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Show HN: My weekend project on the Mac App Store

39 points by rgbrgb 15y ago

amar_dinsa 15y ago
Fun little program, dude! Unfortunately I think supporting proprietary software is immoral and impedes the democratising force of computer technology. Naaaw just kidding bro- fun creative project from a guy I know has great intentions. But also I'll sabotage you until it's open sourced. Yes that's a threat.
- rgbrgb 15y ago
  The code minus design is all here: https://github.com/ptrsghr/SayBeat https://github.com/ptrsghr/SayBeat
rgbrgb 15y ago
I'll post back tomorrow with 1st day sales numbers.
- rgbrgb 15y ago
  Sold 15 which was surprisingly enough to get us to the top 10 in Music (#10).
rgbrgb 15y ago
I made this after a night of writing music with perl scripts using the "say" command in OSX's terminal. The review process was surprisingly short, I submitted on Sunday! Design is by my girlfriend, Monica Kogler (http://campsh.com/monica# http://campsh.com/monica#) with some of the robots by my sister, Emi Sugihara (http://baggubag.com/ http://baggubag.com/).
- eberyvody 15y ago
  projects made w/ love are the best
  - eberyvody 15y ago
    and w/ cute text-to-speech robots
- anotherjesse 15y ago
  Any thoughts / recommendations on pushing small projects to app store? I have a few I was debating pushing but I don't know if the time/learning cost is worth it for fun projects vs a download link on a webpage
  - rgbrgb 15y ago
    In my opinion, it isn't too hard to do if it's already written in obj-c with xcode. Pushing to the app store is actually quite a good motivator to make a decent icon and user interface. To be honest though, I've only app stored one other project (http://kin.am/grid http://kin.am/grid) and it's an iPhone app so I have no idea whether it pays off (Speaker was just published today). Grid (the iPhone app) doesn't make much per month but it's pretty passive income and nice to have a little extra beer money. After 1.5 years on the store, it has definitely payed decently for the time it took me to make. Moreover, the experience/resume boost it gives has been invaluable - developers who have pushed apps are in hot demand. EDIT: I guess it being worth your time depends on how much you make. I'm a student, so taking time away from paying gigs isn't such a big deal for me yet.
  - dlsspy 15y ago
    I tried to push up one of my apps. It passes all validation and stuff and then uploads to Apple. Then Apple sends me an email telling me it was signed wrong. I follow instructions, repeat. They're OK at support, giving me a lot of stuff to do building screenshots and junk, but it's slowed me down quite a bit. I'd still like to get my app up, though. It's very useful to me. :)
    - rgbrgb 15y ago
      What's the app? Got a link?
      - dlsspy 15y ago
        Well, no. I should try to actually get it up there, though. My current userbase likes it, but it'd be fun to see what the store would do.
- thomasgerbe 15y ago
  Whoa, your sister created Baggu? Crazy. I love their bags.
  - rgbrgb 15y ago
    My sister says... "SUPER SMILEY FACE!"
lbarrow 15y ago
Playing around with phrases that have overlapping wavelengths is great in this thing.
- rgbrgb 15y ago
  Yes! Phasing to the max!
peelsasleep 15y ago
ya cool funfunfun
- palindrones 15y ago
  agreed!
EwanG 15y ago
Android version when?
- rgbrgb 15y ago
  Probably after the iOS version.
spiralganglion 15y ago
The screenshot is nice, and I'm sure the program will make for some girlfriend-teasing fun. But that's not why I'm buying it. You, sir, are getting my $2.99 specifically for the Alvin Lucier quote. That, and the more I think about it, the more I'm looking forward to testing out some of Steve Reich's vocal phases with this thing. But yes, Lucier is a hero.
- rgbrgb 15y ago
  Thanks mister, thanks, thanks. If you do any reich-esque recordings I'd LOVE to hear them!
woodall 15y ago
Would this app be worth $2.99 if it was written for Linux or PC? Reason for asking, I can't compile and test software on Mac but have a lot of apps personal use type stuff. Being without a job selling this type of thing would make for great supplemental income. Any tips?
- rgbrgb 15y ago
  Where would you sell it? Personally, without some kind of app store, I probably wouldn't have bothered with redoing the design and making an icon and all that. If there's some kind of app store or if you're willing to build your own storefront, I say go for it (but what do I know?). If you don't have a job anyway, what do you have to lose?
- drtse4 15y ago
  The "can't compile/test on Mac" issue can be solved with an OSX virtual machine if you have a good pc and don't want to spend money for a real mac.
mdonahoe 15y ago
I hope the private speech synth API on the iOS gets made public. I'm using it in my thesis project, but it would be great for apps. Learn how to use it here: http://arstechnica.com/apple/guides/2010/02/iphone-voiceservices-looking-under-the-hood.ars http://arstechnica.com/apple/guides/2010/02/iphone-voiceserv...
juanipis 15y ago
"terminal-core" lol. now thats how you write a great copy. that just makes me envious. good work

39 points by rgbrgb 15y ago

Fun little program, dude! Unfortunately I think supporting proprietary software is immoral and impedes the democratising force of computer technology. Naaaw just kidding bro- fun creative project from a guy I know has great intentions. But also I'll sabotage you until it's open sourced. Yes that's a threat.

rgbrgb 15y ago
The code minus design is all here: https://github.com/ptrsghr/SayBeat https://github.com/ptrsghr/SayBeat

rgbrgb 15y ago

I'll post back tomorrow with 1st day sales numbers.

rgbrgb 15y ago
Sold 15 which was surprisingly enough to get us to the top 10 in Music (#10).

rgbrgb 15y ago

I made this after a night of writing music with perl scripts using the "say" command in OSX's terminal. The review process was surprisingly short, I submitted on Sunday! Design is by my girlfriend, Monica Kogler (http://campsh.com/monica# http://campsh.com/monica#) with some of the robots by my sister, Emi Sugihara (http://baggubag.com/ http://baggubag.com/).

eberyvody 15y ago
projects made w/ love are the best
- eberyvody 15y ago
  and w/ cute text-to-speech robots
anotherjesse 15y ago
Any thoughts / recommendations on pushing small projects to app store? I have a few I was debating pushing but I don't know if the time/learning cost is worth it for fun projects vs a download link on a webpage
- rgbrgb 15y ago
  In my opinion, it isn't too hard to do if it's already written in obj-c with xcode. Pushing to the app store is actually quite a good motivator to make a decent icon and user interface. To be honest though, I've only app stored one other project (http://kin.am/grid http://kin.am/grid) and it's an iPhone app so I have no idea whether it pays off (Speaker was just published today). Grid (the iPhone app) doesn't make much per month but it's pretty passive income and nice to have a little extra beer money. After 1.5 years on the store, it has definitely payed decently for the time it took me to make. Moreover, the experience/resume boost it gives has been invaluable - developers who have pushed apps are in hot demand. EDIT: I guess it being worth your time depends on how much you make. I'm a student, so taking time away from paying gigs isn't such a big deal for me yet.
- dlsspy 15y ago
  I tried to push up one of my apps. It passes all validation and stuff and then uploads to Apple. Then Apple sends me an email telling me it was signed wrong. I follow instructions, repeat. They're OK at support, giving me a lot of stuff to do building screenshots and junk, but it's slowed me down quite a bit. I'd still like to get my app up, though. It's very useful to me. :)
  - rgbrgb 15y ago
    What's the app? Got a link?
    - dlsspy 15y ago
      Well, no. I should try to actually get it up there, though. My current userbase likes it, but it'd be fun to see what the store would do.
thomasgerbe 15y ago
Whoa, your sister created Baggu? Crazy. I love their bags.
- rgbrgb 15y ago
  My sister says... "SUPER SMILEY FACE!"

lbarrow 15y ago

Playing around with phrases that have overlapping wavelengths is great in this thing.

rgbrgb 15y ago
Yes! Phasing to the max!

peelsasleep 15y ago

ya cool funfunfun

palindrones 15y ago
agreed!

EwanG 15y ago

Android version when?

rgbrgb 15y ago
Probably after the iOS version.

spiralganglion 15y ago

The screenshot is nice, and I'm sure the program will make for some girlfriend-teasing fun. But that's not why I'm buying it. You, sir, are getting my $2.99 specifically for the Alvin Lucier quote. That, and the more I think about it, the more I'm looking forward to testing out some of Steve Reich's vocal phases with this thing. But yes, Lucier is a hero.

rgbrgb 15y ago
Thanks mister, thanks, thanks. If you do any reich-esque recordings I'd LOVE to hear them!

woodall 15y ago

Would this app be worth $2.99 if it was written for Linux or PC? Reason for asking, I can't compile and test software on Mac but have a lot of apps personal use type stuff. Being without a job selling this type of thing would make for great supplemental income. Any tips?

rgbrgb 15y ago
Where would you sell it? Personally, without some kind of app store, I probably wouldn't have bothered with redoing the design and making an icon and all that. If there's some kind of app store or if you're willing to build your own storefront, I say go for it (but what do I know?). If you don't have a job anyway, what do you have to lose?
drtse4 15y ago
The "can't compile/test on Mac" issue can be solved with an OSX virtual machine if you have a good pc and don't want to spend money for a real mac.

mdonahoe 15y ago

I hope the private speech synth API on the iOS gets made public. I'm using it in my thesis project, but it would be great for apps. Learn how to use it here: http://arstechnica.com/apple/guides/2010/02/iphone-voiceservices-looking-under-the-hood.ars http://arstechnica.com/apple/guides/2010/02/iphone-voiceserv...

juanipis 15y ago

"terminal-core" lol. now thats how you write a great copy. that just makes me envious. good work