TOKYO (MacHouse) – Ever since I switched to Swift last April, the way I write code has changed dramatically. These days, I use CocoaPods and include one or more libraries in my Xcode project. Ones that I often test these days are Alamofire and SwiftyJASON although none of the desktop applications that I submit to Mac App Store utilize them. Since I use both Xcode 7 and Xcode 8, I have to use different versions of those Swift libraries. In fact, I was going to use RxSwift with Xcode 8 under OS X 10.1 El Capitan when I was developing the last desktop application. But I was not able to install RxSwift 3.0 through CocoaPods. So things are messed up. We have completely different versions of Swift – 2.3 and 3.0. We have to use one Xcode version over another. We then have to consider whether or not a particular Swift library runs under a certain OS version. Oh, boy… Life is so confusing. That’s behind the idea of developing a new desktop application.

SimplyPods is a desktop application that lets you document and list Pods that you frequently use so that you can pick ones that you need from the list when you start out a new Xcode projects.   Continue reading →

TOKYO (MacHouse) – It’s been quite a while since I submitted the last Mac application to Mac App Store. Maybe, half a year or so… Well, I want to upgrade an existing desktop application called TextCandy so badly so that I can use it while I’m at work. So here comes the second installment of TextCandy, which I submitted to Mac App Store half an hour ago.

Tom Bluewater

Tom Bluewater

TextCandy 2 is a status menu application that gives you quick access to a few lines (or more) of text. If you write programming code and want to get quick access to several lines of code, you will find TextCandy 2 quite useful. If you have friends to keep in close touch with, get quick access to their phone numbers and e-mail addresses with TextCandy 2. It’s easy to use. Just explore application’s status menu and select the title of a text record. And TextCandy 2 will automatically copy the corresponding lines of text into the system clipboard for you. By the way, TextCandy 2 is developed 100% in Swift.   Continue reading →

TOKYO (MacHouse) – If you ask me whether or not I like Swift as a software development language, you won’t get a flat answer of Yes or No from me. This language is so bad that it can be terribly difficult to type just a few letters if you already have a few thousand lines of code. Or is it just me? Anyway, I’m ready to introduce a second application that I’ve developed in Swift. This new software release is called Oh My Gradient. I submitted it to Mac App Store just several minutes ago.

Source: Tom Bluewater

Source: Tom Bluewater

Oh My Gradient is a desktop application for software developers who use CAGradientLayer to display gradient colors with NSView or UIView. It lets you design gradient colors with your mouse and generate Objective-C or Swift code for your OS X (or iOS) projects at the same time. Oh My Gradient generates code for dictionary objects with color and location keys for every color stop.   Continue reading →

TOKYO (MacHouse) – It’s been 8 weeks or so since I released the last desktop application. That’s because I now have a full-time job besides developing applications to sell at Mac App Store. Meanwhile, things have changed lately. I now use Swift to develop Mac and iOS applications. The thing about Swift is that it’s not well baked yet. If you are already familiar with how things go with Swift, you probably know that it doesn’t really support SQLite. If you really need to use SQLite to store data, you have to use Objective-C code. Fortunately, Xcode lets you import Objective-C header and implementation files. Oh, by the way, I submitted a desktop application that I’ve developed with Swift to Mac App Store some 14 hours ago. This new release is called CodeBlue 2.

CodeBlue 2 is a successor to an existing desktop application (CodeBlue) that lets you store, manage, organize programming code comprehensively. You can create dozens or even hundreds of code categories, which we call fields. List a number of code snippets under a field you select with a drop-down menu at the top. You can store as many URLs as you have as the source of programming code for each node snippet. Click on the Go button to access the URL you select with the drop-down menu at the bottom. Highlight the titles of important code snippets. You can also set specific key phrases for each field so that the application can syntax-highlight them within code text.   Continue reading →

TOKYO (MacHouse) – The other day, I was looking at some desktop applications at AppShopper. And I ran across an application named Rainbow, which made me think to myself “Hmm… A desktop application for creating a rainbow?” Actually, it is not. I guess it’s a desktop application that comes with several graphic filters. So I thought to myself “Can I develop a desktop application for creating a rainbow?” Why not? I thought I could do it in the same way I developed TextAround2. As a result, I submitted a new desktop application to Mac App Store several hours ago. This new software submission is called Oh My Rainbow.

Source: Tom Bluewater

Source: Tom Bluewater

Oh My Rainbow is a simple desktop application that lets you create a rainbow as a picture. Yes, you can do it if you have Adobe Photoshop. And, yes, you can do it without spending $19.99 a month if you just have this application. All you have to do is 1) to pick several colors and then 2) to configure several settings. And voila! You’ve just created a rainbow. And you are just a couple of steps away from saving your rainbow as a picture.
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