It has now been more than two years since the war against Ukraine began. For me, it is still hard to imagine that a cruel war has become part of everyday life just a few flight hours away. It feels like there is little you can do as an individual, but that makes it all the more important for me not to forget.
I recently had the idea for a small gesture. The only real point of contact I have with people from Ukraine is through the apps that I also sell there via the AppStore. From now on, the premium functions of my three apps Auricula, Next Size and Filmlog are available in the Ukrainian AppStore for just 0.99ct – about 85% off.
That's it; let's not make it any bigger than it is.
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It is a special day for me. – Next Size is a great app that let you forecast clothing sizes of your children. But I somehow lied to you because it is not a new app, at least not all of it. As the AppStore ages so do many applications in it and some just disappear. Sometimes because of lack of time or money, sometimes just because it wasn't the right time or the right time to start a project like that. So I'm very glad that a good friend of mine, Tim, gave me the opportunity to take care of his app. It was called "What fits when?" back in the days and he put so much care and love for details in to this project that it was making me sad that it never took off. I think it wasn't the lack of success, but personal reasons to leave not only the app itself, but the whole world of indie developers and app development behind. Sometimes things have to change. When I showed interest to continue his app project he was very open to the idea and finally just decided that I should continue his work.
This is the reason why it is a special day for me. I was able to take over his project, gave it a new name, designed a new icon and startet developing my vision of its future. I have to thank Tim for his trust and generosity. It is a great opportunity to build on his foundation and securing just another great app from disappearing from the AppStore.
Here it is: the Next Size app for forecasting the clothing sizes of your children. It is easy to use and gives a great overview over the current and upcoming clothing sizes of your kids. Just add your child, its birthday and body height (all data is only stored locally). Next Size will create a card showing you the current clothing size and its forecast. Updating the body height of your child will increase the accuracy of the forecast and is done fast and easily. Also available are different common clothing metrics for the EU, UK, US and Japan. All clothing brands have their own patterns and size charts, but within this range the prediction should be very useful anyhow.
How is the clothing size estimation working? The growth rate calculation is based on the WHO Child Growth tables that contains statistical data for the whole human population. This for one part is the reason why only female and male options are available and why the accuracy is decreasing for older body height measurements. Just make sure to update the body height from time to time.
This is the first app release that I did not miss to promote, I was about 10 years younger when I released my other two apps Auricula and Filmlog. Back then I wasn't confident enough and did miss out on that opportunity. This time I wrote this blog post, made social media posts on Mastodon, Linkedin and launched the app on Product Hunt, where I invite you to give it an upvote.
If you want to follow my journey as an indie developer make sure to subscribe to my Indie Developer Projects Insight Newsletter.
And last but not least please download and checkout Next Size – I'm eager to receive all of your feedback and steadily release updates to it. Writing app reviews on the AppStore is maybe one of the most powerful options, if you want to support Next Size and my work.
I'm very excited about the upcoming days and the future of Next Size. Thank you, Tim!
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Some ideas are in your head for a long time and you either lack the courage or the time - sometimes both. In this case, the time was ripe and I finally wanted to start a newsletter.
The topic was already set beforehand. I want to write about my 10 years of experience as an independent developer. On the one hand, I have a lot of things I want to write about, and on the other, it strengthens my engagement with these topics and helps me to keep going.
The newsletter is published every month in the first week and is called "Indie Developer Projects Insight". So if you want to read about my journey as an indie developer, my working methods, my products and updates, you are welcome to subscribe to my newsletter. For those who want even deeper insights into my marketing methods or business figures, I offer two paid versions in addition to the free newsletter.
I'm very excited to see where this adventure takes me and of course I look forward to your feedback.
You can subscribe to the newsletter here and all previous issues can be found here.
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Exactly 10 years ago on June 8, I was able to release the first version of my iOS app Filmlog in the AppStore. Born from an idea that should be simple and that I would have a use for myself. A simple, fast and attractive way to manage my unseen and seen movies.
To celebrate this anniversary, Filmlog Plus will be ~50% off starting June 8! For a whole two weeks, so maybe one or two people will catch it besides all the excitement about Vision Pro.
The first release was a huge success for me, because with Filmlog I learned programming. I couldn't expand my knowledge of programming in my graphic design studies, so I taught myself everything with the help of the Internet and, of course, books back then!
Today, exactly 10 years and 15 updates later, a lot has changed and yet Filmlog has stayed true to its original idea. There have been many changes under the hood that the users didn't notice, but also many layout adjustments due to the introduction of ever new iPhone sizes have significantly determined the further development of Filmlog.
But the biggest development was definitely my own. With regard to what I wanted to achieve with Filmlog and especially on which way I tried to achieve it. 10 years ago, there was still a lot of the general enthusiasm that was triggered by these new types of smartphones and their apps. I meticulously followed the development of iPhones and the iOS platform. Secretly, I dreamed of being similarly successful as the first big app hits from Things to Tiny Wings. In the meantime, apps are no longer a novelty and it has also become very difficult in the incredible amount of apps to inspire the users let alone be found.
In the meantime, my focus and goal for Filmlog is very clear: I want to permanently offer an app with Filmlog that provides a simple and attractive solution for users. The focus is on consistency, which in my view plays a very important role for a product in this fast-moving app world. This allows me to achieve long-term goals and makes it possible at all to pursue this project alongside my full-time job.
The start of the beta phase for the next major release is planned for the anniversary year. All news and when the beta test will start can be found in the Blog / RSS / Mastodon. Disclaimer: Filmlog will also become significantly more expensive with the next version, for all those who still want to take advantage of this opportunity and want to purchase Filmlog Plus before that.
Here's to the next 10 years and many satisfied users that I can reach and inspire with Filmlog.
Try out Filmlog for free
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There it is! The new app icon for Supershift – refines the s-shape and adds more depth to it. The background gets some shift planner patterns to set the category of the app.
I'm quite happy with it. What do you think about the evolution of this app icon?
If you are working in shifts, check it out. It is a great app: easy to use, nice design and no subscriptions. And of course it has a new and shiny app icon! – You can learn more about Supershift right here: https://supershift.app
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