More browser changes

The feedback was, shall we say, not positive on the in-app browser change. A number of people told me they had been using iOS 4.2 betas with River of News and not having the freezing problem. I don't know the true source of the problem as freezing the entire device is something that iOS guarantees should never, ever happen.

I think it's my job as the developer to make good choices that work well so you don't have to think about it. That's why I'm loathe to add a new setting. But there is no good choice here so I am adding a new option accessible in the iPad Settings app. The next version will have the option to open links partial screen, full-screen, or in Safari.

Apple has notified us they have a reduced staff for the US Thanksgiving holiday so I doubt this will get through approval before next week. And this time my release notes will only talk about sunshine and bunny rabbits.

Rejected!

As I wrote the other day, iOS 4.2 has a bug that required me to make a change in River of News. Occasionally the entire iPad would freeze up when the in-app browser was closed. This bug likely has to do with the new memory management in iOS 4.2 (a lot changed under the covers). I don't know the exact reason for it but it happens and I can't leave it that way. The best I can do is try to work around the problem until Apple fixes it. Hence, the new version with the browser not full screen in landscape which is now in the App Store.

I figured something was up when this version spent a long time in review. After about a day of being reviewed I received an email that my app was rejected because the release notes contained "defamatory comments about Apple."

 It would be appropriate to remove "In-app browser is no longer full screen because of iOS 4.2 compatibility problem" from the Release Notes.

Really? I can't tell my customers why I had to make a change that I knew wouldn't be popular? Some people react very strongly to change like the guy who wrote he no longer uses River of News because the new icon makes him "puke".

I changed the release notes to say "In-app browser is no longer full screen for better performance in iOS 4.2." This was accepted by Apple and version 1.3.1 is now live.

Minor update coming soon

There is a bug in iOS 4.2 that is occasionally triggered by closing the in-app browser in River of News. It's a disastrous bug in iOS because it freezes the entire iPad and requires a reboot. iOS is supposed to guarantee that no individual app can hang the system. Guarantees aside, it's happening and I can't leave it this way. The best I can do is work around it for now by making the browser not full screen. It only visually impacts landscape but seems to work around the iOS bug in both orientations.

Along with this change I cleaned up the browser UI a bit. I removed the URL bar which wasn't used much and added a search button that acts as a shortcut to Google. If you want to get to a specific site you can use Google as a starting point instead of typing in the URL directly. I also fixed a few minor bugs.

Version 1.3.1 has been sent to Apple and will be available when Steve Jobs personally reviews it and sends me email as he does with all of my updates. (not really)

Tip: Side swiping

Thank you everyone for the survey results. They're illuminating. There were requests for help documentation which I will address in the future. For the moment, I do have this blog and I know a lot more of you are reading it now.

There is understandable confusion about the side swiping order of feeds. It's actually really simple: it's the same order as the feed list. If a folder is expanded in the list then you'll swipe through each individual feed. If your folders are collapsed then you'll jump folder to folder. You can see this if you play with it in landscape orientation. Expand and collapse folders and the swipe order will always match what you see in the list.

Swiping between feeds doesn't appear to be a feature that is used by as many people as I expected. I consider that a failing on my part to expose and explain it because it's really awesome. I like to use the app in portrait orientation and rarely even look at my feed list. I order my list at Google Reader so that the stuff I care about is up top. When I use River of News I have it in portrait and I start with the first folder and scroll, swipe, scroll, swipe. I'm always looking at the content, not fussing with the UI. And isn't that the goal?

New version coming soon

I'm wrapping up version 1.3 of River of News. It still needs to go through more testing and then be approved by Apple so it may be a couple of weeks until it's in your hands. I've had the review process take between two and fifteen days.

These are the new features:

• iOS 4.2 compatibility
• Save Images
• People you follow in Google Reader
• Open links in Instapaper Mobilizer
• Show unread badge in portrait view
• Show unread badge on home screen
• Email contents of an article
• Set a default To: email address
• New icon
• Assorted bug fixes

I really wanted to provide Evernote integration but their programming interface isn't flexible enough. However, Evernote does provide a personal email address to which you can send any rich content. Combine that email address with the features above and you have a low friction way to get articles into your Evernote account.

Survey

Please, please take this quick survey. I want you to tell me how River of News can be better. It's anonymous and will take about two minutes. I respect your time.

This survey is for those who use and don't use River of News. Of course I want to hear from my happy customers. But if you didn't buy it or bought it and didn't like it I want to know that, too.

http://goo.gl/OfbD

Thank you.

Tip: Use favicons in Google Reader

Favicons are the little custom images that web sites and RSS feeds can use to identify themselves. You see them in the left of your browser's address bar and also in many RSS readers like River of News.

Google Reader has an option to "Use favicons." This will show favicons in their web site but also helps River of News. What isn't publicized anywhere is that when this option is checked Google sends information in your subscription list that allows clients like River of News to load the best favicon available. If it's not checked, River of News still attempts to parse out the feed's domain but it's not always accurate because of the way some feeds are distributed.

More, faster!

I read the App Store reviews. I'm all up in your Twitters. I find every feedback source I can to help me understand what my customers think about River of News. One of the complaints is that the app doesn't load enough articles and you have to wait while it fetches more. Many people have helpfully written to suggest that the articles should be pre-loaded before you scroll to the bottom of the current batch.

I hear you and the performance characteristics of River of News aren't because of inattentiveness on my part. I spent a lot of time fine tuning the app to squeeze everything possible from what is a pretty limited piece of hardware. The memory is the main limitation as River of News is effectively building huge web pages of concatenated articles. Along with this is slow rendering. I'll tell you a little secret. If you are on a fast network then most of the time you see a spinner in River of News it isn't loading data - it's waiting for the HTML to render. If you pay attention to Safari when it loads large, complicated web pages you'll see that it's quite conservative in how long it waits until it actually shows you much. When you scroll you'll also see the checkerboard pattern as it tiles in new content because it can't fit it all in memory.

Anyway, I'm writing this post because I have good news. iOS 4.2 changes everything. Apple's rules prevent me from discussing details and things might change. But right now it looks a lot better for River of News. I'm able to tune things differently so the infinite scrolling is more transparent and you rarely see a loading spinner to fetch new articles. This is more like what I envisioned when I started this project. I'll have an updated version ready for the release of iOS 4.2 and I think you'll be happy with the results.

Why isn't there a money back period in the App Store?

In the Android Marketplace buyers are given 24 hours to return an app for a refund. Why doesn't Apple do this? Consumers certainly want it. I think developers who believe in their products want it. It could be a procedural reason why Apple doesn't allow returns but I suspect it's a strategic decision.

Apple benefits from the overall low prices in the App Store. It's easier to get someone to buy fifteen $2 apps than it is two $15 apps. Cheap apps are fun. It keeps your investment constantly fresh with new stuff. A vibrant, inexpensive App Store enhances Apple's platform and, I believe, makes the total revenue pie bigger.

Not allowing returns helps keep the prices down. Consumers would be willing to pay more if the risk of a bad purchase was reduced. It seems not to make sense that Apple would want lower prices. Higher prices means their 30% cut is higher. But Apple is interested in the big picture and is motivated to keep prices low as part of an overall strategy. In the aggregate, this benefits everyone. It doesn't feel like it as an individual developer or customer but it contributes to an efficient market with more products and more innovation.

What do you think? Am I giving too much credit (or blame) to Apple for pulling the levers behind the curtain?

How much money can you make on the App Store?

No one talks about how much money they make on the App Store. There is the occasional article about Angry Birds selling 6.5 million copies but what about the more modest sellers? Can anyone besides the top few make a living on the App Store?

I don't know why this should be such a secret. I'm going to tell you how much money I make. Here are my sales since River of News RSS Reader for the iPad was released on Aug 19.


So there you go. That is how much a modestly successful app earns. It peaked in the top 30 for iPad sales but more typically hangs around in the 300's. 

That's pretty good for two months. But look how front loaded it is. Below is a summary of the sales from the past month compared to the total. This seems to be the more realistic sales rate.

This view doesn't look so great. It's not a bad income for a month and factoring in the lack of benefits and extra taxes it's around the median for a US household. But I can earn twice as much in the corporate world. (Software engineers are paid well.)

OK, what about satisfaction with my work? I don't have a chart for that but I don't think I need one. Developing River of News has been the most rewarding "work" of my life. It's not even close. My sleeping is all screwed up because I keep thinking about how I can make my software better. That's right, "my software." What a great thing to be able to say. I've gotten such tremendous satisfaction from creating something that people use and like.

Less money, more satisfaction. What do I do?

I resigned from my job this week. My employer treated me well and I thank them but I've got a shot to do something amazing and I'm not going to pass it up. If I can be successful at this then all I need to earn a living is a laptop and an internet connection. I can do that anywhere in the world and on my own schedule. Wow. That's a life changer.

Now my challenge is to make it work. I need to not only maintain my current revenue but increase it. The only way I know to do that is to build great software. If you are one of the 9473 people who bought River of News this is good news for you. I think River of News is a great product and some other people do, too. Now it will get better and you can expect new products with the time I will be able to devote to iOS development.

I thank Apple for making this a possibility for me. Everyone likes to complain about the App Store rules and, yes, the long, uncertain review process is frustrating. But no one else has ever enabled an independent developer like myself to connect with so many potential customers. Of course it serves Apple's interests. They aren't altruists. The genius is they created an ecosystem that benefits them, the developer, and the customer. That's the kind of efficiency you are supposed to get from capitalism.

Mostly I'll use this blog to write about product related topics but I'll keep you up to date on my success (or lack of) in making a living out of this. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. I've always had a reliable salary and a good standard of living. But I'm taking my shot.