Blog Pod - Archive for July, 2010

After a disasterous couple of days that saw VAT Pro’s rankings drop to 100 and below we noticed sales steadily start to pick up again throughout the day. So much so that we have been listed in the iTunes “What’s Hot” section in position 3!

Thank you so much to all of our customers. As stated in previous blog entries, version 1.2 in in review with some very exciting new features (well, exciting if you work with VAT)  and we have started working on version 1.3.

After an update to the portal used by iPhone app developers yesterday, many developers are reporting that the screenshots for their apps have gone missing. Instead the app store just shows grey rectangles where the images should be.

In our case, our most recent app has suffered from this and it has had a very bad effect on our rankings. Over night we have dropped by over 50 positions in the business chart after weeks of hard work promoting it. Needless to say we are not happy about this at all. I contacted iPhone development support via the number given on the website only to be told that there is nothing they could do and my only option was to email the relevant department via their online form. My past experience of this is that it takes them 3 or 4 days to respond. I have done this anyway in the hope that they will listen and respond in a timely manor but i’m not expecting a quick response.

Looking into this a bit further, it would appear that apps released yesterday all have missing screen shots and reading the forums where developers hangout suggests that it effects apps that were just released. The odd thing is that our app has been available in the app store for a little while now (although it does have an update waiting for review). So in reality I have no idea what is happening, all I do know is that our sales have been dramatically effected and our app will disappear from the charts by later this evening.

The really frustrating thing is that although Apple will fix this, they will not do anything to compensate for the loss of earnings due to their incompetence and lack of testing (ring a bell – iPhone 4 – loss of signal?). The least I would expect from Apple is for them to restore all of our positions as of yesterday and to re-release new apps.

Come on Apple do the right thing!

I will keep this post updated with the feedback from apple.

We have today submitted v1.2 of VAT Pro, the VAT Calculator for iPhone. Version 1.2 contains some major new features as well as over 50 more countries added to the database.

New Features:

1. European VAT Number Validator
   This feature allows you to enter a VAT Number and check that it is indeed valid. VAT Pro searches the European Commissions online database to validate the number entered and clearly identifies whether it is valid or not.
2. Reverse Calculation
   Now you can enter the VAT only amount and, based on the rate selected, VAT Pro will instantly calculate the Inclusive and Exclusive amounts for you.
3. User definable Tax Name
   For non UK users you can now change the tax name from VAT to anything you like. For example, ‘Tax’ or ‘TVA’
4. Rate Comparison
   By tapping the lock icon in VAT Pro you effectively ‘lock’ the selected rate as the default rate. If you then tap a different rate, VAT Pro will popup a screen showing you the difference between the locked rate and the one you have just selected. This proves useful when a VAT or Tax rate changes and you need to update your prices.
5. 56 New Countries
   VAT Pro’s database now contains VAT information for 56 more countries.
6. Splash Screen
   Although it takes literally a second to load, we thought we’d show you a lovely splash screen instead of a boring old black one.

Many of these new features have been suggested by our users so we do listen. If you have an idea to suggest, please drop us a line and we’ll see what we can do.

VAT Pro the VAT Calculator for iPhone has today been released for sale/upgrade in the App Store. Version 1.1 of VAT Pro includes a shiny new user interface together with a couple of minor new features.

My Mirror Pro, the iPhone Pocket Mirror, is now available for purchase in the App Store.

Using the iPhone 4′s front facing camera, My Mirror Pro turns your iphone into a real pocket mirror. With over 20 high resolution frames, zoom in and out buttons and save picture buttons, you will look good anytime of the day.

Swap to the rear facing camera to take picture postcards of your holidays and use them in emails and MMS.

Features:

• Real iPhone mirror using the front camera
• Zoom in and out
• Over 20 high resolution frames
• Save your picture
• Remembers last frame used
• Works in landscape and portrait modes
• Take postcard snapshots by switching to the rear camera
• iOS4 tested

My Mirror Pro is available now in the App Store

We are pleased to announce that version 1.1 of VAT Pro – the iPhone VAT calculator has been submitted to the app store. Version 1.1 includes a brand new user interface with ultra high resolution graphics which look fantastic on the iPhone retina display. As well as the new interface, the operator keys now remain highlighted when pressed.

More information on VAT Pro, the iPhone VAT Calculator.

We were very pleased to discover that VAT Pro the iPhone VAT Calculator has today entered the New and Noteworthy iTunes list.  Thank you so much to everyone that has purchased our app.

Part of our marketing campaign to promote our new iPhone apps was to make overview videos of our apps in action. None of us here at The Apps Pod are film directors, nor did we have a massive budget to get them professionally produced. So we thought lets have a go at doing some ourselves and see how we go.

After much research we discovered that we can make as many videos as we wanted for under £15. OK so they’re not going to win any Oscars but they will show our apps in action and thought we would share this with you.

We purchased an application called iShowU for $20. iShowU makes movies by recording what happens on your screen. To make our apps we simply fired it up in the iPhone simulator and recorded it.  This worked really well however, operating the iPhone with the mouse did not look to great so we looked into resolving that. Eventually we came across some donation ware software called Sim Finger which effectively puts a white disc under the mouse cursor and this is what gets recorded. It really looks so much more professional than a mouse cursor. Sim Finger does more than simply replace the cursor, it also allows you to replace the Carrier name and time in the simulator as well as install fake apple app icons. However, we have had problems with this on xcode 3.2.3

So how does this all work together.

1. Open up Sim Finger in XCode (Its an xcode project, not an application)
2. Build and run Sim Finger and you will see a white rectangular area on your screen with a blank iPhone displayed on top.
3. Open up your iPhone app project in another xcode window and Build / Run that in simulator mode.
4. The iPhone simulator will appear over Sim Fingers blank iPhone automatically
5. Now run iShowU, Select the capture area and make sure the ‘Show Mouse in Recording’ option is OFF
6. When you’re ready press record and use your app

That’s it, you will end up with a decent recording of your app in use. Using iShowU you can also record voice overs, background music and even record yourself in an overlayed window using the app. All for under £15 – amazing value!

In the UK we have to pay VAT (Value Added Tax) on many of the items we purchase.  Most people know how to add VAT to a value but have difficulty subtracting VAT. This article explains how to do just that.

As of the time of writing, VAT in the UK stands at 17.5%. In January 2011 this is set to change to 20%. We will show some examples below using both VAT rates. Use this calculation when you know the price of an item including VAT (Gross Price) and you want to know what the price was before VAT was added (Net Price):

Example 1: Presuming VAT at 17.5%

Gross Price divided by 1.175 = Net Price (£150 / 1.175 = £127.66)
In this example the price including VAT (Gross) was £150 and the price before VAT was added (Net) was £127.66

Example 2: Presuming VAT at 20%

Gross Price divided by 1.2 = Net Price (£150 / 1.2 = £125.00)
In this example the price including VAT (Gross) was £150 and the price before VAT was added (Net) was £125.00

Calculating the divisor

In the above examples, the divisors were 1.175 and 1.2. How did we get to these? Simply take the rate of VAT i.e. 17.5 and divide by 100 to give you 0.175. Add 1 to this value to give you 1.175.

OK, so now you know the formula and could use a simple calculator to work out the price before VAT but if you want to make your VAT life really easy, why not use our iPhone VAT calculator. With VAT Pro all you need do is enter the price into the ‘Inclusive field’ if you need to know the exclusive price or enter the price into the ‘Exclusive field’ if you need to know the inclusive price. It really is as simple as that. VAT Pro has all VAT / Tax rates for European countries and US states allowing you to quickly switch rates if need be. VAT Pro remembers the VAT rate last used.

VAT Pro for iPhone is now available on the app store.  

VAT Pro is a powerful VAT and Tax Calculator for iPhone which allows you to quickly and effortlessly perform VAT related calculations. Simply enter the Exclusive or Inclusive value, tap Equals and VAT Pro will instantly show you the missing value together with a VAT breakdown.

Rates for 29 European countries and all US states are supplied with more on the way. If your country is not available you can use one of the five custom countries to add your own tax rates. All tax rates and country names are editable and up to four VAT rates can be assigned to each country.