YOKOHAMA (Señor Tomato) – The second app of the day to announce is called Search Party Assistant.

Search Party Assistant is an iPhone-only app that lets you canvass the field to find a missing person (or object) by grid by grid. This app works side by side with its iPad-only companion app called Search Party Center. A search operation team uses Search Party Center to organize a missing search operation and analyze data effectively at a large scale. And you use this app to participate in a search by canvassing the field thoroughly.

The followings are the steps in participating a search.

(1) If you want to create a search route path beforehand, tap Create Search Route on the Home screen. Or tap the Participate button.
(2) If you want to create a search route path, turn on the switch at the bottom-right corner. Then tap any point on the map to erect a number marker. Then tap + button to save a route path.
(3) Tap the Participate button at the Home screen and see your Participant ID. Your search organizer may ask you to report it so that they will know who has searched where. Then tap the Next button at the bottom.
(4) Your search organizer should have given you search details. So select search organizer’s creature. Then tap Next.
(5) Enter the 6-digit number and 4 letters, followed by a search operation title. By this time, turn on your Wi-Fi switch and sign into your iCloud account. Then tap the Participate button at the bottom.
(6) Tap the Start Search button and then canvass the field. When you are done, tap the End Search button at the bottom and wait for the app to finish sending data to iCloud.

Your can join a search so that you can help the family of a missing person a proper burial.   Continue reading →

YOKOHAMA (Señor Tomato) – This is the last weekend of November, 2026. I feel that the year goes by very quickly once the summer is over. We now have two months left before this year ends. So I have two iOS apps to release. The first iOS app to announce is called Search Party Center.

For many people, even when they know there is little chance that their family member or friend is coming back, it’s important for them at least to find remains so that they could give the deceased a proper burial. So how can we conduct a grid-by-grid search so that every meter or yard is searched thoroughly to find them?

Search Party Center is an iPad-only app that lets you organize a search operation to look for a missing person or object collectively. It works side by side with its iPhone-only app called Search Party Assistant, which allows the user to canvass the field. When they tap the End Search button, the latter sends trace route data to iCloud. And you can view the paths they have taken on a Map screen.

In order to launch a search operation, please follow these steps.

(1) Sign in to your iCloud account and then tap the Create Search Project to create a project. Enter the name of a search operation.
(2) Select a search operation project and then tap the Invitation button.
(3) After navigating the Invitation screen, tap the Share button. Then distribute your project details to each search participant.
(4) After having participants send trace route records to iCloud, select a project and then tap the corresponding Map button.
(5) Shown on the Map screen are trace route paths from your participants. By default, each path has its own color so that you can tell which path belongs to who. You can draw a circle around them by tapping the map.   Continue reading →

YOKOHAMA (Señor Tomato) – I thought the unusual 1-month long rainy season was over at the beginning of this month. But it’s been raining for the past three days, and the weather forecast says that it will tomorrow. I guess I’m unlikely to be able to jogging today.

So I’ve released five or six software titles this month. I’m way slower than the record-breaking month of last August and last September. This new release is probably the last one of the month. The iOS app that I submitted to App Store for review a minute ago is called Oh My Schedule.

You never know when you get a development idea. The other day, I was reading a news article about a married couple who say are not attracted to the opposite sex but have gotten married. They have never had sexually physical between them but have a child by artificial insemination or something. They say they can date somebody else free of concerns from the other though they keep the daily schedule of the other. That’s when it hit me. Sharing a schedule with others?

Oh My Schedule is an iOS app for iPhone and iPad users that lets you share your schedule with friends and family members. You can also get their daily schedules as well.

If you want to share your daily schedule, follow these simple steps.

(1) Tap the profile toolbar button with a fox image.
(2) Tap the Share button at the bottom and share your personal ID with peers.
(3) Go back to the Startup screen and tap ‘Edit Your Schedule’ to create your daily routine list. Then tap the Push button with a paper plane image.

Your can create different daily schedule versions, each of which can be saved with a name, which does not mean that you can share all of them with peers at once. You can only share them individually once by one by tapping the Push button. Furthermore, speaking of how to create your daily schedule list, the app comes with about 20 common routine activity names. So just select one and then set its time. If you cannot find one that you need, you can tap Custom to create a custom activity.

If you want to subscribe to peers, follow these simple steps.

(1) Tap ‘Subscribe to a Peer.’
(2) Select peer’s animal and then tap Next.
(3) Enter peer’s 8-digit number.

When you subscribe to peers, you will receive a notification every time any of them updates their daily schedule. You can subscribe to several or dozen peers with no limitations. Moreover, you can always remove a peer from your subscription list with the tap of a button.

Oh My Schedule offers a great way of figuring out what your peers are up to. It give you some idea about their daily schedules without contacting them.   Continue reading →