iOS Development: VoiceOver and Click Behavior

I got a support e-mail this past weekend for Audiorun from a user who was not able to get past the title screen where it says "click anywhere to continue". I find out later, after a few exchanges, that the user is a completely blind user and one that uses VoiceOver. Having never actually enabled VoiceOver functionality on my phone, I never actually tested the game with it enabled.

As a brief summary, VoiceOver essentially changes the way the iOS device behaves by reading aloud what you've selected so you can use the phone without actually seeing it. What this does is also change the behavior or clicks, or specifically "single clicks". So instead of clicking an application icon to launch, you double-click to launch. A single click will highlight the application and read aloud the title. What happens is that if your game uses single clicks, like Audiorun, it will no longer function property as the device is trying to read aloud the selection that doesn't exist.

So after some fumbling around with VoiceOver, I learned that you can triple-click the Home button to enable or disable VoiceOver. This has to be configured first (Settings > Accessibility > Bottom of the Screen) as triple-clicking the Home button can also be set to do other things (zoom, white on black text, etc.).

Ultimately, the workaround was to simply use this triple-click feature to disable VoiceOver while the game was running. I'm happy to say that it worked and the user's high score right now is 28 jumps.

I tried this out with a few other games just to see if it was due to my game being one of those Flash to iOS export applications. Turns out that games like Flick Homerun and Infinity Blade II also do not respond well when VoiceOver is activated.

Bottom Line: So if you're developing an application geared toward users that are prone to using VoiceOver, keep in mind that it may break your application in that it won't function as designed. Make sure to have a note somewhere that triple-click Home to disable VoiceOver is required.

Related Link: Audiorun for iOS Devices

Review of "Audiorun" Over at GameBase

There's a nice review of Audiorun over at GameBase. For those who aren't familiar, GameBase is a blog site that focuses their efforts on reporting about "abled gaming", thus bringing to light games that are tailored for individuals who are blind or have limited hand usage and so on. It's actually quite well organized and shows you that while there are some pieces of software and hardware made for gamers with special needs, the pickings are still slim.

While the review is nice in that it's a positive review, I appreciated the fact that the reviewer didn't actually try to compare it 1:1 to something like Canabalt. He understood the premise and why the game was constructed the way it was. I'm sure he has some constructive criticism about it and I wouldn't have minded if he included it in his review. Nevertheless, I appreciate him taking the time to check it out.

Review: Audiorun at GameBase
Purchase: Audiorun on iTunes

New Game - Audiorun released for iOS!

My newest game Audiorun is now available in the iTunes store! It's essentially an audio-only version of Canabalt. The key thing to remember is: you can only successfully jump when all other sounds (footsteps and city) have faded away. Any other time than that you'll find yourself splatted.

Ah, and headphones are definitely recommended.

I'm busy collecting feedback and making the next v1.1 better. Adam Saltsman shot me some good advice as well as my coworkers. Will implement soon.

Here are two codes you can try for free redemption. Save you $0.99! First come, first served.

Codes: T9T3X6P6PHFA and LN666KHMTTKE

iTunes Info Page: Audiorun

In Queue: Audiorun

Audiorun is still sitting in the approval queue with the Apple folks. The wait time is usually 1-2 weeks, so I'm not bugging out or anything. I did think it'd be nice to post about it, albeit briefly.

I won't say much about the game for now, except that it's influenced by the wonderful Adam Saltsman and I sent him a copy to see what he thinks of it. While I may be permanently heartbroken if he thinks it's the worst thing since cancer, I'll move on and learn from my mistakes.

Only time (and sales) will tell. :)

I'll post again once the game's approved.

Side Hustle Stats - December 2010

The phrase "side hustle" was first used by my coworker, Moshen Chan, to describe the personal projects us folks at Mochi Media do in our free time.

Happy new year everyone! This year has certainly been an interesting one. Let's take a look at how December rounded out. Some key things to note are the following:

• I didn't release any new games.
• I started posting more on this blog (art and junk) as the month came to a close.
• I began to properly track all of my sites and registered their specific domains accordingly during the last week of December (everything used to just forward to a folder off of wanderingpandacomics.com)
• I added stats from physical toy/art sales (not quite passive per se...)
• Numbers in the parentheses show change from the prior month.

I think the most important piece of information I took away from this month is that sponsorships, regardless of how large or small, still make the largest chunk of side hustle for a game maker like myself. I'm sure all other Flash game developers out there would agree and it's not new news. Some things I will focus on for January are the following:

• Complete at least two games (sponsorship or not).
• Keep up and post at least one blog post a day.
• Properly update Mister Goh, a webcomic property I revived for 2011.
• Implement Facebook pages for a handful of my sites (Shen Games, Mister Goh) and its Connect functionality on those sites.
• Continue to spend time on Twitter and tweet accordingly.

December 2010 Side Hustle Stats

MochiAds
• MochiAds - $130.72 (+ $6.94)
• MochiAds Impressions - 184,962 (+ 5,428)
• MochiAds eCPM - $0.73 (+ $0.03)
• Top Game: (Don't) Save the Princess - 50,914 impressions
• Second Game: Zombie Farm - 39,096 impressions
• Third Game: Perfect Match Fit - 28,178 impressions

AdSense
• AdSense - $50.58 (+ $0.62)
• Top Site: Shen Games

iTunes App Store
• Paid Apps - $4.20 - 6 total (- $2.10)
• Free Apps - $0.00 - 1,147 total (+ 624)
• Updates - $0.00 - 450 total (+ 450)
• Released: Sheep v1.2, EZ Caltrain 1.0

Sponsorships
• None. (- $800.00)

Wandering Panda Store
• Ritz the Robot Plushie - $21.98 - 2 total

Grand Side Hustle Total: $180.96 (- $799.08)

If there are any additional stats you would like to see or think would be interesting to see, please let me know. I'd like to be as transparent and open as possible here. The more info we know as indie game developers and such, the better off we'll be.

EZ Caltrain now on iPhone AppStore!

My newest free app, EZ Caltrain, is now on the Apple iTunes appStore. Unfortunately, due to the holiday break at Apple HQ and the recently updated schedule at Caltrain, this schedule is slightly outdated. Luckily, I planned for that and left a note in the app regarding certain trains being removed from weekday schedules. Version 1.1, using the newest Caltrain schedule, is already in queue for approval.

On a side note, I never know what to call the Apple iTunes appStore. Is that right? Should I just call it the appStore? Am I using the right combination of uppercase and lowercase letters? You may think to yourself, "why does it matter?" SEO, my friends. That's why it matters. I suppose I should just a bunch of keywords here like... MILEY CYRUS KISSING JUSTIN BIEBER. [evil laughter]

Related Link: EZ Caltrain on iTunes

Tutorial - Using an Adobe Flash CS5 Export with Application Loader

If you're like me, you may have had some trouble getting your Adobe Flash CS5 iPhone exported application working with the iTunesConnect Application Loader. This is probably because Adobe Flash CS5 exports an .IPA file, which you can upload to your phone for testing, and you need a .ZIP to upload through Application Loader. This is a quick tutorial on how to solve the issue.

This is assuming you've already tested the app, got the proper provisioning certificates and all that jazz.

1. Change the extension of the newly created .IPA file from .IPA to .ZIP. It will ask you if you want to change the extension of ".IPA to .ZIP". Say yes. For example, you would rename "yourapp.ipa" to "yourapp.zip". Refer to the picture.


2. Now double-click on the .ZIP file and it should uncompress itself into a "Payload" folder.

3. Inside the "Payload" folder is a .APP file/folder named the same as your original Flash file. Right-click on this file and select "Compress 'yourapp'" and it should create a new .ZIP file for you. Refer to the picture.


4. Use Application Loader to upload this new .ZIP file.

Good luck and see you on the appStore!