Can't believe I reads through 10 pages of comments, but now I desperately need to try this app out. I will buy it tonite as soon as I get home. Kudos to the developer for making a great app and listening to the user community feedback. I am very very impressed.
Side note, do you have plans for other apps on WP8? (Because I will surely support them)
Do you plan on developing for other competing platforms (robot/fruit)?
Reason I ask is that I'm planning on developing for WP when I find some free time and fleah out my ideas a bit and I'm always curious as to how developers view the platform, community etc..
Thanks for the app!
I'm glad you're looking into WP development! I really love the platform, and WP8 is truly awesome. You get the benefits of a managed environment, with the ability to write native code and use shaders when performance is of the utmost concern.
With respect to platform, I was an early adopter to WP, and enjoyed using the OS much more than the competitors'. Probably the biggest reason behind my decision to stick with WP was that dedicated camera button -- I absolutely loved that it was a hardware requirement. Little did I know what I'd be making two years later, haha.
Since I already loved the OS, it was a pretty simple decision to start developing for it. I spent a great deal of time researching the capabilities of the OS and reading Microsoft's UI guidelines manual -- I wanted all of my apps to feel like natural extensions of the OS. I can't stress enough how important a good UI is.
My first app enjoyed a decent amount of downloads (it was free), but the paid version tanked -- everyone just held on to the ad-supported trial. At the time it felt like 8 months of my life wasted, and I was crushed. But the lessons learned from that experience proved to be invaluable...
Around that time Microsoft announced their Lenses API. I've been into photography for a long time (mainly obsessed with the technical side of cameras) -- I've learned tricks to squeeze the most out of mobile cameras and point-and-shoots, and wondered just how far I could push these phones.
With the lessons learned from my previous dev experience, it wasn't too difficult to get things up an running. Actually that's a lie, it was insanely difficult and I wanted to jump out the window at least once a day. But since I was already used to WP development, it didn't feel too beyond my reach. What ProShot has now become is the result of an obsession that took me over the moment I saw the first build running on an actual phone.
I think obsession is key to a successful app, because you are constantly thinking of ways to improve it (just be careful to not let it destroy your health, sleep cycle, friendships, love life, etc).
With respect to mobile software in general, if you're thinking about developing a game, it's important to hit all platforms at the same time. Use something like Unity3D, pay the extra money, and get one-click builds across every major device in existence. Also, localization, localization, localization.
With that being said, I actually have many plans for apps! The games I plan to make will likely appear on competing platforms for money reasons. ProShot will still be in active development for a looooooong time though. I still have a billion ideas and am doing my best to get in touch with someone at Microsoft or Nokia -- with their help I could truly take this thing to the next level.
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