This is something that’s been going on in the background for a few months now. We decided to merge with Duane’s old company to combine apps and leverage their presence in the store. As you cannot move apps between companies in the App Store, we have to continue under the Exact Magic name/account.

Additionally, those who use Hang Time may have seen the notice that you are to download the free version from Exact Magic to continue getting updates. Here is the link:http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hang-time-virtual-laser-level/id499649749?mt=8

Soon this site will redirect back to ExactMagic.com. For those who Friended and Followed us on Facebook and Twitter, please visit our Exact Magic versions(http://www.facebook.com/ExactMagic, http://www.twitter.com/ExactMagic) to continue there.

Thanks!
Jeff & Duane

One of the recent improvements introduced with Xcode 4′s new LLVM Compiler 3.0 is Automatic Reference Counting (ARC). ARC is a compiler feature that will automatically manage the traditional iOS retain/release memory management model. When you enable ARC for a project, you simply do not ever call retain or release – the compiler figures it out for you. More to the point, when using ARC you are not allowed to use the retain/release calls at all, making older code incompatible with ARC compilation settings. There are already some great tutorials on ARC out there, so I’m not going to go into the how’s and why’s of ARC itself.

So What’s the Problem?

Now ARC is quite the cat’s pajamas as they say, but it does have some limitations. Mainly, it’s not immediately obvious how you can make use of older code that …

Everyone knows a simple, elegant interface when they see one. Not everyone appreciates it – many complain they want feature X or the ability to configure Y. However, generally speaking, iPhone consumers have become accustomed to good UI’s and the bar has been set pretty high.

In working through the design of our upcoming “Kid Bank” virtual allowance manager, we’ve spent more time on these concepts than anything else. What are the minimum critical items the vast majority of users need? What are the items we deem necessary to differentiate our app from the rest? At what point can you just remove a feature rather than add an option to disable it? In short, “simple” is complex!

Who is the real User
First and foremost, who is the primary user? Many apps in this allowance-management space are full of cartoony graphics and overly …

Another year has quickly gone by. It was great to get things rolling with Serious Monster, and to get Hang Time out the door!

We have a lot going on starting off this new year. First and foremost, we are working hard to finish up “Kid Bank” (temporary project name). It’s been very interesting entering into a fairly established space with a fresh perspective. We find the existing systems/apps to be overly complex (think “Quicken”) for the relatively simple task of managing allowance, chores, gifts and savings goals. More to follow on our single-account approach and how we lower the barrier to entry and repeated use. After all, parents are busy!

We are also keeping quite busy with Services work but are always interested in hearing from you.

As always, the best way to help or get …

One of the best things about the iPhone is the way it becomes whatever you may need it for. Throughout the day, my iPhone constantly morphs into a Device of Requirement (to borrow loosely from Harry Potter). Need directions to a local store? Look it up and map it. Wonder if that restaurant is any good? Search for ratings and reviews. Have time to kill? Pull up Words with Friends, Twitter, Facebook, or Angry Birds. Due to the fullscreen nature of the Apps, the iPhone literally becomes a dedicated device that excels at that singular task.

This is what makes Hang Time on the iPhone great. If you need to quickly check if that picture is in the middle of your wall (between the door and the window), just pull out your iPhone, start …

I sometimes find it amazing that I’m actually writing this post. It’s been an interesting journey, and I was never quite sure I would make it to this point. But here we are (more about us), with a (sorta empty) website, snazzy logo and our first App in the Apple Review process.

In starting Serious Monster, we spend a great deal of time bouncing between a few key concepts:

You have nothing until you have an App in the store. Everything else is secondary
Having an App in the store, in and of itself, isn’t enough. There are lots of Apps in the store. It’s all the other aspects such as marketing, messaging, branding and good design that really matter.

Each on its own is useless. Making them work together is priceless. We hope to find a balance and see if we …