The Agony and the Ecstasy

I worked hard on Alarmed 2.0 and finally submitted it to the App Store. Then, I took a day off, did some shopping (hadn't left the park in a month and was out of food...) and came back to the realization that there were a few semi-critical issues I needed to fix. So, I self-rejected the binary, stayed up until 3 in the morning and submitted a new one.

Then, the agony began. I am not against Apple's policies of reviewing apps. The problem is that it is a very opaque process and there is something just unsettling about having to wait after working so hard on something. It took a week to go from "Waiting for Review" to "In Review". I was falling apart, having strange dreams, reliving my life in a semi-lucid flashback state, and just overall not handling it well. It is the lack of knowing that gets to me. The app could move from one state to another at any given moment. Or not. Apps have been known to occasionally get stuck in the system. And there is always the chance of rejection (so far I have been lucky and all my submissions have made it through).

Finally, it went to "In Review" and about 30 hours later I got the "Processing for App Store" email. I was a mess by this point. I realize that I need to get over this, learn to relax, which I normally am pretty good at, but not in this case. I hate limbo. I hate not knowing. Aargh!

Now that it is in the App Store, I have had a chance to recover. And bask in the ecstasy for a bit. I was gentle to myself last night and took a nice hike with Buddha today. So far, the reception to Alarmed 2.0 has been super positive. I had my best sales day ever yesterday and the new version didn't even go live until later in the evening. Cool!

I feel good and have caught up on some things. But there is SO much to do. I have started work on Errands 3.0, which is a MAJOR update. My head spins and time vanishes as if it never existed (which it doesn't, so why fight it).

I'm having fun, all things considered...

Where does the time go?

I've been rather silent for the past month. But a lot has happened. Errands 2.1.2 hit the App Store on September 14th and has been doing rather amazingly well in the ranks. Consistently in the top 10 free productivity apps in the US store. As I write this, it is #12 in Canada, #8 in the US, #4 in the UK and #1 in Australia. It has been pegged at #1 in Australia for over a week now and is #174 in the top overall free apps. Very cool! With the App Store, one never knows what tomorrow will bring in rankings, but I am enjoying the "fame" while I have it. And, I'm doing my best to keep it going. Lots of features planned for future updates.

Now that I have two products out, I've found that I work on one, release it, work on the other, release it, rinse and repeat. So, once I got Errands out the door, I started in on Alarmed 1.1, which proved to be quite a challenge. I redid the user interface pretty much from scratch, added a lot of polish and some nice new features. More details when it is available for sale.

I had a funny thing happen with the submission process of Alarmed 1.1. I seem to be cursed with App Store submissions in that it usually takes me three tries to get to the point where I am satisfied with it. I am "done" with the update, do all the final builds and carefully submit it to the App Store and then collapse. Sleep for a day, watch some videos, walk the dog, sleep some more. Then, I run the danged thing and realize there is a show-stopper bug. So, I do a "developer reject" of the binary that I uploaded, fix the bug and then go again. I did my first submission on Sunday and another one Monday night. I thought I was done. Then, I awoke this morning with the realization that I had yet another bug that really needed fixing. Which almost drove me into a furry because I am burned out and need to go shopping and fall is here big-time (I am in the mountains and we're supposed to have near-freezing nighttime temps in a few days) and I have to do some preparations. It was a beautiful morning and I couldn't believe that I had to do this again. I had a long chat with my dog, took a deep breath and dove in. Around mid-afternoon, I was ready for the "final" submission of Alarmed 1.1 and uploaded it to the App Store. As expected, I soon received the email from Apple, "Your App Has Changed State ... Waiting For Review". But, to my big surprise, 10 minutes (yes, 600 seconds) later I received another email from Apple, "Your App Has Changed State ... In Review". Wow, not that this really means it will get approved quicker, but it definitely brought a smile to my face. Almost like Apple knew that it takes me three tries and since this was my third try they jumped on it and said, "enough, it's in our hands now".

Someday I should do a post on why I think this multiple submission gig happens to me. It has a lot to do with being a solo developer and something about how the mind works when you are able to take a (brief) step back from something you've been working hard on. Even though it is a bit frustrating, I am SO happy that it works the way it does. I find and fix bugs before they reach the customer. So far, my track record with app stability has been really good, so I must be doing something right.

So, tomorrow the sun will shine bright and I will take a journey into town to buy some food. My last food shopping trip was a full month ago. I made it, partly with the help of some orders from Amazon.com, but I am a mostly vegetarian and haven't eaten anything green in quite a while. Lots of triscuits and sardines. And pancakes. And saltines. Too much wheat in general. I think I will be grinning like a kid in a candy store when I enter the produce section tomorrow.

And I'm looking forward to getting ready for fall / winter. I got into my basement yesterday (yes, my tiny spaceship actually has a "basement" which is great for things I don't need often) and took out some long-sleeved shirts and pants. The weather, up until two days ago, has been truly summer like. Then, two days of glorious rain and now fall is here. It feels wonderful, crisp, leaves changing color, an excuse to curl up under the blankets.

I'm going to stay in the mountains until it gets too cold to handle and then head for warmer climes. Hopefully I can get another release of Errands out before I leave. And I can't wait to see the reaction to Alarmed 1.1 ... I'm pretty excited about it.

Are You Alarmed?

I got the "Your Application is Ready For Sale" email from Apple a few minutes ago! I'm excited about Alarmed. It focuses on a single task: creating reminders which will display an alert and/or play a sound at the time you specify. And it does its single task extremely well, adding another dimension of usefulness to your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Read more about it here: Alarmed App Details

And download your copy today from the iTunes App Store!

Let me know what you think. I've already got some cool features planned for updates.