Convert beta 1 available
If you were one of the people who signed-up to be a beta tester of our upcoming app, Convert, I’m happy to announce that beta 1 is available now.
Convert is a unit converter and unit calculator with a very slick and beautiful UI. There are a zillion unit converters on the App Store but we’ve never been satisfied with how any were done so we’ve decided to take a stab at creating one of the “2nd-gen” unit converters ourselves.
Our main design goals for Convert was to have it be extremely easy and quick to use… what’s the point of an app like this if you’re fumbling over the UI? In the end we’re really satisfied with how it turned out.
More info on Convert will be available soon as we approach releasing it. The static screenshot hardly does it justice so I plan to post video of it in action.
To install the beta (this only applies if you were one of the people who commented in the Ars Technica post):
1) download it here
2) drag & drop both the app file and the provisioning profile file into iTunes
3) sync your iPhone or iPod touch
Please report any bugs and provide any feedback on our contact page.
If you’d like to be notified when Convert is released, be sure to sign-up at the bottom of the Convert page.
tap tap tap is a leading iPhone and iPad app developer and publisher. We’ve been creating top-notch apps since the App Store first opened. Our apps are used by literally millions of people in all corners of the world.
A few of our favorite and most popular apps we’ve created are:
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solve puzzles.
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Convert
unit convert
Justin Stevens
6:00am, June 25, 2009
I would love to beta test the app if you have any slots available!
Orestes Chouchoulas
6:06am, June 25, 2009
I have been hoping for someone to implement a triple wheel interface for unit conversion for a while! Wonderful that the numbers show on the wheels themselves; very pretty looking interface. Hoping currency conversion is part of this.
joe
7:03am, June 25, 2009
not as good as convertbot. you should do something new and original!
Michael
7:31am, June 25, 2009
Dear Orestes,
triple wheel unit conversion interface is available almost since AppStore opening, summer of 2008. The app is called Measures. I am just blown away by similarities between these two apps;-)
Agree with the last quote too.. about being original.
jpc101
8:11am, June 25, 2009
Tried to install the beta on my 2g iPhone but am getting an error (0xE8008015) and it points me towards: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1702
It is me?! Or might it be not liking that my iPhone is jailbroken/unblocked (via redSn0w) running 3.0
Keep up the great work!
John
9:58am, June 25, 2009
I would love to get into the beta as well please
javadog
10:44am, June 25, 2009
I’m willing to help test. The UI looks Awesome from the screenshot. If nothing else just couious about the whole UX of the app.
John Casasanta
7:56pm, June 25, 2009
@Michael:
First off… I feel that you should’ve made it clear that you’re the developer of Measures.
I think it’s pretty ridiculous that you’re trying to stake some sort of claim on “triple wheel unit conversion interface” and imply that we’ve ripped you off. I’ve tried most unit converters out there while Convert was in development but I didn’t find out about yours until fairly recently. And as I mentioned, we created Convert because none of the ones out there satisfied us as far as UI and usability goes.
With all due respect, if we were to rip any off, why on earth would you think we’d choose yours when it’s not even ranking in the Top 100 in its category… let alone the Top 100 overall? Just looking at your app, it’s clear that you’re of the everything-plus-five-kitchen-sinks mindset when it comes to UI, where we’ve always chosen a very minimalist approach.
So, no… we didn’t rip you off and I’ve been hearing through the grapevine that you’ve been repeatedly spouting-off that we have (it’s a smaller world out there than you probably think).
If there *is* any app that we’ve been influenced by, I’ll be the first to admit that Convert’s icon was definitely inspired by the icon of Units. Still very different but there’s an obvious influence there.
Jonathan Friedman
10:51pm, June 25, 2009
I commented on the original ArsTechnica article and I left my old UDID because I upgraded to my 3GS, i wrote that one really long post. I’m hoping my newer UDID could be placed in the system, because I really want to beta test the crap out of this app. here’s my new UDID: 43c67667cfd363b6fa6bbe1ff5e11ffb030383e4. ps: i did macheist, and i loved it. great work John!
Michael
3:05am, June 26, 2009
@John
I thought it is obvious, that i am Developer of Measures.
Hey, i am not trying to claim anything here. The UI paradigm just looks ridiculously similar. I agree, you could come up with it independently.
And.. being in US top 100 doesn’t actually mean anything. It doesn’t reflect the quality of the app. If i look at all those farting apps populating top 100. Measures was popular in many countries being in TOP 10 for quite some time. Just to tell, that your statement about rankings is not valid. If was quite easy to discover.
You should learn to be a little more polite BTW.
John Casasanta
4:58am, June 26, 2009
@ Michael
Again, I’ve heard through various sources that you’ve been going on about us ripping you off. And your first comment here with your snarky little winky reinforces that.
Now you’re backpedaling, trying to make it seem like you’re “not trying to claim anything”.
So if you want me to be more polite to you, I suggest you try practicing what you preach first. I’m totally polite to people who deserve it. And likewise for the converse.
Michael
5:26am, June 26, 2009
@Michael
I am not backpedaling. I just say, that there are two possibilities. Either that your UI was inspired by Measures or that you came to it independently. I don’t change my point here. Of course you’d never admit, that you copied something.
I was pissed off when i first seen your screenshot on ArsTechnica. Then i started talking about it. It is quite natural, when you feel that somebody copied some of your ideas. I know, that the world is quite small. I never intented to keep my comments secret.
I am not claiming, that i invented UIPicker which is used to select conversions that’s what i was saying. I am not posessing any legal rights on any parts of the UI. I was just first to create the app with very similar UI concept. Even, if you trying to put it down (Of course nobody can compete with TapTapTap and super clever John Cassanta in UI design). The reality is that users love it.
Now, you claim that my app had zero influence on yours. That’s fine. I hope, that you are enough of a man to stand behind this statement. Then we clarified, that both apps were developed independently.
John Casasanta
6:54am, June 26, 2009
@ Michael
I’m glad that you finally may be able to realize that two groups working totally independently of each other *may* come up with a similar UI element.
You do realize that you’re being a total asshole by saying something like “Of course nobody can compete with TapTapTap and super clever John Casasanta in UI design”.
You started all this crap. We just developed an app.
Michael
7:38am, June 26, 2009
@John
Honestly, i don’t know how to react to all your comments. They are on the level of the 13 y.o. teen. You just didn’t get the irony in the sentence about competition with TapTapTap. Of course everybody can compete.
It is really fun to read your statements. Really. Thank your for the amusement. Whatever i am trying to say, you catch on that and try to turn it into wrong direction.
And then you are getting so nervous. Why should you, if you didn’t copy anything?
Wish you all the best!
John Casasanta
8:14am, June 26, 2009
@ Michael
And yet again, you’re making thinly veiled remarks about us copying your app. Like, “And then you are getting so nervous. Why should you, if you didn’t copy anything?”
Who the hell is “getting so nervous”? I’m simply defending us by stating over and over that we didn’t know of the existence of your app when we started creating ours (our first design session on it dates back 343 days ago).
And your statement wasn’t irony but a weak attempt at sarcasm.
If someone wrongly accused you of stealing, I’d hope that you’d defend yourself. And you’re not just accusing me here, but also Wolfgang, Scott, and even Sophia, who was around for the original design sessions a year ago.
So instead of just admitting that maybe you made a mistake here and apologizing, you’re continuing to drag this on and on and on…
Michael
8:58am, June 26, 2009
@John
Let’s don’t pull Sophia and other people in. I have great respect for Sophia and her work. I am not accusing you of stealing! I just wanted a clarification of my suspicions. I bet that you’d also want it if somebody would create an app which pretty much mimics yours.
I don’t have any problems admitting that i made a mistake. However apologizing to somebody who dares to call you “total asshole” is too much of the goodwill.
John Casasanta
9:19am, June 26, 2009
@ Michael
No, you were definitely pulling them all in by what you wrote above and from what I’ve been hearing you say to others. We all worked on the app.
And if you really don’t have any problems admitting you made a mistake, then “be a man”, as you put it, and just do it.
It’d be nice to be done with this. I have much better things to do and I’d hope you also do.
Michael
9:46am, June 26, 2009
@John
Under condition that the facts you are providing are true, i am sorry that i mistakenly identified your app as copy cat.
I am also not interested to lead this word battle any longer, since i also have things which are much more exciting to do.
Let the users decide which app they like more.
Just.. think twice before you say bad words about somebody you don’t know.
John Casasanta
9:55am, June 26, 2009
@ Michael
Thank you.
Let’s try to put this all behind us and just focus on making apps…
Jonathan Friedman
3:33am, June 27, 2009
@John, i’m hoping you got a chance to read my comment. I know you got into this comment conversation, so maybe you can update my UDID in the system to this one (I had given you my iPhone 3G UDID and trying to sync my 3GS i realized that my UDID had changed) my new UDID is: 43c67667cfd363b6fa6bbe1ff5e11ffb030383e4. hopefully you’ll actually read this comment!
RJ Grunewald
2:00pm, July 6, 2009
Have you guys had any trouble with beta testers who are using Windows, I’ve had a done of errors that seem to only be on windows machines?