Regular Round-up
Featured app, reviews and presentations, what's been going on in the RunRev world...

By Heather Laine

App Success
There have been several exciting customer success stories in the last couple of weeks, but if I have to pick just one, it's got to be Frans Schoffelen and his app "Zu gut für die Tonne". This is a public service app commissioned by the German Bundesministerium, and as of today it has reached 100,000 downloads. Frans wrote to tell us:

"I just wanted to share a bit of news with you. ...the latest app "zu gut für die Tonne" for the Bundesministerium has topped 60,000 downloads in three days in the app store and has reached 30,000 downloads in the play store in 6 days. ... The app has appeared on TV, in the newspaper and won the Media Company that  organized the lot a sort of a German Oscar for "business-communication"."

This very neat little app gives recipes and tips to save food from being thrown away and wasted. Roughly translated, the title means "Too good for the bin", and it forms a part of a campaign to reduce waste by the German government. The app will even put together a shopping list for you to create the recipes based around using up your leftovers. It is available both for iOS, in the iTunes store, and Android, in the Google Play store.

The app launched last Friday, with considerable fanfare, and is collecting a large number of reviews on both app stores. It is a shame I don't speak German, as I'd love to know if my dad's recipe for bread and butter pudding from stale bread is represented in it! I wonder if Frans would consider an English version someday...

The app was created with the usual heartstopping moments of anxiety, particularly when a bug was discovered 3 days before the launch was due - a panicked phonecall to the LiveCode support department resulted in a rapid fix and the very public launch took place as scheduled. Frans told me:

"Both versions were done with native scrollers, one codebase... We have adopted a Page Description Language for LiveCode to render all possible screen sizes and that seems to be performing admirably."

It's not all plain sailing. After launching the app in the stores, Frans says:

"alas there is one competitor from Frankfurt who is putting up negative reviews on ALL apps he ever encounters (from someone else of course) and he seems to be on top right now. Since he is truly slanderous we have called Apple to review his review and ask him for proof. We'll see how that works out."

It looks like Apple did take action, on checking today that quote seems to have disappeared. It's good to know that it is possible to resolve this kind of issue successfully.

Magazine Interview and Free Trial
In other news, our CEO Kevin Miller has recently given an interview with App Marketer Magazine. The interview is due out in the mid Decembe edition of the magaziner, and the publishers have kindly provided a 3 month free trial code for readers of revUp:

amtrial3months

So if you'd like to read the interview, you can go ahead and sign up for free.

Conference Presentations
Cyril Pruszko recently presented his work with students and LiveCode at the Powering up with Technology conference. He discussed how he teaches students to program live-action games or educational games in less than a month. His approach aims to make learning to program fun and develop career interests in computer related fields. The keys are the small learning curve, capable features and quick deployment of graphical-based programs.

He also informally presented at the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC). He told us:

"...I attended it and talked up LiveCode...At one session, I was invited to speak and gave a brief presentation. It was well received as I got an ovation afterward from a packed room. Next year, I will try to get approved in time to give formal sessions/presentations on LiveCode, Computer Programming and Game Writing."

Congratulations! I understand Cyril has a full schedule of upcoming presentations, we'll keep you posted here.

About the Author Heather Laine is Customer Services Manager for RunRev Ltd