09.22.08
TAKEphONE for iPhone is on it’s way !
Hi all,
Been working hard on porting my Palm OS TAKEphONE application to the iPhone. I now have a preliminary beta, that look quite promising (to me):
I must say there are some limitation to the Apple official iPhone SDK (mainly security issues preventing access to the built-in favourites & call-log databases), but even at the first basic version - TAKEphONE improves the ease of making calls dramatically.
PRGeno said,
September 22, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Shimon,
Oh what I would give to get Takephone (and 2Day, and why not 4Cast too) on my new iPhone 3G. I have been a long time user of your products, and they are what has me still using my Palm Centro, instead of my iPhone as my everyday phone/PDA.
Without your applications, the iPhone is just a good data device, but it’s not nearly as useful of a phone/pda as my Palm devices of the past.
While Takephone will be a huge addition to the iPhone, don’t forget about 2Day. The iPhone has nothing like a Today screen and 2Day would be another huge addition.
Thanks for everything you have contributed to the enjoyment and usefulness of my Palm devices, and I look forward to your contributions to the iPhone community.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
September 23, 2008 at 2:37 am
Hi,
I am evaluating this. For the moment - I am not sure the official SDK allows access to the calendar database, and there is no tasks database at all…
Regarding 4cast - not sure I can make the auto-update feature with the SDK…
mrjcleaver said,
September 25, 2008 at 11:46 am
Shimon,
I’m very interested in TakePhone for the iphone, because it allows me to use calling cards to call number when my minutes run out. Telcos often provide two features that allow certain numbers to be called for free. One is a set of nominally friends and family that can be called for free. The other is free incoming calls.
So a couple of feature suggestions for TakePhone:
- keep a count of how many minutes the iphone has used this month
- divert outbound calls through the calling card to keep within budgeted minutes (i.e. use up the telco’s minutes)
- keep a log of who I called and when
Later uses:
- provide the means for callback calling cards, for example, the Yak Callback feature http://www.yak.ca/index.aspx?id=18&lg=en which turns outgoing calls into incoming ones.
As you may remember you created an experimental feature for callback for the Palm version. Around the same time my telco provided 5 free calling numbers.
I thank you for your work on TakePhone, and I apologise for not getting back to you about the callback calling card feature you added for the Treo.
Regards,
Martin.
mrjcleaver said,
September 25, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I had another thought…
I get free evenings and weekend calls. So there is no point me using the calling card at those times. A feature that can maximize the cost profile of making calls using an iphone is an easy sell.
Lastly (for now!) while the prettier interface and more features for the Treo version were nice to have, it was the calling card feature that had me reaching for my wallet to pay for TakePhone.
Regards and thanks,
Martin
Shimon Shnitzer said,
September 25, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Hi,
Afraid currently I can not support Call Cards or any other telephony related feature - the iPhone official SDK does not allow me that kind of control over the device.
The first version of TAKEphONE for iPhone is all about ease of use - searching, creating, calling contacts in the “TAKEphONE way”.
I hope in the next generation I will be able to find ways to implement the telephony features.
Josef Hollweck said,
September 26, 2008 at 7:51 am
Hi,
I can´t wait to see the first version on my iPhone.
Thanks for your effort.
Regards,
Josef
mrjcleaver said,
September 28, 2008 at 8:44 am
Oh, it’s shame that you can’t do calling card stuff - it was the only reason I bought TAKEphONE.
I’ll keep searching - maybe I have to buy something that only works on a jailbroken iphone.
http://www.modmyi.com/forums/general-iphone-chat/12285-automated-calling-card-dialing.html comments seem to agree.
Regards and thanks,
Martin.
mrjcleaver said,
September 29, 2008 at 3:40 pm
http://www.modmyi.com/forums/general-iphone-chat/12285-automated-calling-card-dialing.html and “Create Calling Card Phone Numbers” on http://vocaro.com/trevor/software/applescript/ are the best options so far.
mrjcleaver said,
October 5, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Having now bought an iphone, I think I’d appreciate the TakePhone dialing interface on it, calling card functionality aside
DKWien said,
October 7, 2008 at 7:15 am
Any idea about the timeframe TAKEphONE will be released?
Really cant wait … I am thinking of changing the Iphone, but TAKEphONE could release the pressure…
Shimon Shnitzer said,
October 7, 2008 at 7:59 am
Hi,
Afraid it’s out of my hands - the app is posted at the AppStore, pending review by the Apple people, hopefully they will approve it for selling via the AppStore.
DKWien said,
October 7, 2008 at 8:45 am
I keep all my fingers crossed !!!
I cant wait, since I will ease the use of IPhone a lot!
Hope your effort will soon be acknowledged.
PRGeno said,
October 9, 2008 at 6:26 am
Shimon,
No telling what Apple will do. I’m sure approval for sale in the AppStore would be the most profitable answer for you, but the Apple approval process is a wildcard. They have shown to approve some garbage apps, while rejecting some excellent apps, because their claim is they duplicate functions of Apple’s built in apps. They have done this regardless of if their own app are not a good as the third party app, which Takephone surely would be a better solution than Apples contact or phone app.
So I’m rooting for you, and will buy Takephone as soon as it appears in the AppStore. But please don’t give up if Apple rejects it. There is a thriving business in Jailbroken apps too. It wouldn’t be as profitable for you, but would free you from many of Apple’s oddball restrictions in their iPhone SDK agreement.
Good luck
DKWien said,
October 15, 2008 at 12:21 am
Apple is a shame…we should make a petition like…
http://please-let-us-disable-autocorrection-steve.com/
…there are hundreds of totally nonsense apps in the store…
I start getting vey annoyed with Apple…
DKWien
Shimon Shnitzer said,
October 15, 2008 at 12:33 am
Hi,
I am begining to get a bad feeling about this - some guy at the Apple forums claims that an app that receives the “…exceptional time to review…” email (like I got) will never be approved.
I don’t understand how/why would Apple do this - put me and my app in “limbo” without any explanation. I guess I will wait a bit more, then try to “nag” them, and see.
If all comes to worse - I guess it’s Android next.
PRGeno said,
October 16, 2008 at 11:25 am
Hello Shimon,
Please don’t rule out jailbroken iPhones.
There is money to be made via that route too. The AppStore was supposed eliminate the need to jailbreak, but Apple’s insane death grip on this distribution method will likely not only not kill off jailbroken apps, but encourage them if Apple continues to arbitrarily restrict developers.
Sure the AppStore has the potential to make a developer lots of money, through the exposure and availability to all iPhone users. But you gain access to this potential only if Apple deems you worthy. Wasn’t his what they were advertising against in their famous 1984 anti-IBM commercial?
Take a look at the 2Day like application Intelliscreen (www.Intelliborn.com). It is an example of the type of productivity apps available for sale for profit for jailbroken iphones. The developer claims he won’t even try to make this available in the AppStore due to Apple’s restrictions and tactics.
Although certainly less than if Apple allowed you in the AppStore, jailbroken iPhones still probably have greater future distribution potential than your current Palm apps. Android looks to have potential too, but the iPhone is already out there in great numbers, many of which are jailbroken, and you already have a working version of Takephone ready to distribute for it.
I want Takephone on my iPhone! Cydia distribution awaits.
PRGeno
msiple said,
October 19, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Shimon,
I really don’t understand why Apple hasn’t approved it. They approved VFDialer, which is similar but not near as good as your effort.
Thanks for doing it. As a longtime Palm user, I’m ready to click the BUY button as soon as it’s in the AppStore.
Thanx. Mark.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
October 20, 2008 at 12:30 am
Hi,
What is VFDialer ? Where can I find it (googled, and no results).
msiple said,
October 20, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Sorry. It’s VFCaller not VFDialer. http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=292719003&mt=8
canderson said,
October 20, 2008 at 1:59 pm
There’s a theory the Apple won’t let it’s core functions in the dock be replicated. (Safari, phone, mail, ipod) Two high profile useful apps that were rejected (PodCatcher, Mail Wrangler) seem to back this theory up, but VFCaller was accepted, so who knows.
Like others here, I would buy TP in a second when approved by the App Store.
DKWien said,
October 21, 2008 at 9:03 am
I do not understand the world…VFCaller accepted…Takephone still pending…
Maybe you should use this info to send to apple…
BR,
DKWien
Shimon Shnitzer said,
October 21, 2008 at 9:05 am
Hi all,
Thanks so much for your comments and info.
I am trying to get this figured out asap.
Hope we’ll have good news soon…
PRGeno said,
October 21, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I think the AppStore approval folks are a little busy that’s all. Look “Super Chimp Surprise” and “Chimps Ahoy”, were just released, not to mention the “Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab” (no really, these are recent AppStore releases, I’m not kidding).
Mayby Apple would approve Takephone if you changed the name to include something involving small primates.
I know, that’s not very funny, but unfortunately the AppStore is becoming the joke. I still can’t determine if Apple even wants the iPhone to become a serious business tool, or not.
Shimon, I know YOU know there is an alternative iPhone software distribution method available. My PayPal account works just as well for apps purchased through Cydia. Please, PLEASE, consider it if Apple fails to see the light.
Thanks for listening (reading),
Paul
Shimon Shnitzer said,
October 21, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Re: VFCaller - wow that’s great - competition !
Reminds me of the early days of my Palm version of TAKEphONE - I had a competing app there called “FingerDial”, too, and the competition did only good.
Now users can match TAKEphONEs capabilities with something else, and let’s see who comes on top.
PRGeno said,
October 22, 2008 at 11:15 am
Actually, there is lots of competition, but nothing that bundles all the important phone functions together. It appears TAKEphONE will combine contact searches, speed dialing, and call histories.
Without having seen TAKEphONE for the iPhone, I only have my long history of using TAKEphONE on mt Treos, and Centro to go by.
In the iPhone world, a better comparison to TAKEphONE on a Palm Treo is the combination of apps like “Search Dial” and “Q-Dialer”, plus the native Phone app’s history (this is the combination I’ve settled on for now).
Contact Search and Dial/Mail/SMS Apps
“VFCaller” uses a T9 style approach, where “Search Dial” and “Dial Quick” both use the full keyboard to search the contact db, just like TAKEphONE does on my Treo or Centro. I’m hoping TAKEphONE offers the full keyboard as an option on the iPhone too, although the screen shots don’t seem to indicate this.
Speed Dial Apps
FingerDial, Q-Dialer, Favorator, Faces, FaceCall, or any one of the dozens of other speed dialers out there, all work with varying feature sets and views. They are all very slow starting up, probably due to their dependency upon the contacts DB, instead of allowing the creation of their own speed numbers. None of them allow the “*” or “#” character to be used in the dial string, eliminating the ability to automate dialing calling cards or dialing into other voice mail systems, which I believe this is an Apple SDK restriction.
Call History Apps
I don’t know of any worthwhile app for the call history, beyond the built in Phone app.
Shimon, one thing I noted about your decision to move to the iPhone over Windows Mobile was performance. I have yet to find a 3rd party iPhone app that access the contacts db, or phone functions, that performs well. They all take 3-5 seconds to start up and be ready for input or dialing.
That is nothing like the great performance found in your Palm apps, but I guess this is called progress. Hopefully you’ve found something in the Apple SDK that allows you to do better in this area than the competition.
There is simply nothing out there in iPhoneland that combines all of these important telephony functions into one app. This is where TAKEphONE will shine, and what has me checking http://appshopper.com several times per day hoping to see it’s release announced.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
October 22, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Hi,
Thanks for the thorough post.
Some remarks:
- Speed of launch. Seems this is a limitation of the contacts database libraries - it takes 2-3 seconds to load any app that links with those libraries, even if it does not do anything with the database.
So - for now - afraid TAKEphONE will suffer from the same delay.
- Call-log & speed-dial. Apple imposed a restriction here - no app can access the built-in favorites database, nor the call-log database. So TAKEphONE handles its own favorites database, and a REDIAL list in stead of a call-log list (only calls made from within TAKEphONE can be handled).
- Support for ‘*’ and ‘#’. Same goes here - the method Apple supplies in the official SDK for starting calls filters out these digits, as well as pauses. This eliminates the option (for now) to handle call-cards in any way (a real bummer).
- Based on your input, I will add two things to the next version of TAKEphONE - an option for a full keyboard in stead of the T9 one, and an option for “dial by photo” in the speed-dial tab.
- Note: the current TAKEphONE version allows dialing the first 10 speed-dials directly from the main (find) screen by tapping & HOLDING on the 0-9 on screen buttons.
Thanks !
DKWien said,
October 22, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Hi guys,
There is very simple solution to avoid the lauch delay of 2-5 seconds.
Simply install “Backgrounder” via Cydia and then the app will not be closed.
Reopening the app will take less than 1 sec.
I am very happy with backgrounder.
BR,
DKWien.
PRGeno said,
October 23, 2008 at 11:45 am
Hi DKWien,
My iPhone is jailbroken too, but I never thought I had the need for “Backgrounder” before. But after your comment, I installed it to see if it would eliminate the lag time for “Q-Dialer” and “Search Dial” to come up.
WOW!! It works great! Speed dialing is now actually speedy.
Shimon, I know I sound like a broken record (does anyone even remember records), but “backgrounder” is another example of the Jailbroken community. Again, if for whatever reason, Apple cannot see the value of TAKEphONE…………
Thanks again DKWien, you helped make my iPhone better.
PG
PRGeno said,
October 23, 2008 at 11:53 am
Shimon,
I understand how the iPhone SDK hinders 3rd party development of some useful, if not critical features. I find it shameful that Apple handcuffs the 3rd party development community. Hopefully some day they will understand that support for 3rd party developers is the reason Microsoft products outsell their own by such a huge margin. But I won’t be holding my breath for that revelation to occur.
The full keyboard, and photo dialing will be great additions.
Thanks for listening,
PG
DKWien said,
October 24, 2008 at 6:35 am
Maybe Apple will have to move … maybe next year…
We can only wait or buy another phone to be independent from waiting :=)
DKWien
Shimon Shnitzer said,
October 25, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Hi all,
Actually things are moving ahead (a bit) - I got a rejection from Apple based on my poor graphics skills - used the iPhone image for my icons, which is obviously forbidden. I will be posting a new build to them soon (I must say the response times are far better now).
Let’s cross our fingers…
DKWien said,
October 27, 2008 at 1:09 am
Sounds very good! Makes my start into the week much easier !!!
I keep my fingers crossed!
BR,
DKWien
DKWien said,
October 29, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Please let us know when you have posted your revised version to Apple!!!
Thx,
DKWien.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
October 29, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Hi,
It’s already posted. Now waiting (again…) “in review”.
Thanks.
DKWien said,
October 31, 2008 at 2:13 am
Hello Shimon,
I have one last question: I have numbers stored like that: *31#0043664…
This is to make my own number visible to the person I call.
The normal call-interface from Apple has no problems calling such numbers.
Is TAKEphONE able to call such numbers. There might be problems by passing on these numbers to the Apple call-interface. Can you check that?
Best regards,
Georg.
PRGeno said,
October 31, 2008 at 11:14 am
DK,
Unfortunately no 3rd party app can support non-numeric characters, or inserting pauses into a dial string, due to the limitations in Apple’s SDK.
If Shimon has found away around this limitation, he would be the only one, and truly an iPhone idol. Unfortunately this would also likely preclude TAKEphONE from being accepted into the AppStore.
I really hope I’m wrong, as I’d love for TAKEphONE to be able to automate calls to my office voice mail system, which requires “*” characters and pauses. But I don’t believe it’s currently possible.
DKWien said,
November 2, 2008 at 10:43 am
PR,
Thank you for your answer.
It is very disappointing to read that. I have saved all my friends with * and # in the IPhone. I hope that there will be a workaround.
It seems that the IPhone is an IPod with a realtively good internet software Safari, but a very poor telephone software.
If I find a phone with the same internet functionality i will change.
Best regards,
DK.
PRGeno said,
November 2, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Even after this amount of time on the market, the device still has people impressed (mostly by it’s sizzle). When people have ever asked me about it, I always tell them:
1. It’s a great data device, the best cellular Internet experience available.
2. It’s a lousy smartphone (a short list of things could be so easily fixed)
I truly believe the only reason #2 is true, is due to Apple’s overly restrictive 3rd party development program. Third party developers would go wild on this platform, if Apple would only let them.
PRGeno said,
November 5, 2008 at 7:28 am
Is it time to start being a bit concerned about getting rejected again?
Cydia is still around and might be a good way to get TAKEphONE out there until Apple gets their act together.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
November 5, 2008 at 8:09 am
Hi,
Well - there’s always the risk of Apple banning me forever if they find out I put my app at Cydia…
Actually things are progressing - I’ve had several rejects about some minor issues (graphics), and am waiting for the next reply.
PRGeno said,
November 5, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Shimon,
I understand your concern, and diplomatic stance. But there are several notable AppStore apps that started life as jailbroken apps.
I’m still very hopeful TAKEphONE gets in through the front door. But if you find that door locked, for whatever reason Apple comes up with, the back door still gets you in, where we’ll be anxiously waiting.
The Apple waiting game continues………
Josef Hollweck said,
November 7, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Shimon,
i downloaded FastCall for iPhone yesterday.
I this programm made it to the store, Takephone must be acceppted as well.
I hope TakePhone does a better (faster) job than Fastcall.
With my 3500 entries it takes 15 sec. until the spinning wheel at startup stops. Seems like it is indexing every time at startup. What a waste of time. The index schould be memorized.
Also I don´t like the T9 like input. Would be nice to have the option to switch to the normal keyboard.
Josef
Shimon Shnitzer said,
November 9, 2008 at 12:00 am
Hi,
I will be adding the option for a “normal” keypad next version.
Tested TAKEphONE on an iPhone with ~600 contacts. Seemed reasonable.
One note - there will always be a delay when launching the app (ANY app) - that’s an issue with the iPhone SDK.
Only solution I know of involves installing an “illegal” app on a jailbroken phone…
PRGeno said,
November 11, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Shimon,
What is the status today?
More competition showing up every day.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
November 11, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Hi,
Some good news - TAKEphONE passed the review, now in a new status - “pending contract”.
Not sure what this means, I think it’s with the legal dept. at Apple. Another waiting game…
What new competition ?
PRGeno said,
November 12, 2008 at 10:32 am
Smart Dial ($2.99) is the latest contact search and dialer app. It seems to be the fastest tool of this kind so far. There are also a number of speed dialers that have popped up. I haven’t tried all of them, and am so far sticking with Q-Dialer.
Still nothing that combines speed dials and contact searches like TAKEphONE, but there does seem to be a phone app per day showing up. Some are pretty bad, which makes me wonder what Apple is thinking in taking so long to get TAKEphONE approved.
fungg3 said,
November 12, 2008 at 12:11 pm
How much is this app?
Shimon Shnitzer said,
November 12, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Version 1.01 will be $2.99
Josef Hollweck said,
November 12, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Hi,
I just tested Smart Dial with my 3500 Contacts. Loads within 3 seconds.
Gives feedback when typing via touchtone which is nice.
But i have to wait after every single entered letter until it narrows down the search, otherwise it misses my entries. Kind of annoying.
Only shows one entry at the top. For the rest i have to scroll via an arrow button. Only foreward scrolling is possible. If i move too far i´m screwed.
Found entries don´t show the company name. Thats a must for me.
Banned the app to the 4th homescreen for review of the upcoming versions.
Tested Version 1.1 of FastCall.
Still takes 15 seconds at startup to index my 3500 contacts.
Takes another 8 to 10 seconds to find a contact. Still too slow.
Shake to erase feature would be nice but works only interimittent plus it takes another 8 to 10 seconds to erase the search. Even deleting of one letter to widen the search takes 8-10 seconds to respond.
I am efinitey missing the touch tone.
The Company Name is not displayed.
The Favorites are missing.
The Last Call List is missing.
The Voice Mail button is missing.
Shimon, you can do better then that.
Cant wait to see TakePhone on my iPhone.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
November 12, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I hope I can.
Some news: we moved one stage ahead - the review team approved me !
I am now in a new state - “Pending contact”. Not sure what this one means. Sent them an email, and waiting for any reply.
PRGeno said,
November 12, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Josef,
I don’t have as many contacts as you (just over 1000), so I don’t see the lag times you are getting with Smart Dial. Smart Dial seems to be relatively fast (in iPhone time) for me. That being said, I have removed it from my phone, as it’s just not good enough for my every day use.
I tried FastCall awhile back, and it also doesn’t have any place on my phone. It’s really bad in my opinion.
I see VFCaller just dropped their price to FREE for a 1 week promotion. I’ll give it a try just to see what it has to offer.
My current speed dialer/contact search combination remains:
SearchDial 2.5 and Q-Dialer 1.6 (which I have always running in the background with “Backgrounder” to make it instantly available).
While I think this is the best combination available on the iPhone, I can’t help longing for TAKEphONE on my old Centro every time I use either one of them.
With the garbage that gets posted to the AppStore every day, I just don’t understand what is taking so long for Apple to approve and post TAKEphONE.
I’m sure some of the problem is the limited resources that is exposed to 3rd party developers via Apple’s restrictive SDK, or maybe the iPhone platform simply isn’t a good performer (can you say Windows Mobile?). But if Shimon was able to do anything even close to the Palm version of TAKEphONE, it will far surpass all of the iPhone phone and contact apps currently available.
Here is hoping “Pending Contact” means it will be available in the AppStore tomorrow.
DKWien said,
November 13, 2008 at 1:25 am
Simon,
I hope that your effort will soon turn out to be prosperous.
I have been thinking about my problem with numbers with * and #.
Would it be possible to have a button inside TAKEphONE to turn off and turn on “Show My Caller ID”. That would be a good workaroud for me.
Best regards,
DKWien.
DKWien said,
November 13, 2008 at 3:07 am
PR Geno,
Thank you for sharing your experience!
BR,
DKWien.
PRGeno said,
November 14, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Have we found out what “Pending Contact” means yet?
Shimon Shnitzer said,
November 15, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Nope. Will try to call them tomorrow.
PRGeno said,
November 17, 2008 at 9:52 am
Apple continues to prove it has its priorities straight.
Who needs TAKEphONE, the ultimate in useful productivity applications, in the AppStore when you have applications like “Push the Button”?
Here is a direct copy & paste of the description for this completely useless application just relesaed today:
“Push The Button you’ll have a limited ammout of seconds to push the button as many times as you can. Being faster has anything to do with your muscles in Push The Button: you’ve to take your neural kinetics above normal to beat the high scores and become one of the World Top 25.”
Unbelievable!!!
PRGeno said,
November 17, 2008 at 3:51 pm
WOW!!
Just when you think there could be a more useless application than “Push the Button”, Apple releases its companion application, called “Hold the Button”. Here is the even more useless description:
“As it’s own name states, Hold The Button’s objective is to keep the button pressed as long as you can. Your reflexes and other speed-related abilities won’t help you in this game, you’ll have to learn to empty your mind if you want to achive a high score.”
How can Apple, using any meaningful thought process, continually string out Shimon and TAKEphONE, while at the same time releasing garbage like this on a daily basis?
Shimon Shnitzer said,
November 17, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Hi,
New post - got a reply from Apple, things are moving. The apps are now “pending contract” which means they are finalizing the details and release is due soon.
DKWien said,
November 18, 2008 at 1:50 am
great news!
Please give us a short note here when it is in the appstore!
BR
DKWien
Shimon Shnitzer said,
November 18, 2008 at 2:08 am
Sure will.
Thank you all for your patience.
DKWien said,
November 20, 2008 at 2:40 am
Hi Simon,
I have been checking what Apple says a “Pending contract” is:
(1)
***************************************
Thank you for your e-mail. Though the app has been approved, it looks like the contract clearance/setup is still pending.
FYI - For a contract setup to be complete and cleared to sell content (we call that “In Effect”), each contract must complete 2 parts of setup:
1. Legal processing (where you click through and agree to the various agreements)
2. Banking & Tax info setup (banking/tax info entered into systems, accounts verified, payments setup, reports generation setup etc.)
Once part 1 is complete (which it is for your contracts), you can begin delivering Apps through iTunes Connect. However, the content will not go live unless step 2 is also complete.
Please note: every time new app is uploaded, it must clear review. You can follow the status of your app review in the “Manage Your Applications” section of iTunes Connect.
Part 2 and the app review are not automated processes. Because they are done manually, they can take several days/weeks depending on the volume of items in their queue.
Once both parts of setup and the review are complete, any content that has been cleared for sale should appear in the iTunes Store. Your continued patience is greatly appreciated, and we hope to have good news for you soon.
***************************************
(2)
“Pending Contract” may mean your bank hasn’t replied to Apple’s requests for verification and access to direct deposit into the account you gave them. You could call your bank to check on this, and make sure you gave Apple the all the correct information.
I have also been reading that some guys have a pendin contract for more than 2 months…
BR,
DKWien
PRGeno said,
November 20, 2008 at 9:11 am
Well it doesn’t really matter anymore.
Now that the long awaited “Beer Pong 2″ has finally been released in the AppStore, I won’t have any more time to call anyone anyway.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
November 23, 2008 at 3:19 am
Hi,
I got the first explanation from Apple, not the second one.
Why wont they let me know if the bank thing isn’t working ?
Will try to contact them again.
Thanks !
Shimon Shnitzer said,
November 23, 2008 at 3:09 pm
DKWien - can you connect me to where you got that last bit of information from (the one about possible reason being failure of bank transfer test) ?
Maybe I can find out if this is the reason in my case, and try to resolve this.
TIA
DKWien said,
November 24, 2008 at 9:48 am
Shimon,
Did they charge your credit card already?
If they charged your credit card they should have sent you different 2 emails, one with instructions. Hunt for them in your inbox and spam folders. If you didn’t get them, better call them up for an email resend, since you can’t do anything with those emails.
BR,
Georg
PRGeno said,
November 26, 2008 at 10:11 am
Shimon,
I’m sorry to see you have such a poor experience with the Apple AppStore, but it certainly doesn’t surprise me. Apple has the most restrictive policies of any organization promoting a “major” development platform out there.
Apple fan boys like to spew hate toward Microsoft, but it is Apple that regularly exhibits the ugliness those fan boys associate with MS.
It’s been several months that you’ve been trying to get TAKEphONE out into iPhone land. With that being said, I hope this experience hasn’t dampened your desire for developing for the iPhone too much. So, are you getting closer to being ready to release TAKEphONE on Cydia yet?
Shimon Shnitzer said,
November 26, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Hi,
Still playing the waiting game.
PRGeno said,
November 30, 2008 at 5:41 pm
You are a far more patient man than I (said after yet another week of waiting with no word).
Oh, there is one word….
Cydia, oh CYDIA!
Shimon Shnitzer said,
November 30, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Hi,
I am real sorry I have to put you through all this waiting.
To be honest - I do not want to go the Cydia way - I try to keep my business “legit” (and it IS a business - that’s my living).
For once - dont want to have to handle numerous support requests every time Apple changes a F/W and the app breaks.
PRGeno said,
December 1, 2008 at 7:40 am
No worries here. I don’t see it as you putting any of us through anything. It’s Apple’s insanely restrictive 3rd party development policies that I have a problem with.
By the way, Cydia is a legitimate software distribution mechanism, even if Apple is not in favor of it. They are not the law, regardless of what they might believe.
I do understand your support concerns. However, it’s difficult to make a living if someone (Apple) is restricting your ability to do so. Being selfish, I’d just hate to see you abandon the platform because of this Apple hassle.
msiple said,
December 4, 2008 at 5:59 am
The day has finally arrived. It’s in the App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=294338800&mt=8
Interesting how it shows a release date of Oct. 21.
PRGeno said,
December 4, 2008 at 7:56 am
Great!!! Purchased and installed immediately.
First impression, TAKEphONE i is the fastest loading phone app I’ve found. This might finally make the iPhone work well as an actual phone.
However, I can’t figure out how to edit speed dials #s. I push the edit button, but nothing happens. The edit button changes to “Done” but no button push, hold or double click brings up a way to create speed dials. What am I missing?
Also need to reiterate the need for a querty keyboard option, verses the numeric keypad search. It requires way too many buttons to find a contact, and leaves too little space above the keypad once the results are displayed.
But what a great start, and addition to my iPhone.
Thanks for your persistence Shimon!
PRGeno
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 4, 2008 at 8:53 am
Hi,
Wow this is good news !
The release date issue is very frustrating - seems they set it to the date I posted the version for their review. It then took them until now to load it to the AppStore, and this probably means it did not appear in the “New” window at all (!)
How is the application supposed to be exposed to users, then ?
How did you guys find it ?
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 4, 2008 at 8:55 am
PRGeno:
1. Editing speed-dials: the “Edit” mode is for moving buttons around, and emptying buttons. To add entries to buttons - open a contact record, then tap the “Add to speed-dial” button at the bottom.
2. QUERTY keypad option will be added in the next version. Will start working on it now (well - after the weekend).
Thanks you all for your patience.
Now to celebrate…
PRGeno said,
December 4, 2008 at 9:02 am
OK, I figured out how to get the speed dials in. I was using the system detail view which didn’t have the add speed dial button.
After more use, I have a bit more feedback:
I’d prefer the option to have the speed dial page come up when opening, verses the search page. It should also return back to the speed dial page when returning after making a call.
I think it would also be more iPhone like to swipe between speed dial pages, verses the number buttons at the top of the speed dial page.
I also like to have the option to have a single entry per person in speed dial page. Then scroll up all of thier numbers (like when adding the contacts to speed dial) when their speed dial button is pushed.
Reiterate the querty keyboard, and allow it to hide so results can fill the screen.
Also would it be a better performer if it didn’t load the contact list upon loading, and only did so upon searching for something? Or don’t load the contacts when the Speed dial screen comes up first, and then only if the user goes to the search screen?
I also consistently have TAKEphONEi crash when opening certain contacts. I’m not sure what the common thread is yet, but I keep looking.
Shimon, please don’t take this wrong. This is positive feedback and TAKEphONEi looks like it will become the premier iPhone app. As it stands, TAKEphONEi is not ready to take over as my phone app yet. QDialer and QContacts still are more stable and usable. But I sure can see how TAKEphONEi can get there with some minor tweaking and stablization.
Thank you for your efforts.
PRGeno said,
December 4, 2008 at 9:08 am
Shimon,
I found it only because of msiple’s post here.
I’ve been watching http://appshopper.com/ every day as they seem to show what’s new before ever other iPhone AppStore monitoring web site. It’s still not showing up on that site.
I also find it very strange Apple didn’t even let you know it was released.
You will get exposure, as TAKEphONE will clearly leapfrog every other phone app out there.
Celebrate Indeed!!!
PRGeno said,
December 4, 2008 at 10:30 am
Shimon,
i have a bit more info about my crashing problem.
The crash will only occur when opening a contact when the TAKEphONE contact details screen is used. The same contact will open find when using the system contact detail screen. Obviously this is a problem if I want to use a contact as one of my Speed Dials.
The TAKEphONE detail works with other contacts, but I can very reliably reproduce the crash with certain contacts. I’m not sure what makes these contacts unique yet, but there more contacts crash, than don’t.
I’ll keep you posted as I discover more.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 4, 2008 at 10:44 am
PRGeno - can you somehow send me the contacts that crash (well- one that crashes, one that does not) ?
Of course - I promise to keep it discrete, and delete when done testing.
I want to try and recreate this, and then maybe figure out what causes it.
Can you find any common denominator ?
Thanks.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 4, 2008 at 10:45 am
BTE - re: your request about speed-dial - if you tap the right arrow on a speed-dial entry it will open it’s “details” screen allowing you to call all it’s numbers, SMS, etc.
msiple said,
December 4, 2008 at 11:31 am
I found it via the AppSniper app, which lists new apps and price changes. http://www.appshopper.com does the same.
PRGeno said,
December 4, 2008 at 2:24 pm
It’s showing up in AppShopper now:
http://appshopper.com/productivity/takephone-i
I also sent some contacts via email, both those which crash and some that don’t. It appears any contact with an email address crashes, and those without open OK.
This only happens when the TAKEphONE contact detail form is used, not when the system detail form is used.
Josef Hollweck said,
December 4, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Finally my most beloved App from my Centro arrived on my iPhone. Great work Shimon!
Speed of the app is already quite good an this is only version 1.0.
I have some comments though:
- german “umlaute” don´t work
- please give us the keyboard
- do not load and show all the contacts at startup
to cut the startup time (4 sec right now @ 3500 Contacts)
- make the speed dial entries movable like applications
after pressing one of them some seconds (start to jiggle)
- swipe to get to next or previous speed dial page
- could you integrate a “Turbo” mode?
- Search by Categories (Groups)
Thanks again for the great App. Keep up the good work.
Josef
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 5, 2008 at 2:09 am
Hi,
Thanks for your ideas. Wrote them all down.
Josef Hollweck said,
December 5, 2008 at 3:02 am
Hi Shimon,
i yust tried to call a foreign number with the following format in my adressbook: +43 664 2222774
Works fine with the built in app. Contact name is displayed during phonecall.
When I dial the contact with TakePhone, the number is displayed differently: 43 664 2222774 (the + is missing)
The contact name is not displayed and I get the message from my provider, that the number does not exist.
Regards, Josef
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 5, 2008 at 4:23 am
Hi,
Will fix this.
Thanks
KJ said,
December 6, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Hi,
Finally !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s awsome…
Few questions; is it possible to incorporate voice mail access within the TakePhone?
Is it possible to incorporate qwerty keyboard and be able to use it landscape mode?
There seems to be only redial, is it possible to have incoming/outgoing log for missed calls?
After making a call or SMS, I’d like to come back to that contact’s info screen, not back to search screen. Is there an option to do so?
After an incoming call from new number is completed, I’d like to have the ability to edit that number into my contacts.
Can you make the ‘double tap’ of the home button feature directly launch the TakePhone app? Or, the speed dial of TakePhone, instead of iPhone’s default favorite page. It’d be great.
This is an excellent start, Shimon. Kudos!
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 6, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Hi,
Thanks.
Some replies:
Voice mail,incoming/outgoing call log, coming back to TAKEphONE after a call, double-tap of the HOME button - those are all features that can not be implemented using the official Apple SDK (interface for developers).
Maybe Apple will expose these features sometime later on (if users will ask them to ?), then I’d be glad to add those.
KJ said,
December 8, 2008 at 1:08 pm
So uncool of Apple to cripple the SDK like that.
Well, OK.
I do wish for landscape qwerty keyboard as an option.
I also wish for ’swipe’ between speed dial pages.
Making speed dial the default page for TakePhone?
Any grouping possible with the database? (category search, as was in palm version)
Good developing, Shimon.
KJ
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 8, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Hi,
All your requests are on my list for future updates.
KJ said,
December 8, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Hey,
Do you know where I can bitch about the Apple’s SDK restrictions?
Just so they may hear my little voice, and just maybe they’ll let it loose one of these days…? Is there a blog or official website, or anything?
Happy developing!
KJ
Josef Hollweck said,
December 10, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Hi Shimon
when is the first update to takephone planned?
I am desperately waiting since right now I cannot use it mainly due to the issue with International area Codes and German umlaute.
Regards Josef
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 10, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Hi,
Issue with International area codes is resolved. Update posted and waiting for Apples approval - it takes them some time…
Josef Hollweck said,
December 10, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Hi Shimon
Sounds great.
Thanks, Josef
msiple said,
December 12, 2008 at 5:56 am
Shimon,
Does the update fix the crashing problem with some contacts as well?
Thanx. Mark.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 13, 2008 at 1:15 am
Hi all,
I believe it should fix all issues with resets.
Let me know…
KJ said,
December 13, 2008 at 10:29 am
Hi, Shimon.
I resetted the phone, but now the app won’t launch at all.
I tried to reset a few more times, but it’s the same.
What gives?
Thanks in advance.
KJ
KJ said,
December 13, 2008 at 10:36 am
Never mind my comment above.
The update fixed the problem.
Thanks, Shimon.
KJ
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 13, 2008 at 11:39 am
Great to hear the update works.
Looking forward to any comment.
Thanks.
Josef Hollweck said,
December 14, 2008 at 12:10 pm
hi shimon
International area Codes work.
Thanks Josef
Josef Hollweck said,
December 14, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Hi Shimon I have some comments on TakePhone:
- the SMS button only dials the mobile number (no SMS)
- german “umlaute” don´t work
- please give us the keyboard as an option
- do not load and show all the contacts at startup
to cut the startup time (5 sec right now @ 3500 Contacts)
- make the speed dial entries movable via drag
- swipe to get to next or previous speed dial page
- could you integrate a “Turbo” mode? like in Takephone
for Palm
- Search by Categories (Groups)
The mask of Takephone doesn´t show Adress-Info.
I would like to see the Contact Info displayed like in the native iPhone app (grouped in Phone/Fax, Adress, Note) with a frame around the grouped info.
Regards, Josef
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 14, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Hi,
Are you sure you’re tapping the SMS icon - it’s quite close to the phone icon.
Please tap and HOLD to view the button pressed (to make sure).
This update was mainly to fix the “burning” issues. All the other issues you mention are on my list for future versions - that’s quite some work to do… Let’s hope sales will justify it.
Thanks.
Josef Hollweck said,
December 14, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Hi Shimon,
you are right. I missed the tiny SMS-button.
It works, but I would strongly recommend to replace the small SMS-buttons at every phone number with one big button; yust like in the native iPhone phone app.
They do a pretty good job there an you must not invent the wheel again.
Josef.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 14, 2008 at 3:13 pm
But that “wastes” another tap…
I will increase the size of those icons.
Josef Hollweck said,
December 15, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Shimon,
I am a longtime user of TakePhone on my Treo 680. The Treo yust didn´t feel right without TakePhone. When I switched to the iPhone I was desperate to get Takephone on it.
Now that I have it, I like it, but..:
I would like you to know what I think could be improved to make it the indespensible tool for power users on the iPhone.
Forgive if I repeat my last post but I yust wanted to have it all in one place. The first comments are the most important ones.
1. Speed up the loading time:
Do not load and show all the contacts at startup in order
to cut the startup time (5 sec right now @ 3500 Contacts)
2. The Buttons of the Redial page should be slightly bigger and with a dividing line like in the native app. I find it hard to hit the right entry with Takephone while I´m driving.
The same applies to the Search result screen. The three found entries schould be spaced a bit wider. Again, I find it hard to pick the right one while driving. The native app has bigger spaces and a dividing line and therefore is easier to operate while driving. I would recommend to eather make the dial buttons slightly smaller or only display two search results in the title.
3. The mask of Takephone doesn´t show Adress-Info.
I would like to see the Contact Info displayed like in the native iPhone app (grouped in Phone/Fax, Adress, Note) with a frame around the grouped info.
3. german “umlaute” don´t work
4. please give us the keyboard as an option
5. make the speed dial entries movable via drag
6. swipe to get to next or previous speed dial page
7. could you integrate a “Turbo” mode? like in Takephone
for Palm
8. I would recommend to replace the small SMS-buttons at every phone number with one big button, labelled SMS, at the bottom of the contact entry; yust like in the native iPhone phone app. I don´t understand why there is a need for an SMS-symbol at the work phone number and on the Fax number. Never sent an sms to a fax.
9. Search by Categories (Groups)
I would easily pay far more than the 99 Cent if the application would give me the power I had in my hands like with my Treo since the Phone application for a sales person like me is the most important one.
Regards, Josef
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 15, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Thanks for the input.
All those points are on my list.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 16, 2008 at 1:44 am
Hi all,
Posted a new version - 1.03 - for Apple to approve at the AppStore.
I believe it fixes the reset issues.
Also added an option for “Big fingers”…
Once that is out, I will start adding the list of requested features.
Thanks for your patience.
Josef Hollweck said,
December 16, 2008 at 1:51 am
Hi Shimon,
thats very good news.
Thanks for your continuous work on TakePhone.
Josef
KJ said,
December 17, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Hi, Shimon,
Always good to see you busy at work and may I say it is much appreciated.
I would like to list some recommendations to complicate things more for you
I was using other apps, namely “Favorator” and “Speed Dial” from the app store. They both have some merits of their own, which I thought we can benefit from, if those features would be incorporated into the TAKEphONE.
I mean that’s what we all wish for, THE one-button solution, isn’t it?
OK, so here goes…
A: Speed Dial pages:
1. I prefer swiping page changes (got used to apple way in this department already… Scary, I know…), and the pages could be automatically expandable upon addition of buttons, like the iphone’s main pages, and buttons could be repositioned like the iphone’s main pages’ buttons.
While at it, I’d love to be able to lable each page (ie; family1, family2, church, professional, personal, dining, venders, etc) to distinguish each group. The custom label may reside either on top or bottom of the page, and be made editable upon pressing it…?
2. Favorator uses 9 image-based buttons per page, with 3 numbers (in the form of icons) to a button with swiping pages. I’d like this layout, only with the TAKEphONE’s full functionality and superior graphics, of course.
3. I’d like to have an option to have favorites as a default page. Most of the times, it’s all I need to call people I usually call. And after a call, I’d like to retun to the favorites’ page. Maybe this should be made selectable at settings.
4. When a keyboard takes place of current keypad (which is gorgeous, by the way) there ought to be a button for keypad at the bottom, just like the default app, for new phone number input, etc.
B. Main Search Page
1. I llike the main page of “Search Dial”. It loads fast and has a nice search result. And it has the keyboard, rather than the T9 pad — I have many contacts with similar letterings, (very common among asian names) so the results from T9 pad are too many.
2. When the results come up, I’d like TAKEphONE’s way of displaying and access to the database and the ability to edit.
3. Once I’m in the contact info page to choose which number to call, maybe the icons for phone and sms could be made easier to distinguish somehow?
Maybe pressing on the number part of the screen will dial the number and make only sms button on the right?
4. I also miss the “schedule an event” button from the old palm version. Could you add that button in the contact info page? Will be much appreciated.
5. Could you find a way to ‘categorize’ the contacts? I miss this part the most from palm. I need to list contacts according to the category and sometimes I’d like to see the contacts by the category. This would be awesome.
C. Voice Mail & SMS
I understand that apple is blocking direct link to the databases, but could you maybe make the number of alerts on those buttons appear in TAKEphONE? Maybe a ‘bot’ of somesort to look out for the alerts that appear on default buttons and relay that info to the TAKEphONE and make a link to them? SMS and Voicemail alerts, when pressed from TAKEphONE, will take me to respected pages, and Missed Call alert can be made to be able to copy that contact info into the TAKEphONE so I can dial it back directly from TAKEphONE.
With above fucntionalities, we can just be using TAKEphONE button in the home screen and not worry about the other default buttons (can be moved to the last page, and out of the way…)
I’m sure some of these features may be blocked by apple, but one can only hope….
These are my wish list for this Christmas. Hehe.
Happy developing, Shimon. And Thanks always for your prompt attention.
I am spreading the word around for TAKEphONE…
KJ
Shimon Shnitzer said,
December 17, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Hi,
Here are my replies:
A.1 - already on my list.
A.2 - i will be adding images to the speed-dial page.
A.3 - already on my list. returning after call is not possible.
A.4 - on my list.
B.3 - you can tap a number to dial it right now. maybe I will
remove the phone icon - just wanted to be sure users
will know how to dial.
B.4 - afraid it’s not possible - blocked.
B.5 - will be adding this later on.
C. - afraid not possible - blocked.
Thanks.
Josef Hollweck said,
January 5, 2009 at 3:10 am
Hi Shimon
Happy New year!
Havent heard from yoy for a while.
I am curious about an upcoming new version.
Do you have any news for us?
Regards, Josef
Shimon Shnitzer said,
January 5, 2009 at 3:19 am
Hi,
I am working on trying to detect possible memory leaks (based on some user reports). This will take some time, I’m afraid…
(Also working on the Android version on parallel)
Josef Hollweck said,
January 6, 2009 at 10:29 am
Hallo Shimon
Hope you dont spend top much time on Android.
In the meantime i had to remove takephone
From my Dock and replaced with the native
App again.
Hope the New, fixed version is coming soon.
With all the planned fixes IT will come Back
To my Dock.
Regards Josef
Josef Hollweck said,
January 14, 2009 at 4:27 pm
PING!
Hi Shimon
Can you give us an update about the Status of our Project ?
Thanks in advance.
Josef
Shimon Shnitzer said,
January 14, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Hi,
Sorry - no update yet. 1.04 with the fixes is out. Trying to find the time to do all those many changes…
Josef Hollweck said,
January 21, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Hi Shimon,
PLEASE find the time to work on the app.
I had so much hope that TakePhone on the Iphone could become as good as on the PALM. But there are still so many flaws.
I want to use it but ….
1. Speed up the loading time:
Do not load and show all the contacts at startup in order
to cut the startup time (5 sec right now @ 3500 Contacts)
2. The Buttons of the Redial page should be slightly bigger and with a dividing line like in the native app. I find it hard to hit the right entry with Takephone while I´m driving.
The same applies to the Search result screen. The three found entries schould be spaced a bit wider. Again, I find it hard to pick the right one while driving. The native app has bigger spaces and a dividing line and therefore is easier to operate while driving. I would recommend to eather make the dial buttons slightly smaller or only display two search results in the title.
3. The mask of Takephone doesn´t show Adress-Info.
I would like to see the Contact Info displayed like in the native iPhone app (grouped in Phone/Fax, Adress, Note) with a frame around the grouped info.
3. german “umlaute” don´t work
4. please give us the keyboard as an option
5. make the speed dial entries movable via drag
6. swipe to get to next or previous speed dial page
7. could you integrate a “Turbo” mode? like in Takephone
for Palm
8. I would recommend to replace the small SMS-buttons at every phone number with one big button, labelled SMS, at the bottom of the contact entry; yust like in the native iPhone phone app. I don´t understand why there is a need for an SMS-symbol at the work phone number and on the Fax number. Never sent an sms to a fax.
9. Search by Categories (Groups)
I would easily pay far more than the 99 Cent if the application would give me the power I had in my hands like with my Treo since the Phone application for a sales person like me is the most important one.
Regards, Josef
Shimon Shnitzer said,
January 22, 2009 at 9:57 am
Hi,
Point are on my list.
Some notes:
- Re. larger buttons on redial & find - turn on the “Big fingers” option in settings.
- “ulmauts” - please send me a table of the german umlauts (ti my mail).
Thanks.
Josef Hollweck said,
January 27, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Hi Shimon,
I have one more comment.
When I call a contacts mobile number and cant reach him, TakePhone falls back to the Main Find Screen.
The built in phone app falls back to the Contact screen. This is smarter, than now I can simply tap on the office number to try again instead of finding the contact again and select the office number.
Can you include this in the new vdersion?
Regards Josef
Shimon Shnitzer said,
January 27, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Hi,
Afraid this is currently not possible - the Apple SDK does not allow me to return to TAKEphONE after a call ends at all, let alone return to the last screen.
Josef Hollweck said,
January 27, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Hi Shimon,
that´s a pitty!
Hope they open the SDK when they get enough pressure
from Android and the Palm PRE.
Josef Hollweck said,
February 3, 2009 at 7:10 am
Hi Shimon
Do you already have an idea when the
Next release hits the App-Store?
Shimon Shnitzer said,
February 3, 2009 at 7:53 am
Hi,
Sorry - no…
Still busy on the Android stuff, plus some contract work I have to do every month…
Thanks for your patience.
KJ said,
February 10, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Hi, Shimon,
As I’m still waiting for the qwerty keyboard, a thought crossed my mind.
Would you be interested in developing a calendar app that can be tied to the takephone? To make an appointment with someone in the phone database, you can link that appointment time and the personal info by pressing a button or two?
I was waiting for Agendus to do this for a long time (I have been a long time user of takephone and agendus on my old treo), but nothings happening.
If a phone app and a scheduler app can be combined and become available for business sector, it will be a huge hit, I’m sure. There seems to be nothing of this sort, currently. (Check out the iambic user forum on agendus for iphone, for reference)
Just another wish.
KJ.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
February 11, 2009 at 1:21 am
Hi,
As far as I know, Apple does not allow us access to the calendar info, so this (too…) is not possible.
If you are referring to building my own calendar implementation - this is too huge a project - the current state with the AppStore does not justify taking the risk with such a project.
Josef Hollweck said,
February 11, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Shimon,
I was very excited when I first heard about you planning an iPhone application. Knowing Takephone from my PalmTreo I had great expectations.
I was very patient so far and tried to contribute with useful comments for a better Takephone on iPhone as it is right now.
Unfortunately the improvements are limited so far.
The german umlaute bug is still there.
I am getting frustrated an dissapointed.
I yust hope that we soon can see some improvements.
Josef
Shimon Shnitzer said,
February 11, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Hi,
I understand your concern, and apologize deeply for taking so long.
To “put things on the table” - I have been spending most of my time on the Android platform. The various limitations of the iPhone SDK pose severe limits on how far I can take the TAKEphONE-i application. Add to that the way things are going with the AppStore (with price point going this low, and the only apps that seem to have a chance of selling there is iFart and the likes) - seems it’s better for someone like me - a sole developer trying to make a living (and this SmartPhone apps development is my only living), to put my priority on other channels.
That said - I promise I did not forsake the Apple area - I WILL get back on the TAKEphONE-i soon, and try to make it the best app I can.
Thanks for your patience.
KJ said,
April 17, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Yes, Shimon-
Pleeeese get back to iPhone version.
I don’t know what the heck I was thinking buying iPhone.
KJ.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
April 18, 2009 at 12:15 am
Hi all,
I have posted a new version for Apples approval at the AppStore.
Waiting…
ham said,
April 20, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Shimon, I am happy to read that you have been able to submit a new app to the store. I have had takephone on my Treo for several years now, and your app is one of the primary things that has tied me to the Treo rather than switch to the iphone–ut just works that well. So if you can only get iTAKEphONE going, and copy/paste works, and notes etc….
Thanks again for all your hard work, and hopefully it will be a bit slicker than what Apple has allowed so far.
Shimon Shnitzer said,
April 20, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Thanks.