120 app sales in September!

So, wow guys.  I was very excited that in August OpeWare hit a little over 3 sales per day.  I never anticipated actually selling that much.  This was just a hobby/learning experience/wife helper thing originally.  Actually deploying and selling the apps was just a side benefit.  So when we hit 3 apps per day that was very exciting.

September however brought the release of Yarn Inventory based on a user suggestion (thanks again Molly!)  In addition...  somehow...  someway...  OpeWare has sold 4 apps per day in September!  Four!  120 may not be that astounding of a number but it just feels great.  I'm very thankful for every one of my users!  I especially love hearing your suggestions and success stories.  :)

So, what's coming in October?  Well, dunno really.  :)  I've been in touch with a user over the last few days and we've been discussing some serious ways for all of my apps to talk to each other.  For instance, exporting ones Floss Checklist floss lists into a Stitcher's Helper project or shopping list.  Same goes for Bead Checklist and Yarn Inventory.  Let's see, what else?  I'm meeting with an administrator for my counties special education system to see what the current setups look like for special ed. software.  I have an idea for what I'd like to do, certainly, but I don't want to write the wrong thing (sort of a big problem for programmers who don't know anything about the field they're writing for).  The phrase for this is, "The inmates running the asylum."  Also, making very baby steps in my droid game.  Still polishing out a few design issues but overall I think I've got a great idea for what I want to do.  Execution of the design in the simplest manner is the next step.  Did I mention my game is an RPG/simulation in a fantasy setting?  :)

So, again, thanks for another great month for OpeWare.  Hopefully October is as exciting as September!

Update: 121!

Thanks to Garin of Monstrum Games

Spent a few emails back and forth over the last few days with Garin of Monstrum Games giving me some guidance about the structure of game design and such.  Very appreciative of a successful game designer/programmer spending time to help a first-timer out.  Hopefully once I get mine done and deployed then I can do the same for others!

Yarn Inventory updated to 1.1.02

Added the Import/Export functionality!  Now you can export your yarn/template list and have a backup in case your phone dies or is replaced.  There are 2 options for exporting, but they both work the same way.  You can choose to simply export to your SD card, or export via email.  Exporting to your SD card simply puts the backup file on your SD card.  Export via email puts the backup file on your SD card and then opens an email interface so you can email it to yourself and never lose it!

If you ever need to import your data back, simply put the file on the root directory of your SD card and then tap the import button!

However, I apologize, but I cannot field any support emails asking how to put the file on your particular SD card.  There are many phones and many more phone software setups so I can't possibly know how it works in your case.  Usually though you simply plug your phone into your computer via USB and then access your SD card via the removable storage your phone should expose to Windows.  No promises though, that's just how my and my wife's phone works.

Yarn Inventory updated to 1.1.01

Changelog:

• Now saving the sorting, grouping, filtering, and need/owned toggle buttons between sessions.
• Autocomplete now takes the preloaded templates into account.
• Displaying a small summary of the current sorting, grouping, and filtering options above the list.
• Text inputs on the edit yarn/template screen now capitalize the first letter of each word (or sentence for notes).
• Updated the screenshots to be more precise. :)

Picture Communication Helper app update

The plan was to write a fabric inventory app next.  Then after that I'd finish up my Picture Communication Helper app.  However, I may be writing PCH first.  I have a meeting coming up with an administrator for my counties special ed. department to see what the existing software looks like.

I'm writing this app for two reasons really.  One is the labor of love aspect.  My step-daughter is moderately to severely on the autistic spectrum and with that mostly non-verbal.  Communication around here is difficult.  Most of the time things are ok, but when communication breaks down things go south quickly.  Two is the maddening prices for software in this area.  Companies charge thousands of dollars for their software.  Don't get me wrong, business is business and all, but it just feels wrong.  60 days worth of therapy for our daughter might come out to something like $80,000 as it is.  If I can provide an app for $3-5 that helps even a handful of special needs parents/guardians/etc then I'll consider this a huge win.

More details soon. Maybe. I'm not a very good blogger. :)

Yarn Inventory 1.1.00 Released

Found a few post release fixes and some features I intentionally held out.  Here's the changelog:

• Updated preloaded templates (Thanks Molly!)
• Changed the theme because of an Android bug, the auto complete text boxes were white text on white background.  I didn't want to do this, but I couldn't see anyway around it.  This has been a known bug in the Android framework since 2010 but it's not been fixed.
• Now displaying "Manufacturer, Line" for a yarn list line (if that info is available).
• Removed "Weight:" prefix.  Still displaying the weight.
• Alphabetized the preloaded and user defined template lists.
• Now included the fiber field in the filtering.
• Fixed yarn list crash.
• Removed "Weight:" from yarn line list.
• Added autocomplete functionality.  However, I forgot to also pull autocomplete data from the preloaded template data.  Will do that in the next bug fix release.

Yarn Inventory Released!

Yarn Inventory has been released!  This app allows you to inventory and keep track of yarns you own and/or need as well as templates to allow for much easier data entry.  Fill out and save a template, open the template as a basis for a yarn entry, then simply fill out the color and you're done!  You can then use this method over and over again for all your yarn in a particular line!  It keeps track of yarn you own and need, so viewing just the yarn you need acts as a "shopping list."

Some background information: I've been working on this for 3 or 4 weeks, but after 2 days of awful football (UGA and Falcons) I finally got a version cranked out that I feel comfortable with deploying.  It's still missing a few features, but all of the key features are there.

Get Yarn Inventory on the Android Market

This app was a suggestion from a user.  Thanks Molly!  What it does is simplifies yarn inventory and data entry.  This is the main screen with the menu up:

At the top are 2 toggle buttons.  If "Yarn I Own" is on, then the list will only show yarn I've input that my quantity owned is greater than 0.  "Yarn I Need" is similar except it acts on the quantity needed.  You can see in each like it displays the color, weight and manufacturer, however only the color field is required.

The menu helps you organize this view, and also let's you add your yarn and yarn templates.  If you select "Add Yarn" you'll see this dialog:

This screen allows you to select from 1 of 3 templates to begin your yarn entry.

1. Empty - A completely blank template.
2. User Templates - These are templates you have added.
3. Preloaded Templates - These are templates added by the very nice person who suggested I write this app in the first place, Molly.  She updates these from time to time with all of the info from a particular yarn type.  After she's updated the list then I drop it into the application and redeploy it.

If a preloaded template was selected, this is what you'd see:

With the exception for the top field, color, all of this information was automatically filled out.  After you've saved, you'll see this new yarn on your main screen (assuming it's not filtered out)!

I mentioned a few features were missing in this release.  As of now, these are features that are 100% going into the app soon.

• I want the sorting, grouping, and filtering options to be saved between sessions.
• While you can add new user-defined templates, there's is currently no functionality to change or remove them.  This is probably the first thing I'll get working.
• On the edit yarn/template screen, the following fields will be autocomplete fields based on what has already been entered into the user-defined templates, preloaded templates, and yarn entered:
• color
• manufacturer
• line
• weight
• fiber
• needle rec.
• hook rec.
• gauge
• I also plan a needle/hook inventory screen to keep track of those.

So that's it for now, please let me know if I need to add any features or simply let me know what you think.  As always, if you have any suggestions email me at opedog@gmail.com!