iPhone

PicSlide 1.2 Submitted

by

I just submitted PicSlide 1.2. Hopefully this will be approved as quickly as the ICHC update.

New in this version:

  • Choose Picture button moved to main screen
  • New picture chooser screen.
  • Increased difficulty of all levels except easy
  • Optimized build for 3.0 only

When this version is approved, the price will return to $1.99.

ICHC 2.0.1 is now available

by

I Can Has Cheezburger 2.0.1 is now available for sale, 48 hours after I submitted it. I strongly recommend updating to this version, since it now uses the Cheezburger featured content API instead of my scraped feed (which often went down, resulting in no pictures displayed). Note that this version is NOT compatible with OS 2.x, and this time I set the proper build options to insure that it can’t be installed on 2.x devices.

With ICHC 2.0 I mistakenly kept the deployment target as 2.0, which allowed people with unsupported systems to install it and have it crash immediately.

The OS 3.0 requirement is due to my use of Three20, which is not compatible with 2.x. Since OS 3.0 is now a free upgrade for iPod Touch users, there’s no reason to continue to support OS 2.x. I was also able to take advantage of this by producing an optimized (arm6 & arm7) build for the Pro version. Unfortunately I couldn’t build the free version optimized, since the Collider Media library isn’t arm7 compatible.

PicSlide update coming soon

by

I have a minor update to PicSlide that I’ll probably submit later this week. I’ve made a few refinements to the user interface, most notably moving the picture chooser to the main menu instead of the settings screen. I’ve also increased the difficulty levels by increasing the number of times it shuffles the pieces in all levels except easy. When version 1.2 is approved, the price will return to $1.99.

After I get my iPad, I will release another update that will take advantage of the larger screen.

ICHC 2.0.1 Submitted

by

I just submitted I Can Has Cheezburger 2.0.1 with the following changes:

  • Uses featured content API instead of scraped feed
  • “There, I fixed it” replaces “Once Upon a Win”, which isn’t available with the API
  • Thumbnails are now displayed for movies
  • Deployment target properly set to 3.0 so it won’t load on 2.x devices

By using the API it will no longer depend on this server, which often goes down under heavy use resulting in no photos loading. Like 2.0, this version is NOT compatible with any OS version older than 3.0. In 2.0 I didn’t set the deployment target to 3.0, so people with older systems were still able to install it, resulting in an immediate crash (which I got about 5 emails a day about).

The application will remain unavailable until the new version is approved, because I’m sick of dealing with all of the bitching because my server goes down or because they’re using OS 2.x.

ICHC Road Map

by

Now that ICHC 2.0 was approved, I’m starting on 2.1, which has one very major change: instead of my scraped feed, which goes down pretty often, it will use the new Cheezburger Content APIs. Other features I’m planning are full iPad support and sharing LOLs on FaceBook or Twitter. I will most likely release an update which only switches it to the new APIs, since that’s a fairly urgent change.

I haven’t abandoned PicSlide. My plans for it include additional photo sources such as Flickr recent & interesting, defaulting to medium instead of easy level, as well as full iPad support and maybe additional puzzle sizes for the iPad.

ICHC 2.0 Is Ready For Sale!

by

I just got an email from the iTunes Store informing me that I Can Has Cheezburger 2.0 (both free & pro versions) is ready for sale. It may take a few hours for it to appear in all of the app stores as an available update.

It was approved in 8 days (1 week after I got an email saying the review process will require extra time). This is the first time Apple approved both the free & pro versions at the same time, even though I always submit them at the same time.

Now I can work on 2.1 using the new content APIs.

Cheezburger app feed was broken

by

The ICHC app feed was broken today. Whenever that happens, I always get about a dozen emails asking if there’s something wrong with the application. No, it isn’t the application; it’s the feed.

This time it wasn’t a problem with the server. Something in the first page of icanhascheezburger.com confused my script and caused it to exit. I added some additional error checking so it should work now. This is always a danger when you’re using a scraped feed, as I’m doing in the app. I’ve made it more robust than the original script, but it’s still always one step away from breaking if the slightest thing on the page changes.

The real fix will come in 2.1 when I start using the new Cheezburger featured content retrieval API, which will return exactly what appears on the site and lets you retrieve multiple pages of items. However, not all content is currently available via that API, although they’re working on bringing it up to date.

I submitted version 2.0 exactly one week ago today, and one day later I received the dreaded email:

We are currently reviewing an app that you submitted for inclusion on the App Store, and want to let you know that the review process will require additional time. We apologize for the delay and will provide you with an update on the status of your app as soon as possible.

I still haven’t heard anything further from Apple.