321run.com

Sorry, we’re closed. It’s the message people usually see when Apple has new offers to publish on its Store. Unfortunately, I have to close for several days too, but not for the same enjoyable reasons.

I noticed from several web sites and while googling “321Run” that the paid version has been pirated over and over. I have no problem with pirats who have a anarchist behaviour, saying “we unlock your app to test it and buy it if it’s good”. Except this is false in my case. There is a free version with the free word in the title and the free word in the features. So unlocking the app has only things to do with being able to spare 5 or 6 euros on a 600 euros device (the real price, unsubsidized). Sure, that’s the price of two cigarette packs in France, that makes a horribly expensive app.

That’s bad karma for them.

That’s why I tried to detect pirated versions. The goal was to provide an alert sending them to the AppStore so they could buy the real version. If they still didn’t want to buy it, ok, they only had that alert once per session. No crippling the app, no forced bug, no features disappearing.

Unfortunately the detection relies on the size of some files, which are apparently modified by Apple when releasing the app. I was unaware of that: a version with detection was already on the appstore and worked perfectly. So when you have paid for the app, you get an awful message saying you pirated the app and advising you to go to the AppStore. Each time.

I woke up this morning to two new emails: one to tell me my version was released, and the other one from a user who discovered painfully the issue. I did what has to be done:

I pulled the app from the Store

That means no sales for several days, the time for the review team to get to my app. But really I only blame myself. I destroyed all the code that detected pirated versions. I re-submitted the app. Now, I am waiting.

What can be concluded?

• Don’t mess with that kind of code.
• The review process still needs some incident tickets to help get on top of the review pile, like a Wonka gold ticket.
• You need to be able to downgrade the version on the AppStore
• You need to be able to test the version that is released before hand

I learned all this the hard way.

Les pirates ont gagné contre moi, et j’en paye les pots cassés.

Depuis quelque temps j’avais remarqué un trafic important du côté des pirates d’applications iPhone, qui se partagent les applications qu’ils ont crackées (oui, il faut faire une donation aux fournisseurs de lien, mais eux c’est normal). Voyez vous, cracker une app sur iPhone est ‘assez facile’ et il y a même un site qui fait ça automagiquement.

L’argument massue pour justifier l’économie d’un ou deux paquets de clope que ça représente? “Oui comme ça on peut tester l’appli avant de l’acheter”. Et tout cela dit souvent avec une mauvaise foi presque enfantine. Car dans mon cas, il y a une version gratuite, pas aussi complète que la version payante certes, mais quand même largement, très largement suffisante pour “tester”.

Alors j’ai essayé de mettre des mesures anti piratages, simplement pour signaler que c’est bon, j’ai remarqué que c’était piraté. Et inviter à agir de manière responsable. Même avec 1% de conversion, j’aurais augmenté de manière importante mes ventes (c’est vous dire la proportion de pirates).

Malheureusement cela m’a sauté à la gueule (pas complètement de ma faute, j’ai testé plus d’une fois avant d’envoyer la mise à jour). Ce matin, j’ai trouvé un mail d’Apple me signalant la mise à jour, et un mail d’un utilisateur se plaignant à juste titre d’avoir le message alors qu’il avait acheté l’appli.

Réaction immédiate: j’ai enlevé l’appli de l’AppStore pour éviter que la mise à jour ne mécontente plus d’utilisateurs. Désolé pour ceux qui ont téléchargé la mise à jour pendant la nuit.

Conclusion, j’ai enlevé toutes ces mesures anti piratage, car elles me coûteront au final plus cher qu’elles ne peuvent rapporter, surtout vis à vis des utilisateur normaux. J’attends la mise à jour par l’équipe de l’AppStore, qui a repris son rythme d’avant Décembre, quelques jours pour une mise à jour, en rêvant:

• de pouvoir revenir à la version d’avant (sans bug)
• de pouvoir utiliser un ticket en or pour être traité en express par la review team
• que le piratage des applis soit moins facile
• de ne jamais avoir mis ces mesures en place.

En attendant, je croise les doigts. Je vous préviendrai quand les choses seront redevenues normales. Et je vais en profiter pour travailler sur le site…

321Run and 321run Free have both been released by Apple last friday. The review time was quite little. Thanks to the review team at Apple for modifying (and enhancing) their workflow.

The first 3 days were a promo, with a big decrease on the price, but today, the price is back to what it was, just a little bit less, and will stay at that price. I also make sure that the price for the full-paid version and the in-app purchase are the same.

Thanks to all the people who downloaded over the week end. Don’t hesitate to promote the Free app as manuy people like to try this app before they buy, and the in-app purchase has made things much nicer for users.

I have been working on 321RunTouch, the version without GPS features for iPod Touch and first generation iPhones. I will make sure I alert everybody once it’s released

Maps are wonderful, giving you a view of your effort, allowing you to put a landmark of your run somewhere. And since day 1, 321run added maps.

But as we used the old SDK in 1.2, the maps were a bit static. There’s nothing wrong about static maps: they’re light, they’re easily cacheable. They’re a bit small.

But interactive maps are nicer, cooler, and definitely have a wow effect. I wanted to take advantage of that wow effect for the user, for the interest of the app, and make it something that would last.

So I decided to use to both static and interactive maps. Interactive maps are cool to find your way, where you are, so I added an instant map in the record screen that allows you to easily find where you are, what you’ve done and were you’re heading. Interactive maps are also cool to look in details, so you have access to the same interactive map in the detail view of your run.

But you want to quickly see where you were, and to do it quick. So we still have static maps, in the same detail view:

You can see we did it as well as we thought it had to be done. To make it clear that it’s a button to access the interactive map, we made the corners round (that’s a lot of code, you know?).

Well, that’s it for today. Stay tuned or contact me at cyril @ ecomposite.fr  if you want to beta test the 2.0.

321Run 2.0 has been submitted for review to the AppStore process. It will be shortly available, I hope. If there are issues the delay the release of that new version, I will keep you informed through the blog.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

By the way, the 2.0 feature set is complete, but tests are never complete. I am looking for testers to be sure that the 2.0 version is a perfect app when it is released.

My wife and I testing is surely not enough to test that app. So if you want to participate, please send me your info and your UDID for iPhone (use Erica Sadun’s AdHoc to send it to me). My email is cyril and my domain is ecomposite.fr

There will be prizes for people who find bugs.

After a long process of updates, the new version of 321run will use the iPhone OS 3. This version of the OS that was released in July allows a ton of new features, such as in-app maps à la Maps, music selection and access, new nicer animations etc etc.

So guess what? The new features of 321run are using these core features.

A simple example is handling of sound and music. In 321Run 1.2, you still need to start the music before you run or start the app. That’s is annoying. And if the music you’ve decided to listen to doesn’t please you in the middle of your run, you’re stuck with it.

Actually in the latest version available today in the AppStore, you can skip if you have a headphone remote, and that’s all. And if the whole list doesn’t please you, rats! You have to quit the app to choose other music.

In the 2.0 version, you can directly choose your music from within the app. Click the music icon and you have access to all your music, tracks and playlists. Add files one by one or add them all, and you are done. And if you don’t like the music you’re listening to right now, you can easily skip it or change it. If you want to change the list of music, just go back to the list and choose new tracks: the music will directly change.

While you run, if you need to change the music and skip, and you don’t have a remote on your headphones, double tap the black screen and you’ll skip.

But wait, there’s more…

You remember that time when you didn’t hear the sound of the coach telling you how far you are, or when to change rythm? It won’t happen again. Now, everytime the coach speaks, the music lowers its volume so you can hear him.

That’s it for today. But come back to learn what is new. Or better, subscribe to the rss feed and to the web site 321run.com, right now.

321run iphone 1.2 has long lived, the next version is almost ready.

The biggest feature is the web site. You can already enjoy it, so register, upload you runs and enjoy. More to come in the coming weeks.