How about a Java app store?

Thought Process

The Apple Mac store is a very interesting development. Apple is trying to bring the iPhone like experience to the Mac - the traditional "desktop".

One of my iOS apps has a desktop component and it got me thinking that if I had to make the desktop component available in the Mac App store it would need to be re-coded in Objective C and Cocoa and then again in .NET for Windows. Based on the downloads, my audience for the desktop app is about evenly split between the two platforms - OSX and Windows. That makes it impossible for me to ignore either of the platforms.

Right now the app is an Eclipse-based RCP app, which solves my issue of coding for multiple platforms - OSX and Windows. I write the code once and just create two native builds. Being a stripped down RCP app with minimal plugins and inspite of being a Java app, I think it performs quite well on the desktop.

My next thought was that it would have been great if there was an consumer focussed "App-store" for Java apps that brought the same experience the iOS devices bring to mobile. Java does take the pain out of coding the app logic twice. While there are some compatibility issues, it cannot be as bad as writing code twice and trying to ensure coherency in the logic between two lines of code.

What is required?

A thin operating layer on the desktop that simply provided access to the lower filesystem, provided a security sandbox and allowed for extensions.

Here are some of the characteristics that I can think of -

• An "App Store" app to find apps natively from within the desktop and do a one-click install.
• Standard features in App Stores - ability to rate and review, feature, popular, ….
• Ability to view all running apps, switch between them, kill them, …
• Support for different kinds of apps types - widgets, full-blown apps, …
• Preferably a unified app store instead of the user having to search multiple sources (i.e. preferably the iPhone experience vs Android experience)
• Integrated eCommerce to sell apps and their features - An idea would be to integrate the plugin store with providers like PayPal, who have already solved this issue. Making a user go to multiple sites to make payments would not be a good experience. This is something Apple does well with iTunes - they make it easy to buy and install something immediately. Amazon does this well for various sellers on the web.
• Other good features would be - in-App purchasing APIs, recurring payments, app sandboxing.
• Developer guidelines with a focus on user experience and good looking apps.

How to set this up?

Make it Eclipse-based or Eclipse-like or OSGI-based

Eclipse already has a few good things going for it

- A solid plugin model. Plugins would be similar to Apps

- A fairly decent update mechanism

- There is already an Eclipse Marketplace. However, it is too IDE and developer focussed (it prompts to login with my "Bugzilla" ID :))

However, other than the IDE, Eclipse does not have a killer app that users will want to download and install on their desktops. The IDE is certainly not a killer app for consumers. Thus, Eclipse will need a killer app that will put the App control layer and marketplace apps on a users desktop.

Use JRE to distribute this Eclipse-based control layer and marketplace app

Integrate this operating app and the marketplace store app inside the JRE itself. With every download of JRE, users also get the ability to extend their JRE experience with plugins. However, the UI component will need to be SWT-based and not Swing based. Eclipse, in my opinion owes a lot of its success to SWT and JFace. There were free IDEs before Eclipse but reason I (and probably a lot of people) switched to it was due to its native look n feel and performance.

Who could make this happen?

Probably Oracle in cooperation with other Java supporters such as IBM, Google, Eclipse ...

In Summary

- Great to have a Java-based consumer focussed app store platform

- Borrow features from mobile devices such as sandboxing, integrated eCommerce.

- Eclipse-like plugin model except absolutely no IDE components

- Integrated with the JRE download

Error - 32-bit SWT on 64-bit JVM

This is more of a note to myself for the future and for anyone running into this issue.

Issue

When building an Eclipse RCP application on OSX, you may receive the following error.

java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: Cannot load 32-bit SWT libraries on 64-bit JVM

Resolution

Tested on

• Macbook Pro
• OSX Snow Leopard 10.6.5
• JVM 1.6.0_22
• Eclipse Helios 3.6.1

1. Open the Run Configuration and switch to the Arguments tab

(Run -> Run Configurations -> RUN_CONFIG_NAME -> Arguments)

2. Add the string '-d32' (a space at the beginning and end, without the quotes) to the arguments text box at the end of the existing value.

3. That should do it. Apply and Run the app

Rationale

My understanding is that if you download the 32-bit Eclipse package like I did, it will load 32-bit SWT by default. However, OSX defaults to 64-bit. Providing the above property forces the JVM to run in a 32-bit mode.

Probably, if you download Eclipse 64-bit for OSX you may not run into this issue - I have not tried that as yet

Notes N More update submitted

UPDATE: The new version with all the improvements and bug fixes is available in the App Store

An update has been submitted with a focus on adding features to improve the usability of the app. Highlights of the update -

Updated background textures for iPad
Updated header themes
Customize app preferences within the app itself

Select and move multiple items to trash
Select and move multiple items to a collection
Sort items by both name and time within a collection view (iPad only)

Take simultaneous notes during a browsing session
Scribble directly from a Picture view (clicked with camera or selected from photo album)
Add simultaneous notes during a scribble session
Email scribbles as pictures (JPEG files)
Export scribbles as pictures (JPEG files) to the desktop app

Add notes to a picture and video right in the media view (iPad)

Sundry improvements to improve app stability

Notes n More at #21

Notes N More has reached #21 in paid business apps for iPad. Its been consistently in Whats Hot for the past three months.

The App later reached #17

Notes n More

Create rich formatted notes, record voice memos, draw with your finger or stylus, include pictures & videos, save web pages as PDFs and even do tasks all in one app.

Organize your vacation trip, project, conference or event visits or any other activity into logical collections of notes and tasks

iCloud support lets you synchronize the notes across your iDevices - iPad, iPhone, iPod.

Features - Tasks | Rich Notes | Voice Memos | Scribbles | Internet Notes | Recycle Bin | Search

Download from App Store - [Notes n More is not available anymore]

Features

Tasks

• Create task lists organized by Date and Collections.
• Easily schedule overdue tasks for today, tomorrow or any other day.
• Select text from Notes and create Tasks from them

The following demonstration shows the key task management features of the app -

Notes

• Format text - Bold, Italics, Underline, Strikethrough
• List Support - Numbered and Unnumbered including indented lists
• Insert pictures into notes (current iPad only)
• Create multiple tasks from a note

This video provides a short demonstration of the Rich Notes feature - 

Voice Memos

• Record or play voice memos simultaneously while taking notes. 
• Insert time stamps in your notes to remind you of the location in the voice memo where you took notes.

Scribbles

• Create a simple sketch, design or write something with your finger. 
• Draw on a plain background or annotate over an existing image or picture. 
• Multiple backgrounds, brush sizes and brush colors are supported.

Internet Notes
Great for just saving your online receipts, doing research, collecting articles you liked, .... 

• Save files (PDFs, Office, ...) from the web in the app. 
• You can also convert a web page to PDF and save it. 
• Take a screenshot of a portion of web page with one-click, save it and attach notes to it.

Click Pictures and Record Videos

• Click pictures and videos and organize them along with the rest of your notes. 
• Attach notes to any picture or video that you record.

Collections

Logically organize and collect all your various note types together in collections. No need to jump across apps for various note types - video, text, pictures,...

More Features

• Favorites - You can bookmark notes and access them instantly from the Favorites view
• Recycle Bin - Don't ever regret deleting a note. The Recycle Bin collects all your notes or entire collections allowing you to immediately restore items or permanently delete them.
• Customizable UI - Choose from multiple themes, fonts, font sizes, font colors and background paper to customize the app and make it truly yours.
• Search - Full-text search through all your notes
• Email - Individual notes can be emailed. When emailing, multimedia items (e.g. voice memos, videos, files,...) are attached to the email.

Download
App Store - http://bit.ly/notes_n_more

Price
The app is completely Free to download and use as of version 1.7.7.

NOTE: There used to be in-app purchases prior to this version, which is what you will see in the app store. However, if you download the latest version, it is completely free. Overtime, as users upgrade from prior versions, the in-app will be removed.

Contact Email

For questions or issues feel free to email me at -

aashish.notes.improv At gmail DOT com

Notes N More references from around the web

Googling a bit, I found a few references and reviews of the Notes n More app, some of which I was not aware of. Here are some of the links I found -

Naughty Spawn

Never Talk When You Can Nod

TheJournal.com (4th para) -

DeArmas Family Website

Chronicle.com (2nd comment)

Thanks to all the posters for referencing the Notes n More app

Daily Tasks (To Dos) iPhone / iPod Touch App - V1

Daily Tasks is a simple To Do list application that allows you to create task lists by day

The app also lets you add tasks to your device's Calendar app. This way you can first collect all your tasks for the day without worrying about time, location, people,... and finally schedule them for the day.

You can also repeat tasks (recurring tasks), categorize them, add custom colors (including fonts and font size), search for them and even drag n drop tasks.

Download from App Store [V1 is not available anymore - discontinued]


Contact Email
aashish.daily.tasks AT gmail.com


Quick Tour
See this short presentation of the various features of the app.

YouTube link (1 minute and 40 seconds) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLIpwhXArcA




Demonstration Videos
Add - Edit - Delete Tasks

Navigation & Search

Drag n Drop Tasks

Repeating (Recurring) Tasks

Configure Color Themes and Fonts

Notes n More Quick Tour Video

Here is a short video describing the Notes n More iPhone / iPad app. I suggest you watch this on YouTube to watch it in its original clarity


You Tube link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5AUz1mIqqo

Notes N More Update available

The new version of Notes N More has been approved and is available for download / update from the iTunes App Store. The following major features were added -

1. Voice Memos

Ability to play or record and take notes simultaneously. It is also possible to add time stamps of the voice memos in your notes section

2. Freehand scribble

Ability to create notes by drawing with your finger or stylus. There are multiple color, background and color options. It is also possible to pick an image from the photo library and annotate it with freehand.

3. Tasks

A one click view of all open (unfinished) tasks

4. Cloud Sync

Ability to export notes and multimedia items to a cloud storage system and access them from your desktop.

Ability to store files from your desktop into the cloud store and accessing them in your mobile device.

Ability to share cloud items via email, twitter or facebook.

Cloud Sync Documentation

Notes N More Desktop (Version 1.0.1, 24MB)

Windows

Mac OSX (Leopard or higher and Intel Macs only)

The desktop application requires Java Runtime Environment version 6.

If using OS X, this is included by default with the OS.

If using Windows, you can download it from http://java.com

Update submitted

An update to Notes n More has been submitted for review on Sunday July 11.

Thanks,

Aashish

UPDATE: App status has been changed to "In Review"

Notes n More requires re submission

A quick update -

I had updated Notes n More with export options last week but a critical bug was discovered over the weekend and the submission had to be rejected. Am fixing the bug and hope to resubmit it by weekend.

Thanks,

Aashish

Export notes from Notes n More is coming

I have received quite a bit of feedback / requests and also some reviews requesting ability to export notes from the app.

The ability to export is coming in the next version which I expect to submit in the next few days for approval. It will include the ability to export not just notes but also the multimedia items like voice memos, videos and pictures.

Notes n More is now in Whats Hot section

Just saw this - my iPhone app Notes n More app is now in the "Whats Hot" list in the Business apps category

Notes n More page on iTunes

Objective C for a Java Programmer

Been intending to write this for some time now. Here is a short list of things to watch out for when starting with Objective C for iPhone. The list is targeted at Java programmers beginning Objective C. Its written on my work blog.

Read Post

Extra Mouse click in GIMP on OS X

Found this tip while searching for something else about GIMP. The default setup for GIMP on OS X requires a user to click on any of the app windows (toolbox, image window, ..) twice to edit it. This setting eliminates that extra click.

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20090817083346589

In summary -

X11 -> Preferences -> Windows -> 'Check' Click through inactive Windows

Many many thanks to the anonymous poster. This will eliminate a lot of wear and tear of my fingers.

Programmatically Taking a Screenshot in iPhone

It took me some time to find the code for this. Thought I'd share it here. The following code takes a screen capture of the currently visible portions of a UITableView but its applicable to any view.

UIGraphicsBeginImageContext(self.tableView.bounds.size);
[self.tableView.layer renderInContext:UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()];
UIImage *viewImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
//UIImageWriteToSavedPhotosAlbum(viewImage, nil, nil, nil);
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();

The commented out line saves the photo to a the Photos application on the iPhone.

Transparent bordered shell in SWT

I've wanted to get a transparent bordered shell in SWT ever since I saw the transparent bordered video shell in Leopard video quickview.

A shell with alpha support is coming in 3.4. However, I have not looked at the 3.4 material as yet and this sample was built on 3.3.

The shell can be used in the same way that the org.eclipse.swt.custom.PopupList class can be used except that you can place any controls you want and not just a List. Lets see how to do this -

In SWT, a Canvas control can have an alpha value. Thus, the base needs to be a canvas. First, create a control that extends the Canvas. Set the layout for this canvas to a FillLayout. This canvas will contain other controls. It is important to set the margin of the layout. This margin will be the width of your transparent border. Now, set an alpha value for the canvas. The alpha determines how transparent the border will be.

Image -
Now create or load a gradiented (is there such a word?) image. In the paintListener for the Canvas, draw this gradiented image. Because of the alpha on the canvas, the image will be semi-transparent. Now add any controls (typically a composite with controls within it) to the canvas and these will be drawn with a transparent border around them.

To get the real transparency, this canvas needs to be placed inside a shell created with the style SWT.NO_TRIM and SWT.ON_TOP. Also, the canvas needs to be created with the style SWT.NO_BACKGROUND. However, due to these styles, the shell cannot be really moved around. Thus, its useful where no movement is necessary - a transparent menu, infopopups, ...

Thus, to summarize,
1. A shell with styles SWT.NO_TRIM and SWT.ON_TOP contains
2. a canvas with style NO_BACKGROUND, a gradiented image, an alpha value, a margin (border width) contains
3. a control (composite) that is displayed within the canvas.

Firefox Memory Consumption

I started noticing a performance issue with Firefox while filling out forms and opened Task Manager to see this.

Firefox - one window - four tabs (370 MB)

IE - one window - three tabs (20 MB)

Safari (webkit) - zero windows - don't know where those two processes have come from (121MB + 54 MB)

The second javaw.exe process (218 MB) is Eclipse 3.2 with a pretty huge workspace. The eclipse.exe(200MB) is an instance of Eclipse 3.3 with a relatively smaller workspace. Nice to see someone beating Eclipse in memory consumption :).

RESTful JSON

In a recent project, I used a REST style interface(PHP) and GWT (Google Widget Toolkit). The first thought for a data exchange format was XML. However, on further rumination, the prospect of writing XML node iteration code was daunting. After having done the whole XML node iteration for multiple projects before this, I was feeling too lazy to do it all over again :). Thats when I thought of using JSON (Javascript Object Notation). The JSON programming model is much simpler to use than XML. The ease with which the data can be transformed into objects eliminates all the node iteration code. This is due to the multitude of libraries (including GWT) available for encoding/decoding the JSON format and the ease with which JSON can be converted to objects.  Finally, I ended up with a REST style interface returning JSON encoded data that gets decoded on the client by GWT. 

JSON seems to be a much simpler data exchange format while XML seems to more suited to storage of data. A good combination is probably an XML database (more flexible than an RDBMS) for storage and JSON for data exchange.

4GB iPhone - A Lower Priced iPhone

When Apple reduced the iPhone prices from 599 to 399, they also discontinued the 4GB iPhone and to exhaust their existing stock sold this model at 299. I don't have a whole lot of songs but was interested in the non-iPod related functionality (phone, maps, browser, touchscreen,...). Thus, for me, the price was in the sweet spot and 4GB of memory was just fine. One rarely buys iPod(iPhone) products without accessories (case, earphones,...). Thus, the phone is not really 299 but 299 + taxes + accessory cost.

I end up using the browser, maps, stocks, weather and notes more than the iPod functionality. Someone like me who does not have a whole lot of songs but is more interested in the constant connectivity and the non-iPod functionality would be an ideal candidate for the 4GB version of iPhone. Apple does sell other 4GB iPods - iPod Nano (which is $149). I think there is a market segment that would love to use the iPhone if Apple offered a lower price version - maybe ~ $275. The iPod Touch is great but does not have constant connectivity that an iPhone provides. Maybe once the 3G version is released, they could offer the EDGE model at a lower price. Only time will tell...