Easy iPhone Simulator Screenshots With Status Bar Removed
If you’ve had to take screenshots of the iPhone simulator you know what I am talking about. Things just don’t look as good if you can’t see an iPhone in the image.
The problem is that when you want the simulator in the screenshot then you need to have some sort of solid background so that you can remove it afterwards, and you will need to select out the area of the screen with the simulator and then in your imaging program remove the statusbar. This gets old fast if you are taking a lot of screenshots.
I found out about this great program that you simply load up and it will take a snapshot of the simulator statusbar removed, and if you want you can very quickly and easily take multiple screenshots.
The utility can be download here:
iPhone Simulator Cropper
Definitely a very handy tool.
If you liked this, please share it!
[Via: John Muchow, Alex Curylo]
How To Stay Motivated And Actually Complete Your iOS App
Let’s face it.. it’s easy to get distracted.
Following through on your app ideas all the way to completion can be difficult, especially if someone isn’t looking over your shoulder.
I found this great article from Cliff Harris, developer of some excellent indie games providing some tips on how he keeps himself motivated when working on a project. While he’s not an iPhone or iPad developer the tips certainly apply.
Here’s 3 key ideas that I got out of it – that I personally feel would be helpful:
- Work on projects you actually like – not projects that are just meant to capitalize on something you have absolutely no interest in.
- Work on the cool stuff in the project early – special effects, graphics, stuff that actually can be inspiring to see and makes you think “this is going to be awesome” – Cliff picked up on this from Lionhead games.
- Keep a log of your work every day – I always try to get away from doing this myself, but when I do it really does help to stay motivated and efficient.
You can read all of Cliff’s ideas in his article:
How To Stay Motivated Whilst Programming A Game
This video below is from Cliff’s game “Gratuitous Space Battles” which he developed with a small team (looks too cool to be indie but it is – too bad it’s PC only.. great idea for an iPhone game). The game has incredibly cool graphics and I hope that you enjoy the eye candy.
Btw, if you’ve written an article feel free to submit it, or a link to it here and if I think the readers will like it I’ll feature it on the site in front of our 2,000+ daily visitors.
[Source: Cliff Harris]
iOS Developer Gold Discovered On Twitter
Twitter is a great way to find great developers sharing useful information. Even if you don’t want to spend the time there Twitter Search and Topsy are terrific ways to get the goods.
Just today I was on Twitter, and found a great post from Bob Sealy illustrating some great information that he had found on Twitter.
This information includes:
- How to handle double sized images on the iPhone 4
- Getting a speed boost by clearing the OpenGL ES color buffer before rendering
- Hot loading game assets
- Reverting your iOS device to previous builds
- and more…
Check it out, you can find the article here:
The Things I Learn From Twitter Amaze Me
And to all the Americans reading (well everyone else too!) have a Happy Independence Day!
Btw, if you’ve written an article feel free to submit it, or a link to it here and if I think the readers will like it I’ll feature it on the site in front of our 2,000+ daily visitors.
7 Free And Worthwhile Press Release Sites For App Promotion
2
Press releases can be a good way to get free buzz for your app, the idea with a press release is that you write it, and it gets picked up by some large relevant sites or aggregated by many smaller ones. I’ve seen it work wonders for some. I was reading through a few messages on app promotion, and it seems that many developers are falling into one of the older internet scams of paying for submission to free press release sites. Most free press release sites are not worthwhile. These costly services will typically offer free submission for hundreds of press releases. Some are even worse, charging for submission and then simply placing your press release on a single complete insignificant press release site.
Below are 7 free sites that you can quickly, and easily send your press release to as far as article pickups (if you want to check the effectiveness of these sites, put one unique sentence in each submission). These are the ones that seem to be the most effective and all 100% free:
http://downloadjunction.com/ – Software download site that also offers press releases
http://www.pr-usa.net/
http://freshnews.com/
http://www.pressbox.co.uk/
http://www.clickpress.com/
http://usprwire.com/
http://www.freepressreleases.co.uk/
Despite what I said about some pay press release services, there are some good premium press release services. If you’re looking for the best in press releases, I’ve seen many swear by PR Web and MarketWire. I’m really not sure how worthwhile these are for smaller niche apps, but if you’re really looking to leverage press releases you will want to check them out.
At the very least if you’re paying for a service make sure they guarantee you inclusion into Google news.
Whatever you do don’t make press releases your whole marketing plan like many app makers do, they are just a small piece of the puzzle.
If anyone has tips on submitting press releases for Apps I would love to hear about it.
— Update:
One other press release site that I forgot to mention is http://prlog.org which is definitely a place you will want to submit to. I’d suggest only submitting there by hand, as from what I understand they have a mechanism to detect auto-submissions, and it’s such a good free resource that I wouldn’t risk it.
2