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Camera+ 3.0 now available, integrated into other apps via API
The popular Camera+ app (US$0.99) has just received an update to version 3.0 that adds new functionality as well as an API that has already been used by a number of top name developers to add the Camera+ functionality to a variety of apps. When I say that Camera+ is popular, I'm not exaggerating -- the app is the 10th best-selling iPhone app of all time, and the 7 millionth copy of Camera+ was recently sold. Not only does the app have a beautiful new icon (see above), but it has added features that will expand the popularity of this iPhoneography app: There's a new service that allows images to be shared to multiple sites simultaneously with a tap. Not only can you blast images to a number of Twitter accounts, but also to Facebook and Flickr -- all at once. A new "shoot and share" workflow. The normal Camera+ workflow involves shooting as many photos as you'd like, and then editing those photos after a shooting session. With shoot and share, each image is edited immediately after being taken. This is perfect for images that are going to be shared on social networks. There's now a way to add multiple images at one time from your photo library to the Camera+ Lightbox for editing. The Clarity feature, which provides automatic enhancement to images, has been tuned to provide better results. Camera+ 3.0 has added new focus and exposure locks that are incredibly useful when taking tripod shots with a Glif or other iPhone tripod mount. As noted, Camera+ developer Tap Tap Tap has also made an API available for adding the amazing camera and "darkroom" functionality of Camera+ to other apps. So far, the WordPress, Tweetbot, Twitterrific and Foodspotting apps have added the capabilities. If you're a developer who would like to add Camera+ to your app, check out the API information here. For the rest of you, go get the update now or purchase the app already!
Camera+ updated, VolumeSnap returns at last
In August of 2010, tap tap tap's Camera+ got pulled from the App Store because it implemented a feature which violated Apple's Developer Agreement at the time. VolumeSnap allowed Camera+ users to use the "+" volume button on the iPhone as a physical shutter switch for taking photos with the iPhone. After a four-month hiatus, Camera+ came back to the App Store with a redesigned and improved interface, but VolumeSnap was nowhere to be found. Things certainly changed over the next few months; Apple "Sherlocked" the VolumeSnap feature for iOS 5's own Camera app. It worked exactly the same way as it did in Camera+, and I imagine tap tap tap must have been a bit peeved at Apple for a while. Camera+ has now been updated with the VolumeSnap feature returned in all its glory, and as you can tell from the release notes, tap tap tap is pretty excited about it. The feature works just like Apple's, um, borrowed implementation: press the "+" volume button to take a picture while you're in the app and lining up a shot, and snap, there's your picture. You can still use the touchscreen shutter button instead if you prefer, and tap tap tap also has instructions for disabling VolumeSnap if you decide you dislike it (though I can't imagine why anyone would). VolumeSnap makes an already great photography app even more useful. Though the whole saga hasn't exactly made Apple look like the good guy, at least it eventually came to its senses and allowed this great feature through.
How to photograph jewelry with an iPhone 4
You know those beautiful photos of jewelry that you see in ads and catalogs? The folks at Modahaus wanted to see if their table top studios could be used with an iPhone 4 to make images that would be good enough for a professional photographer to sell. The results were astonishingly good. The Modahaus studio comes in three sizes, ranging from 8.5" to 24" wide, and use a set of translucent and opaque backdrops that work with studio lights to create varied lighting effects. The crew at Modahaus used Tap Tap Tap's Camera+ app, a Glif tripod mount, a GorillaPod flexible tripod, and lights to take some very professional photos. Similar setups are available from other vendors as well. ThinkGeek, for example, has the $49.99 Portable Photo Studio, complete with lights and collapsible lightbox. With an iPhone 4, the right lighting, a good camera app, skill, and some patience, you could be shooting professional-quality product images.
tap tap tap makes a million - in both sales and profit - from Camera+
With much glee, tap tap tap announced today that not only has it sold the millionth copy of Camera+ for the iPhone, but it's also made a million dollars in revenue from that app plus the effects pack that's an in-app purchase (after Apple's cut, of course). Fellow blogger Steve Sande reviewed Camera+ a few months ago and found it a worthy addition to your iPhone photo-app arsenal. Camera+ is currently on sale for 99 cents. taptaptap's John Casasanta also took the occasion to muse on the future of the mobile market, gnash his teeth at grubby venture capitalists and make the argument that there will always be a role for high-quality paid apps in the iOS world.
Camera+ pulled from App Store for 'volume button as camera shutter' workaround
From the "It Was Only a Matter of Time Department" comes news that Camera+, the top-rated photography app from developer tap tap tap, has been pulled from the App Store, most likely for violating Apple's developer agreement. Apple previously rejected an update to the Camera+ app which would have allowed users to use one of the iPhone's volume buttons as a mechanical shutter button while using Camera+. This is a feature many iPhone photographers have wished for -- tapping the screen to take a picture is far less stable than pressing a physical button -- but Apple cited "user confusion" in rejecting the Camera+ update which included the feature. tap tap tap posted (and later deleted) instructions on Twitter that allowed users to enable the "volume button as shutter" functionality via a back door workaround. This is most likely what got Camera+ kicked off the App Store; other apps with "hidden features" or "easter eggs" like this have been banished from the App Store before, like a flashlight app that allowed users to stealthily enable internet tethering. Apple's well within its rights to react in this manner when developers put "hidden" features in their apps. On the other side of the mobile pond, Android users are currently getting hit by a trojan posing as a media player app which then sends unauthorized SMS messages to premium-rate numbers. While Apple's "user confusion" excuse for not letting Camera+ use the volume buttons as a shutter doesn't necessarily fly (how often are you going to mess with the iPhone's volume while taking a picture?), tap tap tap's "workaround" was out of line, at least in principle -- if Apple's not going to let a flashlight app secretly enable internet tethering or allow apps with blatant malware on the App Store, then it shouldn't come as a surprise that "hidden" functionality, however innocuous, will get your app banished. Hopefully this ban is only temporary until Camera+ gets updated without the "workaround" in place -- or, better still, Apple could recognize that many users have triple-digit IQs and stop citing "user confusion" as an excuse for denying useful functionality. Either way, I hope Camera+ comes back eventually.
Bursting the iPhone bubble
John Casasanta has written up a pretty damning condemnation of the vulture venture capitalists (VCs) hovering around the iPhone's App Store lately. While many developers are smelling a lot of potential in the iPhone and its SDK, VCs are smelling lots of money, and unfortunately, as was apparently the case between Mike Lee and Tapulous recently, sometimes those smells lead the two in different directions.It's not that there isn't money to be made in the App Store -- there are some great programs coming out of there, and those programs are certainly worth paying for (even if a lot of them are offered for free anyway). But Casasanta describes a situation where venture capitalists are willing to pay out in spades even for shovelware, and in that kind of environment, no one profits. Not the VCs and developers who lose their money because no one wants their crappy programs, not the consumers who have to sort through a flood of terrible apps, and not the platform -- the Mac, as Casasanta says, is thriving because of the quality of the software, and the iPhone (though it will likely always be a popular phone) will thrive as a platform for the same reasons.Casasanta's solution is for the developers to do things on their own, and that's a possibility everyone has to consider for themselves. Even well-funded developers can create valuable pieces of software. Whether you receive funding from a VC or from your own bank account, the focus while developing should always be on quality. And any developer pushing out 100 apps by the end of the year (as Casasanta's VC asked) lacks that focus.
More App Store sales figures
Last week, iPhone app shop tap tap tap released preliminary sales data for its iPhone applications. The figures were interesting (and impressive), but at the time, only seven days of data was available. As Steve Jobs told the Wall Street Journal on Monday, the App Store's first month generated about $30 million US in sales, and I was interested in how that would translate on a micro level. Yesterday, tap tap tap's John Casasanta posted its full July sales totals (save a few territories, which will likely have little effect on the final tally), allowing us to do just that.As with the data released last week, the numbers are extremely impressive. Apple's reporting process calculated sales from June 29, 2008 through August 2, 2008. However, as John notes, because the App Store didn't launch until July 10, 2008, the sales data is actually for 24 days.For tap tap tap's two applications, this is the breakdown:Where to Go (App Store link) sold 24,094 copies at $2.99 a copy in 24 days.Tipulator (App Store link) sold 3,168 copies at $.99 a copy in 24 days.After Apple's 30% cut, tap tap tap's net revenue was $52,815 US for 24 days. Wow. That averages to just about $2200 US a day. Read on for more analysis.
iPhone dev tap tap tap releases sales figures
John Casasanta from iPhone app shop tap tap tap has released the company's sales data for the week of 7/28/08 to 8/3/08. John is one of the guys behind MacHeist, and as such has a history of being open about sales figures; still, releasing this information is a bold move.Although the only available data was for the last week of sales (though the tap tap tap blog says it will be updated if they get access to past figures), it is still really interesting to to gauge the figures and evaluate, at least to a small degree, how one publisher is doing at the App Store.For tap tap tap's two applications, this is the breakdown:Where to Go (App Store link) sold 3193 copies at $2.99 a copy in seven days.Tipulator (App Store link) sold 353 copies at $.99 a copy in seven days.After Apple's cut, tap tap tap's revenue was nearly $7000 for the week. Not too shabby. Even on this micro scale, this is further evidence of the long-term market viability for iPhone applications. This isn't surprising, but it is nice to have some solid sales data to backup the download tallies. Furthermore, John discusses the relative marketing costs associated with iPhone apps as compared to traditional software. So far anyway, it appears that lower upfront promotional costs are needed to ensure a good return. Of course, we're still in the first month of iPhone app sales, as more and more apps come to the store and the "newness" factor starts to wane, marketing costs will likely have to increase.The future of the App Store is exciting and this kind of news is encouraging, especially in light of some of the snake-oil applications that threaten to turn the App Store into Palm Store 2.0.
