When I released x2y 1.0 last year there were only two major features it didn’t have that really bothered me. The first was full iPad support, which I managed to add in version 1.2. The second was the ability to customize your Common Aspects list. That is being added today in version 1.4. Michael Simmons says you should “plan your 2.0 but ship your 1.0.” And that’s pretty much what I did. While the last thing I wanted for x2y was for it…

In-app purchase in spotlight again as boy racks up £1,000 iPad bill: “Eight-year-old Theo Rowland-Fry’s parents thought nothing of letting him play a ‘Simpsons’ game on the family iPad — until a recent bank statement showed charges of almost £1,000, that is.” (Via Apple Insider.) Here’s my question: Why do kids games with in-app-purchase even exist? Why are parents downloading these games at all? “Freemium” games for kids should have zero downloads. As should kids games with ads. Blame Apple if you want, but personally I think…

It was a privlige and a pleasure to chat with Dan and Philipe, organizers of the NSNorth conference last night on their podcast. We talked about the App Store business, how to take the long approach to success, including the need to work on your sales skills, and much more. All of my favorite topics, which will be the basis of my upcoming talk at NSNorth this April. If you’ve never been to the lovely city of Ottawa in the Spring, I urge you to consider heading up there…

I made a few small tweaks to x2y this week. Haven’t had time to work on any major new features lately, but there is always room for small improvements. I realized that somehow one of the ratio separators (the colons between the numbers) was out of alignment on the iPad. Actually, the separator was in the right place, but the two number fields it separated weren’t. One of those tiny little details that was extremely embarrassing to me. You stare at a screen for weeks, trying to make…

It occurs to me that the people trading barbs about the whole maps controversy on iOS are wasting time and getting bent out of shape about nothing. There’s a very simple and logical way to decide which maps app, Google’s or Apple’s, you want to use. If you live in an area where Apple’s map data sucks, use Google. If you live in an area where Google’s map data isn’t as good as Apple’s (Yes, those places exist.), use Apple’s. If you…