Gestimer app how to#
Gestimer app code#
Gestimer app mac#

How long before launch did you start thinking about marketing your app? I was worried that some people dismiss the app as being too simple rather than see how its simplicity is its greatest strength. On the one hand I thought that the UI was great for the task but on the other hand it's just drag & drop. I did wonder how Gestimer would be perceived by others. From then on I simply kept working on the app until I was satisfied with the results. The implementation proved to be exactly what I wanted and it was fun to use. I knew it would be useful to me and that's all that mattered.Īfter attempting to make Gestimer so many times it was easy to continue once I found more and more of the missing pieces. There was never any second guessing as Gestimer is an app I made just for myself. I didn't put the app on the App Store until June 2015, so almost another year went by after the first working version before I released it.ĭid you ever second guess yourself about the app? if so, what made you keep going? if not, did anything in particular help keep your focus and motivation? I was happy with the result and was able to use it for my own purposes. It was only in the summer of 2014 when I made some real progress and after a couple months the app was pretty much done. I got the idea for Gestimer in 2012 and there were multiple attempts trying to get something working. How long did it take, from the first idea to being live in the app store? I knew that I would use the app and that's all I cared about. I didn't validate the idea to find potential customers or anything similar. Other than that there wasn't any other research. It's very different when you try searching solutions for OS X problems because there isn't as much information available compared to iOS. I wasn't aware of any other apps like Gestimer to see if my idea was possible.

Gestimer app how to#

I did do some research because I wasn't sure how to get started with the drag & drop interface in the menubar. Making Gestimer was an easy decision as I knew that I would use it all the time.ĭid you do any research before you started building? or did you just dive right in? There were so many occasions where I wished the app existed so I could simply drag & drop and be done, but instead I had to use something else that wasn't as effortless. Gestimer was one of those ideas that just kept coming back me. I’m sure you’ve had tons of app ideas over the years - how did you narrow them down and decide on Gestimer? Therefore I believe that going straight into industry is the better path as you immediately specialize and learn the tools and programming languages that interest you.

Gestimer app code#

writing code is a better approach to learning. CS is very theoretical and for me a more practical approach, i.e. I don't believe that having a CS degree has helped much. In addition to the extra time, do you think you’re a better equipped iOS developer with that degree, or would you have caught up with out it? I’ve seen lots of discussion by young dev asking if they should pursue CS or just go code-camps and straight into industry as fast as possible.

It bought me time to think about what my next should step be which fortunately led me to make Gestimer.

I finished my degree and and in hindsight it was probably the correct decision. All my code was inside a single file.ĭid you stick with your degree and finish? or did you drop out and go straight to work? Now that you’re on the other side - what would you do differently? Within the first month of starting the course in 2011 I began learning iOS development during my own time and I somehow managed to make a little app without understanding objects or object-oriented programming. I studied CS because I thought it would teach me how to make apps for iOS and OS X. I asked Martin to share how he built the app and how he prepared for such a succesful launch.ĭid you major in CS or computer related things in college? When did you start iOS development?

Gestimer app mac#

Martin Nguyen is the developer of Gestimer: A reminder app that sits in the Mac menu-bar with a fun pull-to-set gesture to add new timers.ĭuring Gestimer's launch week, it quickly rose to #1 paid productivity app in the App Store, and continued strong sales throughout the month.