Revision Aid - School Trials

With Schools now back in session it's good to see some School trials have been successful with the iRevisionAid app, it's great to see how the app is helping in the classroom and I will look forward with much interest to see how this progresses.

Thanks to all involved for this development and the suggestions made for the app and online improvements. Expect to see some developments on both over the coming months.

Compatibility updates

The recent release of Snow Leopard has caused a couple of headaches as all my projects require rebuilding with new library paths, with several projects on the go this should be fun but required work to take place over the coming week.

Updates will resume for all the apps starting with these compatibility updates, these will be submitted over the next couple of weeks and available as soon as the App Store approval process allows, before the summer break this would take about a week so hopefully this will be similar for the coming development year.

Revision Aid - Online update

The online site has had the following changes applied:

   1. Twitter update widget included on login page, watch this for any announcements of possible outage and news updates,  I thought this would be a great way to keep users informed while logging in.

  2. Quiz ID is now displayed on quiz summary and question edit pages, some users found it confusing to have to go back to the main summary page to find the quiz id.

  3. Fix applied when creating a quiz, if age from/to is not entered then a specific error message is now given.

Revision Aid - Online quizzes

When creating online quizzes ensure that the age from/to is entered for the quiz, currently if left blank causes an error asking to contact support, someone has done just this which I appreciate as I can now rectify this issue.

Age from/to is mandatory fields and as so is required, it's important for anyone downloading the quiz to see what age range the quiz is suitable for, I will make this more clear and clarify this in the message in the next web site update. 

Revision Aid - Another app function added

Another user requested function has been added and submitted to the App Store for approval.

Control the text font size in the Quiz Me using a + and - located either side of the title bar, set this to what you are comfortable reading.  

Lots more changes and updates coming over the coming weeks, watch this space.

Revision Aid - Image update now live

The latest Revision Aid update is now live on the App Store, I'd love to hear any feedback on this and now past any iPhone v3.0 OS issues I can freely start looking at more updates, schemes, fonts and quiz tracking are high on the list. I hope more users will follow the twitter updates as this offers a real time way of keeping updated with developments, the latest twitter updates are shown on the left of this blog.

JSSDevelopments now on Twitter

Having recently recognized the advantages Twitter offers to keep users informed of updates I have setup a new Twitter account.

All general news and announcements will be shown in these updates including app and web developments complimenting the Blog entries.  I hope users will also give feedback on new and existing functionality and see it as a great way to keep the lines of communication open.

Follow us on Twitter.

The latest Twitter updates are also shown to the left on this blog.

Revision Aid: Testing for iPhone OS 3.0

Additional Bug Fixes for upcoming 3.0, I have invested quite a lot of compatibility testing for the soon to arrive 3.0 version of the iPhone OS and this update includes some changes to ensure the continued use of the application on OS upgrade. Other Bug fixes include: 1. Download import bar resets on new download. 2. Category choice after starting a new quiz crash fix. 3. Correct counter resets properly after choosing a post quit me selection.

Thank you for all your emailed suggestions and comments for this app. Please be rest assured that the ideas will be incorporated over coming versions but would ask for some patience while these are integrated, the current priority is getting the new update which is proving challenging with the new OS 3.0 changes to consider, these are currently in the Apple testing approval stage.

Revision Aid - Question Limits Raised

The previous question limits for a quiz was set to 50 with as many quizzes as you like, I have recently raised this to 65 questions for now, although this will expand in the future. I have made changes to both the online and the iPhone/iTouch app.

The web site has just been updated to allow up to 65 questions for any quiz and can be downloaded and played on the Revision Aid app, the update for the app to allow editing of more then 50 questions will be in the next V1.20 update.   I am currently ensuring this update works on V3.0 of the iPhone OS as Apples advice so this version will be a little longer to release then usual.

It seems the private setting on quizzes is proving popular with online users, I can understand this but I do hope that that these can be made public at some point, if not now then consider making them public in the future so others may enjoy and benefit from your work.

The next online changes will allow linking of images to questions to go with the upcoming app update, this allows image to be included in questions, my initial plan is to have html image web links to be included so you can simply link in any image online, for example include a link to your image in your online photo site store.  When downloading your quiz the linked images will also be downloaded.  Watch this space for more information and examples.

Revision Aid - More new screen shots and App Submitted

I have been playing with various layouts, the following show what these new layouts will look like, lots of options will come in future versions though.

Including images in quizzes - Example 1 *Single image usage*:

    

The above shows an example of using a single image in a quiz question, on the left shows the layout when the question is first accessed and on the right shows the layout when the image is zoomed, to zoom in on an image the user just has to tap it and then tap it again to return.

Including images in quizzes - Example 1 *Multiple image usage*

    

The above show four images used, and can be viewed in a similar manor to example 1.

The changes have been submitted to Apple today and will be available as a free update the in a week or two.

It has been quite a job to design and add this to the system but believe it is well worth the effort, I look forward to everyones comments so please let me know your thoughts and suggestions.

Revision Aid Improvements - Sneak peak

The Revision Aid editor is currently being worked on, the above screen shot show a sneak peak of the coming changes, a more sleek silver edit scheme and the ability to add upto four images to any question, multiple choice or single answer.

The user will simply press on an image and then browse the image library on the device to browse,edit and select.

During a Quiz Me Quiz the user will be shown a small image icon that can be pressed to zoom into the added question images, then touch again to return back to icon view.

This will add a lot of value to the app enabling graphics to be added for everything from driving test quizzes to fun film quizzes, add four images for the quiz taker to choose from for an answer.

The online editor will also have the ability to upload images as well in future updates so watch this space.

The current major update is due to finish over the next couple of weeks so keep an eye out for this in released updates.

I would love to hear users thoughts on these additions so please feel free to contact me with any suggestions.

iTouch problem resolved

It turns out the installation issue for the games was due to the 1st generation iTouch, settings in the store had the 2nd generation option auto-selected, I have changed this to 1st and 2nd generation compatibility which I am happy to say has resolved the issue.

All games can now be installed on 1st and 2nd gen iPhones and iTouches.

iTouch App Store

I received an email from a user who has had an issue installing an iSpot game on the iTouch, this was news to me as the apps have always installed on the devices before ok, all releases are tested on both the iPhone and iTouch devices before sending to Apple to review.   I have contacted apple regarding the issue and they are usually very good at resolving these technical issues, I shall post an update as soon as I hear when this issue has been resolved.  

This only effects iTouches and not iPhones.

Thank you to the user that has brought this to my attention.

Watch this space for updates on the problem.

Revision Aid - Web site update

Online quizzes can now have a private status set against them, I had an email this morning asking for this function and it seemed like a good essential function to have in the system. I made this a high priority as some personal quizzes are sensitive and should not be shared in the public library.

This function has now been added and available to use.

The following are the changes to the system to accommodate this change:

> Personal Library summary now has the public/private status.

> When creating a quiz you can set the quiz as private an enter password (for future app use which is not available yet).

> Quiz summary has the ability to switch the public/private status.

> The public library will NOT show our private quizzes.

I would like to encourage people to share any quizzes but understand why some quizzes should remain private, I have therefore added to my list the introduction of a password when downloading quizzes, this will apply to any private quiz and will be available in the iPhone app in upcoming updates.

The ability to enter a password in the online editor is already available however this has no real function until the iPhone app is also available.

iSpot updates

I've been busy working on images for the iSpot game range and now regular updates will be available with a minimum of 10 additional images per game every month.

I will also be looking to add an online element to the game once each game has the full 100 game images and the All Sports version a total of 400 images.

Revision Aid Updates

V1.12 of Revision Aid is now available to download and includes the much improved editing, more functionality updates are on the way, watch this space for more information.

Revision Aid - Changes submitted

The latest changes have been submitted to the App Store and will be available pending the App Store review process later next week.

The changes include better editing, previously the popup keyboard would obscure the answers while in edit mode and this has been fixed with a auto screen scroller so the editing component is always visible.

The button sized have also been increased and thus made more responsive.

The help page layout has also been improved, before part of the layout may be obscured depending on the window mode.

A notification has also been added to the splash page to bring the users attention to the online editor to ensure the user is fully aware of this available free functionality.

Thank you so much for all your feedback, watch this space for announcements of more features and updates to come.

Revision Aid - More Improvements coming soon

I am aware that at this time of year students are busy revising for exams, this is why I've been concentrating more on the Revision Aid app then others recently.  My aim is to make it something that is easy and quick to use and I've received some excellent suggestions on how to achieve this.

More improvements are being worked on this week in regard to the Revision Aid in App quiz editor, these changes should be submitted in the coming week and available as an update to the app on the following week pending the App Store review process which currently stands at about seven days.

Watch this space for more info on the changes soon.

iSpot The Ball - New images

Each of the iSpot The Ball Games are having ten new game images every month, the Cricket version has been the first to have a new pack included and is waiting for review by Apple.

Each month three updates will be available to download and each update will have three to four new game images included.   I would like to do a weekly update but the review process can be longer then seven days so I have opted for three updates with the ten images split over these, two sets of three and one set of four, with the All Sports version this will be two sets of twelve and one set of sixteen.

My aim with this is to give players something over the weeks to look forward to, with the All Sports version thats 40 new images to play every month.

Revision Aid - Download stats added

The Revision Aid web site has been updated to provide download statistics, the main descriptions and titles are also now shown in full in the edit page. 

Spot The Balls - Updates

All of the Spot The Ball games are having an extra function that will be available in new updates which allows the player to goto a specific number image, this has been added to give the ability to goto the new images that are being added to the games and skip to any image in the library.

Revision Aid updates

Revision Aid App Update

It came to my attention that the scrolling on the answer was not working on the answer, this only occurs on longer answers but has been promptly fixed and will be available in version 1.11 and should be available by the end of next week pending the Apple review process.  Thank you to the user that brought this to my attention. 

Web site update

I have noticed a few short test quizzes creeping into the system, this is perfectly fine but I am now filtering these out in the public library, only quizzes with five or more questions will be shown in this section.  These will still be available in your personal section.

It's brilliant to see some quality quizzes being added now, these are not only useful to the creator but others with a similar interest, I'll be looking at adding download statistics to show how popular your quiz is.  I know a student that was thrilled to see a quiz on American Politics which has helped him over the Easter holidays.

General news

I've had a number of queries from schools recently who are trialing iTouches in the classroom who are looking at using Revision Aid as a study aid, this is very encouraging and I'm looking forward to seeing some quality quiz content from teachers and students alike.   I will be implementing many of the requested online and app function requests  over the coming months that everyone will be able to benefit from.

Keep the suggestions coming.

Revision Aid - Update

I have posted an update for this app to clear out the 'Enter Answer Text' on touch, this was highlighted in a recent review in the app store, it was nice seeing a well thought out review written by someone who had given some suggestions on some good improvements. 

Number Crunch updates submitted

The ability to turn off the intro animation has been added, this was highlighted in the recent review on www.iear.org.

The responsiveness of the buttons has also been improved, they were acting a little sluggish since the new animations have been introduced but this is now much improved, the update V2.02 will hopefully be available in a weeks time pending the apple review process.

I Education Apps Review for Number Crunch

Number Crunch V2 got its first review yesterday on an up and coming educational apps review site and it was nice to see some constructive comments.  I had thought of creating a video myself to show off the various features and may well do so anyway but having an independent review of the app is much better and helps to give people an unbiased view of the app before buying.

I will be spending more time on this soon to address the points in the review such as disabling the intro video, the introduction of a free play or practice mode with no countdown clock as this can be too much pressure and distracting for some, adding more stats for teachers as this game can also be used as an educational aid to improve maths and I will also be looking at creating a version for the younger player.

The review has certainly given me some valuable feedback and has also recommended it for personal and school use which was good to see.

Check out the video review

Pod cast  Select episode 20 for the Number Crunch review.

The review site www.iear.org offers an opportunity for teachers and developers to work together to provide educational apps for the iPhone.

Revision Aid gets makeover

Revision Aid has had plugable schemes added, the following screen shows the new selectable scheme that will be available in the next update.

More schemes will also be added in future updates.

Use the scheme selector to select the scheme and even change while taking a quiz, simply select the scheme then the next question and the scheme will be applied.

The above screen captures also shows the ability to order the tabs on the app.

Number Crunch V2 Submitted

Number Crunch V2 has now been submitted to the App Store for approval, this includes the graphical overhaul and introduces game schemes, choose to play the old V1 scheme or the new V2 design.  The V2 design includes a new progress clock as well as custom style graphics.  More schemes will come in future updates.

The V2 update will be a free upgrade to current users and will hopefully be available to download in the second week of April based on current approval rates.

Buy in iTunes

Support Site

iSpot The Ball - All Sports Version now available

The four iSpot The Ball games have been combined in one value for money pack, get four sports for less then the price of two.

This was something I have worked on over the past couple of weeks and includes a new menu system to allow flipping between the sports, it's a game I've always enjoyed playing and I hope you do to.  Please let me know what other features or sports you would like to see in the future.

This is now available to buy in iTunes.

Number Crunch V2 in Development

Number Crunch V2 is currently in Development, this features a graphical overhaul of the game play.  My aim is to submit this on Sunday so should be available second week of April.

Buy in iTunes

Support Site

New updates now live

The good old apples at Apple have now approved the iSpot The Ball update, this contains important support details changes.  The ball highlight will be submitted next to be in line with the other iSpot games, this will be submitted over the next couple of days and be available in the next couple of weeks.

Number Crunch update is also now available, this contains important high score connection changes, I have to update this every so often to ensure the submission process stays secure, it's interesting and also odd that I get the odd hack attempt and these updates ensure the system is kept clear of these.  Changing the submission type is the best way to do this so to continue using the high score submission so it's important to keep the app updated.

iSpot The Ball - updates and updates pending

The iSpot The American/Base/Cricket ball  have all benefitted from the initial iSpot The Ball game which gave me some valuable feedback on the game options and how the game should behave, the game options has already been added to the origional iSpot The Ball but the ball highlight when the ball is shown has not been updated.  I've now scheduled this change in and will be available in a new update.  

The current required update which changes the support contact details is currently pending, the games deserved a dedicated domain 'www.ispottheball.com' which was lacking origionally, this also has the improved email contact support@ispottheball.com.  Once this update goes live I will be able to apply this game improvement.

Image updates for all the iSpot The Ball games will start next weekend, these will include new images every other week to keep your interest in the game, this should be a regular update feature starting April onwards. 

Please let me know what improvements you would like to see as well.

iSpot The Cricket Ball - Submitted

The iSpot The Cricket Ball has been submitted and should hopefully pending Apples review will be available in the App Store in the next couple of weeks, this concludes the current series of single sport versions of the game. 

iSpot The Base Ball - now available

The iSpot The Base Ball is now live and available from the app store: Buy in iTunes

Support Site

Personal Best - Library restructure

The next update to the Personal best app will have a little re-structuring of the library tab, this

 is required to fit more options in this section.

This update has been submitted and will be live pending approval towards the end of the week hopefully.

The following update will allow the 'Start' and 'Personal Best' labels to be customized in a 'Labels' tab for every single exercise, I think this has a lot of benefits and really helps towards a more customizable application.

Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions. 

General update - iPhone Apps

As shown from the pie chart each of the apps performs differently in the percentage of sales made, the iSpot The American Football has just been launched and is gathering pace, I like to give an even amount of attention to all the projects, it's a joy to see them constantly improve.

Thank you for all your emails on the various apps and I will try and fit in as many of the suggested improvements as I can over the coming weeks/months.

The next couple of weeks will have some small updates on the current apps as well as completing the iSpot The Ball series of games.  After this you can expect some more major improvements across all the projects. 

Personal Best - App update coming soon

This app is currently undergoing some enhancements to allow more details to be added, initially this will include the ability to alter the title labels with many other changes over the coming weeks/months. 

iSpot The Cricket Ball - In development

The next and final in the iSpot game series will be iSpot The Cricket Ball.

This is currently in development and is due to be published to Apple next week.

This will complete the current series of iSpot The Ball games.   A nice round to a series of sports I love and O very much hope you enjoy playing them.  If there are any sports you'd like to see included in the future then please drop me an email.

iSpot The Base Ball - Submitted

The third in a series of four has been submitted to Apple and this time it comes in the form of Baseball, pending approval this will hopefully be on sale in the next couple of weeks.

iSpot The American Football - Now Live

The iSpot The American Football is now approved and available to buy in iTunes App Store

The ispottheball web site is scheduled to be updated soon to include the American Football version.

iSpot The American Football - Submitted

I'm pleased to announce that I have now submitted the iSpot The American Football iPhone game to iTunes, pending approval this will hopefully be on sale in the next couple of weeks.

iSpot The American Football - coming soon

With the success of the iSpot The Ball iPhone application I've now created a version for those who like me love American Football, the initial version will have 50 images and 2 game options to choose from, this will expand to 100 and have updates each month.  

This game has turned out to be a beautifully simple but enjoyable time filler game, each image is shown with the ball missing and you just have to find it, never as easy or as obvious as you might think.  If you have any images you would like me to include in this game then please send them to ispottheball@caloreez.com and I'll include them in future releases even if its just you and your mates having a laugh, don't just play the game....be in it.

Number Crunch - app update

This game is proving to be my most popular app and I'll be looking to make some improvements over the coming months, please send me your suggestions on what you would like to see.

The high score system will be improved to add trophies and monthly winners for each level.  Also looking to give the game a graphical makeover and lots of game options planned.

Buy in iTunes

Support Site

Pucks - High score tables are coming

With the Number Crunch game high score tables being a great way to build some competition into the game I will be looking to add this to the Pucks game.

Buy in iTunes

Support Site

Personal Best - App update

I've had some brilliant emails on this app, this actually gets more emails then any other app and all the suggestions so far will really help to shape the app into something quite special.

Keep the suggestions coming.

Every week I try and add something new to this app, it's something I use everyday and I know people out there who are using it are finding it really useful as well.

The latest update includes a auto date/time set when a personal best is achieved, this was a request from a Phil Chung, he wrote a very nice email on what he would like to see and one being the ability to see when a personal best was achieved so if you flake off you can see how long it takes to get back to that best.  it's made a nice little addition to the app.

Another user request from Rory Robinson was to include decimal places for the millisecond, this is also available in the new update.

The next update will be the ability to specify your headings for start/personal best, you could change the word 'start' to 'worst' for instance, this enables more customization to the app.

Also recently had a brilliant email from Dave Spitler who was also nice enough to put a review on the USA App Store as well, thank you Dave for this and I hope you will continue to find it useful, he made some excellent suggestions and made the point that reporting and more details would be very useful, this is something I'm very keen to include over the coming weeks/months.  

I'm considering using the review in the app description as it's better then any sales pitch that I could come up with:  "There are lots and lots of programs that offer to let my iPhone replace the clipboard that I carry in the gym, but I dont need those.  Paper works just fine for recording the sets and reps that I do on a given day.  But being able to access Personal Bests for given exercises! (As in "Wow! that was impressive. Is that a new personal best?") Very nice and exactly what I needed.  Even better for me would be the ability to capture the best I do each year (along with the date) so that I can see how I am progressing year over year. But this will do nicely while I wait."  

Everyone who makes a suggestion that makes it into the app will get a credit here to say thanks and I hope to constantly improve the app to include as many suggestions as possible.

Buy in iTunes

Support Site

iSpot The Ball - Game option added

I've had some feedback on this game asking if the ball can be revealed as soon as it's found, this has now been added as the main game option with the old way of playing set as a second game option, this really has improved the game no end and it's a nice challenge to see if you can get the ball the first time.

This update should be available in the next 3-5 days pending app store approval.

   Buy in iTunes

   Support site

Revision Aid - online editor update

The new online editor for Revision Aid is now live and available to use at www.irevisionaid.com.

I've been working on this over the last three weeks and it's nice to now see it being used, 

*Update notification*

A couple of small issues have popped up, when you create a Quiz online with some empty entries the word '' appears in the quiz data, this has now been fixed and the update for the iPhone app has been submitted to Apple.   This update should be available next week as the current app store approval takes between 3-5 days.

Buy in iTunes

Support Site

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the JSS Developments blog. I'll be using this blog to update everyone on all projects, products and development updates that I'm working on.


Who is JSS Developements?

My name is Jason Savage, a 37 year old developer who has a passion for software developments of all shapes and sizes. Over 10 years experience writing everything from Financial Software to Intelligence Software for the Police.

What are the current developments?

iPhone developments:

http://www.inumbercrunch.com/
An addictive numbers based game for all ages.

http://www.irevisionaid.com/
A revision/study aid to create a quiz.

www.caloreez.com/pbest.html
A personal best recording system for fitness and exercises.

www.caloreez.com/pucks.html
A fun sliding target based game.

www.ispottheball.com
A simple but fun find the ball game.

Please goto the respective websites for more information for now, information updates will be posted on this site.

This site will also be used to help inform users when techinical issues arise with either the apps or the websites, if any of the websites are down then this will be the place to come to find out whats happening. I've had one of these issues recently that caused one of my sites to be down for a few hours and was one of the inspired reasons for creating this blog.