paul's blog

I just received the email from Apple telling me that KnitMinder Lite has been approved for sale, so it should be available in the App Store in a couple of hours. The full version of KnitMinder is still under review, but since they are exactly the same app I expect it to be approved shortly.

(dancing a little jig of joy at getting app #2 out!)

Ten minutes later, I got the email that KnitMinder is also approved! Yahoo!

Wow, in one week we got two new knitting apps on the App Store. There's a new row counter app called "Knit Counter" ($3.99 with a free lite version, by Matt at Cordless Dog) and a knitting project manager app called "Knit Buddy" ($4.99, David Ross Software). This is in addition to the granddaddy of iPhone knitting apps, StitchMinder (heh) and the series of KnittyBag, KnitGauge, and iKnit Needle Sizer (by Michael Lynn). I should also mention the Knitting Yarn Calculator ($0.99 by Vlad Stamate) and the two apps by ClearForce Consultancy, YarnStash and StitchCounter.

What's even more amazing to me is that StitchMinder is still being downloaded over 300 times a week, nine months after it was originally released in August of 2008. The App Store may have its problems, but it still provides a fantastic opportunity for small developers to reach specialized audiences. The mini-explosion of knitting apps is just one of many examples of this phenomenon. Now all we need to do is lobby for a "Crafting" top-level category so we can find the stuff we're interested in more easily!

I just finished submitting KnitMinder and KnitMinder Lite to the App Store! It generally takes Apple a week or two to review the applications, but if they don't see any problems (and if I don't find any more bugs in the meantime), these apps should be available in the very near future. I have updated the KnitMinder product page with more screenshots of the submitted version and a copy of the help file that comes with the app. I'm really looking forward to launch and to see what you all think of my little knitting application!

Whee, life has been rushing at me fast these days! Despite the chaos around me, I'm sneaking in time to work on KnitMinder. There are just a few more bugs to squish and part of the help file to write, but other than that, it's ready to be submitted to Apple for approval.

In my day job working on iPhone applications, I see a lot of feedback from customers who purchase our apps but are unhappy afterward because the app didn't do what they expected. I'm sure we've all been disappointed by a purchase on the App Store at one time or another. Even when we pay $0.99 for an app, we expect some sort of value in return, and sometimes the developer's idea of value doesn't match with the customers. The point I'm leading up to is that I've decided to offer a free version of KnitMinder called "KnitMinder Lite". The Lite application will function exactly the same as the full version, but it will be limited in the number of projects, yarns, needles, and patterns you can store. This way, you can download the free version and try it out before you plunk down your $4.99 for the full version. I'll post more info about the Lite version after it's done.

Thanks again to everyone for their patience!

I'm rolling along on KnitMinder development and should have most of the features done in the next week or so. Add another two weeks for intensive testing and I hope to have it submitted to the App Store in early March. I will start posting screenshots in the forums so you can get a look at the functionality.

I've decided on an initial price of $4.99 for KnitMinder. Pricing was probably the hardest part of the whole development process for me. KnitMinder is a complex application and has taken quite a lot of time and effort to design and develop. There are also recurring costs associated with putting applications on the App Store (web site hosting being one of them!). My hope is that knitters will be excited and interested enough to skip one caramel macchiato at Starbucks and spend that money on my app instead... :) I am considering a free edition of the app which has fewer features, but it may be a while before I get to that.

As an added incentive to purchase the KnitMinder, I will be donating 10% of my proceeds from sales of this application to animal-related charities. My wife and I are very involved in house rabbit rescue, so the first beneficiary will be the The House Rabbit Society. I'll report back on sales and the donations in this blog.

KnitMinder is coming! I'm excited! I hope you knitters are, too!

Just got the email from Apple that StitchMinder 1.0.2 has been released, so you should see it in your App Store updates soon!

Thanks to Malin Nilsson, we have a Swedish translation of StitchMinder in addition to the Japanese translation. I've also added the ability to "undo" a count -- simply touch the counter that you want to undo and drag to another counter before lifting your finger. It takes a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, it is very quick and doesn't require another button on the screen. The updated application has been sent to Apple for review, so it should show up in the App Store in about a week to ten days.

Here's to peace and prosperity in the New Year!

I thought I'd give everyone a New Year's update on developments. StitchMinder has been translated into Japanese by ConSysTech Inc., and will be available on the App Store soon. If anyone else would like to help out by translating StitchMinder into your favorite language, please contact me using the comment form.

I've added the open-source Mantis issue tracking system to the Quilt2Go web site -- if you're technically-minded, click on the "Issue Tracker" link at the top of the page and take a look at the feature requests and bug reports for StitchMinder and KnitMinder. If you have an issue or suggestion for either of these programs, you can enter it in the issue tracker and you will be notified by email when I fix it. You can also continue to send me suggestions using the comment form or contact me at Ravelry.

With the holiday break from work, I have been able to do some work on KnitMinder, the knitting project tracker. So far, the yarn inventory screens are pretty much done. I'm really stoked about how these turned out! Here's a preview of what they look like:

KnitMinder Yarn List

As you can see, you can list yarns by color or weight, and you can even take pictures of your yarns for reference! The little blocks in the lower left hand corner of the picture indicates the colorway of the yarn. I'll be updating the KnitMinder page as I finish work on each section, so check back for more updates.

Thanks again to everyone who has posted in the forums or gotten in touch via email. I'm looking forward to getting KnitMinder finished and into the App Store and then starting on a quilting yardage calculator that is long overdue! Keep those comments and suggestions coming!

I notice that a fair proportion of StitchMinder downloads come from non-English-speaking countries. If anyone is interested in helping me translate StitchMinder into their native language, please contact me using the form on this site. Thanks!

Wow, I feel like I've made the big leagues! StitchMinder is showing up on the first page of the "Staff Favorites" section of the iTunes App Store:

Staff Favorite

Er, I guess this means that I've got to get cracking on the feature requests that have been popping up, eh?