• ∞
A fascinating and interesting look into developing an Instapaper client for Android. Over 300 hours of development time for a product with minimum features, it’s always a surprise at how long good products take to build.
• ∞
Well the good news is that the recent Java update fixes a big security hole. The bad news for app developers is that it breaks the iTunes uploader. Here is the fix on StackOverflow (via @jeremybassett)
• ∞
It’s not worth trying to appeal to them with a paid app. In most cases, the conversion rate will be so poor that it’s not worth the cost of maintaining two apps and supporting the free users.
I completely agree with Marco Arment here. However, I’ve seen that making an app free on launch really works for gaining popularity and coverage.
My anecdotal evendence is that you need 10000 downloads before an app gains enough of a natural momentum. You can pay for those downloads or simply make the app free.
• ∞
One of the problems I had when trying work exclusively on the iPad was not being able to “view source” of web pages. This is a really really neat solution, using a javascript bookmarklet to generate highlighted source of the web page. Works on iPhone, iPad and desktop too.