Brennan Zelener » iPhone

Fast 2.0 – Heads Up Display Mode

Brennan — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:49:50 +0000

I’ve just submitted a new update for Fast, a Speedometer. This update adds a special ‘Heads Up Display’ mode that reflects the speedometer screen onto a car windshield. When it’s dark outside, you can set your iPhone on a car’s dashboard, and see Fast reflected in the windshield.

The update should be approved by Apple and into the App store by next Wednesday.

No more looking down at your iPhone to check your speed!

Free Apps Do Great

Brennan — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 05:23:24 +0000

Before yesterday, PhotoRotate did mediocre in the Photography category. The paid Photography category is filled with great apps like Hipstamatic and CameraBag. The market is saturated with really good applications. PhotoRotate was rarely in the top 400.

Today, PhotoRotate (the full version) has enjoyed its first full day as a Free app. It’s doing great.

PhotoRotate is now sitting at 46th place in the Free Photography apps category. It has been climbing all day.

This table and graph show the rise.

PhotoRotate is now Free

Brennan — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 20:58:53 +0000

PhotoRotate has been an excellent starting app project. It taught me about taking an application from concept to market. I learned how to build software with a team, and I enjoyed every bit of it.

Now, the full PhotoRotate version is free on the app store. The app lets you rotate pictures, adjust their brightness, and adjust their contrast. The interface is dead simple.

Enjoy!

Fast Update: Orientation Lock

Brennan — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 21:05:59 +0000

I submitted an update for Fast last night. This one is simple, but it will make some of our users very happy! Now you can choose to lock the app orientation on either Left or Right landscape side. You can also choose Auto, which will rotate the app depending on how you hold your iPhone.

Here is a shot of the new Info page:

Updates soon to come are:

Portrait mode
HUD mode – set your iPhone under your car windshield – the screen will reflect onto your window so you can see your speed while driving!
Additional Speedometer Themes

Great Day Skiing

Brennan — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:33:05 +0000

I got to go skiing at Copper Mtn. today. Great weather, and actually quite good snow. I also had a chance to play with Fast. My top speed for the day was 46MPH.

Fast Sales Skyrocket After Hitting the Top 10

Brennan — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:10:32 +0000

Yesterday, Fast’s ranking was on a huge rise. The day started off with Fast ranked at 30 in Paid Navigation apps. By early morning, it was already up to 20th rank and by the evening, Fast was up to 11th. At 10PM Mountain Time, Fast broke right into the Top 10 in a jump from 11th to 9th

Sales reports are updated daily rather than hourly, so I was eager to wake up this morning and see what sales from yesterday were like!

Sales for Saturday shot up to more than 5x what they had been on Friday. As you can see, Friday was already an above-average day for sales. Totally exciting!

My theory had been that if Fast was able to make it into the top 25, it would quickly climb up to the top 10 because of increased exposure (On the iPhone, app categories are shown on pages with 25 apps/page. So if Fast is above the 25th rank, it appears on the first page of Paid Navigation apps). That appears to be what happened. Hopefully Fast is able to hold its own in the top ranks.

Fast is Featured, and is Climbing in Rank

Brennan — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 06:45:53 +0000

A bit earlier this week, my iPhone app ‘Fast, a Speedometer’ got featured in the What’s Hot section of the Navigation category. Being featured in What’s Hot, Fast will appear frequently on the front page of the Navigation page on the App Store!

Like this! (from earlier today)

Since the feature, Fast has jumped hugely in ranking. On Tuesday, Fast ended the day in 96th place for Paid Apps in the Navigation category. By Wednesday night, Fast had climbed to 44th place – a 52 rank jump! Now, on Thursday night – entering Friday, Fast is in 37th place. Woohoo!

If you’re looking through the App Store on your iPhone, Apps are shown in pages of 25. Currently Fast is right in the center of the second page. I believe that being on the first page of apps in the iPhone view would continue to push Fast up, and sustain it in the high ranks. Hopefully it gets there!

New and Noteworthy? I think so!

Brennan — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:29:33 +0000

Just as I was writing my last post about rankings, I opened iTunes to grab a link to the Navigation category under iPhone apps. On the main page for Navigation, I happened to see a screenshot for Fast!

Here it is! Fast is in the New and Noteworthy section in the Navigation category on the App Store. Hopefully this will keep us high in the ranks!

Fast is in the top 100 paid Navigation Apps!

Brennan — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:15:04 +0000

Fast has had a wonderful start in the App Store. In its first four days in the store, Fast had twice the downloads that PhotoRotate had received in the past month. I’m very excited to say the least!

With the initial success from Fast, I signed up for a paid account with AppFigures (well worth it!) and I’ve started following my apps’ rankings in the App Store.

Fast got off to a marvelous start, rising to 36th place in the Navigation category for paid iPhone apps in just the first few days. The ranking has dropped a bit from its place in the 30s, but Fast has maintained its place in the top 100, and at most times it is in the top 75.

Ranking is updated on an hourly basis, so I now find myself glued to AppFigures. Checking these analytics is both tremendously fun, and quite tormenting. But I love it.

Fast, now on the App Store!

Brennan — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 04:38:56 +0000

Fast, my speedometer app for iPhone, has been approved and is now in the App Store!

Fast has a beautiful interface. There is both a digital readout and a classic speedometer gauge. Along with being a great speedometer, Fast will also keep track of your top speed. You can put your iPhone in your pocket while skiing, snowboarding, biking or anything – and check how fast you’ve gone once you are done.

I was skiing with my father and some friends today. We used the Top Speed feature to track ourselves. I was able to clock 44MPH. My dad’s friend hit 56MPH. (I’m just getting back on skis after snowboarding for 11 years).

Want a free download of Fast? Just let me know and I’ll get you a promotional code. All you have to do is leave a review once you’ve tried the app!