My app update process

On By GrahamIn Uncategorized

iosicons


You might think doing an app update is primarily about the coding and testing. This post summarises the many steps I have to take between being “finished” and you getting an “update available” message from iTunes.

1. Documentation. Primarily this involves editing the built in User Guide, which is an HTML document. I also need to write the What’s New section for iTunes, which I also include in the User Guide (since many people miss this when updating).

2. Each update requires a new version number, so this needs to be updated in the app itself. Also if it is the first update of the year, I update the copyright notice.

3. Since the version number is shown on the application launch images (the brief image that is displayed when you launch the app), these need to be re-generated. Each app now has 7 launch images: portrait mode on the iPad (retina and non-retina); landscape mode on the iPad (retina and non-retina); the old iPhone/iPod Touch (retina and non-retina); finally the new iPhone/iPod Touch (retina only). I tend to use OmniGraffle to produce these.

4. Build the app for submission to Apple. This takes perhaps 30-60 seconds! 🙂

5. If I have changed something visual, I need to take new screenshots for iTunes. Since you can include up to 5 images, this involves taking 15 screenshots in total: 5 for the iPad (retina only), 5 for the old iPhone/iPod Touch (retina only) and 5 for the new iPhone/iPod Touch (retina only). Screenshots are taken by pressing the Home and Power buttons at the same time, and the resulting images are then trimmed to remove the status bar at the top of the screen.

6. I also take new screenshots for my website, typically in the order of 15-30 of them per app. I tend to use an “old” iPhone 4 for this, however I then have to resize each image down to 50% as the retina images are too big for the web.

7. Apple has a website called iTunes Connect where developers can manage their apps. I add the new app version, paste in the What’s New text and upload the 15 iTunes images (which can take ages). I can then submit the app for approval.

8. Despite some early horror stories, the approval process has always been very fair (IMHO). Typically apps are approved in around 5-10 days.

9. Finally once I get notified it has been approved, I upload all the screenshots to my website, update the text on my website and then officially release the new version. Phew!

10. For apps like Account Tracker, all of the above is repeated for the Free version. I also use separate screenshots for the US ($) vs the rest of the world (where I use £). As you can imagine, there are a LOT of images to upload (60 to iTunes in total, uploaded one at a time).

So next time you update one of my apps, now you know what I went through!

Account Tracker 3.8.5 now available

On By GrahamIn Announcements

This is a quick update to make the UI more explicit around showing and hiding reconciled transactions. The pull down method has now been removed altogether (following user feedback – sorry!), and you now simply use the tick button itself. The same applies to the accounts screen where you should use the left arrow to show or hide hidden accounts.

Added a new advanced settings section with two new options …

1. “Focus on” applies to the iPhone and iPod Touch only, and it lets you choose whether to make the balance or the transaction amount bigger on the account screen. I know some people prefer to see the amount a bit more clearly!

2. “Touch and hold” is an optimisation around using the tick button. If enabled, touching and holding it (i.e. a long press) will switch between showing and hiding reconciled transactions. Also if you are reconciling by transaction, simply tap the tick button to enter reconcile mode.

Fixed a bug to do with foreign splits not being converted to the default currency on the budgets and reports screens.

Showing and hiding reconciled transactions

On By GrahamIn Announcements

Well I thought it was good idea, but clearly many of you don’t. Despite the “pull down, hold and release” technique being used widely across iOS apps, even Apple’s own Mail and Twitter apps, I am getting far too many complaints about this change. It seems that users just don’t understand what they need to do. I admit defeat. Sorry.

I hope to submit version 3.8.5 to Apple tomorrow (Sunday) that removes this feature from both the account and all accounts screens. By default the “tick” button will ask you what you want, i.e. reconcile now, hide reconciled transactions or show all transactions.

I am also vastly simplifying the main settings screen, and putting a lot of the more obscure settings under an Advanced option. I will include an option to “touch and hold” the tick button to switch modes.

I am also putting back the option to reverse the size of the transaction amount and running balance on the account screen.

Printing support

On By GrahamIn Features

As part of version 3.8.4, I added the ability to print PDF reports straight from your iOS device to an AirPrint-enabled printer. Once a PDF file has been generated, simply tap the button at the top right of the screen and select Print.

See http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4356 for more details on AirPrint. Also its worth mentioning that it is possible to get this working with a non-AirPrint printer. I managed that using some 3rd party Mac software called handyPrint.

Let me know how you get on!

Syncing support in Account Tracker

On By GrahamIn Features

As you can probably tell, I have been somewhat busy recently. All of my apps needed updates to support the latest Dropbox APIs, otherwise this functionality would stop working in November/December. Then came iOS 6 which caused a few minor issues, and then (of course) the new iPhone/iPod Touch which have a different screen size. Keeping my existing apps working is my top priority!

On top of this, I have been testing the first release of Account Tracker for Windows Phone (now available). I am extremely pleased to say this is already the top paid personal finance app in the UK, the US, and a number of other countries (last time I checked, Canada, Australia, New Zealand … etc).

Account Tracker for the Mac has taken a back seat, as I’ve just not had the time. If anyone knows of an experienced OSX UI developer, perhaps this could be accelerated!

The next big feature coming soon is syncing. I have a solution for both Hill Lists and Meter Readings, but this won’t work very well for Account Tracker. My initial implementation will be based on iCloud and so can’t really be used for multiple people. However once I’ve done this, extending it to use Dropbox should be easy enough.

Please bear with me as I work through some final (and complex) issues. You really don’t want a solution that doesn’t work, or (worse) corrupts your data!

Account Tracker 3.8.4 now available

On By GrahamIn Announcements

Added support for the larger retina display on the iPhone 5 and the new iPod Touch. NOTE: the minimum iOS version is now 4.3.

Added support for the latest Dropbox APIs.

Changed the way you show/hide reconciled transactions. The tick button was causing a lot of confusion, so now this is only used to start reconciling. To switch between showing and hiding reconciled transactions, simply pull the transaction list down from the top (just like on the accounts screen). HINT: to quickly scroll to the top of the list, tap the left or right arrows (depending on how you sort your transactions).

Fixes to CSV handling, including support for exporting search results and sending attachments in a format less likely to be manipulated by email clients (e.g. by inserting blank lines between the exported data). Many thanks to Robina Qureshi for helping me debug this one!

Some minor tweaks to the colours used on the navigation bars. The black is slightly less black, and the blue is a bit more blue. Give the latter a try by turning off “Black Theme” in the settings.

Added a link to my Top 10 Tips from the Help button.

Minor fixes and improvements.

NOTE: if you are using the app on multiple devices, always update them together whenever a new version is released!

Meter Readings 3.2.1 now available

On By GrahamIn Announcements

Added support for the larger retina display on the iPhone 5 and the new iPod Touch (NOTE: the minimum iOS version is now 4.3).

Moved some of the power user features into the basic app (e.g. additional meter types, import/export readings via CSV files and keyboard entry). Also increased the number of meters supported to 5.

Reduced the price of the power user upgrade.

Bug fixes.

Account Tracker for Windows Phone now available

On By GrahamIn Announcements

I am extremely pleased to announce that the first public release (v1.1) of Account Tracker for Windows Phone 7 is now available!

It has a radical redesign to take advantage of the Windows Phone metro interface, and it looks fantastic! Many thanks to Thin Martian for their design work, and to Response Ltd for their development, especially András (Velvárt) for putting up with me over the last few weeks!

There are some screenshots in the documentation.

Hills Lists 3.4.1 now available

On By GrahamIn Announcements

Added support for the larger retina display on the iPhone 5 and the new iPod Touch (NOTE: the minimum iOS version is now 4.3).

Fixed a timing problem when showing red pins on the new maps in iOS 6.

Demoted Beinn a’Chlaidheimh from Munro to Corbett following confirmation from the SMC on 6th September.

Updated the data from MountainViews to 22nd September.

iOS 6

On By GrahamIn Announcements

Just upgraded to iOS 6 on my iPad, and as far as I can tell all of my apps are functioning well. The only MAJOR drawback I can see is Apple’s new maps app (and of course the map data as used in Hill Lists).

They have replaced the fantastic maps and satellite images from Google with their own, and I can honestly say they are nowhere near as good. They might work for a sat nav app like TomTom, but for Hill Lists … not happy.

You have been warned!

UPDATE 1: there is a minor problem with Hill Lists where the maps do not show red pins, at least initially. This is a race condition in my code and the fix will be in my next update (already submitted).

UPDATE 2: all my apps are working well on the iPhone 5 in letterbox mode. The new screen resolution will be fully supported in my next update(s).