Making Tapes Native
About a year ago I worked for a few months teaching myself Ruby on Rails. I’m not a programmer, but I really wanted a tape logger that I could use on my iPhone, and one hadn’t been introduced yet. So I made my own.
It’s not perfect. I did the best I could with the knowledge of programming that I had at the time, and the result was a single release of a web app I called Tapes. Since it’s debut in Apple’s web app section I’ve had 5,485 people sign up as users. I have no way of checking to see if they’re actually using the application, but if even a handful of them still find it useful I’d be thrilled.
But now we have the ability to write native apps for the iPhone and iPod touch. I would love nothing more than to be able to sell Tapes (don’t worry, I’m thinking $4.99) through the iTunes store and do my part to fill the gaping void of production-oriented apps. My biggest problem in reaching this goal is that I’m STILL NOT A PROGRAMMER. I’ve been studying up on C since February, but I don’t really feel like I’ve got a firm grasp on it yet. And after that I have to learn Objective-C. And then the Cocoa-touch framework. And make sure the UI is intuitive. And then get accepted into Apple’s dev program even though I’m not really a developer. All without having a formal education in computer science.
Basically, it’s hard.
But hard isn’t bad. Just challenging. So I promise you this, Internets: If it can be done, it shall be done. I will do my best to come out with a native tape or footage logging application at some point in the future. I have no idea when, or how. But I’m going to try.
And if you know anybody that knows anything about writing Objective-C apps, please send them my way.
Because I need some help.
This would be awesome if you could get this out there. I’d buy it even though I’d never use it
. It’s to hardcore for me.
Thanks, Jermaine. If you happen to run into any kindly Cocoa developers somewhere, let me know.
Hi Jason,
I’ve recently written an app for the iphone called action Log – it’s an on set logging system – but can also be used to log tapes.
(www.itunes.com/apps/actionLog)
I’m currently in the process of developing version 2 which will boast a LTC decoder and bluetooth connectivity and a much more intuitive logging system.
I’m always looking to make contact with peps who what to beta test and help me develop it further.
Kind regards
Chris