iPhone

There are 9 posts filed in iPhone (this is page 1 of 2).

When an App is a victim of it’s own success

Firstly Windsock has been in the store for nearly three long years and was originally developed to work on iOS 5 which is an incredibly long time for an app! I worked hard building it so that I could save time finding the best location to fly my model plane from after work and originally developed it for myself.

I’ve often struggled to find reliable data that updates hourly until I found the amazing Forecast.io. This is a paid-for 3rd party service used by Windsock behind the scenes to collate and compute data from over a dozen different sources to give you the most reliable data possible. I also use data from a number of other sources and these are merged and handled by Windsock’s server – the server the app talks to. However recent downtime and removal from the App Store has questioned it’s future…

Continue reading →

Advanced Weather App for RC Planes – Windsock 2.0

Windsock - an advanced weather app sitting in a bagMy app Windsock 2.0 has hit the App Store. It’s an advanced weather app for flyers of RC planes, helicopters and drones, optimised for iOS 7 with a slick new minimal design. Windsock solves that problem of having a few flying sites you like to fly at and not knowing what the weather will be just before dusk (often the best time to fly). Its main focus is on wind direction and wind speed, sunrise and sunset times – critical information for RC flyers! This app is also particularly useful in these cold wet months as it makes finding a good ‘flying window’ of weather much easier.

How accurate is it?

It’s powered by Forecast.io. An advanced weather service that delivers hourly weather forecasts. Forecast.io works by aggregating together statistically multiple sources such as local RADAR, MET office stations and data fetched from satellites for NOAA, the US NAVY, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the Canadian Meteorological Center. Aviation buffs will be pleased to know it also sources data from worldwide METAR observations (the same ones 747 jet airline pilots check in some form at airports). Continue reading →

Retro Yeti Escape Game for iPhone and iPod Touch

I’ve just finished developing Yeti Escape for Vivid Reflection, my iOS development company. Yeti Escape is a new Christmas-themed retro game for iOS. The story: Present-hungry yetis have escaped from the North Pole and threaten to ruin Christmas. Pixel Santa must save the day by throwing spare presents at them. Can he still make his deliveries on-time? The game is available now on the App Store and I’ve made a short 2 minute video demoing the retro gameplay and awesome 8-bit sound effects and music so please check it out.

Yeti Escape Demo – 8-bit Retro Arcade Game from Vivid Reflection on Vimeo.

The Yeti Escape game is made in Cocos2D and has Game Center leader board support so you can challenge your friends too. It’s a fun variation on the classic 8-bit arcade shooter. You play by tapping the screen to fire presents from your sleigh, aiming to hit the yetis. Once they consume a present they disappear back to their slumber in the North Pole. If they escape, they eat everyone’s presents and it’s game over. In some ways it plays a bit like a modern-themed twist on the arcade classic Missile Command. As Pixel Santa is moving through the game world, you have time and aim the shot just right to hit the moving yeti. There are a number of different yetis all of differing strengths and speeds which try to escape at different times and if you’re not expecting it you’ll find yourself shrieking as some “super powerful bad-ass” sumo yeti escapes with your last life.

Please let me know what you think about the game in the comments. What’s your best bit about 8-bit retro games?

If you’d like to keep up-to-date on the apps and games I develop, follow @VReflection on Twitter or like Vivid Reflection’s Facebook page. The game has just gone live and Yeti Escape can be downloaded on the App Store now.

iPhone App: Windsock takes off

Windsock Screenshot of Dynamic mapsWindsock app iconWindsock, my latest iPhone app is live in the App Store. It’s a clean, easy-to-use app that lets you check the wind forecast remotely and up to 4 days in advance. I built it because a hobby of mine is remote control plane flying but often there are days when the wind is too strong or in the wrong direction and packing the flight gear, driving down to the park only to find it is too windy to fly was frustrating (the plane has a wingspan of 56″ which is tricky to get out of a car at the best of times let alone when it is windy also strong wind is likely to make you lose control of your model and fly it into a tree or worse).

Instead I built this app to drop windsock markers down on a map and get the latest wind readings for a near-by location so I know if it’s great weather to fly. You can also save it as a site and with a quick glance see the best park or field to fly in. It is also iCloud ready so will sync your sites between devices and has a relative compass mode to help you discover the wind direction – beats throwing a bit of muddy grass in the air!

The app uses high resolution data to give high-resolution readings every 3 hours up to 5 days in advance. Tapping on the detail view within the app will condense the rows to give you a daily overview of the wind readings. I’ve tried to design it to work in two modes, the first mode is more of a quick overview so you can compare sites and decide the best one to go to, the other mode lets you drill down and view the forecast for a particular site.

It’s also a handy app if you do other outdoor activities, such as kitesurfing, windsurfing, paragliding, kite flying or just fly model planes. Please check it out on the App’s website or on the App Store.