The totally titanic team at Tapbot have gone above and beyond for TiPb readers with this one!
First, they’ve given us five (5) Promo Codes for their latest greatest unit converter, Convertbot [iTunes link], a sweet app with a stunning interface, designed to make the admittedly tedious task of converting one measurement into a another a deliciously tactile, actually enjoyable experience.
But wait, there’s more! They’ve also given us five (5) Promo Codes for their classic weight tracker,
Weightbot [iTunes link], a great app with a gorgeous interface, and just in time (again!) for bikini season (or whatever the rest of you wear to work…)
Want a chance to get either one of them — or if pure random luck comes your way — both of them, for FREE? Head on over to our forum and post your reply in the Convertbot Give Away and/or Weightbot Give Away threads.
(As always, to use Promo Codes, you need access to the US App Store).
While many iPhone devs probably haven’t struck it rich (just as many of the apps flooding the store haven’t yet been strike-it-rich worthy), quality products that find an audience are still proving to be massive income sources for some developers reports Fake Steve Real Dan Lyons in Newsweek:
Greenstone, 41, has been writing games for Apple’s computers for 21 years. But he says he’s never seen anything like the iPhone apps phenomenon, which this year will deliver $5 million in revenue for him. “It’s crazy. It’s like lottery money. In the last four and a half months we’ve made as much money off the retail sales of iPhone apps as we’ve made with retail sales of all of the apps that we’ve made in the past 21 years—combined.” Business is so good that Greenstone won’t even bother writing for the Mac anymore.
Daniel wrote in to let us know the obvious: Apple rejected iBoobs from the App Store. Duh or d’oh, we guess, depending on your point of view. Did the dev think Pull my Finger made this okay? Cheer or jeer the video if you have to.
Tapbots developer Paul Hadda, whom TiPb interviewed a while back and whose awesome WeightBots app has just hit version 1.2, made a nasty discovery when searching the App Store: keyword spam:
I searched around for other high profile apps and found quite a few developers have chosen to SEO optimize their app description. So first we have apps naming themselves with blanks at the beginning to take advantage of alphabetical listing in the store. Then we have apps going from Free to Paid to take advantage of the top 100 list. And now this SEO hack, what’s next?
Is one of your New Year resolutions to shed a few pounds? Well if it is then this application, Weightbots, by Tabots[iTunes Link] is just for you.
Whether you are trying to lose (or gain) a few pounds, tracking your weight has never been more fun. Set your goal weight, record your weight at any interval (one weight per day max), view your BMI, and see your progress on a beautiful graph. Weightbot also has a built-in secure password feature to protect your weight from prying eyes. It’s easy to use, surprisingly addicting, and designed for everyone to enjoy. Even if you are not actively dieting, you will love tracking your weight just to use Weightbot.
Get it now for the holiday sale price of $.99!
Next up is a nice little 21 and over bar app from Helmes Innovations, Party Pro. [iTunes Link] There are a few other free solutions if you are looking drink recipes, but what makes this app stand out is a GPS bar locator! Very nifty indeed.
Got an iPhone or iPod Touch? Like to Party? Party like a Pro. Everything you need for a party is now on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You can mix a drink, find a bar and much more all from your iPhone or iPod Touch. This is the ultimate party guide for your iPhone or iPod Touch.
Again, this app is on sale for a limited time for $.99 so be sure to grab it soon!
Last but not least we have a great new game on sale! Tricky Software’sArmado [iTunes Link] is now on sale! Check out the video after the break to see what you get for $.99!
Have you found an app on sale we might have missed? Your favorite at a bargain price? Hit the comments and let us know!
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Mark Jardine and Paul Haddad of Tapbots are the breakout designers and engineers behind Weightbot (iTunes link), one of the most original user experiences released on the iPhone App Store to date. Continuing the iPhone blog’s behind-the-scenes look at iPhone application development, Mark and Paul were kind enough to take time and discuss their ideas on interface and interactivity, and how what more we might expect from Apple’s next generation mobile platform.
TiPb: How was approaching the iPhone interface for this App different than how you would have approached an interface for another platform?
Mark: It was really different coming from a web design background. 320×460 isn’t a lot of space to work with and then you have to factor in the huge difference in input devices. A person’s finger is a lot less accurate than a mouse cursor. At the same time, I wasn’t designing a website so I was freed from a lot of rules and conventions I’ve been following over the past 8 years. So my initial approach was pretty simple. If Weightbot was an actual physical device, how could I make it usable and fun at the same time?
Paul: The thing I found challenging about dealing with the iPhone interface is that users want a silky smooth and yet the iPhone and iPod touch are both very slow compared to any modern Mac. I spent a lot of time juggling things around in order to get a consistent 60 fps for all the various animations within Weightbot. Coming from our current Multi Gigahertz, Multi Gigabyte and Multi Core world where for the most part you don’t have to worry about performance to a platform like the iPhone where every cycle and byte counts is a big change.
Want to get attention for your App? Innovative and drop dead gorgeous UI is one heckuva way to do it. Enter Weightbot from Tapbots. Killer mascot, even more interesting user experience. These are the kinds of high-polish Apps we’ve been waiting for (no pun intended!)
Anyone else pushing the iPhone envelope? Please let us know!
