Mike Cohen

Removr 1.3.1 is Ready for Sale

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My resubmitted 1.3.1 has been approved and is now ready for sale. This version features 100 levels with 4 new hidden achievements in game center. It now adds levels created with our Level Editor to the built-in levels, unlike previous versions which used a single level database that could be edited. Levels are added using file sharing in iTunes.

Removr 1.3.1 rejected and resubmitted

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After a week in review, I finally got an email from Apple today saying that version 1.3.1 was rejected because:

Removr has the UIFileSharingEnabled key set to true in the Info.plist, but this feature is not functional.

When file sharing is enabled, the entire Documents folder is used for file sharing. Files that that are not intended for user access via the file sharing feature should be stored in another part of your application’s bundle. If your application does not require the file sharing feature, the UIFileSharingEnabled key in the Info.plist should not be set to true.

Removr does use file sharing to allow levels to be added using our level editor. I changed the way it works since the last version. Previously, I copied the internal level database to the document folder where it could be edited. I now look for files with the extension leveldb and add them as additional levels. For the benefit of the reviewers, I’ve also provided a sample level file.

I had originally intended 1.3.1 as an intermediate update to add some new levels & achievements while I perfected that feature, so I had it temporarily disabled, since I figure not too many people were using it. After I submitted it, I contined to work on that feature in a way to lay the groundwork for in-app purchasing, as well as creating new levels.

The newly re-submitted Removr 1.3.1 now has 100 levels instead of 96 with fully-functional file sharing. Hopefully this one won’t take too long to approve.

Links for 2011-02-10 through 2011-02-15

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Links for 2011-02-10 through 2011-02-15:

Posted by Postilicious

Big Grammy Win

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I’m thrilled about Arcade Fire winning Album Of The Year last night, not only because I’m a big fan, but because it’s also a great big “up yours” to the major record labels.

While the other nominees are represented by major labels with huge promotion budgets, Arcade Fire is represented by tiny Merge Records and spends very little on promotion. The other nominees sold over a million records, but The Suburbs only sold less than 500,000. This is one of the few times quality and actual talent beat style & mainstream marketing. Arcade Fire’s success proves that you don’t need to have a manager to promote a carefully crafted image, lots of marketing muscle, and a huge record company behind you. I hope this trend continues.

Current Status

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I submitted Removr 1.3.1 early last week and it’s been in review since Thursday 2/10. After 1.3.1, I have another minor update that will look for additional levels in the documents folder as well as support for purchasing additional levels.

In the future there will be two ways to expand levels. You can use the level editor and add leveldb files through iTunes file sharing, and eventually I’ll have in-app purchase for new level packs. The previous version copied the level database into the document directory, where it was accessible through iTunes. That was not a good solution since app updates which changed the levels would wipe out your changes, and it was possible to mess up the levels. It now only adds levels found in the document directory to the existing levels.

Links for 2011-02-03 through 2011-02-09

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Links for 2011-02-03 through 2011-02-09:

Posted by Postilicious

Video review of Removr

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Here’s a nice video review of Removr from TheTechWeb.

See more videos from TheTechWeb and subscribe here.

Look for an update to Removr coming soon. I got rid of a few levels I didn’t like and added several new levels. I’ve also added a few hidden achievements in Game Center.

Best Mac I've owned

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I spent today walking around San Francisco, from my hotel near Union Square to the Chinatown gate, then to the ferry building and along the Embarcadero to Pier 39, then Fisherman’s Wharf and back, carrying my MacBook Air and Nikon D90.

I found the weight of the MacBook Air to be almost unnoticeable. On my last trip, I had a 15″ MacBook Pro, which seemed to get heavier after hours of carrying it. I stopped several places with WiFi and used my MacBook Air for a total of about 3 1/2 hours without plugging it in at all while running Aperture, downloading photos from a SD card, and uploading photos to Flickr. When I got back to my hotel, the battery was only down to about 50% and it claimed 4 hours time remaining.

The MacBook Air doesn’t seem any slower than the MacBook Pro, and certain things like launching applications is actually faster. It’s a lot lighter and easier to carry than the MacBook Pro and seems potentially less fragile due to not having a hard drive, so it makes a much better travel companion.

Here’s one of the many photos I took today. You can see the rest of them on Flickr.

Sailboat

Removr 1.3 is now available

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Removr 1.3 is now ready for sale. New in this version:

  • Now a universal app that runs on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
  • Updated to the latest version of Cocos2d with native retina display support
  • Removed the option to turn off accelerometer.