain ‘improvements’ are half-hearted and will see more development when the highly rumoured iPad 3 is released! www.itech.com
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Above: George Hampton outside the London Eye with his iPad (Photographer/ Nia Roberts)
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Words: Nia Roberts Photography: Nia Roberts
I use my iPad for... touring the world Student George Hampton tells us how useful his new iPad will be to help and guide him through his European travelling experience When did you first get an iPad? I got the first iPad back in June 2010, as working in a mobile phone shop I always make sure I save for the next Apple products! I only got my iPad 2 a couple of weeks after it came out – I can already see so many improvements. What improvements have you noticed? It’s much faster in random things like loading the App Store and switching between apps, less crashing as well as so far I’ve had none. I didn’t think I’d use the camera at all, but until the sparkle wears off its a cool add-on. Although the quality of the images on both cameras is poor, it is awesome to be able to use both cameras for video-calling through Skype!! The speaker is louder than its www.itech.com
predecessor also. It really feels a lot lighter- slightly flimsy feel as I’ve nearly dropped it a few times already! What do you use your iPad for most? As I’m in university I tend to use it a lot for lecture notes and text books on Kindle but I also use it to watch videos in the gym. I’ve done a lot of travelling this year therefore I’ve been using a lot of tourism-based apps, such as London 2Go by Tymon Wiedemair and Visit Dublin by Geo Guides, to make sure I don’t miss out on any secrets. However next year I will be embarking on 6 months of backpacking across Europe, so knowing the amount of hours I will be travelling; my iPad will become my best friend!
What will be your most-used apps when you’re travelling? I will definitely be using Facetime or Skype whenever I can find a wi-fi connection to stay in contact with my family. I’ve also been advised to get myself a translator so I downloaded iTranslate for free which covers all the main European languages. Other apps I’ll be using are World Customs to keep myself out of trouble and the life-saving TripAdvisor for all the nearest hotels, restaurants, flights and things to do. Of course I will also keep my trusty facebook application to keep up-to-date with my friends back at home and make them jealous with my photos! I’ve also got a really good currency translator XE which was free and will come in good use. iTechnology
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How easy is it to...
Words: Nia Roberts Photography: Nia Roberts
make an app?
Shiny
iTechnology talks to iPhone and iPad application writers Shiny Development, creators of top apps Balloons! and Explore Flickr. Turn yourself into the most successful app writer by taking top developer Dave Verwer’s advice here... What excites you the most about developing for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch platform?
I love it actually, before we did iPhone applications we did apps for the Mac, we’ve been in it for quite a while, so as soon as we saw the iPhone out we went for that. To me, I just love that people can use my software in something they carry around with them all the time. And I think as well it really brought it to people’s minds the concept of apps. Before that, software had been round for years and years but people viewed software as more something they had to use because they were at their jobs they didn’t really ever enjoy it, and that’s what attracted me to the Mac in the first place because on the Mac, software is a little bit different and people used it because they enjoyed using software. Admittedly, to a lesser extent, because it was still quite a niche thing and a lot of people just use the apps that come with their computer and then maybe Microsoft Office as well. But then the iPhone came along and really legitimised apps, in terms of your average consumer now knows what an app is and knows how to download an app and has lots of apps, games and utilities on your phone.
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How hard is it to make an app?
If you’re a developer for any other kind of software development Name: Dave Verwer then making the Job title: iPhone and iPad developer switch across can be quite easy, if and trainer you haven’t ever Apple hardware: iPhone, iMac, iPad done it before the unfortunate thing Web: http://shinydevelopment.com is the iPhone http://www.daveverwer.com platform is quite Career: Began writing Mac software a steep learning until the iPhone release. Verwer now curve from never owns Shiny Development and runs having done it user groups NSManchester, NWRUG before. It uses a and GeekUp Chester. language called 8
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Objective-C, and this is quite a low level language which lets you do a lot of things which some other higher level languages wouldn’t let you do and it lets you make the mistakes of low level languages. So it can be quite a challenge for people brand new to development to come to, if you’ve done some development in another language then you’ll fit into it much quicker. On our training courses we do say that in order to do the training course you need to have done some development in another language, it doesn’t matter what language, but trying to come to it straight from nothing and writing apps in a week is tough, some people can do it, but it’s a big mountain to climb. It takes a long time to write an app. We were writing the Balloons! app and doing client work at the same time, but in terms of elapsed time we worked on it for about a year. Yes we were doing other things and it wasn’t 100% of the time, but a significant amount of work goes into making an app. It feels very satisfying when you finally put it on the App Store.
What training courses do you provide for people wanting to become developers?
We run them regularly in Leeds and Manchester and we are just about to start up a course in London, we run one every month in Leeds and every other month in Manchester and probably every other month in London as well. We also do training courses for private companies, so if you have a company and a team of people you want to train up it will probably be more cost effective to come to us and we can also customise the course to your company as well. So I can then go down to that company, do the basics of iPhone development and look at the projects that company will be building and help them get started with that as well. The standard course is £1200 but we do discounts for people who are freelance developers, so you can get it for about £1000 if you qualify. It is a four day course, we provide you with machines to work on, all the training materials, coffees, lunches… everything you need!
Doyouhaveanypricelesstipsforafirsttimeapp maker?
I think technically there is so much to cover it’s hard to summarise that in one tip, but what I would give a tip for is deciding what kind of application you want to build. There are two main types of applications, we’ve done both of those and I’ve learnt from the experience of doing those. You can do an application where you aim for a big hit; we did that with our Balloons! application. No one will ever wake up in the morning and say “I need an application about balloons” it’s not going to happen, so what you’re relying on there is www.itech.com
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Above: Dave Verwer, creator of Shiny Development (Photographer/ Nia Roberts)
word of mouth, good reviews, getting featured in the app if I was doing an app for gardeners, I wouldn’t target the store and things like that. It’s very hard to keep that going for iPhone blogs, because the gardeners aren’t reading them, a long time, you’re not going to be featured in the App Store they’re reading gardening blogs and sites so I would target a lot, your not going to get constant reviews, so you get this those people and get them interested and passionate about big spike when you launch and a gradual trail off. Where as my app. Try to sign them up before you release it, one of the another app we’ve done is a Flickr client, Explore Flickr views things you can do with the iPhone is if you were interested in the best of Flickr photography everyday with a search facility testing my application I could give you a version before it’s on - and that’s a different kind of app in terms of what it does the store. So if you get people signed up before it’s actually because it fills a need. People will go on the App Store and released and they’re passionate about it, they feel involved in search Flickr, and we will come up in those search results, the development process and when it gets released they make we found it much easier to retain sales on an app like that lots of noise about it. We have a press page specifically for where it’s filling a need for somebody rather than a hit based press packs, it’s for anyone that wants to review our apps, and application. And unless you can has press releases, assets such role out those hit based apps as artwork are downloadable “ Trying to come to it straight from one after another I think the which is us just trying to make other type of application filling a nothing and writing apps in a week is journalists jobs as easy as need is a better app for the long tough, some people can do it, but it’s a possible. Also you don’t want term, it has more staying power. your application represented big mountain to climb. It takes a long with bad screen shots, so at least What are the best ways to you’re giving them something time to write an app.” market your apps? Is it to help them along with their difficult to get in the store? blogs and websites. Marketing is a huge part of developing an iPhone application, Do you speak with any other developers/ if you make the most amazing app in the world and put it on development companies and share ideas or tips and the store the reality is no one will know about it. Because, tricks? yes they have lists and all the apps are listed there, but there Sure, but I work day-to-day with my business partner and are 350’000 apps on the store now and to stand out is really myself. There are meet-ups and conferences, a couple of weeks hard. Realistically, if you don’t do any marketing yourself you ago there was a developer conference called NSConference wont stand out no matter how good your application, I mean which is a UK based Mac and iPhone conference and the you need a good application to start with, but no matter how biggest part of that is meeting other developers. There good it is you need to market it. So you need to put press are also groups, I run a group it’s not active at the moment releases out, you need to try and get reviewed, give free however we are working on plans for NSManchester, which copies out to the blogs and sites you want to be reviewed will meet in Manchester again every month and is a way for on. And on that point it’s important to target the right places, iTechnology May 2011 9 www.itech.com
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developers to get together, share ideas, sometimes do talks where you may demo something you’ve been working on recently and get some feedback. Developers get a reputation of not being very social, but actually there are lots of these meetings all over the place. I think there’s a big problem with people thinking that ideas are really valuable, if you’re new to software development and haven’t done it before they think ideas are everything, but actually ideas are cheap, everyone’s got ideas. Taking that idea and not only just making it into an app, but an app that’s easy to use, that’s marketed well, that people know about, that’s the real skill. So actually there’s not much to lose by talking to other people about it, you might tell your idea to someone, and they may even go off and try and make their own version, but only so much of the idea comes through in the execution of the idea, competitiveness isn’t something we really worry about.
Now that the App Store has been around for a while does it still bring in the cash it did when it was new, has it got better?
It’s really easy to make no money at all on the App Store. Again it comes back to marketing, if you just write an app and put it on the App Store, you will always make a little bit of money but probably just a few hundred pounds at best which if you consider how much time it takes to write an app it’s not worth doing. The App Store is a fantastic way to get apps on the iPhone. I can tell you I’ve made an app called Balloons!, you can get your phone out download it and have it on your phone within a couple of minutes, that’s brilliant. But it doesn’t help getting the word out about your application. There are a couple of things you have to have, you have to have a good app, if you write a bad app no matter how much marketing you do it wont make a lot of money on the app
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store so you have to have the quality there. You need to pair that with marketing and good apps rise to the top. That’s how the featured apps work, you can’t pay or buy your way in to be on that list, they look for apps that are on the up and of good quality, that forms the basis of the featured list. There is a section of the App Store called Staff Favourites, get out there and try to meet Apple people at conferences and development days, show them your app and if they like it they will put it as a Staff Favourite. From there you may get spotted by one of the teams that do the Featured Apps, and that’s how it happened for us – Balloons! was featured both in Staff Favourites and we were then featured in What’s Hot, Explore Flickr has also been featured. It really boosts sales, but we can’t rely on that as it’s only a week long, and yes you may get featured again but your much less likely to be featured twice as they like to keep things rotated on the App Store. It’s a nice little boost but not something you should rely on. Use external marketing resources such as a good website, give somewhere for people to link to, get out there and try to talk to influential people about your apps and hope they talk to more people about it.
Which is better - one price on an app or free with in store purchases?
We’ve done a lot of experimentation with this. With Balloons! we did a free app and a paid app, the free app had one less feature than the paid app. The free app, in our case, didn’t do very well. We did all our marketing around the paid app and got featured with the paid app, so a lot of people didn’t realise the free app was there. The free app still gets some downloads. A lot of people did that and had great success with it, but it didn’t really work very well for us and the paid app worked better. But with Explore Flickr we’ve done the in app purchase, so the actual application itself is free and once
Above: Customers viewing the apps available in the Brighton Apple Store (Photographer/ Nia Roberts)
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Above: Apple conference (Photographer/ Dave Verwer)
you’re in the app you can pay to upgrade to more features. And that’s worked really well; we’ve had some luck with it as well as it is the first free app on the search results for Flickr in the App Store. There’s a real twisted sense of value on the App Store, and they see things like £2.99 or £1.19 as expensive, so having that free price gets people in the door nicely. We have a very good sustained level of downloads, three to four hundred people download Explore Flickr every single day, so that’s a good stream of people that haven’t given us any money, but have tried the app. If they like the app and use it regularly they will come across the features they want to upgrade for, so a certain percentage of people will convert to the paid app, that’s worked out well for us. We haven’t yet made as much money on Explore Flickr as Balloons!, as it has only had the in-app purchase in it since the beginning of December, but I predict it will make us more money than Balloons! due to
“ Ideas are cheap. Taking that idea and not only just making it into an app, but an app that’s easy to use, that’s marketed well, that people know about, that’s the real skill.” the sustained level of downloads as long as we can maintain this position. AppAnnie.com is a useful website to view app rankings by category on the iPhone and iPad. Explore Flickr are ranked in the top 200 photography apps for the iPhone App Store. In the last 90 days in United Kingdom for the iPad we are hovering around ranking 20. AppAnnie lets you see where you are currently featured also, and we are featured in 61 places across the App Store currently, we’re mainly in What’s Hot for the photography category. Explore Flickr is featured in 14 What’s Hot photography sections in South Africa, Vietnam, Slovakia, and all sorts of places. On the iPad it is in 47 places as the app is better suited to the iPad due to the photographs being viewed on a bigger screen. It’s more likely to be featured there because more people are downloading it there. www.itech.com
Do you have to ask Flickr permission to create Explore Flickr?
We have to sign up for Flickr’s API which is a developer interface to their photos, they do that for free, and you don’t have to ask them specifically you just sign up on the web. But if they notice you’re getting lots and lots of use they may come to you and say you’re putting a fair load on our service here, but it’s way more use than we’re currently doing. They may come to us eventually, but by that point the application has been making enough money to strike a deal with them, but I don’t know whether that will ever happen to be honest. The iPhone and iPad are still a niche, everybody doesn’t have an iPhone, there’s also Android and Windows etc. What developments/improvements would you like to see Apple make in the next version of the iPhone? In terms of hardware I’m pretty happy with it. In the previous generations it’s been really limited on memory, processor speed and difficult to write applications that run nice and fast on it. But the latest iPhone’s are really fast and have lots of memory. The iPad 1 needed a bit more to it but the iPad 2 should have sorted it. The new one is lighter and much smaller. What I would like to see eventually is the last iPhone had a high res display, which I’d like to see on the iPad. There have been some issues with the new camera features of the iPad 2, I think they mainly put the cameras in iPad2 for Facetime,for video quality, as you don’t need a good camera for that. Also using the iPad as a camera is awkward as it’s too big. But the phone works really well as a camera, the physical size is just right. Finally, what’s the most satisfying thing about developing applications? That’s an easy question to answer, and it’s happened several times. It’s when you meet someone and they ask what you do, and you tell them the app you’ve written and they say I’ve got that app, and say I love that application it’s great. Also, with the Balloons!! app we can see all the balloons coming in and the messages and photos on them, and to see people using it and enjoying, along with this it is easily the most satisfying part and makes me feel proud of what I’ve created.. iTechnology
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Words: Nia Roberts Photography: Nia Roberts
Best Games Apps
Ten must have App Store games for your iPhone
Cover Orange 02 59p FDG Entertainment
ANGRY BIRDS 01 59p Rovio
This is the one of the best examples of why people love gaming on the iPhone and a definite favourite with everyone. This top quality, graphically beautiful game requires your help to use flightless birds with superpowers such as exploding and dropping eggs to annihilate egg-stealing pigs hiding in structures. Changing your trajectory and power alters your aim and depending on how many birds you use to wipe out the pigs, you earn up to three stars. This is one of the most frequently updated games in the App store, and has been downloaded more than 50 million times on different platforms. Season versions are great for new levels and challenges.
SLICE IT! 05 59p Com2uS Inc.
AMATEUR SURGEON 06 59p [adult swim]
This game requires good maths, symmetry and an eye for shapes. You have a certain amount of pencils, and have to divide a shape into the amount of sectors it tells you to. It gets pretty technical and specific towards the latter of the 100 levels. This game is a fun and unique concept which receives regular updates and allows you to skip levels and gives hints for those more tricky parts. Once in those harder levels, cuts have to be perfect. There are, however, some typos in the game which make the instructions slightly unclear but that can be forgiven when there’s so much fun on offer.
Adult Swim has made two brilliant games here, similar in idea to the classic game Operation, but with so much more. Use several different instruments to get through over 50 different patient surgeries between them – warning, it’s seriously addictive. The poor graphics in the Original Amateur Surgeon were transformed into smooth, colourful cartoons in the Amateur Surgeon 2 which was warmly welcomed by iTechnology. This bloodsoaked, scar healing game played out by pizza delivery boy Alan Prob who is an aspiring surgeon is aimed at adults.
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One of the best games for the iPhone it is completely addictive yet still takes a fair while to complete due to hundreds of levels. You have to use blocks, wheels and barrels to push and move your oranges in order to protect them from the plague rain from the evil cloud. This is a game that takes the citrus zing to the physics puzzle, protect Florida’s finest fruit by dragging and dropping tools with calculated precision to a backdrop of bright colours and animations. Our only piece of advice however is to mute your device, the soundtrack is repetitive and tedious.
CUT THE ROPE 07 59p Chillingo Ltd In this app, you need to get the candy to your hungry little frog by slicing the rope the candy is attached to in the correct places in order for it to land in the frog’s mouth. With more levels than you can count it is one of the only apps you will find with a five star rating. Chillingo treated their fans with a free Christmas edition as a thank you for their success with an additional 75 new levels, and also the option to create snow by shaking the phone! This iPhone puzzle phenomenon is cute yet casual with devices such as bubbles, spikes and spiders to make your task easier or harder. www.itech.com
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Flick Kick Football 03 59p Pikpok
New Zealand based developer PikPok has a series of Flick Kick apps out already including rugby and Australian football, but at the height of the World Cup 2010 this version hit our App Store. A feature of the Top 25 apps for many weeks, it’s a basic game where you flick the ball to kick, aiming to get past opponents for the goal, and the longer the flick the higher the kick. You don’t have to be a bloke to like this, in fact you don’t even have to like football, test yourself in Arcade mode and Time Attack to beat yours and others best scores. See if you can bend it like Beckham!
We reviewed Tiny Wings recently, so if that failed to convince you, let us try again. This is a simple action game with such attention to detail your eyes will enjoy. By timing finger-touches, you have to guide your flying bird as fast as you can through an unknown amount of islands. This is another game that you can play endlessly, by trying to complete 27 achievements and get as far as you can. Although this game isn’t as in-depth as the likes of Angry Birds, it is a satisfyingly simple game that tests your timing. Race your bird, with unfortunate tiny wings, through islands and time zones by projecting him off the stretches of hills, and keep him going until the sun sets.
BALLOONS! 08 £1.79 Shiny Development
HUNGRY SHARK GRAVITY GUY 10 09 59p Future games of London 59p miniclip.com
Following our interview with Shiny Development, iTechnology is proud to award their top-selling app Balloons! eighth place on our App Games wall of fame. This cute and quirky game allows you to launch a virtual balloon into the sky and track it to see where it ends up. We were touched to find photographs and messages floating in this modern-aged balloon version of message in a bottle. Although a little pricey, this uniquely heart-warming game uses twitter to make the scenario a little bit more real and widen the smile on your face. The world is now a much smaller place.
This is one of the first and best apps discovered on the iPhone so we were pleased to find the sequels a few weeks back. You are a shark, you need to eat which makes you grow and gain levels. You tilt your phone to swim the sea eating humans, puffer fish, tuna, penguins, scuba divers etc. Hungry Shark 2 wasn’t as addictive as the first time round, much like film sequels are never as good as the original. There is now a Hungry Sharks 3 which enhances your savaging with some unusual and amusing areas to explore, we are already hopelessly addicted.
www.itech.com
Tiny Wings 04 59p Andreas Illiger
You are Gravity guy, and have control over which way gravity is pulling by tapping the screen. Use this to get through more than 30, sometimes really challenging, levels. Avoid being jailed or catapulted into oblivion for going against the rules of gravity whilst running constantly at different speeds dodging obstacles and gaps. The pace of the game is enough to get your heart racing, but being forced to start back at the beginning of each level time and time again when you die is why this game came in at tenth. This is a graphically pleasing game but it’s guarenteed to leave your fingers bruised ! iTechnology
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Words: Nia Roberts Photography: Nia Roberts
Want to make an iPhone app?
E
ver wanted to join the digital revolution by making your ideas into an app, but fear you don’t have the time or resources? iTechnology has made you a guide to creating your first iPhone application in only eight steps… The Seed
The beginning of all priceless apps comes from a solid developed and researched idea. It may serve a particular niche or purpose, but the truth is originality is the key in a store of over 350,000 applications, including the most obscure including concert lighters, whoopee cushions and more. If originality isn’t possible, we would suggest improving an existing app, but you will face plenty of competition. Sketch down your ideas on an iPhone sized rectangle.
The Tools
Writing your own application requires some expensive hardware and software. Registering as an Apple developer is relatively cheap at only £60 annually, and this will provide you with the official software-development kit and uploading software. It goes without saying that you will need access to an up-to-date Intel-based Apple Mac or a PC with Mac OS X, as well as an iPhone and iPod Touch.
The Language
Unless you have already had experience in the languages C/C++ and Objective-C used by iPhone, you should probably team yourself up with a good programmer or get learning. iTechnology recommends reading Programming in Objective-C by Stephen Kochan for a clear introduction.
The Designing
This is where the process becomes very real and very exciting. Reserve your app’s name as part of Apple’s app-submission process, after designing and planning every single detail. Draw up your PNG graphics 14
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The standard apps as seen on the iPhone 4 (Photographer/ Nia Roberts)
and make sure to detail the flow of your app screens to save yourself time and effort later on.
The Test
We’d recommend you test your app before rushing to release it; you’ll be surprised how many difficulties you come across which will ultimately affect your ratings. Design a prototype of your app to test your work on the iPhone.
The Code Writing
Get the coffee ready, it’s time to start transforming your ideas and designs into code. Apple make it easy to move the code you’ve written on your PC to the iPhone to test, so don’t be afraid of continually changing and altering your code to enhance the app’s user interface, navigation and speed.
The Last Bits
Decide on a price for your app, depending on a number of things including whether it’s an impulse
buy or has in-app purchases. As we’ve discovered in this edition of iTechnology, developers believe people have a warped view of prices in the app store – basically anything above 59p has to be justified as worth it. Decide whether you want to give your customers a taster with a free lite version. Set up a website for your app, and heighten customer awareness by sending out press releases, videos, free copies for reviewing and going to Apple conferences for developers.
The Launch
You’re ready! Your eyes may permanently have the graphics of your app burnt into them, but it’s now time to unleash your creation into the wild and reap the benefits from your future fans. It takes about 10-14 days after uploading your application with marketing screenshots to Apple for approval. Make sure to update your app regularly. Keep your customers happy, good luck and happy developing! www.itech.com
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Words: Nia Roberts Photography: Nia Roberts
Apps in your area F
ind out the best way to enjoy your visit using these apps. Discover the country’s well kept secrets and become one of the locals!
Aberdeen Airport Free
Edinburgh Secrets £1.19
Real-time flight arrival and departure information
Get a locals perspective of the best things to see and do in Edinburgh
Everything Glasgow Free
Find out about what’s on, live music top spots and clubbing in Glasgow
Newcastle City Guide £1.19 An interactive guide of what’s on and what to do in Newcastle/Gateshead
Liverpool One Free Up-to-date info on the best Liverpool shopping hub
Culture Northern Ireland Free
Latest news on the cultural world of books, film, theatre, music, heritage and more
Manchester Tourist GPS £1.79
Get a virtual offline tour of Manchester by a local with pictures and commentaries
Cardiff Official Visitors Guide £1.19
An interactive guide to events in Cardiff and surrounding areas updated regularly
Devon Resort Free Devon’s activities, restaurants, and events at your fingertips
www.itech.com
London Mini A-Z £5.99
A digital colour rendition of the 325-page famous mini atlas
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 Apple  A seriously fun revolution
At last real high-quality technological products to make your life easier. Get organised: www.apple.co.uk