Hi, User Logger version 1.10 is now available for download.  There are quite a few updates, the most notable being the implementation of iCloud.  All interactions will now be saved in the user’s iCloud account.  We’re about to release a companion iPhone app that will allow these interactions to be viewed remotely.  Watch this space! Also in this version… the photos taken by the built-in camera can now be viewed full size by double-clicking them in the Log window. Finally, archives can easily be deleted by selecting in the Archive window and pressing the delete key. Other suggestions or requests […]

Yes, I’m almost there!  Just had a conference call with Apple to iron out a sandboxing issue, but there don’t seem to be any more roadblocks. So, what is User Logger?  Well, it simply logs certain user interactions to record what you (or somebody else!) is doing in your account.  It takes a picture of you when you waken the screen, and it logs the apps you’re opening or closing.  Most importantly, it allow you to watch folders of your choice to see when they are opened.  It was this last piece of functionality that Apple were at first uncomfortable […]

I have now submitted v1.20 to the App Store 5 times… only to find a bug a few minutes after pressing the button each time.

Well, it’s taken a while, but v1.20 is out there.  Why the delay?  Well, there was another pretty major rewrite, and some head-scratching.  Once a new architecture was landed on, it was actually much easier to code.  Also, some rationalizations to the UI became possible.  All in all, the result looks pretty good, and new functionality can be added. The main addition for this version was the ability to add a border, but in doing so it became clear that images, borders and text could all be handled in similar ways.  All you need is different editing popovers for each […]

And there it is.  Took a few weeks, but it’s out there.  And I’m quite happy with the rewritten bits.  Less code, better organised, easier to upgrade, and performs better.  Now I can start planning more functionality!

Yep, v1.12 of Icon Composer is up and running!  Just need to stress test it a bit.  No doubt a few bugs will surface, but that’s normal.  I think all the major show stoppers have been found and eliminated.  Just a tweak here and there before release.  Hold yer breath!

I need to write this down to clear my mind… Important components of Icon Composer have been rewritten, so that now the various filters and transforms don’t reset to their default values between edits.  In other words, if you scale an image to 0.50 of it’s original size, the scale slider will continue to show 0.50 until it’s changed again.  It won’t go back to 1.00 when another filter/transform is selected.  That goes for all the other sliders.  So that begs the question, if actions are reversible, is there any need for undo/redo functionality? Crop, cut and reset are different […]

You may be wondering why there haven’t been updates for a little while.  Two reasons.  First, resources have been diverted onto getting a new project off the ground.  It’s another OS X app, provisionally called MediaCation, that tags your media files.  It may see the light of day in about a month or so. The second reason is that Icon Composer stalled a bit.  It was getting a bit weighty code-wise, so a decision was made to re-write sections to make the layout more logical.  The result was supposed to make it easier to add functionality in the future, although […]

It looks like progress on Icon Composer is a lot faster now, due to the work put in to lay a solid foundation to the code. Shadow slider – Not started Add Text function – Done Print menu item in File menu – Not started Rotate image function – Done Flip image function – Done Add a Filters menu – On reflection, not really necessary So there we are.  Just a couple of things to finish, and we’re off to the races!  I may look at a few more filters before releasing, just to make it worthwhile.

Yay!  I won’t lie, it’s been a frustrating week fixing bugs.  The last 4 hours have been spent trying to get around the fact that certain Core Image filters inexplicably square up non-square images.  Finally figured it out.  What a relief!  So Icon Composer has been submitted to the App Store, and I can’t imagine they will reject it as it’s much spiffier than the previous version.  I’ve also spruced up the screenshots, so everything should be good to go. Now I’m looking forward to adding a few more bit’s and pieces for version 1.11.  Maybe it’s a big enough […]