Indie Dev Weekly #2

Write in the front

There are only two days left in February, and according to the current data, the final revenue of App Store and Google Play has dropped this month compared to January.

While my own products are not doing well, I have seen two of my developer group friends achieving impressive results. One spent two years polishing her app and earned 4,500 USD on the first day it was launched on the App Store, while the other made over 70,000 USD on the Huawei market and is now struggling with tax issues.

Human beings are not alike in their sorrows and joys.

Zen Flip Clock

On Tuesday night, I finally submitted the new version 4.2.0 for iOS and it was approved for release in less than half an hour. However, when I woke up, I discovered a small bug, so I urgently submitted a fixed version 4.2.1. I thought it would take until the next day for it to be approved (as it had in the past), but it was approved for release within 35 minutes. I was very satisfied with the App Store's review speed, as two versions were submitted and released within 12 hours.

New features in 4.2.0:

Add operation guide.
Add custom time.
Add celebration animation for the pomodoro.
Add more flip sounds.
Redesign the UI for changing duration for pomodoro.

Here I mainly talk about two new features: custom time and celebration animation when the Pomodoro ends.

Custom Time

This feature allows you to select any time and run the clock from that time. The idea behind this feature is that if you want to record a countdown to the New Year, for example, you may miss the exact moment due to mistakes or unpreparedness. With this feature, you no longer need to wait in front of the app until that special moment.

Of course, you can also change the system time to achieve the same effect, but this will be very troublesome, requiring repeated switching between system settings and the app over and over again.

Celebration animation

This is a feature I wanted to add two or three years ago. With the help of SwiftUI and open-source libraries, I was able to get it done with just a few lines of code, and I am very satisfied and happy with it. Recently, I listened to a podcast that talked about how "every small effort requires positive reinforcement, rather than punishment or discouragement when halfway there." I agree with this view, so I added this little encouragement.

Minimal Diary

Last week, I planned to submit a TF this week, but I didn't finally submit 1.7.3(2) until Sunday afternoon.

I made a big mistake with this version. I originally planned to optimize the loading of the diary and fix a few small bugs together, but I didn't expect the optimization work to be so complex, which caused the other small problems that could be solved with a few lines of code to be delayed as well.

On Tuesday afternoon, I spent the entire afternoon fixing bugs caused by optimization and encountered three difficult problems that I had never encountered before. Thanks to the help of my friend, @fatbobman , I solved them in just three lines of code, and I am extremely grateful.

On Sunday afternoon, I also had a chat with my Android partner about the new features for the next version of the Android version, which will bring a lot of new features.

At the time of writing this weekly report, I just found a serious bug, and it's unknown if I can submit the official version next week.

Desktop

I rearranged my desktop again this week, this time moving my PS4 and a power strip under the desk, making it look much neater.

The main dilemma every time I rearrange the desktop is between two things:

I want to place my laptop in the center so that the camera and speakers face me.
I want to place my 32-inch 4K monitor in the center for the best viewing experience.

But I can't have both, and I also have to consider the length of the cables and the available desk space. I end up rearranging my desk every few weeks, trying to find the best setup. This situation may only be solved by iMac or Studio Display.

New equipment

After watching it for almost three months, I finally ordered the JinHao E2 this week while it was on sale. My previous chair was a 500 yuan XiHao chair, and because of my protruding lumbar disc, I bought a few cushions and lumbar supports, but they were of no use and I became increasingly uncomfortable. Originally, I was thinking of buying a 1,000 yuan Netease chair or an 1,800 yuan JinHao B2, but for the sake of my back, I raised the budget and directly chose the Jin Hao E2.

This chair didn't disappoint me at all, and was ready to use right out of the box.

Among its numerous features, the two that I am most satisfied with are the armrests and lumbar support.

The armrests can be adjusted in various ways, and the horizontal angle rotation is the most attractive feature to me. I had only experienced this feature on the Herman Miller chair provided during my internship at Adobe, and it seems that other ergonomic chairs under 2,000 yuan do not have this function.
The back and lumbar support are excellent, so I no longer need an additional lumbar support. The concept of this chair is to automatically adjust the reclining angle based on the your body weight, rather than fixing it at a certain angle. When combined with the armrest that can follow the reclining movement, the experience is great.