I expect to send out the final beta of Removr this weekend and submit it some time next week. I’m just waiting for more levels.
Removr now has its own web site, removrapp.com, Facebook page, and Twitter account.
Mike Cohen
Removr Update
The last iPhone update went out yesterday, with some new & improved levels and a few graphic enhancements & bug fixes.
I also added file sharing for access to the level database. I’ll release the level editor to the general public when I release the app and at some point I plan to have level design contests. I’ll also probably make additional levels available through in-app purchasing.
Removr Level Editor
I now have a fully working level editor for Removr, which I just sent to my beta testers. For the next beta, I hope to have some nicer levels. If anyone is interested in joining the next beta, let me know.
Another unjustified rejection
Jonah Grant wrote a great app that lets you browse movie trailers and get information about the movies. After putting in more than 100 hours of work on it, Apple rejected it.
Here’s what Apple told him:
Thank you for submitting your application to the App Store. Unfortunately, your application, Trailers ~ movie previews on the go, cannot be added to the App Store because it violates section 3.3.10 of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement:
“Applications may not perform any functions or link to any content or use any robot, spider, site search or other retrieval application or device to scrape, retrieve or index services provided by Apple or its licensors, or to collect, disseminate or use information about users for any unauthorized purpose. “
There is no public API the iTunes Movie Trailers to be used in the manner demonstrated by your application.
Best Regards,
App Review Team
Apple provides an RSS feed of the movie trailers, which certainly can be considered a public API. That feed is publicly available and anyone can read or subscribe to it. There’s absolutely no reason an iPhone app shouldn’t be allowed to access it.
Adding & updating levels dynamically
A few weeks ago I wrote about why I chose SQLite rather than CoreData for my level maps. One big advantage is that levels can be added, modified or deleted by executing SQL statements. If I add in-app purchasing of additional levels, this will make it very easy to do.
During the beta, I have it check for available database updates on my server, so I can add new levels or replace the level database without requiring an app update.
Removr Beta
The first Removr beta went out today. I wasn’t happy with how some of the pieces looked on my iPhone 4, so yesterday I cleaned up the graphics and added Retina Display support. Cocos2d doesn’t have built-in support for the retina display, so I had to check the scaling and load a @2x graphic every place I load any image. If you’re interested in seeing how I did it, I posted some code here.
I’m now working on making my level editor more usable. At some point in the future I may release it publicly and allow user-contributed levels.
Removr is ready for beta
I hope to send out the first Removr beta in a few days, and I still have a few more slots open for beta testers. If you’re interested, send me your iPhone’s UDID via my contact form.
links for 2010-07-06
-
Among other things:
* Removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.
* In a little over two years created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided the US has ever been since the civil war.
* Entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.
links for 2010-07-04
-
We all underestimate our ability to massively change our life when it's gone off track.
-
If you’re an iPhone Dev, and you’re not using Twitter, you really should be.
Whatever else Twitter may be, it is a wonderful, anarchic repository for random bits of incredibly useful information. A good habit to get into is marking useful tidbits as favourites so that you can come back to them later. -
Making tools to create & edit game levels.
Removr Update
Removr is now feature complete. I’m only waiting for the level maps & I’m still working on the sound effects with xfxr. In the next week or so I hope to send out the first beta.
