I’ve launched a new app called Particle Planets, a fun n-body simulation of gravitational forces between planets and stars. I wanted to create it because my Exoplanet and Solar System apps are basically on rails. The user can only view what’s already there. I thought it be interesting to let them people something unique. Download Particle Planets from
Some months ago I received an Advertising ID policy violation for an old app that I had no intention of updating. To avoid being punished by Google, I immediately unpublished the offending app, and also unpublished a second app that could potentially trigger the same violation. Both apps received few downloads and I had no plans to ever
Well, it turns out I was right. Version 5.4.146 of the Amazon’s API was broken. Back when 5.4.146 was released, I updated Easy Amazon Ads and tested it. At this point I discovered that closing an interstitial with the X button would stop the app loading any more interstitials for the duration of the session. Basically, the
This week’s update enables free flight mode as seen in Solar Explorer. This lets you use traditional thumb-stick style touch controls to fly around any of the solar systems you can visit in the app. Free flight mode can only be activated while in a system, near a planet. This is restricted because of the way navigation is
I’ve just submitted an update for Exoplanet Explorer on Blackberry devices… (that don’t have a square screen… sorry the UI just won’t fit). Unfortunately, this isn’t the new app that was released for the Android over the weekend. I can’t build it for Blackberry because some of the 3rd party components won’t run on Blackberry devices. The built
A few days ago, Amazon sent out an email that they’ve updated their Ads API to support iOS8 and fixed a couple of bugs. Be sure to integrate the latest version of the Amazon Mobile Ads API in your iOS app. The Amazon Mobile Ads API version 2.1.2 is compatible with iOS 8.0 and includes
Work has continued on the new Exoplanet Explorer HD, albeit at a slower pace. It’s the last 10% of a project that takes 90% of the time. Most of my effort has been involved working out a method to smoothly transition between the interstellar galaxy view (as seen in Galaxy Explorer) and the system view. It’s difficult
Shortly after the last update of Solar Explorer HD, I began seriously working on re-writing my last Shiva app, Exoplanet Explorer. Things have been going smoothly and it’s now starting to look great. At this stage, most of the screens from the old version have been recreated and improved. The main things left to finish are
Looking at the developer console this morning, I discovered that Google is now going to require developers provide Google Play users with a “physical address” to allow them to contact us. Add a physical contact address Beginning September 30, 2014, you need to add a physical address to your Settings page. After you’ve added an address, it will be available
It took longer than expected due to Amazon’s glacially slow developer support, but iOS interstitials and banners are now live in Easy Amazon Ads. To make things as simple as possible, the iOS version works exactly the same as the Android version. They both use the same EasyAmazonAdsManager class and both trigger the same events with