Developer on Wheels

On Speaking & Speeches

2012-01-11T23:03:00.000-08:00

In my senior year of high school, I was voted "Most Shy" for my grade of over three hundred people. I was so frustrated by this -- having spent the previous few years trying to talk more -- that I refused to pose for a high school yearbook photo commemorating the award. Apparently my female counterpart refused as well. (We never spoke, but I'm sure she had a solid alibi too.)

I've always had difficulty speaking. I still do. Oddly enough however, I decided a few weeks ago that it would be a good idea to try to speak to a couple hundred people at once.

Odder still? As it turned out, it actually was a good idea.

My boss Ethan would have done the presentation, but he was going to Vegas for a big tech convention. (And yes, before you ask, I was indeed jealous.) He asked me if I'd be interested in giving the talk in his stead. It was clearly a huge opportunity. I perhaps hemmed and hawed a bit more than was truly necessary, but in the end I agreed to do it.

I then worked on putting some slides together for a fifteen minute presentation. The topic of the night was mobile app design; I had a lot of opinions but very little (read: zero) technical training on design. Also I had never used Keynote before in my life, and I was fairly set against slideshows in general, having done a stint of time at a big consulting firm from which I'd come out none the better. Nonetheless, I set to work with a passion.

The night of the presentation, I was amazed at the two keynote presentations which were to precede my "bonus" presentation. The talks were polished, and their slides were spic and span, aesthetic masterpieces. On the one hand, it was intimidating as hell. How could I follow up such speeches? These speakers were clearly professionals; I hardly belonged in such company. At the same time though, their polish was liberating for me. I no longer had to worry about being polished; clearly I wasn't going to match them in that arena. I could have fun with my presentation.

And I did. It was a great time, with a great audience. I was still wired for hours afterwards.

Now if only my high school classmates had been there...

-Dave

P.S. Below are some links for the presentation. You had to be there. But, you know, here are the links anyway:
360 Panorama Photo (thanks @romyilano!)
Presentation (Keynote)*
Presentation (PowerPoint)*

*I left the presenter notes in there. The speech was rough around the edges; the files might as well be also.

Of Work and PLAY

2011-10-18T00:20:00.000-07:00

In the last two and a half years, I've moved cross-country three times. I packed my life into only the small number of bags and boxes that could fit comfortably into a midsize sedan; before that, the bed of a pickup truck; before that, the back of a motorcycle. I was unemployed for a year, most of which I spent working my ass off on my own personal projects as documented on this blog, and then I worked for three very different companies within the following year and a half.

It's been an interesting stretch of time, to say the least. I've changed a lot over these past couple years -- in some ways for the better, in others for the worse. At times I've nearly lost sight of who I am and what's truly important to me.

Through it all, though, I've tried to live passionately. No, I don't go out every weekend and climb Mount Everest. Whatever I do commit myself to however, I try to commit myself to one hundred percent. This can be draining, but it all pays off when you end up with something that you're proud of. Your projects become your children, and it's amazing to see them take new life in other people's hands, to see what others do with them.

I've worked jobs where I created software for others, which I'd never use myself. I've created software for pest control companies, and I've created software for measuring carbon footprints. The latter certainly left me feeling positive at the end of the day -- feeling like I was part of the solution, not the problem -- but I never felt attached to the project on a personal level.

TapTunes, which I started just before setting off on the first of my cross country trips, was an escape of sorts. I was no longer creating something for others but for myself. I wanted to use this thing every day; every little tweak that I added made my music listening experience more enjoyable. I was reawakening to the joy of creation; I hadn't had that much fun programming since I'd made games on my TI-83 during high school physics class.

Pure creation: something from nothing. It's a beautiful thing. It's a damn strong drug...yet like any drug, it can become addictive. My social life has certainly slowed down quite a bit since my passion for coding was reignited. At the end of the day though, I do this because I love it. If I weren't getting paid for coding, I'd still be doing it in my free time. Those aren't just empty words; I already did do it in my free time when I had a full-time job...and when I was unemployed...and now again when I have a new full-time job.

This February, I woke up one morning to find that I was being stalked. Out of nowhere, some crazy Californian dude had tweeted at me and wanted to connect with me on LinkedIn. "Who the hell is this Sol Lipman?" I thought. He was a fan of TapTunes, it turned out. Not only that, he was also a Senior Director of Mobile (yes, with capital letters) at AOL. That's America Online, of course, which if you're my age or older should immediately bring up memories of squealing 56k modems and the classic "You've Got Mail!" soundbite which was so popular they named a movie after it.

America Online? This company still exists? I honestly can't say for sure that I knew before waking up that February morning. Luckily Sol was a benign stalker, one who wanted to offer me a job -- in my experience, the best sort of stalker. In any case I did some research and realized that I had a couple of AOL apps on my phone already -- Engadget and Moviefone. More to the point, I was equally shocked and honored that this company -- and this successful, enigmatic man who I'm now proud to call a friend -- would seek me out based on TapTunes.

The app was, as I like to tell people, a labor of love and OCD. I had spent a year and a half rewriting the entire app and dusting off every corner of it before I finally decided that version 3.0 was ready to release. I then priced it free in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, I could cast it out there into that great ocean of the internet and hope that something would bite. I didn't actually expect anything to happen though.

My first project with AOL was PLAY, which is a social music player, an "Instagram for music." This app is what got me the job. Sol's team needed some fresh blood for the project, and so he went to the App Store looking for music players. I don't know if he actually expected for the plan to work, but he contacted the developers of his favorite apps on the store. A few months later, I started working on his team.

I've been working at AOL for five months now. And frankly, I couldn't be happier. I get paid to do what I love. I work with a great group of people, both those in Virginia where I started and now in California where I've relocated for (fingers crossed) the last time in a good long while. I've been through a lot of self doubt, but I feel that I've come out the other end. There's not a single day that I'm not grateful for where I am.

None of it would have happened if I hadn't quit my job and started working on my own projects. None of it would have happened if I hadn't had some colossal failures along the way. And most importantly, none of it would have happened if not for all of you great people who actually use the app, enjoy it, and share it with your friends.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

TapTunes 3.0: Now Available on the App Store!

2011-01-16T19:38:00.000-08:00

After over a year of development, TapTunes 3.0 for the iPhone and iPod Touch is now available on the App Store! Even better, the app is free!

Check it out. Your iPhone will thank you.

P.S. As of right now, TapTunes is just a few spots behind the Justin Bieber app in the top free music app list. Seriously, do you want Bieber to win? Download TapTunes. Remember, it's free.

P.P.S. Still reading? What are you, a Justin Bieber fan?

TapTunes 3.0 Update Submitted for Review

2011-01-10T20:34:00.000-08:00

After a year in the incubator, the TapTunes 3.0 update is finally ready for iPhones and iPod Touches everywhere! I have submitted the massive update to Apple for review. Note that the update has grown quite a bit since this post about it way back last April. The app is prettier now and does more tricks (not least of which are retina display and multitasking).

More info soon...

Take a Picture

2010-09-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest new features of the iPhone 4 is the great screen, offering four times as many pixels as previous models. However, as Peter Parker will tell you, "With great power comes great responsibility." Existing apps get a free facelift on certain built-in elements like toolbars, but any custom images must be scaled up to the new screen size. Developers need to create the new images with twice the resolution of the old ones.

Throughout the TapTunes 3.0 development cycle, I had been adding many images to support the shiny new interface and features of the overhauled app. Unfortunately I was caught off guard by the need to create these high resolution images. The problem was compounded by the fact that I had been lax in checking the copyright restrictions on the images I was pulling in from the web. I had made sure that all the images I was using were marked as "free for commercial use" (which I had been checking for), but there were still some small strings attached, in most cases just a matter of adding a link to the image creator's website.

So, as I started to update all of the images for the new resolution, I also kept close watch on the image copyright restrictions and made sure to pick my images accordingly. I was happy to include links to the authors' websites, but I wanted to avoid including a huge laundry list of a billion different links. With this in mind, I looked for image sets that I would be able to pull a lot of images from, in the hopes that it would keep the number of attributions down to a reasonable size. This had an added benefit of keeping the interface somewhat uniform -- images within a set generally go well together.

Happily, the image updating process is almost finished, and TapTunes is all the better for it. I've found some great images to include, and I can feel safe in the knowledge that I will be giving much-deserved credit to the original creators (in the About screen within the app). Thanks to them, TapTunes will look great on the new screen of the iPhone 4 and latest iPod Touch, as well as all older models. There are still a few niggles to work out, a few last images to finalize, but in general the process is in good shape.

I'd like to show you the new album tracking images. These images allow you to skip to the previous or next album when in album shuffle mode. I modified these images from the excellent Ultimate Gnome Project by newmooon. By doing this, I am killing three birds with one stone* -- it serves as an example of the great image sets that are out there, a small (76x30) preview of the new interface, and it fulfills one of the license obligations which states that I should share the source code for any images I create using the licensed images.**

Without further ado, I present the Previous Album and Next Album images:

Source Code: Download

The download link also includes volume icons modified from the Ultimate Gnome Project, shuffle and repeat icons modified from the Gnome Project, and source files in the .pxm format used by Pixelmator, which I used to do much of my image editing.

Feel free to use these images in your own projects or modify them further, provided you follow the GPL guidelines. And of course, I hope you'll like the updated look of TapTunes.

*Neither the author of this post, Blogger.com, nor Google advocate the killing of birds, by stone or otherwise, except perhaps on Thanksgiving.
**These images are licensed under the GNU General Public License, which applies to any images you create using these images as well.

Third Time's A Charm

2010-04-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few months here in dev-land. I've moved from the west coast to the east coast, started a new job, and turned a year older. On one particularly eventful day in February, I saw my favorite band from my high school years (Alice In Chains) for the first time and met my favorite tech writer (David Pogue) at MacWorld.

Meanwhile, Apple has been quite busy as well. They introduced the iPad (meh) and iPhone OS 4.0 (yay!). Without going into any specific details, I can say that iPhone users will be very pleased with the new operating system. It brings a nice fresh look and feel to the phone.

Speaking of fresh looks, I've been working intermittently on TapTunes 3.0. This is a pretty massive redesign of the app, to the point where I actually rewrote the app from scratch, bringing in bits and pieces of code as needed. I would say that over 50% of the code is completely new.

More importantly, there are a bunch of improvements and new features.

TapTunes 3.0
-Completely redesigned, uncluttered navigation system
-Stacked display mode
-Replace Albums setting to swap in new albums
-Full size album art on Now Playing and Selected Album screens
-Share the now playing track on Facebook, Twitter, and more
-Full iOS 4 and Retina Display compatibility
-Gestures (double-tap, drag, and swipe to control playback)
-Drive mode to make it easier to control playback while driving
-Smoother transition animations
-Optional "shoulder buttons" on Now Playing screen for quick access to commonly used features
-Previous/Next Album buttons (for album shuffle mode)
-Shuffle Albums menu option to shuffle all albums for the current search

There may be an additional feature or two as development is not yet complete, but the above are the ones which will definitely be in there.

Below you'll find a long overdue handful of screenshots. Version 3.0 is still in development, so there may be some visual tweaks before it's released. I'm hoping to have development finished at some point in May.

The redesigned Browse Screen and Selected Album Screen:

Introducing Stacked Mode, a relaxing new way to view your music collection!

A few of the many features of the new Now Playing Screen:

Interview

2010-01-19T10:16:00.000-08:00

Yours truly has been interviewed by the kind folks over at TouchMyApps. Thanks to Nathan for this excellent opportunity.

Check out the interview.

Pocket Full of Taps

2010-01-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

It's not 2009 anymore. It's time to evolve and expand our horizons. Or in the words of Kang: "We must go forward, not backward. Upward, not forward. And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom."

In that spirit, I am happy to reveal the first TapTunes advertisement. It's on the top banner of this cool app review site, PocketFullOfApps. You might recognize the name of the site from the TapTunes app description. The owner of the site gave me my first good quote to use, so it's appropriate that this be the first place to place a TapTunes ad.

Be sure to check it out -- right up front and center.

Oh yeah, and Happy New Year!

Two-Three or Not Two-Three

2010-01-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

TapTunes 2.3 has been approved by Apple, just two days after I submitted it for review. This is by far their speediest turnaround yet for one of my apps. As for the title of this post, it doesn't really mean anything; I just wanted to use that and figured this was my last chance.

Now Playing: 2.3

2010-01-12T23:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was able to wrap up the last loose ends of version 2.3 of TapTunes and have submitted it to Apple. It's fairly late, and I need some rest, so I'll just give you the final feature list for the update and bid you goodnight:

TAPTUNES 2.3: "UPRIGHT"

New Features
-new album options screen when you tap on an album
-now playing view in portrait (tap the now playing info in the top bar to bring it up)
-list of albums by artist for the selected album

New Settings
-Show Now Playing option in Settings app to control whether or not Now Playing Mode comes up by default when playback begins
-Number of Albums can now be set to 80 or 100 in Settings app
-Minimum Song Count option in Settings app to only include albums with at least the given number of tracks

Visual Tweaks
-slightly enlarged album display mode icons to make tapping them easier
-replaced bookmarks icon with custom menu icon to more accurately represent functionality

Circle Mode Enhancements
-alternates directions when there are not enough albums to fill the circle, so albums are always in view
-resolved album info flickering issue when albums are dragged off screen
-resolved issue with previously selected album info showing up while new albums are being loaded

P.S. The Lite version will be updated as well, but it's not quite ready yet. It will include the new album options interface but not the albums by artist list.

Goodbye, Sweet Bookmarks Icon

2010-01-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

The wheels of progress are unthinking, uncaring beasts, Machiavellian to the core. They care not for sentimentality nor familiarity. The only word they know is "forward," and so they do not even know the concept of looking backward.

Hence, this blog is the only spot where we may hope to do so. It is with equal measures sadness and hope that I announce the departure of the familiar, reliable bookmarks icon from TapTunes. It must go where all good icons go when their time is running out, to those fabled Grey Havens across the wide, wide sea.

Goodbye to you, sweet bookmarks icon, confusing though you were. May a flight of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Our old friend

TapTunes, putting on a brave face in the wake of its loss

Video Killed The iPhone App

2010-01-05T12:26:00.000-08:00

It's a bit overdue, but I've uploaded a YouTube video walkthrough of some of the new features in TapTunes v2.2. Among the highlighted features are the new playlist filter, album shuffle mode, performance enhancements, and the updated album info popup.

Next Up, The World

2009-12-25T15:49:00.000-08:00

It's fun. It's simple. And now it's free! That's right, Monkey vs Troll Lite is now available on the App Store. You can play through the first two difficulty levels (Easy and Medium) of the TI-83 throwback game for free. Try it, you just might like it!

If that's not enough for you, there's more: the full game has been updated to version 1.1, which is also available on the App Store as of today.

Not a bad day, especially on Christmas. I wonder what I should do tonight to celebrate? Ah yes...the same thing I do every night -- try to take over the world!

TapTunes promo codes: 649LPLFF7HTY, 33JH4J6PXA9F, EPH3HPX9XKR6, 6AFKX43Y9X39, HXE466MWF7AE, AWXXRJ3NMJW9, YR93976FNWKX, YLJHJRM3FJWM, XJHT93PHPEY7, K7AKA6KMFT7K

Two Steps Forward

2009-12-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

TapTunes 2.2 and TapTunes Lite 2.2 are now available on the App Store! In the words of the Robot Devil: "My ridiculously circuitous plan is one-quarter complete!"

Happy holidays to all!

Christmas Edition?

2009-12-24T05:57:00.000-08:00

A Fleeting Glimpse

2009-12-21T21:25:00.001-08:00

I've been hard at work on another update to TapTunes, bringing further functionality to the app and improving the interface in the process. The new interface is starting to come together after a few false starts.

Consider this screenshot a digital postcard from me to you, stamped in the lone Dev Land post office by a cranky, overworked postal employee who's just downed his third cup of coffee. If you like, you can even imagine the note "Wish you were here" scrawled on the back.

So what can you expect from version 2.3? A few things, all tied into the new interface in one way or another:

-New interface for zoomed albums
-Now Playing View now shown in portrait rather than landscape, using aforementioned new interface
-Albums by Artist list available when zoomed in on an album
-Share options including Facebook, Twitter, and email integration (exact options subject to change)

Meanwhile, version 2.2 is currently waiting for review by Apple, so that should be in your stockings soon. I for one look forward to retiring the old icon and ushering in the new one.

Yours truly,
Dave Blundell

P.S. Remember to eat your potatoes.

The Name of This Thing is Now Lite

2009-12-17T15:54:00.000-08:00

With the holidays upon us, I've decided to do a bit of spring cleaning a few months early. After setting up my laptop to publish to the App Store, I quickly took advantage of the new capability (previously I would copy the source code to my desktop and publish from there) and submitted a bunch of updates to the App Store. The rest is up to Apple.

TapTunes Lite 2.2 (renamed from "LE" to "Lite")
-performance & stability enhancements
-additional Shake option in Settings
-visual tweaks, including redesigned album info popup
-new icon

Monkey vs Troll 1.1
-added support for right or left landscape orientation
-added links to Music Trivia Lite and TapTunes LE in More Apps
-added Start Over option to Pause menu
-expanded controller buttons for easier control
-moved Pause link out of the way of the controller
-fixed minor control bug

Monkey vs Troll Lite 1.0
-features the first 2 difficulty levels of the full version (Easy and Medium)

Extra Credit
You may have noticed that recently many of my posts have been named after songs in light of the fact that my most significant app, TapTunes, is a music player. The first three people who can give me the exact title of the song that this post is named after as well as the album it appears on gets a free promo code for one of my apps (you choose which one). Email me the answer at davidblundelldev [at] gmail [dot] com.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

2009-12-17T09:14:00.000-08:00

Today I submitted TapTunes 2.2 to Apple for review. Here are the features and enhancements that made the cut:

TapTunes 2.2: "Optimized"

New Features
-filter by playlist on search screen
-shuffle by album (enabled by new option in Settings application)
-additional Shake options in Settings (Choose Music, Random Album, Random Artist, Reload Albums, Shuffle Music, Do Nothing)
-visual tweaks, including redesigned album info popup
-new icon

Performance & Stability Enhancements
-fixed potential crashes on startup & during playback state changes
-"Updating Library" message when library is being updated just after syncing with iTunes
-more responsive zooming of albums (especially on earlier iPhone & iPod Touch models)
-general responsiveness & speed enhancements throughout

With 2.2 out the door, I've started work on version 2.3. More to come on that soon!

A couple of quick side notes to end today's post:
-There's a neat video review of TapTunes now available on the Daily App Show.
-To the right of this post, you'll notice a new Facebook section. I've created an application page on Facebook which will be updated with little updates about the app. If you want to keep up on the latest TapTunes news on Facebook, click the "Become a Fan" button. The Facebook posts will be short snippets and links, as opposed to the detailed updates you'll continue to see on this blog.

An Update on the Update

2009-12-12T11:55:00.000-08:00

The 2.2 update is very near to completion and will be submitted to Apple within the next few days. I ended up throwing a couple of neat last-minute features in there, so it will not only be a performance and stability update but also a fairly significant feature update.

While on an airplane heading east from California to NYC on Thursday, I had some time to kill and decided to bust out the laptop and try coding something new. While doing the initial TapTunes development, I had noticed that there were essentially three shuffle modes: off, songs, and albums. Song shuffle is the shuffle that everyone knows and some people love, but album shuffle is something that is sorely missing from iPods even though Apple has created support for it. Being very much an album-oriented music listener, I decided it was time to change this.

I fired up Pixelmator (an excellent, cheaper alternative to Photoshop on the Mac) and threw together a new shuffle icon for album shuffle mode. Then it was a simple matter to add support for the new mode, since Apple had already done all the brick-and-mortar work behind the scenes. However, since not all people will find a use for album shuffle mode, I created an option for enabling the feature in the Settings app. It's turned off by default, so if you don't want it, it won't bother you. But if like me you like to hear your music one album at a time with the songs in their original sequence, but you also want to be surprised by which album comes next, then you can head on over to Settings, enable the feature, and then tap the shuffle icon in the extra controls bar to bring up album shuffle mode. Then when you choose to Play Artist or Shuffle Music, you get a random album, and then another, and another, and so on.

It was quite a productive flight!

That night I was having trouble falling asleep, so I began another new feature which had been on the to do list: a playlist search filter. Now, in addition to being able to search by artist, album, song, and genre, you can also search by playlist. By default, a list of all playlists comes up (the same as genre search currently works). When you choose a playlist, only albums with songs on that playlist will be displayed. It's handy if, say, you only want to view your Top Rated music -- set up the playlist in iTunes, then see it visually in TapTunes. (The feature also works with On-the-Go playlists created on the device itself.)

For the last couple days, I've been enjoying these features with my own music. I like to bring up the playlist I have of all my favorite albums, then turn on album shuffle, then hit Shuffle Music so I can hear my favorites, shuffled album by album.

All this will be in your hands soon. I am looking to submit the update to Apple in the next couple days in the hopes that Apple will approve it in time for the holidays.

I Like to Move It, Move It.

2009-12-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

TapTunes 2.1 has been approved by Apple. I've posted a quick walkthrough of the new feature, animated album displays, on YouTube. At the end of the video, you can get a sneak peek at the new icon which will be introduced in 2.2.

Speaking of 2.2, I am still hard at work on it. Currently I am working on recognizing when an iTunes sync has just occurred in order to display an informative message like the iPod app does rather than becoming unresponsive until the library is finished being updated.

To Infinity, And Beyond!

2009-11-27T15:25:00.001-08:00

Here's a quick snapshot of the current state of TapTunes development.

Version 2.1: "Animated"
submitted to Apple on November 21st

-animated layouts with new options in Settings app (for instance, you can turn these off in Settings if you don't like them)
-added slight gradient background to main screen
-minor visual and performance tweaks

Version 2.2: "Optimized"
currently in development

-performance optimization, especially for earlier iPhone and iPod Touch models
-cleaner, simpler icon
-redesigned album info popup
-additional Shake options in Settings app (Choose Music, Random Album, Random Artist, Reload Albums, Shuffle All Music, Do Nothing)
-minor visual tweaks

TapTunes 2.0 Press Release

2009-11-23T15:08:00.000-08:00

I am proud to announce the immediate availability of TapTunes 2.0, a massive update to the popular media player application. TapTunes 2.0 is available today in the App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

TapTunes is THE alternative music player for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Not only does TapTunes contain all of the playback functionality of the built-in iPod app, it also offers a whole new way to experience your music collection: visually, as if your albums were laid out in front of you.

And since TapTunes is fully compatible with the built-in iPod app, you can switch back and forth between TapTunes and other apps without missing a beat.

There are three different ways to view your albums:
* TILED: albums are arranged in a grid, which you can slide left and right
* SCATTERED: random piles of albums, which you can drag individually
* CIRCLED: albums form a circle, which you can drag up and down to rotate

Have you ever heard the expression, "Don't play with your food?" Well, you CAN play with your music: drag it, pinch it, spin it, or simply tap it to zoom in on a specific album. Then you can choose to play that artist or album, or you can tap the album again to see a song list. It doesn't get any easier than that.

Additionally, TapTunes offers the following features:
* Search by artist, album, song, or genre with auto-complete and search history
* Now Playing View which allows you to skip to any song on the album or play any album by the same artist
* Random Artist and Random Album modes for when you want the app to narrow it down to a single choice at a time
* Shuffle All Music to listen to search results, shuffled

TapTunes is available on the App Store: http://itunes.com/apps/TapTunes
For a video preview, search for "TapTunes 2.0" on YouTube.

Remix

2009-11-20T22:13:00.000-08:00

TapTunes 2.0 Preview Video

2009-11-19T21:25:00.000-08:00

I've posted a video on YouTube showing off the TapTunes 2.0 update. Check it out and leave a comment!

TapTunes LE 2.0 & TapTunes 2.0 Picture Walkthrough

2009-11-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

Today, I created TapTunes LE 2.0 -- the lite edition of TapTunes 2.0 -- and submitted it to Apple for review. Those who have the original free version of TapTunes are in for a treat, as this update includes not only all of the user interface updates, but some additional functionality as well, including volume control and the same great search feature that's in the full version. My idea was that I shouldn't restrict the core functionality of the application from the free version, but rather leave out some of the bells and whistles as a temptation to upgrade to the full version. If people like the app enough, I would hope that they'll be happy to spend a buck or two to upgrade, partly as a way of saying thanks.

The other TapTunes-related news (not that there's been any other sort around here lately) is that I've uploaded an album of screenshots to whet your appetite. Check it out!

I'm hoping to throw together a video in the very near future, so be sure to check back soon.

And one more thing: the 2.1 update is almost finished. More on that to come...

A Correction

2009-11-13T17:20:00.000-08:00

Due to a couple of converging circumstances almost entirely within my control, I decided to re-submit TapTunes 2.0, including the finished versions of the two new features I discussed in my last post. The new build of 2.0 also includes a number of performance enhancements (no, not 'roids), which should make for an all-around smoother experience.

One final addition is a TapTunes preferences pane available within the Settings application, including the following options:

General
-Shake to Reload (On/Off)
-Number of Albums (20/40/60)
-Now Playing View (On/Off)
-Remember Searches (On/Off)

Circle Mode
-Position (Left/Right)

We apologize for the inconvenience.

The TapTunes EP (Or: Attack of the Two-Point-One)

2009-11-11T22:02:00.000-08:00

In the interest of sanity, sometimes features have to be cut from releases in order to get the release out the door. Otherwise, the development cycle could start to look more like a development circle, with new feature ideas jumping into the mix just before the old ones are finalized. Then before those ones are done, a whole new set of equally compelling (and completely shiny and new) ideas will crop up.

Such was the case with TapTunes 2.0. Eventually, I managed to create a cutoff point between when I'd finished all my current set of ideas and hadn't yet started on any new ones. Since I'd managed to quell all of the growing pains I'd noticed at that point, I decided to cut a release. (Another factor here was my impatience for others to enjoy the fruits of the work I'd been doing.)

However, my mind grapes were still fermenting, and I couldn't stop thinking about things to add to TapTunes. As a result, I've got a couple of great new features that are already partially completed for the next version of TapTunes (probably 2.1, although it seems to me like these features merit more than a simple .x upgrade).

Let's get down to the brass tacks.

The first new feature is the Artist Tray. When in Now Playing View, you'll be presented with a visual listing of all of the currently playing artist's albums. This makes it easy to browse all of an artist's albums, or skip to that one album you really want to hear.

Here's a preliminary screenshot:

Up until now, there have been two album display modes: Scattered and Tiled. Everything around these displays have changed quite a bit, but the modes themselves have remained constant since the release of TapTunes 1.0 many moons ago (about five, I suppose). It's time to change that.

TapTunes 2.1 will be adding a third album display mode: Circled. In Circled mode, your albums are lined up in a ring. By dragging your finger the screen, you can rotate this ring, bringing new albums into focus. It's a different experience than Scattered or Tiled mode, very satisfying in its own way.

Here's a picture of it, though this is again preliminary, and the look may change:

I'm excited for the TapTunes 2.0 release, as it will bring a world of improvement to the form and functionality of the app, giving users much more reason to use it rather than the built-in iPod app. Having that as a jumping-off point is a great achievement and an exciting spot to find myself in. With TapTunes 2.1 come the earliest benefits.

Think of these features as an EP following a major release. They're not necessarily any better or worse than what made the full-length release; they just didn't fit in at the time, or they weren't far enough along. Soon, they'll be getting their own stage to shine on.

Here at the End of All Things

2009-11-07T00:28:00.000-08:00

Yes, the title is somewhat ominous, but this post is actually meant to bring great tidings of joy. (Yay!)

The day has finally come -- TapTunes 2.0 has gone gold! I wrapped up the last features, gussied up the logos a bit (as you can see above; I'm borrowing a bit from Apple's time machine / space theme), and bid my baby all the best, putting it into a lovingly-constructed little wicker basket and sending it off into that great river known as the World Wide Web, hoping against hope that Apple will receive it.

Huh?

Sorry, I drifted there for a moment. Hours of feverish coding will do that to you, I suppose. I'm excited for people to get the new version of TapTunes. I think that even if someone gave up on the first one for whatever reason, they should try revisiting it with this release. Also, don't worry -- I'll be updating the Lite version as well in the near future.

So, now comes the hard part: the waiting game. Keep your fingers crossed for me, and start getting psyched.

TapTunes 2.0: Now With 100% Less Bugs!

2009-10-23T15:04:00.000-07:00

TapTunes 2.0 has reached a seldom-achieved landmark in the life of any computer program. It is now (drum roll please) bug free!

.....

OK, OK. More accurately, it's "known issue" free. Which means, all I have to do is never open up the app again, never read my email or user reviews again, hide under a rock on Mars for my remaining years, and I'm set.

.....

Set, I say.

Further Details on TapTunes 2.0

2009-10-19T22:08:00.000-07:00

TapTunes 2.0 is almost ready to go -- just one or two final features and a few minor bugs to hammer out. It's been great sinking my teeth back into some iPhone development, in the same spirit that originally brought me to it: a passion for programming and a desire to give flesh to the ideas bouncing around my head. At the end of the day, I'd prefer to judge my work by a simple standard: is it cool? Whether or not it actually catches on is another matter, and for the time being I've decided to throw those worries aside and focus on making a genuinely awesome app that provides some solid functionality.

TapTunes has been my favorite app to work on, primarily because it's something I find quite useful to use. As a result, I end up with a lot of ideas for new features to add to it. Additionally, the original version of the app was largely written in a one week period while I was still relatively new to iPhone programming. Since then, I've polished up my skills and even found a few aces to stick up my sleeve.

I found myself eager to make good on the app, which had potential for greatness but didn't quite deliver. Rather than just starting to hack away at the code and adding features randomly, I went ahead and wrote up a list of the features I'd like to add, the bugs I'd like to fix, and the visual improvements that would close that gap between what I envisioned and what the app actually was.

That list is nearly finished, so without further ado, I'd like to share it with you. Because I still have some work left to do, the final list and interface may change slightly, but for the most part it is already where I want it to be.

TapTunes 2.0 Updates

New Features
1. Song list to play a specific song from album by tapping on album cover when zoomed
2. Now Playing screen by turning the device into landscape mode
3. Track time scrubber on extra controls toolbar
4. Repeat button on extra control bar
5. New interface for random artist/album features with "Next" button to re-randomize
6. 1.5 times as many albums displayed
7. Option to choose music using media picker
8. Hitting the play button when music is stopped plays all songs
9. Search by genre
10. Auto-complete searches
11. Recent searches for each search filter when search box is empty
12. Link to new app Monkey Vs Troll on info screen
13. Buttons for next random artist/album or listen to current

Interface Improvements
1. Albums loaded in the background for much faster load time
2. Albums are animated as they're loaded and cleared
3. Album cover zoomed in while being dragged
4. Album info appears above album cover while being dragged
5. New playback option screen
6. Standard playback controls
7. Separate button on toolbar & new screen for additional playback options (All, Random, etc.)
8. Volume slider moved to toolbar
9. Improved directions screen layout

Bug Fixes
1. Fixed issue where interface was unresponsive during load
2. Fixed issue where shuffle mode would not get set correctly unless music was playing
3. Fixed issue with search results layout in Tile mode

Finally, here are some screenshots to whet your appetite:

TapTunes 2.0

2009-10-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

TapTunes 2.0 is in the works. More soon...

Music Trivia Lite: Approved!

2009-09-29T17:15:00.001-07:00

My streak of good luck on the App Store continues...I received an email on Wednesday that Music Trivia Lite has been approved. At this point, all of my apps that were pending review by Apple have been approved. This latest one, on its first day, sold like hotcakes on the store. Except, unlike hotcakes, this baby is free.

Here's the description for Music Trivia Lite:

"This game is like the music quiz game on the old iPods on steroids!" -blakrhino
"Could be the best Music Quiz app in the App Store." -Crypton_US

***

NEW IN VERSION 1.3 (now available)
-Separate options for Name the Album, Artist, or Song, so you can customize the game to only include the prompts you want.
-Game Volume slider on pause menu
-various interface tweaks

***

How well do you know your own music? Find out with Music Trivia Lite!

Music Trivia Lite taps into the music library on your iPhone or iPod Touch to deliver a uniquely personalized gaming experience.

Features:
-Separate options for Name the Album, Artist, or Song, so you can customize the game to only include the prompts you want.
-Boost your score multiplier with every 5 consecutive answers.
-Listen to any artist/album/song that has been played in a previous round.

This last feature is what sets this app apart from other music trivia applications -- at any point, you can pause the game to listen to music from a previous round. In effect, you can use Music Trivia Lite as a smarter way to shuffle your music.

***

Additional features available in the full version:
+Work to beat your High Scores!
+Complete Achievements to unlock hidden Extras!
+Customize the game by selecting only the artists/albums/playlists/genres/etc. that you want to be tested on. This is perfect for testing your knowledge of your favorite artists!
+Option to start songs at a random point in the song or at the beginning.

App Store Link

So go on, git yer download on! And if anybody wants to send me some hotcakes, please feel free.

Monkey vs Troll: Approved!

2009-09-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

It gives me great pleasure to announce the availability of my latest and greatest app, Monkey vs Troll. This game has it all: a heart-stopping hero, a treacherous villain, and an epic, unending battle between the forces of good and evil!

Inspired by the bridge scene at the end of the castle levels of the original Mario games, this app is a port of a TI-83 game I did in high school. Read the app description for more info:

It's simple. It's fun. It's addictive.

You are Monkey, and you've got to get to the other side of the Bridge. However, there's a Troll who doesn't want you to get there.

Troll hates all things which smile. When Troll sees a rose, he stomps on it. Then he breathes fire on it, turning it to ash.

You must guide Monkey safely past Troll, who gets smarter and smarter the further along you go. Troll shoots fireballs at you, which you must dodge to avoid being turned into chimp flambé!

Also, did I mention the lava which jumps up to get you? There's that too.

Yikes!

---

Revisit the glory days with this ultra-addictive of a classic TI-83 game. Remember sitting through mind-numbing class after class in high school, pretending to be working on your calculator while you were actually playing games that your classmate created during those same classes?

Well, I *was* that classmate. I made a handful of games for the TI-83, spawning a love of programming that would end up being a career. This one (originally titled "The Bridge") was my personal favorite. It was inspired by a certain sequence in a classic game we all know and love, a game many of us grew up on.

Try it out and see for yourself!

---

FEATURES
-Insanely addictive gameplay!
-Mind-bending action!
-Spine-tingling suspense!
-Edge of your seat, pants-wetting thrills!
-Trolls and Lava and Fireballs, Oh My!
-4 difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, and (unlockable) Frantic!
-Unlockable Survival Mode -- see how long you can last!
-As you progress through the levels, more color is added to the world.
-That feeling, you can only say what it is in French!
-That feeling, you can only say what it is in French!

App Store Link

TapTunes LE: Approved!

2009-09-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce that, as of this morning, TapTunes LE is now available on the App Store!

The "lite" edition of the highly-rated TapTunes app allows for the same Cover Flow-style music navigation and control, without the price tag. Check it out today, entirely risk-free -- you'll be glad you did!

Get back in touch with your music!

With TapTunes LE, you can visually search through all of your albums as if they were laid out before you.

Album covers are selected randomly each time you load the app. This forces you to look at what's in your collection, allowing you to explore and rediscover your music in a whole new way.

Two modes:
-Scattered: albums are scattered randomly across the screen and can be picked up and moved individually.
-Tiled: albums are tiled in a grid which can be scrolled horizontally.

Features:
-Full playback controls: play/pause, skip forward/back.
-Double-tap an album cover to play that artist or album.
-Drag album covers to move them.
-Pinch album covers to zoom in or out (in Scattered Mode).
-Browse in portrait or landscape mode.

Best of all, TapTunes LE is fully compatible with the built-in iPod application, so even when you exit the app, your music will continue to play and you get all the functionality of the iPod app (e.g. external music controls, album cover on lock screen, etc.).

***

Additional features available in the full version of TapTunes:
+Search your music to filter by album, artist, or song title.
+Double-tap the play/pause button to play a random artist or album from your collection, or to play all of your music.
+Volume slider as an alternative to the physical volume rocker buttons.

App Store Link

Music Trivia 1.3: Approved!

2009-09-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

Version 1.3 of Music Trivia has been approved by Apple and is now available in the App Store!

This is a major update, bringing the oft-requested feature of being able to toggle prompts for guessing the album, artist, or song, as well as doubling the number of Achievements in the game and adding an all-new Extras section.

Speaking of which, I am proud to announce that Music Trivia is now the ONLY music game for the iPhone that includes a Fart Mode!

Music Trivia 1.3 Features
-New Extras section with two Extras which can be unlocked by completing Achievements. More to come in future updates!
-Separate options for Name the Album, Artist, or Song, so you can customize the game to only include the prompts you want.
-10 new Achievements
-Game Volume slider on pause menu
-various minor interface tweaks
-updated the Share email with more description and an App Store link, and moved it to the main screen

App Store Link

Monkey vs Troll Description

2009-08-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

"Crosser" has come a long way...so long, in fact, that it needs a new name: "Monkey vs Troll."

While the game is not ready to submit quite yet, I have written up a description for it to tide you over. Read it, love it, read it again, love it again, and then watch a sunset and shed a tear for what a beautiful world we live in. Or something.

It's simple. It's fun. It's addictive.

You are Monkey, and you've got to get to the other side of the Bridge. However, there's a Troll who doesn't want you to get there.

Troll hates all things which smile. When Troll sees a rose, he stomps on it. Then he breathes fire on it, turning it to ash.

Also, did I mention the lava that jumps up to get you? There's that too.

Yikes!

---

Revisit the glory days with this remake of a classic TI-83 game. Remember sitting through mind-numbing class after class in high school, pretending to be working on your calculator while you were actually playing games that your classmate made during those same classes?

Well, I *was* that classmate. I made a handful of games for the TI-83, spawning a love of programming that would end up being a career. This one (originally titled "The Bridge") was my personal favorite. It was inspired by a certain sequence in a classic game we all know and love, a game many of us grew up on (I'm sure you can guess which one I'm referring to).

So try it out and see for yourself.

---

FEATURES
-Retro funtacular!
-Mind-bending action!
-Spine-tingling suspense!
-Sense of impending doom!
-Trolls and Lava and Fireballs, Oh My!
-4 difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, and (unlockable) Frantic!
-That feeling, you can only say it in French!
-That feeling, you can only say it in French!

Crosser Teaser

2009-08-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

I started working on a new app yesterday. It's going to have a retro feel to it, as you can see from the screenshot below.

More to come...

Music Trivia 1.3 Soon To Be Unleashed Upon An Unsuspecting World

2009-08-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

I've submitted the soon to be infamous (I hope) Music Trivia 1.3 to Apple. This release includes the first two unlockables, which I've been working on over the past couple weeks. One of them, as discussed in a previous post, is a flashlight. The other one, which I've hinted at below, you'll have to wait to see. To quote the late author Robert Jordan: "RAFO" (Read And Find Out). I will say, however, that this update found me doing things that I never imagined would be a part of my professional career (if you could call it that). I'm not sure if I'm proud or ashamed of that, but at least it's kept things interesting.

A more practical new feature is the ability to choose which prompts you want to be asked: Name the Artist, Name the Album, and Name the Song. You can now customize the game to only include the prompts you want. Furthermore, the high scores list reflects which prompts were turned on for each score, and there are ten new achievements to unlock.

Here's the finalized list of new features in 1.3:

Music Trivia 1.3 Features (Finalized)
-New Extras section with two Extras which can be unlocked by completing Achievements. More to come in future updates!
-Separate options for Name the Album, Artist, or Song, so you can customize the game to only include the prompts you want.
-10 new Achievements
-Game Volume slider on pause menu
-various minor interface tweaks
-updated the Share email with more description and an App Store link, and moved it to the main screen

Look for Music Trivia 1.3 in the near future at an App Store near you!

Anybody Got A Lite?

2009-08-20T21:44:00.001-07:00

Today, I whittled a few features off of TapTunes to spin off a "lite" edition (which, in a stroke of genius, I've dubbed TapTunes LE). This version will be free, with a mildly obnoxious upgrade link to the full version (it's hidden in the extra controls toolbar at least).

The free version is missing the following features from the full version:

-Search your music to filter by album, artist, or song title.
-Double-tap the play/pause button to play a random artist or album from your collection, or to play all of your music.
-Volume slider as an alternative to the physical volume rocker buttons.

Speaking of the full version, I submitted a very minor update (1.1.1) to fix a layout issue with the volume slider when in landscape mode.

Extra, Extra, Read All About It

2009-08-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days, I've had a chance to put some serious work into Music Trivia 1.3. This is shaping up to be a very nice update, bigger than I'd originally thought it would be.

How big, you ask?

Well, here's the list as it stands now:

Music Trivia 1.3 Features
-New "Extras" section: These are unlockable by completing certain Achievements. At first there will be two Extras, and more will be added in the future.
-New Options for Name the Album/Artist/Song: This was a request I heard from both users and non-users. You want it, you got it -- now you can choose exactly which prompt(s) you want to answer. The High Scores list now reflect which of these options were turned on for each score.
-10 new Achievements! That's right, the number of Achievements has just doubled.
-Game Volume slider on the pause menu: This was another user request. It's much easier than trying to mess with the volume rocker while answering a question.
-A handful of interface tweaks. I'm always trying to improve on the interface as much as possible, so any feedback is always welcome.
-Added an App Store link to the Share email. Where was QA on this? Oh, right. I am QA.

So that's where I'm at right now with the 1.3 update. There are a couple last things to hammer down. I'm hoping to finish those up and get the update submitted to Apple by early to mid next week.

Goodnight from San Francisco.

Against All Odds

2009-08-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

As the days and weeks have gone by, I've grown less and less hopeful that TapTunes 1.1 would ever get approved. I've been all too aware of all the app store rejections happening lately and have become all but sure that this was going to happen to my app as well. I figured that Apple was going to tell me that TapTunes was "duplicate functionality" of the existing iPod app (which it's not, of course) and then pull the app from the App Store entirely.

Luckily, that didn't happen. Instead, I got an email this morning letting me know that TapTunes 1.1 has been accepted into the store. Finally I can sleep through the night, knowing that nobody has to look at the hideous 1.0 icon any longer. Now, everybody gets to look at the glorious (by comparison) little icon that I've been looking at for the last month and a half or so. And they get the new volume slider too.

Thanks, Apple!

A Flashlight For All Seasons

2009-08-13T18:40:00.001-07:00

I decided to spin off my Music Trivia unlockable flashlight into its own free app. I've submitted the app to Apple, so it may be a little while before they approve it, but it should show up on the store sometime soon. It's super simple, and the main point it's going to serve from my perspective is to advertise my other apps (via a little "i" button in the corner). Hopefully people will like it though, since it's free and has a neat slogan which others don't.

Without further ado, here's the screenshot...

...and the app description:

This is my flashlight. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

This flashlight app has one job to do, and it does it. There aren't any bells and whistles, just a white screen that doesn't go dim. Because, really, what else do you need? This isn't rocket science we're talking about here.

Will anybody actually download this? I don't know. Does it really matter? Probably not. But still, the more roads I can pave which lead to Music Trivia, the better. And the more money I make off of that, the more I'll be able to keep on making updates to it. And, you know, maybe someday making another new app. (iChute? Yay, nay?)

Direction

2009-07-31T07:31:00.000-07:00

For one of the new unlockables for Music Trivia 1.3, I've been searching the internet for "free fart sounds" and listening to each one in turn, analyzing its quality. Sometimes I question the direction of my life...

The March of Progress (Or: Location, Location, Location)

2009-07-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

I am back on the east coast for a couple of weeks, and more specifically in New Jersey for a few days. This means that (a) I am having horrible allergies to something in my house, and (b) I am able to actually sit in front of the computer that I'm developing at. For the last couple of months, I have been using LogMeIn to access my development computer remotely, then creating ad-hoc distributables to sync to my iPhone through my laptap, which is not Intel-based and therefore cannot be used for iPhone development. (Also, it's very old and slow as hell.)

Needless to say, this wasn't much fun. At its best, it is a minor irritation; at its worst, it's akin to eating fried rice with a couple of pool cues. So I'm very happy to be doing development the old-fashioned way again, physically sitting in front of my iMac. I've also been much more productive as a result.

Without further ado, here's what's currently in the pipeline for each of my apps:

MUSIC TRIVIA 1.2 AND 1.3
-The 1.2 update has been submitted to Apple. This finally includes (drumroll please) a high scores list.
-I'm well into the development for 1.3, which will include unlockables which you can earn by completing achievements. One of these unlockables is a flashlight. There will be at least one other unlockable in 1.3 (I think you'll get a kick out of it), and I plan on adding others as time goes on.

TAPTUNES 1.1 (UPDATED)
-Apple sent me an email saying that the 1.1 update I had submitted "required more time than expected to review" (I'm paraphrasing). I don't know what the issue is, considering all I did was change the icon and add a link to Music Trivia.
-Since they weren't in a rush to approve it anyway, I went ahead and uploaded a new build of 1.1 with a potentially more useful new feature: a volume slider. This is now integrated into the extra controls toolbar.

I realized that I don't have any screenshots up on this blog, so here are a couple of Music Trivia (click to expand):

Well, that's it for now. If any of you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments! Also, if you're taking the time to read this, perhaps you could also spare a minute to leave a review of the app(s) on iTunes? Pretty please?

Attack of the One-Point-Ones

2009-07-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

Both Music Trivia and TapTunes have been accepted into the store (TapTunes three weeks ago, and Music Trivia one week ago). The response to both apps has been quite positive, although the act of putting an application on the App Store is much like throwing a baseball into a pool full of Jello -- you can throw it as hard as you like, but it's going to get to a certain point and just stick there. Of course, you can market it to try to make it swim, but personally I'm a developer because I like writing code. I did a tiny bit of marketing, and I'd like to think it was worthwhile though it's hard to tell.

In the meantime, I've finished my cross-country motorcycle trip and am for the time being stationed in Berkeley, California. I rode a total of 4,255.6 miles: down the east coast, across the southern states, and then up the west coast. On Wednesday, I'm heading back east for a few weeks before I come back here for my bike and perhaps to live in the Bay Area for a while.

Since I finished my trip, I've had some time to go back and work on my apps a bit. Over the last couple of days, I've submitted the fruits of that work to Apple: namely, a 1.1 update for each app. The TapTunes update is somewhat minor though it does improve upon the home screen icon; the Music Trivia update is quite significant, packing in a few of the most-requested features I've heard about since 1.0.

MUSIC TRIVIA 1.1
-Customization: You can now limit the game to one or more artists/albums/playlists/genres/etc. via the new "Customize" button on the game screen. This is perfect for testing your knowledge of your favorite artists!
-Songs now start at a random point in the track, rather than from the beginning. (However, if you prefer to have them start at the beginning, there is a new option for this.)
-More colorful interface plus other minor interface tweaks.
-Updated icon.
-Brighter screen flashes to indicate answer correctness.
-Fixed bug which kept some achievements from showing up on the list.

TAPTUNES 1.1
-Updated icon.
-Added link to Music Trivia on the info screen.

I'm very happy with Music Trivia 1.1; the new features make the game much more challenging and interesting. I'd been getting perfect scores in 1.0, but now I'm getting some wrong answers, even when limiting the game to just my favorite artists (to name a few: Alice In Chains, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and Tom Waits). The updated UI is also more appealing; it's hard to ween myself off of my addiction to all things gothic-black, but I guess it had to start somewhere. Hell, at least I've still got my Harley. That's got enough black to spare.

TapTunes and Music Trivia Submitted to Apple

2009-06-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

I've submitted my first two apps, TapTunes and Music Trivia, to Apple from the road (from Asheville and Nashville, respectively). I'm very happy with both apps, and can only hope that they'll be accepted by day one of OS 3.0 launch. Fingers crossed...

I'll be making updates to the apps from the road based on user feedback -- please email any comments, complaints, or suggestions to me at davidblundelldev[at]gmail[dot]com.

Below are the app descriptions for each app:

---

TAPTUNES

Get back in touch with your music!

With TapTunes, you can visually search through all of your albums as if they were laid out before you.

Album covers are selected randomly each time you load the app. This forces you to look at what's in your collection, allowing you to explore and rediscover your music in a whole new way.

Two modes:
-Scattered: albums are scattered randomly across the screen and can be picked up and moved individually.
-Tiled: albums are tiled in a grid which can be scrolled horizontally.

Features:
-Double-tap an album cover to play that artist or album.
-Double-tap the play/pause button to play a random artist or album from your collection, or to play all of your music.
-Drag album covers to move them.
-Pinch album covers to zoom in or out (in Scattered Mode).

Best of all, TapTunes is fully compatible with the built-in iPod application, so even when you exit the app, your music will continue to play and you get all the functionality of the iPod app (e.g. external music controls, album cover on lock screen, etc.).

---

MUSIC TRIVIA

How well do you know your own music? Find out with Music Trivia!

Music Trivia taps into the music library on your iPhone or iPod Touch to deliver a uniquely personalized gaming experience.

Features:
-Guess the song title.
-Guess the artist.
-Guess the album title.
-Earn Achievements.
-High Scores - coming soon!
-Listen to any artist/album/song that has been played in a previous round.

This last feature is what sets this app apart from other music trivia applications -- at any point, you can pause the game to listen to music from a previous round. In effect, you can use Music Trivia as a smarter way to shuffle your music.

I am currently on a motorcycle trip around the country, armed with a laptop -- I will be making updates soon, including high scores.