OMG Look Up!… is for sale!
My first app was approved yesterday (6/16) and is now up for sale in iTunes:
OMG Look Up app for iPhone and iPad!
OMG Look Up! Website
Some technical info you may be interested in:
* SDK - The app is written entirely in Corona. This is my first app and, after looking at other SDKs and even making projects with them (including XCode, Cocoas2D, and others), I tried Corona and got hooked. It’s easy and fantastic! And the forum is 5 stars. I’ve got other apps I’ve been working on that include physics but this was my “get 'er done” app and Corona made it easy.
* SPECIAL EFFECTS - This app is a quiz but I wanted it to be visually exciting. First, a question is randomly selected from a list. Second, it searches the question for certain words. Third, when a word or words is found, it calls the special effects function for that word (or words) such as lightening, rainbow, fire, angels, smoke, etc. and creates the special effects for the scene.
… some of the special effects were made using Particle Candy. Kudos to Particle Candy, it’s fantastic!
… the lightening scenes (a bit frightening!), were made using many images and transitions, random numbers, and timers (random delay).
… I’m graphically challenged but managed to do all the graphics myself. This was very time consuming and a major part of development, especially with the special effects. Fortunately, the special effects have gotten a lot of positive attention from my personal reviewers, one who is a talented graphic artist. They’ve even gasped at some of the scenes when they appeared!
* CLEANING - There is only one scene for the game play. I used a main group to keep on the screen (score, music button etc .). Each new question called a clean function that destroyed/cancelled all the game play features including any particles. This kept the texture memory low.
* SOUNDTRACK - I cropped part of a song and made it an .aac file. The best part is that it’s big (I think) – 1:13 minutes and 627KB. I didn’t want a loop that became mundane, plus the music is so beautiful it was hard to crop, but by keeping the texture memory low throughout it works and the song is great! (I’m fortunate to know a great song writer!)
* GRAPHICS for iPhone/iPad - I did not make separate graphics for the iPad with the exception of the icons and snapshots. I did the originals at high quality and someone else tested them on the iPad and they were as crisp there. I used TexturePacker for all of my graphics - it is fantastic!! Really reduced the size and the graphics stay sharp! Kudos to TexturePacker!
* FACEBOOK CODE - This code cost me a few hours! I tried and tested all the code and sample projects here until a light bulb went off. The code just works and doesn’t give you any indication that it does! So FYI, it will just pop open a screen then simply close, no feedback that it posted. But it does post to the users Facebook page. The first time it’s run it will ask the user for permission, then simply close after the response. But, it does make a nice posting on the user’s Facebook page.
* APP SUBMISSION PROCESS -
… Before I was finished the app, I went into iTunes Connect and created a new app. I completed all the screens until it came to the upload binary. By that time it gave me my app ID and iTunes link, and I could save the info until I was ready to upload the binary.
… In Facebook, I created a “new app” - it isn’t a real app but it gave me the Facebook api needed for the code that posts to Facebook.
… After adding the iTunes and Facebook codes, I built the app using my distribution profile.
… Uploading the binary: I uploaded the ZIP file that was made by the build process and had no problems.
… I set the release date to be a month from the upload date.
… It took 5 days from submission to sale. That includes Saturday and Sunday because I uploaded it right before noon on Saturday and I got the notification from the iTunes Connect app about noon on Thursday (yesterday).
TIP - iTunes Connect has a developer guide that I didn’t know about until I went to submit my app. It’s great and gives detailed information including graphic descriptions and names for your icons and artwork, etc. I recommend you read it as, it seems to me, Apple’s developer site is outdated and not easy to navigate to find specific info. Here’s the link to the developer guide.
Thanks Corona and all those who share their knowledge here in the forum!!
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