Category: Developers

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Developers Music & Audio

Mono – Listening to Your Music [Android Music App]

App Name: Mono

Developer: Oscillate

Cost: Free / year subscription after 7 day trial

Market: Google Play

Mono is a new music app on the Google market that makes it easy to listen to your music and to discover new music. I am not a big music person, but I found the app very straight forward and easy to install. Since I do not do a lot with music, I decided to reach out to the developer and get some more information on Mono. Here is our interview.

Q. Tell us a little about your company

A. Oscillate is a New York based startup, and this is its first app. Currently there are just two people.

Q. What does your app Mono do?

A. Mono was created to simplify listening to (and watching) music. There are many different sources of media out there – your files, Spotify, Rdio, 7Digital, Google Music, and of course images, events, bios, similar artists, etc. We aimed to bring this all together in one app. The user should have access to easily navigable information about all published music, and then have choices as to where to play it from.

Q. How and why did you come up with the idea?

A. We realized that YouTube had an enormous amount of unstructured music, and if we established a structured reference database of all music then accessing videos would be cool. Layering on audio only sources was a natural extension. Then layering on playlists and easy video selection completed the picture. Also storing playlists in the cloud made them publicly available, if the user wishes, and available on multiple devices for the same user.

Q.Who would you recommend this app for?

A. Really anyone, young or old. See the demo video to see The Red Hot Chili Peppers to Elvis to Beethoven.

Q. How much does the subscribe cost?

A. 7 day free trial, then $0.99/yr with a further 7 days free.

Q. What future plans do you have for the app?

A. The only streamer released right now is Google Music. We have Rdio and Spotify in but have not released due to their licensing terms. We are working through that.

We also want to intelligently create discussion forums for Artists, Albums, Songs and Events. Rather than build yet another forum we are working on mapping the subjects to persistent Google Plus posts, easily reachable from the app.

Q. What requirements are needed for the app?

A. Android ICS and above.

Q. Is there anything else you think we need to know about Mono? 

A. We don’t think there’s another app like this out there. PVSTAR+ plays YouTube videos only, and is just put together very differently. No reference database of music, no events, lyrics, discographies, top tracks, images, bios or similar artists. It’s really just an alternative YouTube player. All the other music apps either play local files only, or are tied to a specific online service. For $0.99/yr you get a lot of functionality and no ads.

I want to thank Phil for taking the time to let us know about Mono and what the future holds for this new music app.

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Developers

Talking with Planet Toccer [Developer Interview]

Today we get to speak with Planet Toccer, the company behind the Android and iOS game Space Sports. We reviewed the game yesterday and today we are excited to learn a little bit more about the company. I really enjoy speaking with developers and hearing about their side of the app market. Appreciate the time today!

Q. So tell us a little about Plant Toccer?

A. Planet Toccer Inc. is an innovative and rapidly growing full-service IT consulting and new media firm based in Los Angeles. Planet Toccer Holding Ltd., founded by a former international sportsman, Mark Thomas, has teamed up with animated film and gaming industry leaders to launch the new 3D mobile games app Space Sports.

Q. How did you come up with the idea of Space Sports?

A. The genesis of Space Sports was initially from the development of an animated cartoon series where I had characterized the sports and the sports equipment into characters themselves to make sports more appealing to children. By giving the sports themselves a voice and the fun characters it allows the kids to embrace and learn a fun healthy lifestyle and all the great things sports offers at a young age.

Given the explosion of mobile devices and the app world we felt its best future was online and we decided to make it mobile and provide a new sports universe with great games and characters set in the ZaZa galaxy with the sports academy headed by Admiral Tomo, the sports champ of the universe.

Q. Any future plans such as upgrades, expansions?

A. We will constantly upgrade our games and GOALY MOLEY has its next upgrade coming out shortly with new gear catalogue and power up features to enhance the game experience. This will be an ongoing upgrade across all our games coming out. Our avatar creator is being upgraded weekly with new enhancements and the team will constantly be providing ongoing upgrades and improvements.

Q. Any other games coming down the road?

A. We have a slate of new fun and engaging games across all sports for development and our next release is TRUNKER DUNKER, a basketball game set with great alien characters and obstacles to overcome to become champ. ASTRO BAT for baseball and also for NASCAR and Formula 1 fans worldwide we have the COSMIC GP in development. TRUNKER DUNKER is to be released in June and then in the Fall, our really big game, BALL SPRAWL will be released. This is an exciting fun game covering all ball sports and is like nothing you have ever seen.

All these games are tied into our cross media strategy of developing the Space Sports brand with the development of our animated cartoon series based around our amazing characters. This all ties into our branding strategy for physical toys and games for the kids.

We also have our movie, THE LEGEND OF THE ZAZA GALAXY, the script of which is currently in development and the story boards are being designed.

Q. As a developer with a game on both platforms (Android and iOS) is one platform easier to work with than another?

A. Android is definitely the easier version and more versatile. Not only is Android’s market share far exceeding Apple in the smartphone arena but there are spin offs for other manufacturers such as Amazon (Kindle) and Blackberry (Z10 and Playbook) as well. These alternate hardware manufacturers can re wrap the android sdk and developers do not have to develop from scratch. Apple also takes 7-10 business days to process the submission to the app store. Android is 2-24 hours. The difference is pretty clear there.

Q. Where do you guys see mobile gaming going in the next few years?

Functionality and processing power of mobile devices far surpasses the original consoles. With this fact the mobile will evolve to a point where it will double as a mobile console. I think there will be more accessories per device to incorporate a more full game experience. There are already developers putting kinect type technology into mobile dev as an example. Another would be Google glasses type devices. The mobile device is truly that. Its mobile and will allow the user to step into the natural world and use it as the game scene. There will be a step into scene, real and virtual world overlap.

Again thanks for the time and appreciate your insight. Please make sure to keep AppReviewCentral in the loop with your future games.

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Developers

Interview with Cobra Mobile

Today we have an interview with Mark Ettle from CobraMobile, the developers behind the successful iBomber series

Q. Tell us a bit about your company?

A. Cobra Mobile is a premier developer and publisher of digitally delivered games content for iOS, Apple Mac, Android, Mobile,Roku, PC and Steam Powered platforms.

Cobra’s hit games include, the awesome iBomber series, the thrilling Low Grav Racer series, Storm in a Teacup, Fore!,Mouse About, Numba and many, many more. Cobra Mobile are based in (sunny!) Dundee, Scotland.

Q. How did you come up with the idea for the iBomber series?

A. The iBomber series started with the original iBomber. Because of the success we had with the first game we naturally created a sequel but after iBomber 2 we decided to stay in the iBomber world we had created but expand this gaming world into other game genre’s which was very successful with the iBomber Defense range of games we created, both of which we’re BAFTA nominated.

Q. Can you give us a brief review of each game? Would you suggest play the games in any particular order?

A. I think it’s best to go start to finish. I’d always start with the original iBomber (based in the Pacific). Once you have mastered that then move on up to iBomber 2 which extends the action from the Pacific to all over Europe, from Africa to the Alps and also introduces new game mechanics and weapons to rain down on the enemy.

Once you completed this tour of duty, iBomber Defense should be your first port of call, where the iBomber world meets with intense arcade strategy and tower Defense gameplay. iBomber Defense continued iBomber 2’s tour of Europe and then with iBomber Defense Pacific we returned to the Pacific to win the war. iBomber Defense Pacific took the the fun, enjoyment and strategy of iBomber Defense and just made everything bigger, better and added tons of new elements to make for a game which is really hard to put down once you start.

Q. What if any future plans do you have for the series?

A. We have created 5 iBomber games so far, we always have a list of new places and idea’s where we can take the brand and this year we’re taking it Android in a new way and launching iBomber in China. We won’t see any new iBomber games until 2014 as we’re simply tied up with a load of new games that we want to bring to the market this year so we don’t
get stuck trench and can have a bit of fun and stretch our creative wings.

Q. How does one decide on a price point for an app?

A. We look at several factors, the product, development cost (yip, these things cost money to make), audience, etc. We also ask ourselves, would we pay for this, should it be $2.99 or 99c. If it is free how do we look to make a return on it. We do find that if you make the right App, people will pay for it. Obviously there is the whole on-going freemium discussion and we’re looking at how we make a product that fits that market and works as a product people can enjoy.

Q. What do think about the freemium model for apps?

A. It’s very interesting and a viable business model for certain types of apps. It isn’t however a catch all and I think we’ve seen a rush to freemium-ise everything without much thought for the user (or in many cases the brand).

Q. Do you plan to port any of your games to Android or other systems?

A. We started seriously looking at Android last year. We waiting until there was a big enough marketplace, there was a decent swell of good handsets and tablets and alot of the OS issues we’re being addressed. Android is starting to do very well and the new Android devices are really getting there but I’m still surprised at the volume of Android users that don’t update there OS.

Other systems, we already support PC, Mac and Linux through direct sales, Steam, Amazon and Kiss Digital. We also do a load of great games for Roku, Roku is a great TV streaming platform which has allowed us to enter the living/family room games space.

Q. Where do you see mobile gaming going in the next few years?

A. Mobile is going to consolidate. Apple will still be the best place in town with Android coming up close. Android will have more users, devices in the marketplace but that doesn’t mean more paying or loyal users however. There will be other mobile platforms of course but these guys are finding it tough to compete and offer a viable alternative so getting more than a few percent market share is always going to be tough.

I think we will also see mobile and tablet computing merge more with the living room/TV space, we’ve seen attempts to merge everything into one experience but I think that’s the way it’s going, mobile and tablet we’re once seen as the third screen, there now the first, and everything else is competing and trying to integrate to become number two.

Thanks again to Mark for taking the time to do some q&a with us and thanks for adding some neat games on the Android and iOS platforms. Can’t wait to see what CobraMobile has for us in the future.

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Developers Health & Fitness Health & Fitness

MyFitnessPal – Fitness App for Android, iOS [Interview]

Personal fitness should be important to everyone. Well today we have an interview with Mike Lee, co-founder of MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal is currently the #1 health and fitness app in both the Apple App Store and Google Play. They have over 30 million users, and are growing by 1.5 million new users/month.

MyFitnessPal was founded by Mike and Albert Lee. Mike, on a mission to shed a few pounds before his 2005 wedding, began chronicling his calorie intake and fitness activity and thus, successfully dropped the pounds. Having witnessed his success, Albert joined the company shortly thereafter. Today, the 100% bootstrapped company is on a mission to help people lose weight. Their rationale is simple: the easier and more functional the app is to use, the more people will engage, and the more weight they will lose.

So if you are looking for help in fitness, then take a look at MyFitnessPal. Thanks Mike for your time today.

Q. What is MyFitnessPal?

A. MyFitnessPal is the leading free resource helping people improve their health. With our highly successful mobile apps and website, we empower over 30 million users to take charge of a healthy lifestyle. Our extensive food database, which features over 2 million foods, enables users to accurately track their diet alongside their daily exercise to get an accurate picture of their everyday health.

Q. Does it cost anything to join?

A.MyFitnessPal is 100% free to all.

Q.  How do you compare to Weight Watchers?

A. When compared to Weight Watchers and other similar diet plans on the market, the most glaring difference is cost – MyFitnessPal is 100% free for all users. And while the calorie counting concepts may seem similar, the Weight Watchers points system works to simplify the system for its customers, but they learn very little about the actual choices they’re making.

MyFitnessPal is committed to enabling insights based on a user’s eating habits, thus helping them make their own, more informed decisions. In the past, calorie counting has been a burden, and while Weight Watchers tries to simplify the problem with points, MyFitnessPal addresses the problem itself and actually makes calorie counting easy and seamless. There are no restrictions – nothing is off limits so users have the freedom to make their own plan that will fit into their daily lifestyle. Users see their target calories for the day, based on their goals, and they plan their meals accordingly. Adding physical exercise to your daily routine even serves as a bit of a bonus, enabling you to consume additional calories.

Q. Why should someone join MyFitnessPal?

A. Joining MyFitnessPal is the easiest way to take control of your diet and lifestyle. For decades people have been told to track their calories and now it’s simple, easy, free, and proven to work. Regardless of your health goals, MyFitnessPal can help you reach them. Using it makes you more aware, interested and motivated each day and the real time insights into daily habits inspire actionable change.

Q. What apps are available for consumers to use? and on what platforms?

A. MyFitnessPal is available on Android, iOS, Blackberry, Kindle and Windows apps, in addition to the web.

Q. On the website, you have a list of apps, do all of those work with MyFitnessPal?

A. Yes, MyFitnessPal is proud to integrate with several industry leading fitness apps and devices. In October of this year, we released our first API which connects with partner apps and devices—like BodyMedia, runtastic, Endomondo and Withings—to enable the real-time, seamless exchange of user data. This API allows users to instantly sync their daily activities, weight and more alongside their caloric intake. We’re working with the best in the business to deliver the most well-rounded experience for our growing, 30 million member community.

Apps:

MyFitnessPal on Android

MyFitnessPal on iOS

I hope this interview you found informative and helpful.  So if your New Year’s resolution is to work on your fitness, then maybe MyFitnessPal could help.

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Developers

Interview with State of Play Games Makers of Lume

App Name: Lume

Cost: $1.25 USD

Developer: State of Play Games

Market: Google Play

Lume is a very different and unique puzzle game, so I decided to reach out to the developers and learn a little more about them.

Q. How did you come up with the idea for your game/app?

A. The idea of a puzzle adventure game, a girl, and re-using found objects to create new technology had been mulling around in the back of our heads for a while. The original idea was umi in a Space-esque game but the more we developed that, the more we realised it needed to be something closer to home and this decision of keeping it in a real world freed us up quite abit. The visual style was an important steer in the early days and the hand-crafted environment was a great starting point for the game. We had also always loved playing Puzzle Adventure games as kids and beyond so we kind of naturally drawn to this genre.

Q. There are some great photos of you creating the sets for the game can you tell us a bit on how you made them and how long it took to make the game?

A. The sets were built by hand with paper and glue, and lit with miniature lights. We realized we could get all sorts of atmospheric lighting effects this way, and make something that looked realistic simply because it was real. It was also great fun to do, we are never happier than using our hands to create our games. It took between three and six months to complete the set.  (Check out their blog for the photos)

Q. What future games do you have in mind?

A. It’s a hugely exciting time for us at the moment, we are deep in development of the sequel to Lume. The next few months are going to be a really busy time for us, our studio is currently a sea of models, glue, and craft knives, as well as a prototype which we have been testing.

Q. For those unfamiliar with the term Indie game, can you explain it?

A. That’s always a grey area as people define it in lots of different ways. For me it means an independently financed game without a tie to a big Game Publisher. They are also often digitally distributed via Online stores such as Steam.

Q. Did you find creating the game for Android any harder or easier than from iOS?

A.  They both had challenges, the parameters we had to think about more with the Android port was the numerous devices you have to consider, and we have had to work hard to achieve a streamline port. We listened to our users and have made updates that have approved the experience for all players on Android devices.

Q. As a game developer, where do you see mobile gaming in the next few years?

A.  I think with mobile gaming there will be more of a streamlined device experience. For example, you will begin a game on your PC, save it, then continue the game on your mobile device while on your commute to work. It will be less of the developer making a game for one device and then porting to other platforms and more a one game fits all.

Q. Where do you see the Android market (in general) going in the next few years?

A.  I think the quality of products for the Android market will continue to rise. I think consumers expect more now and want a complete immersible  experience and high quality product. As the Android devices available continue to improve, people will in turn expect more from their apps

Q. Anything else you would like to add?

A. If in doubt grab a sketchbook.

Thanks again for your time and a cool and different game.

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Developers

Desert Stormfront – Noble Master Games

App Name: Desert Stormfront

Cost: $4.99/ Free for Lite versioni

Developer: Noble Master Games

Market: Google Play

Well Noble Master Games, the guys who brought your Tropical Stormfront, is providing a “sequel” Desert Stormfront! I was lucky enough to get a copy ahead of time. Another classic game. A very fun and easy to learn RTS. Here is what the press release says:

Desert Stormfront is a retro real-time strategy (RTS) game situated in the Middle East. The game is inspired by the “Classic Empire” game and designed towards casual players. Units at your disposal include Humvees, Tanks, Artillery, Mechanics, Helicopters, Planes, Ships and Submarines amongst others. Desert Stormfront supports multiplayer games over LAN and internet including co-op multiplayer.

Origins

Like its predecessor “Tropical Stormfront” (released on Dec. 20, 2011), Desert Stormfront is inspired by the turn-based “Classic Empire” game by Walter Bright. Units and structures were modeled after the original following a rock-paper-scissors system for attack and defense. Unit movement was chosen to be real-time similar to the classic “Command & Conquer” but following a more simplified approach for casual players/enabling the game to run also on mobile devices with touch screens.

Release: Desert Stormfront was first released on Android, PC, Mac, Linux on September 25, 2012.

Features

  • Real-Time Strategy (RTS) in the Middle East.
  • Single player and cross-platform multiplayer (over the LAN and Internet).
  • Team-Play (Single Player and Multiplayer).
  • Mission Types: Attack, Defense, Capture the Flag, Convoy Missions.
  • Nations: USA, England, France, Italy, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Egypt, Rebels.

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Developers

Interview with MicaByte – Pirates and Traders

App Name: Pirates and Traders

Cost: Free / $4.99 USD

Developer: MicaByte

Market: Google Play

If you enjoy RPGs and pirates, then you should check out Pirates and Traders from MicaByte. I have been playing the game and really enjoy it. You are a pirate and your mission is to sail the Caribbean in search of fortune. There is a general story line but a huge amount of free play, so you can explore to your heart’s content. The game recently was updated that has really made it even better. I reached out the the developer, Michael Akinde and learn a little more behind the game. Enjoy!

Q. Where did you get the idea for the game Pirate and Traders?

A. All over the place. I know a lot of people think of Sid Meier’s Pirates, but if I am to point at any single game it is Pieter Spronck’s Space Traders. I was an early adopter of Android, and this was a game that I missed playing back then; that lack was a major reason why I decided to create Pirates and Traders. I didn’t want to do a clone of Space Traders, though, so being a history geek I decided to go for a historical time period and setting that would fit the gameplay I wanted.

Q. What future updates do you have planned?

A. I plan to add a few more longer story-line quests to the game. For the Gold! version, I plan to add some additional player backgrounds and starting options.

Q. What advice would you give a new player to the game?

A. My number one recommendation would probably be to heed the principles of Jack Sparrow: he who runs away, lives to fight another day. Real-life buccaneers went for the easy prey and ran from anything else. Unless you know what you are doing, attacking a ship with more crew and more cannons will lead to a last dance with the hangman or Davy Jones’ locker.

Apart from that, it can be useful to play using the default (quick-start) character the first time, and advance the leadership and sailing skills early if you’re looking to be a pirate. These two are useful survival skills, as they help your crew and ship to fight better. As a pirate, it is also important to keep a watch on the shifting alliances among nations, as you want to try and keep at least one nation on your side.  Traders would instead want to focus on bargaining and sailing.

Most importantly – if there is something that is hard to figure out (and the documentation doesn’t cover it), let me know. I try to update the game guides anytime people make me aware of the holes in it.

Q. What other games have you made, any new ones coming down the road?

A. “A Brief History of Rome” was my first effort Android app. It’s a fairly simple historical strategy game that reflects the rise and fall of the Roman Empire – which means a never-ending struggle to hold back the tide of barbarians (as in real history). The latter tends to throw off gamers used to “conquer-the-world” games.

I also have “Pirates and Traders: Retro” (the paid version of which is “Old Gold!”) on Google Play! This is the first and simpler version of Pirates and Traders that was available on the Android market.

I’m always tinkering with new ideas, but the next game I develop will probably build on the story-telling engine of Pirates and Traders just in a fantasy setting. It will mix resource-management/strategy and role-playing in much the same way Pirates and Traders mixes trading game play with role-playing.

Q. How did you come up with the price for the Gold version?

A. “Pirates and Traders” is free, so I assume you are referring to “Pirates and Traders: Gold”? Well – how does anyone come up with a price for what they sell? A mix of guesswork, trial and error, and calculation.

“Pirates and Traders” started out as a pretty hardcore niche game. It’s a lot more forgiving these days, but it’s still a game that (I think) requires some time to master. I dislike playing “crippled” games, personally, so the free version of the game offers full-featured, unlimited game play. This means that the people who buy the Gold version are (almost) all fans of the game, who buy the game because they enjoy and want to support the continued development of these kind of games.

Q. Do you find programming for Android hard? Ever done any iOS games, if so how do they compare?

A. No and no. Android development with Java is relatively easy, though.

Q. Where do you see mobile gaming going in the next few years?

A. Impossible to say, though I suspect market forces will see freemium games dominate even more in future, with only niche games still relying on one-time purchases for revenue.

I want to thank Michael again for his time and I recommend you guys give Pirate and Traders I try!