Developing an iPad App: Step Nine

You might be thinking by now that the steps to developing an iPad app never end. Well... it sometimes feels like that to us too. Since none of us have ever done an iPad app before, there's been a roller coaster learning curve and unforeseen setbacks in the schedule. Each of us on the team (Kate, Nur and myself) moved. Kate moved completely across the country last summer and I moved over Christmas.

Step Nine:

A. Beta Test
Now we're back on track and actually in beta. For those who think I'm referring to a vitamin, a beta test is when your product moves (look at that.. even the app moved) from in-house testing to actual user testing. I have volunteers with young children using the app to see if they encounter bugs or any speed/performance issues needing to be addressed before we go to launch.

Preliminary input from our testers look good on the bug front—no crashes or obvious errors. I few tweaks have been suggested to make the user experience more satisfying.

B. Fix and Upload to App Store
Based on input from our beta testers, we'll fix any problems that came up, adjust a few details in the presentation and tweak a few activities (I have a list). Then we upload it to the App Store for approval and launch.

C. Tell the World
Then I get to work contacting reviewers, telling everyone on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, notifying  newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and alerting my writer's network to spread the word to their contacts and on their blogs.

You can help by going to Purple Carrot Books and signing up to get an email when the launch happens.

Do you have experience at spreading the word about a good product?

What's your best technique to get something out there for the "world" to know about?

 

Developing an iPad App: Step Eight

Yikes, we have been busy! It may have been quiet on the blog, but it's far from quiet on the actual iPad app development front. Kate has been cranking out the final scenes and animation pieces. Nur has been coding like a mad man. I've been tweeting, facebooking, Google+ing, writing press releases, working to set up the website for Purple Carrot Books...blah, blah, blah. Are we there yet?

Step Eight:
A. Run to the Finish
We are technically in alpha test phase. Nur has been sending regular app builds and we have been putting it to the test trying to break it or find issues that need tweaking. Of course passing it off to our 3-year-old mini-testers is part of that too.

Not much else to say here except this is when it gets pretty exciting. We begin to see all our hard work coming to fruition as the app comes alive with all its fun animations and interactions. It puts a smile on our faces.

B. Get the Word Out
As with all products, it may be the greatest, but if no one knows about it, how can they buy it?

I've subscribed to HARO (Help A Reporter Out) to receive requests for queries from reporters needing qualified input for articles being developed. I've done one interview with Alice Walton, associate editor for TheDoctorWillSeeYouNow.com. She was fascinated by my story of beating genetic cancer with my diet.

The Purple Carrot Books website is under development with hopes of going live shortly.

Meanwhile, please go to the Purple Carrot Books Facebook fan page and LIKE it to get regular updates. And please tell your friends and family about The Prisoner of Carrot Castle iPad app coming soon. Published by Purple Carrot Books.

Follow @prplcarrotbooks on Twitter to get news about the launch and watch for and tweet #CarrotCastle.

Developing an iPad App: Step Seven

Things are going warp speed now. I worked on a detailed schedule for development, illustration and project management/marketing—there is a lot to accomplish to get the app out by mid fall. What do you think of our final title page? It still needs the buttons for music, read to me, etc., but here it is.

Step Seven:
A. Illustration Tasks to Complete
Settling into her new home outside Vancouver (BC, Canada), Kate is working on completing the scenes with animation elements that go with each scene—there are three types of animation in the app:

• Happening with the narration
• Activated by touching the screen
• Triggered by some aspect of a game

Four scenes have now been completed with their animation elements. Way to go, Kate! Right on schedule.

B. App Development
Nur completed a draft build of the app using the rough colored scenes, built the games readers can enjoy at the end of the book, and developed a unique page turning style (passed by our 3-year-old app testers). He is putting the final touches on the accelerometer game for the tunnel scene and building the final scenes with their animations, sound, text and narration as Kate completes the scenes.

C. Project Management/Marketing
Our small yet determined and dedicated team is working hard, making my job as manager easy.

My most challenging job has been doing the sound effects. Besides knowing there are lots of websites offering sound effects, I knew very little. Finding an open-source editing program called Audacity, I was able to poke around and learn to use it effectively. I purchased sound files (.wav) from:

• Soundsnap
• Audio Jungle
• Sound Dogs

About half the files were perfect as purchased. Others I edited to get the right length or combined to achieve the perfect sound effect.

I even recorded my own files with my iPod—a fountain and a branch dropping. Finding just the right owl "hoot" became a difficult search until my husband, Bob, came home and performed an awesome impression of an owl. I got my owl. Thanks, Honey!

I would love to insert the owl for you to hear, but no easy way to do it. You'll just have to wait until the app comes out.

This week I'm creating the narration files. Yes, yours truly will be narrating the story.

I also put up a fan page for Purple Carrot Books on Facebook. Please go to the page and Like it. I'm connecting with people on Google+—writers, reviewers, app developers, teachers, and other interesting people.

If you haven't been following the series, you might want to check out the previous steps for developing an iPad app: Step One, Step Two, Step Three, Step Four, Step Five and Step Six.

Developing an iPad App: Step Six

The Prisoner of Carrot Castle © 2011

Haven't heard from me in a while about the app progress, but rest assured things are moving ahead like gang busters. The work has been heavily concentrated on the illustrations, Kate working hard at painting each scene. And next month my uber illustrator is moving to Vancouver where her husband works. Kate and the boys are very excited to be together as a family again.

Step Six:
A. Illustrate Each Scene
All the scenes for the book and the title page have been colored. What do you think of the title page? Some of the scenes were adjusted as Kate moved through the story scenes. You saw some of the gorgeous scenes in Developing an iPad App: Step Five.

B. Build the App Pages and Functions
Plugging all the colored scenes from Kate's work into a build of the app, Nur has provided a web location for us to download the progressive builds onto our iPads. That allows us to test things and give him feedback. He's experimenting with page turning styles, built and debugged one of the games and laid-out the extended scene where the accelerometer will be used. Are those teasers enough for you?

C. Begin Foley Work & Plan for Marketing

I have my hands full as I figure out how to put the sound together. There's narration for each scene, music that plays throughout the story (with an off/on button) and sound affects that happen either as a one-off (happening once during narration) event, or when a spot on the screen is touched usually involving animation.

Nur's job is to make it all work, but I need to get all the sound files for him to insert. A good friend has offered his professional sound studio to do the sound work. Sound a bit overwhelming?

Then there's marketing. I need to create a marketing program to introduce and get the market buzz going about the app. I'm convinced the app will sell itself, but the rub is people need to know its out there in the sea of millions of iPad apps.

Just a few things I'll be doing:

• Set-up Fan Page on Facebook
• Look into targeted Facebook ads
• Send out app to reviewers
• Send out press kits to media

Marketing gurus out there, what else do I need to do?

BTW, the production company for The Prisoner of Carrot Castle is called Purple Carrot Books. Did you know that carrots were originally purple? The dark-colored carrots are making a comeback. Give them a try if you see them in your local market.

It's getting exciting, isn't it?

What is it you'd like to know about building an iPad app? Scroll down and leave a comment.