Building a Mobile App Launch Party + Updates

It’s here! Our book Building a Mobile App: A Resource Guide for Clients & Corporations launches this Friday!

Starting on Friday you can grab the book for FREE on Kindle for the following 5 days—my only request is that you leave me an honest review on Amazon and let me know what you think. There is also a paper version of the book.

Launch Party

Grand Prize at Launch Party – Deluxe Edition of Building a Mobile App, Chow Truck Gift Certificate, Antigravity Yoga Gift Certificate, Amazon Gift Certificate, App Store Gift Certificate.

If you are a reader of this blog you are invited to the launch party:

Friday, Noevember 9th
from 6 – 8 PM
Red Queen Book Arts
171 East Broadway (300 South)
Salt Lake City, Utah

There will be prizes, enter to win here › 

Bring your mobile device (with the Kindle app installed) to the launch party to download the book for free. We’ll have a limited number of paperbacks on hand for $10 cash or credit and you can reserve one on the launch party sign up page linked above.

Website Changes

We’ve had this mobile apps page on our site for sometime. We’ve updated it to include mention of the new book and added both the book page and the mobile apps page to the homepage of the site.

Book Mentions Around the Interwebs

This book is the first book I’ve published, but not the only one in the works. If you want to stay up to date on future books, please consider joining my author mailing list on ambersawaya.com ›

The book has a companion document to help you plan your app build and start internal conversations. This is the App Planning Blueprint and is available for free after registering on buildingamobileapp.com ›
(if you are a client please contact me for a copy of the blueprint without requiring registration)

I want to write a book!

I’ve heard this from many of you as I’ve finally released my precious words into the world. You’ve all heard me say the same thing, “just get started! my book was finished before I sat down to write” or my other favorite phrase, “every part of writing a book is the *new* Worst Part of Writing a Book”. Tune in on Friday (launch party day) for a short round up of what it takes to write a book.

Mobile + Tablet Device Test Kit

Have I mentioned my mother is an industrial seamstress? Let me tell you, it’s an awesome skill set to have in the family.

She just finished this bag for us to take our heap of mobile devices in to client meetings. Some highlights:

• Reenforced exterior protects all the cargo.
• Individual device sleeves in contrasting color.
• A sticker on the back of each device calling it out as a test device and a matching card in the device sleeve — that way everything gets back where it should go and we know what is out at a glance.
• Clear pockets lets you see each device.
• Each pouch comes out separately and then velcros to the spine like the pages to a book. This lets us change the configuration.
• Most of our devices are shown in this photo, there are two missing right now, but we have:
• iPad 1
• iPad 2
• iPad 3
• iPhone 3G
• iPhone 4
• iPhone 4S
• Galaxy Tab 10.1
• Acer Iconia A100
• Nexus One
• Droid X
• [we are looking for another Anroid mobile running Ice Cream Sandwich]
• There is a black bag without a window for all the various cords and cleaning cloths.
• We also made up and laminated a sheet we can walk through with clients to get them familiar with some device concepts at the beginning of a meeting. You can download it here.

All in all, it’s super awesome and we can’t wait to show it off this week. We are building more and more responsive sites and mobile apps — these are projects that work with the same base code across a myriad of devices—and this is a great way to review them with clients on various environments.

Thanks Mom!  

iOS App Design Cheat Sheet

This is one of those articles that is much for my toolbox as to be helpful for others.

• iPhone size: 480 x 320 at 163 ppi
• iPhone retina size: 960 by 640 at 326 ppi
• iPad size: 1024 x 768 at 132 ppi
• iPad retina size: 2048 x 1536 at 264 ppi

Saving files:

<imagename><@2x for retina / nothing for standard><device_modifier>.<file extension>

• imagename~iphone.png
• imagename@2x~iphone.png
• imagename~ipad.png
• imagename@2x~ipad.png

Remember to use “nearest neighbor” as the resample setting in Photoshop.

This work includes the photo “Measuring time,” available under a Creative Commons Attribution license, © aussiegall.

It’s Tax Time! A series of business tools.

We worked with Cook Martin Poulson on a series of apps to send out branded tax information as well as provide an easy way for their clients to submit their tax-related information.

This project includes:

• iOS TaxHeroes App (iPhone & iPad)
• Android TaxHeroes App (mobile & tablet)
• Online Tax Organizer

Looking for another Android and/or iOS Developer (or two!)

Are you an iOS or Android developer (or both)? We are looking to bring on another subcontractor to help us with our mobile apps. We have projects you can start on immediately.

You need to be a great person who meets deadlines, is easy to get along with and writes superb code. We are designers and developers at heart that have the business side covered—we are ethical, pay on time, are efficient and passionate.

You can learn more about us at www.sawayaconsulting.com. If you like what you see shoot an email intro  and include links to any apps you’ve worked on. Bonus points if you do this full time so we can meet during business hours. Extra bonus points if you are in Utah.

Check out some of what we’ve done here ›