Stickum

In a major step forward, OS 3.0 gives the iPhone and iPod Touch the ability to copy and paste. With Stickum installed, it is easy to make lists of frequently used copy and paste items. With a simple tap, instantly copy an item from the Favorites list and it is ready to paste into any other app.

Stickum shows the contents and structure of the current pasteboard, as well as saved favorite items, and allows for editing of the information as well. It is a breeze to change the content of copied text, add a new image from the photo library, or even modify a copied URL.

Slasher is back!

Hooray!

I just received a call from Apple. Slasher is now available again on the App Store. It took a few months of unanswered emails and a couple phone calls to finally be heard. Frankly, I’d almost given up. But now it’s back!

App Pirates

As I feared, piracy is fairly rampant with iPhone/iPod Touch apps. Last night I received an email for Artsiness technical support requesting help with my well-received port of Mystery House. I put in a bit of code to detect when the App is being played illegally. I let the game play regularly for a few turns, then it nefariously ends prematurely with a note prodding the user to actually purchase the game. The user clearly ran into that situation and wrote to ask why it happens. Perhaps I should have made the end-game notice a little more obvious. But either way, I find it interesting that someone will both take the game without paying for it and try to get support from the author.

It provides me some satisfaction that the piracy-detection code is doing its job. It looks like I will be adding that in to all future products.

The Queen

I ran across an interesting cartoon. It makes a passing reference (at least I think so) to my Slasher app. They call theirs iKnight, but I’m pretty sure they had Slasher in mind when they wrote up their parody. The funny thing about the cartoon to me is that of all the people who were most offended, the British seemed to top the list. Of course, they have a rash of knife attacks and that’s not anything to make light of. But an app on a phone cannot compare to a real knife.

On a side note, a lot of other “weaponry” apps such as guns and grenades have been showing up on the App Store. I’ve made yet another appeal to get Slasher back on the store, but so far haven’t heard anything back. I saw a news story recently about how the British are up-in-arms (ha ha) about all the firearm simulations in the App Store. I hope Apple does not cave in and remove those apps.

Mystery House

Mystery House pioneered the graphic adventure game genre on the Apple II back in the 1980s. Lovingly recreated in all its hand-drawn glory, the iPhone version is faithful to the original experience.

I’m not exactly sure how the idea to bring Mystery House to the iPhone wormed its way into my head, but I’m glad it did. Recreating the game was an extremely fun experience. Even if nobody buys it, it was still well worth the effort on my part.

I’m trying something different this time around, too. I sent out press releases announcing the game to a number of web sites catering to the iPhone. I’m hoping that at least a couple of them will pick it up and post a link in order to drum up some interest. There are so many apps (especially games) on the App Store that unless you get some publicity, it’s difficult for anyone to come upon any specific one by happenstance.

Knives vs. Broken Bottles

I see there’s a new app called “Bar Fight Bottle” up on the App Store.  Could somebody please explain to me why a picture of a bottle meant to cut somebody in a bar fight is acceptable and a picture of my kitchen knife is not?

Horn Is Available

At last!  Forty-six days later, Horn is now available on the App Store.  I submitted it back on November 23:  the same day I submitted Guimbarde.  In the time it took for Horn to be approved, I submitted and had approved two completely new Apps (Guimbarde and Consider) plus updates for two others (Dates and Ball).  Each of those took mere days for approval.

It will be interesting to see if there is now a bombardment of other Air Horn-style apps to the store to coincide with the approval of Horn.