Keeping You Posted

You will have to forgive the radio-silence for a while -- I'm focused and I want to get the base art app out quickly. This is just a quick update to let you know I'm here and working. GoogHacks continues to do well for a baby app; I've had some good feedback on the forums (but no comments, guess I need to build a link in-app) but at the moment I am focused on the art app. I have implemented a functional bucket, but it isn't perfect - either its 100% effective and too slow, or 90% effective and fast. Considering art is about blending and working with the tools you have (at least for myself) I am going with 90% effective and fast until further notice. I've moved on to creating an alpha interface, and may dabble in a few other tools including opening images, but then I'm going to build the undo process and start into creating a layering interface... The interface will need a seismic overhaul because, to me, an art app should be all about shortcut keys and speed when it comes to accessing the tools you need. I'm excited and working hard. Hope everyone has a great Christmas/Holiday season.

Additional Update:

• Finally figured out what was glitching the floodFill algorithm (Color Fill) YEAH!
• Tweaked Brush Size interface to be Brush Settings interface
• Added opacity to the Brush Settings interface
• Added antialias and dither checkboxes to Brush Settings interface
• Fixed error with Brush Settings interface
• Removed color tolerance until further notice (too giltchy)
• Began work on Open Image option
• Tweaked Undo/Redo a little to prepare for full integration (still not functional)
• Getting excited about Christmas (hohoho)

Art App Update

So the "art app lite" release deadline has come and gone with no release, but all is not lost! I've made great progress with the Fill Bucket tool, which is really a huge obstacle, apparently, but I'm toughing it out and looking for an algorithm that works. I won't get too technical here, but basically at the moment it works great, but the memory is getting full before the app can catch up to perform certain actions (We in the dev. world call that a "stack overflow"). I'm a problem-solver, though, and considering how far I've come in so little time I am not concerned about it. So you can update Fill Bucket to: Structure Built. Yay!

While I'm here, I might as well tout that Googhacks Lite is still doing well! Check it out when you have some free-time. Also, good news: not only are real live people coming to this blog, but they are also reading it! (Or pulling it up and letting it sit there for 20 minutes.) I like readers. Hello reader.

Enough play-time, back to work!

Android Only: Direct Link to download GoogHacks Lite

Quick Update:
I didn't feel this warranted an actual post, but it is some really big news. The Fill Bucket tool project is a success! I have a few, minor glitches I need to work out to fill in the gaps, but it is running surprisingly fast even on the slower processors! The great thing? Thus far the build is compatible with all Android 1.6+ devices! Give me another few days and I may feel comfortable releasing a new deadline for my new Lite app!

GoogHacks Lite Update / Art App Progress

GoogHacks Lite is doing well as a free app! It's averaging about 7 installs a day. That's exciting because I have a lot of plans for it, but it will take more than just 50-ish installs before it will become something I deem marketable (aka: Updates!)... Logically it would be wise to wait until around 1,000 installs and a bit of ad-revenue starts coming in as a result. Economically it would be more wise to wait until around 10,000 installs. Astronomically I should wait until 100,000 installs and a decent yearly salary coming from it. Realistically I'll probably wait another two weeks to see if anyone leaves any comments and then release an update. What can I say, I'm a softy for installs.

The art app idea I've been throwing around isn't exactly in the idea form anymore. I've built the basic design already, using the standard design with not-so-standard code... which has resulted in a quick, dependable interface that actually functions like an art app should! I still have a long ways to go, but I'm up to building tools!

"Android Art App" Lite Tool Plans:

• Draw (Done)
• Color (Done)
• Brush Size (Done)
• Eye Dropper (Done)
• Name (Done, Unreleased)
• Undo (Structure Built)
• Fill Bucket (Reviewing Options)
• Save (Planning Stage)
• Open (Planning Stage)
• Facebook Upload (Concept Stage)
• Icon (Concept Stage)
  

My deadline to release a Lite version is in two days... With all these tools and functions to build, the pressure IS on! :D

New App: GoogHacks Lite

I released GoogHacks Lite late yesterday with very little pomp, but lots of circumstance because the Android Market Apps are hell to setup. (C'mon, if WebOS can make it easy, everyone can, right? Right?) I wasn't liking the limited attention GoogHacks was receiving and decided that a free version would boost my outlook on the future of GoogHacks. So naturally depending on the popularity of GoogHacks Lite over the next few months will determine if I decide to move forward with widening its scope; lots of great plans for it, but not worth it if no one is willing to spend a dollar to get it.

New App: AndroidArt (Experimental) (Unreleased)

I've begun a good bit of development on an experimental app idea I came up with. The name is definitely still in the works, but it will be the first REAL art application for the Android, and possibly the first fully-dynamic art application on any SmartDevice! Here are some details:

• Simple User Interface - Opening the app opens a new, blank image, options to open an image, save, undo, redo, etc...
• Basic Tools - Pencil, Paint Brush, Fill Bucket, Erase, Line, Circle, Square, Select, Color Picker, etc...
• Advanced Tools - Blur, Smudge, Dodge, Burn, Gradient Fill, etc...
• Basic Filters - Sepia, Desaturate, Blur, Edge, Red Eye Removal, etc...
• Advanced Filters - Anything and everything! Fractals, Fire, Motion Blur, Cartoonize, Smoke, etc...

Basically I want to build a REAL photoshop/gimp-esque app, with plugins and scripting, that really fits the bill for a true art creation/editing tool so that you no longer have to link your artwork back into a computer, you can just build it the way you want, and share it out via the app to whatever social/art-network you prefer!

This is a huge project, but I'm already pretty well along the way. I've built the foundation for the basics, and am just implementing them as I work on my other projects. I am confident this market will get huge really fast as the bigger companies realize computers are becoming a thing of the past and tablets are the future.

I'll try and give regular updates as I am sure to run into thousands of frustrations with this, but I'm excited about it none-the-less.

The very basic FREE version should be available to the Android Market soon!

Update: GoogHacks Project Priorities

I have the planned features for GoogHacks listed as follows:

• Compatibility! (1st Priority)
• Customizable Searches (2nd Priority)
• Filtering fake/dead websites
• General Preferences (SafeSearch/Images)
• Pretty Graphics
• Developer Blog

Hits are running low, though it was expected for my first APP being a "pay app", but I decided to go ahead with the Developer Blog... as you can tell.

Compatibility isn't really an issue at this point because the app is so basic there's really no room for error - which is great because it just does what it says it does, and isn't so great because the every day consumer hates paying for the bare minimum. No worries, though it will soon be a very powerful tool!

The second item on the list and my current priority is custom searches! This will basically make it so you can search for any filetype via my app through a simple interface. So you can just, for example, click to create a new search item, name it something like "Forums", check off the preset filters for filtering out items, and check off the preset filters for filtering in items, and even add your own filters to either in or out if you like. Then just save it and from then on you can search for just forums, or forum logs, or whatever related to forums depending on how you build the hack. I can't properly explain how much power this puts into your hands, but trust me its nothing like anything else out there.

Progress:
So far I've built the database structure and the code that will read and write the custom items to it. I'm still playing with the idea of allowing you to edit my preset custom fields because it would make it so you could render them ineffective, but then again I may just put a "Defaults" button in there so you can just push it if you goof something up. I don't know, but progress is going well and I look forward to releasing it as version 1.5, which should also signal the release of GoogHacks FREE, but we will see.

Features: GoogHacks v1.0

Below are the current features available for GoogHacks.

GoogHacks v1.0 Current Features:

• Music - Find MP3s from all over the world!
• eBooks/PDFs - Search for your favorite eBook/PDF document!
• Text Files - Dig up those informative text files!
• Compressed Files - Find zip files with little trouble.

New App: GoogHacks v1.0

I've released the GoogHacks v1.0 app to the market. It has a 99 cent price-tag, which is warding off most, but it getting some hits. As I develop it into a more advanced and dynamic tool I will release a FREE version, and plan to release the FREE versions first in the future to pull in interest faster, but I guess a lot of this is just a learning experience at this point.

Try GoogHacks - Your own little guilt-free nerd.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the T.N. Development Team's corner of the blogosphere! This blog will be used to relay news related to our recent Android app releases as well as application ideas and updates on the development stages of those ideas. Feel free to leave a comment if the mood strikes you, or e-mail us at tndevteam@gmail.com.