tootable: mobile apps and digital books

App and eBook Mac apps

Liam — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 14:45:54 +0000

A couple of people have asked me what Mac software I use for app and eBook development. I thought I’d make a list.

Most of these apps I use regularly, although some are obviously only occasional use (like the app video ones). They’re not all specific to app development, but there is a lot of crossover between app development and producing assets for use in apps, so I thought I’d list all of the main ones. 90% of these apps live in my dock.

I would link them, but you can find them all with a google search.

iOS Apps

General

Xcode (the mothership)

Testflight (distribute test versions to users)

Terminal

Graphics

Photoshop (still the goto app)

Sketch (all things vector, very nice!)

Illustrator (all other things vector, but mainly coz it’s there)

Fireworks (animations and funky HTML image thingys)

ColorPicker (for those HEX numbers)

MultiRezer (easy resize of iOS graphics)

Flash (I use it ... Read More »

WYDAC Governance Video

Liam — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 14:00:54 +0000

Last year I made this community film with David Slowo and video trainees from PAW Media & Communications.

The brief was to explore the role of governance within the Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation (WYDAC).

WYDAC started in 1993 as a response to petrol sniffing in Yuendumu. It began as a remote outstation program at Mt Theo. Andrew Stojanovski (working for Yuendumu School at the time) took young people to the outstation where they were cared for by Peggy Nampijinpa Brown and Johnny Japangardi Miller (and their families). In 2010, Andrew published a book about the early history of the program that is available in bookstores or direct from WYDAC (however WYDAC encourage you to try source it locally first). You can view a sample on the Readings website. It is also available digitally on Booki.sh.

Peggy (who is interviewed in the film) and ... Read More »

The Very Hungry Bum

Liam — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:25:24 +0000

The Very Hungry Bum, written and illustrated by Claudia Rowe, narrated by John Flaus.

Like a very famous caterpillar, The Very Hungry Bum consumes quite a lot. Over the course of a week it devours several pairs of underpants and other innocent objects, which were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Then, after a gluttonous week and a particularly indulgent camping trip, it undergoes an incredible transformation.

The Very Hungry Bum is a new iBook for iPads, iPhones and iPod touches. It is a fun and cheeky parody of a classic children’s book that I’m sure you remember!

Read the book by yourself or choose between manual or automated narration by renowned actor and broadcaster John Flaus.

[update] The Very Hungry Bum was selected as a New & Notable book by Apple.

The original paperback version (printed on 100% recycled paper!) has sold out, but preorders ... Read More »

The problem with in-app purchases

Liam — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 02:59:30 +0000

4 Ingredients went to #1 in iPhone in Australia last week. I've always thought that a good app was one that received mostly 5 star and 1 star reviews. Like a good book you either love it or hate it. People generally don't have an opinion about something that's mediocre - at least they don't bother writing a review. So when 4 Ingredients was mentioned on Today Tonight (a popular Australian TV 'current affairs' show) over 2500 people downloaded the app in a few hours, propelling it from top 20 in Lifestyle to #1 overall. The eBooks also went to the top of Food and Drink on the iBookstore. More...

One More Thing Conference 2012

Liam — Mon, 28 May 2012 06:53:30 +0000

The great thing about attending conferences like One More thing 2012 is hearing first hand from the speakers (it is better than reading a blog post or listening to a podcast), meet other developers, ask questions and share experiences - even if tech conferences are often a little socially awkward until the beer starts flowing. @decryption put together a great list of independent developers who each had an interesting story about their success on the app store. More...

Regional Telecommunication Review

Liam — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:39:30 +0000

The 2011-12 Regional Telecommunications Review was finally released today. I sent a submission a while ago and was surprised to see that I was quoted a couple of times in the document.

Cooking with Poo

Liam — Fri, 18 May 2012 01:20:02 +0000

Cooking with Poo by Saiyuud Diwong (aka Poo - Thai for crab and a 'nickname') and published by Urban Neighbours of Hope is a fixed-layout iBook available for the iPad and iPhone.

The Waterhole by Graeme Base

Liam — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:53:06 +0000

The Waterhole by Graeme Base is the second app we have produced for The Base Factory. Upon release, the iPad version was featured on the Australian store. It reached #1 in iPad Book Apps and #14 overall in the Australian store and was featured on the iPad homepage.

Rock Climbing in Central Australia

Liam — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 14:13:41 +0000

I wrote this in 2002 and the article was eventually published in Rock Magazine in 2006. The particular issues raised by climbing in Central Australia force us to re-evaluate the reasons why we climb and may require us to take a different, more cautious approach. While Central Australia may not have the best climbing in Australia, it is one of the most interesting and beautiful places in which to climb. Don't let the challenge of access issues deter you—the sheer amount of rock should be enough to get you interested.

Warlpiri Warriors — Australian Rules football in Central Australia

Liam — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 06:36:09 +0000

Football is a part of every young Warlpiri man’s life. When discussing the origins and introduction of Australian Rules football in Yuendumu, the older men will often reminisce about a game called ‘Purlja’ that they used to play when they were kids. It involved a round ball of emu feathers bound together with hairstring. They would divide themselves into two teams along the ‘Ngawu-kurlangu’ and ‘Ngurrju-kurlangu’ division of Warlpiri society, or in anthropological terms, two ‘moieties’. ‘Ngawu-kurlangu’ refers to those people in the opposite moiety, ‘Ngurrju-kurlangu’ to those in the same moiety. These divisions, also referred to as ‘nyurrpu’, are occasionally used by boys today when playing football amongst themselves, but are not used for more formal games.

The Book is not dead

Liam — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:37:41 +0000

The Book is not dead, it’s just changing context. For The Book to be dead, we would have to no longer care about stories or understanding complex ideas that take more than 140 characters to convey. Books are more alive more than ever before. They don’t have to be linear. They don’t have to be bulky. Text and diagrams can move and be played with. Pictures can be zoomed or rotated in 3D. They can be personalised to the extent that if we downloaded the same book, your experience of it could be completely different from mine. They can also be updated in real time. We think of books as defined by their physical containers, but we’re the last generation that is going to think that way.

Chocalicious

Liam — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:26:49 +0000

Chocalicious by Kim McCosker is the first in a series of new mini iBooks from 4 Ingredients and AppBooks. Chocalicious is a fixed-layout iBook available for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch from the iBookstore (if your looking for it on your iPhone you need to use the iBooks app!).

4 Ingredients app updated

Liam — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:06:52 +0000

The 4 Ingredients app has been updated. It is a complete rewrite of the original app. Since release in early 2009, 4 Ingredients has been in the top 25 of iPhone lifestyle and is consistently the most popular cooking app on the iPhone in Australia.

Animalia for iPad updated

Liam — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:54:11 +0000

Animalia for iPad has been updated with two new sections and 100% more content.

4 Ingredients iPhone app

Liam — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 06:56:22 +0000

The 4 Ingredients iPhone app includes more than 400 recipes. To date the print version of 4 Ingredients has sold more than a million copies and has now come to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Remembering Darby

Liam — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:02:00 +0000

I was thinking about Darby today and came across these words which I read out at his funeral five years ago. First in Warlpiri, then in English.

Climbing Karinyarra: a cautionary tale

Liam — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:53:45 +0000

Karinyarra: definitely not the next Arapiles, but an impressive mountain in a proud position in the middle of the desert.

Scott Duncan

Liam — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:04:35 +0000

I met Scott Duncan at Yuendumu in 2000 when he came out to shoot a short film on the local painters for the NBC Olympics coverage and I was working at the local art centre.

Yuendumu is pretty much in the centre of Australia on land belonging to the Warlpiri and Anmatjerre people.

Scott came out to shoot a short film on the local painters for the NBC Olympics coverage and I was working at the local art centre.

I’d never seen so much film equipment in Yuendumu before. I think there were about 35 cases of gear! The drive out to Yuendumu was pretty rough back then and Scott’s crew had a bit of an accident on the drive out, so when they arrived they were all pretty dusty and fit right in.

The light in Central Australia can ... Read More »

Reflections on Yuendumu

Liam — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:07:47 +0000

I stumbled across this today. I wrote it about 8 or 9 years ago and thought I’d post it.

After returning from a funeral in Melbourne of a Whitefella who used to live in the community I was greeted by two Nampijinpa ladies. They wanted to talk to me and I offered them a cup of tea and we sat on the grass outside. We each sat looking in a different direction. We talked for a little while about my trip and the insignificant details of travelling 3000 ks in a Toyota. It soon became clear that the ladies wanted to discuss the funeral.

I did not realise the affect this persons death had had on the community. One of the ladies, who people had begun calling my ‘mother’ after her only son died, took my hand in hers and ... Read More »

Third party solutions to making mobile apps

Liam — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 13:46:17 +0000

This is a quick look at the more popular third-party programs and frameworks for making mobile apps (mostly iPhone and iPad), including PhoneGap, Sencha Touch, Appcelerator, Corona and rhoMobile.