Week 6 – iPad Rush Week
Last week, I finally got Pinball Mini 2.0 fully updated and submitted. There were some last minute issues that took a lot longer to tweak than I would have liked, but I'm happy with the overall app now. There are still improvements to be made in future updates, but all of the features we wanted to add are in v2. The app is still in review, but the updated screenshots (including the new board pack) are online here. The plan is to get a gameplay video made, get some promo codes out to review sites & forums, and try a few ads...but all of that has been temporarily derailed somewhat by Apple.
If you're an App Store developer, you got the e-mail on Friday saying that iPad apps will be accepted up until the March 27th (this Saturday) - and only those apps will be *considered* for the grand opening. Well, the personal finance app I'm working on is initially going to target the iPad and it feels like I need to try to get v1.0 finish up in time for the grand opening. The problem is, I had been thinking that Apple would at least let us test on real devices first and I had been working under the assumption that iPad apps probably can't go into the store until the end of April (that wasn't based on anything, just a feeling and Apple's lack of announcements).
Since last Friday, I've been working non-stop to get the iPad app ready. I'm extremely happy with the progress so far, but realistically, I'm not sure if it's going to make the grand opening. I won't submit the app if I don't feel really good about it on Saturday. I don't believe it's the end of the world if it isn't in the grand opening (and there is no guarantee Apple would even put it in even if I submit it in time), but I do think being part of the initial wave would give it an extra boost.
So the plan this week is to get as much of the iPad app done as humanly possible. If it is ready to go Saturday, then that'll be fantastic. If it needs to wait, then that'll be ok too since it'll be ready shortly after launch. I'm really excited about this new app either way.