TOKYO (Tom Bluewater) – For the past several years, I’ve switched from one software development platform to another. I’ve written code in PHP, Visual Basic .Net, Objective-C and Swift. Switching from one development platform to another can be quite confusing, at least, to me. Maybe, I’m too old for that. It’s very important for me to store code snippets under different categories so that I can find and then retrieve them quickly whenever I need them. That’s why I’ve developed CodeBlue.

It’s been more than four years since I introduced the first version of CodeBlue. The first major overhaul was made about sixteen months. Yet, it still requires a major overhaul because it can act strangely under macOS 10.12 Sierra. More specifically, IKImageBrowser does not appear to work properly when one tries to create a code group. Well, finally… It was a long road because I dealt with a memory leak for a week. I submitted the second major overhaul to Mac App Store several minutes ago. The application name is of course CodeBlue 3.   Continue reading →

TOKYO (Tom Bluewater) – There is no question that emoji symbols that Apple offers for macOS and iOS users are far more beautiful than those available for Android, Windows and other systems. If you have ever seen any of emoji symbols designed by Microsoft, you probably agree that they are terribly ugly.

If you love emoji symbols, you may want to use them as pictures except that there is no easy way of converting them into image files. Yes, I have a desktop application called ePics for this purpose. Unfortunately, ePics won’t run properly under macOS 10.12 Sierra. So I spent the last several days developing an upgrade to ePics. An application that I submitted to Mac App Store several minutes ago is called Emoji de Picture 2.

Emoji de Picture 2 is a direct successor of an existing desktop application called ePics. Emoji de Picture 2 lets you convert emoji symbols you select into image files. You have access to all emoji symbols that are available under macOS 10.12.5. Emoji de Picture 2 supports skin tones. All you have to do is click on a skin tone button, and all emoji symbols that support skin tones will have the skin tone altered accordingly.   Continue reading →

TOKYO (Tom Bluewater) – Scrapboard is kind of a unique desktop application. The main application window acts as a scrap album where you have an infinite number of pages. And you can post pictures and notes. It’s two years and a half old. So it’s now been updated. Writing completely from a scratch in Swift, I submitted it to Mac App Store several minutes ago.

The idea surrounding this application comes from sticky notes and kid pictures on a refrigerator. The difference between your refrigerator and this application is that you can have an unlimited number of pages with this application. You can post 10 pictures on Page 1, another 12 pictures on Page 2. Maybe, post several text notes on Page 3 and on and on. You can move these posts anywhere around the board. It’s not just a picture that you can post on the board. You can also create a map post with one or more annotation pins. Or create a schedule post with a calendar so that you can get reminded of an event that is going to take place in the near future.   Continue reading →

TOKYO (Tom Bluewater) – Although I don’t own a TV set, it’s important for me to keep updated with current events around the world. That’s why I developed NewsRoll two years ago. And I introduced AllNews to Apple‘s App Store several months ago. What I submitted to Mac App Store several minutes ago is an upgrade of NewsRoll. It’s called AllNews Desktop.   Continue reading →

TOKYO (Tom Bluewater) – Although I’m committed to developing games with Sprite Kit, I realize that it’s very difficult for me to compete with other game developers at App Store since I’m not really good at drawing pictures. The worst part of submitting an iOS game or any iOS app to App Store is that people may never find your app unless it’s introduced as a new comer. Choosing the right category is also important because some of them don’t even introduce new comers. So I’ve decided to switch to macOS. Actually, I’ve submitted the first macOS game to Mac App Store some 30 minutes ago. This new game is called The War of The Worlds.

It’s a simple game where you are attacked by a single enemy that regularly fires a laser beam or drops a bomb and attacks your city. Your job is of course to protect the city. Fortunately, your city is protected with electromagnetic shield, which won’t last for a long time, though. So you have to go offensive and defeat the space invader. The city hall is actually equipped with a line gun that is powerful enough to reach the space invader.   Continue reading →