jamesthomson

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

It is still very weird to ship an app that I've only run on a device for a handful of hours back in August.

At least it’s basically just 2D (hidden bananas aside) - my hat is off to anybody that's shipped a full 3D app today, that's much harder to pull off developing in the simulator.

And congratulations to the Apple people who have been working on this stuff for literally years!

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Got an email there from Susan Prescott at Apple saying thanks for being there on day one. That's genuinely a really nice touch!

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Boosts appreciated on the linked post btw - it's going to be a noisy day to try and get any traction with indie Vision Pro stuff, I suspect!

https://mastodon.social/@jamesthomson/111861997276268732

jamesthomson, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to random

It is very interesting in Vision Pro screenshots - like this one from @aaronschendel - that you can definitely see the foveated rendering at work.

The left hand side of PCalc is pretty blurred here because it's not being looked at, so it doesn't need to be high resolution. Which makes a lot of sense!

That's going to make screenshots interesting - I wonder if there's a way to force the system to render everything at full resolution for marketing?

EDIT: Ah, there is! https://developer.apple.com/documentation/visionos/capturing-screenshots-and-video-from-your-apple-vision-pro-for-2d-viewing

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Oh, hello there store page for PCalc on Apple Vision Pro:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pcalc/id284666222?platform=appleVisionPro

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Surprisingly, nobody has asked me “Why haven't you made a visionOS version of your free PCalc Lite app for the $3.5k Apple headset?”.

The answer is mainly contained in the question!

PCalc Lite will happily run in compatibility mode for now, and I might do a visionOS release later, but for now my focus was on getting the premium PCalc app out the door.

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

A prize for the first person (outside Apple folk!) who sends me a screenshot of PCalc running on their Vision Pro!

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

🥲

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Cleaning out and reinstalling my iMac Pro is a good reminder of how much faster computers are five years later. This thing feels slow!

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Sounds like there will be more Vision Pro apps on day one than iPhone apps on day one.

https://9to5mac.com/2024/02/01/new-vision-pro-apps/

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

This seems like a pledge amount made just for me, @Iconfactory!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iconfactory/project-tapestry

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Glad to see that Brian Tong didn’t delete PCalc during his Vision Pro review!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPw6ScHyb4

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

As an Apple shareholder, I wish Apple wouldn’t push for services revenue. How much better of a company would they be, if it was mostly about selling cool devices that everybody wanted to use? Would they make less money? Yes. Would they still be insanely profitable? Also yes!

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Idle thought of the day, does the electronic reference “The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" come with a calculator pre-installed?

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Reasonably acceptable for 51.

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Happy 40th birthday, Macintosh!

To make it about me for a second, the fact that PCalc is 31 years old too is just wild, because it means I’ve been doing all this for a not insignificant chunk of the Mac’s entire existence.

It definitely felt to me like I came late to the Mac, because I didn’t use one until 1990, but in reality it was only 6 years old when I bought a Mac Classic.

Not to mention, I was working at Apple itself when the Mac was only 12.

Now somehow, it’s 40? How does that work?

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

I think this suggests that PCalc is the oldest app available on the Vision Pro App Store:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Kbkm_jPdgV2qwhoRFIufCass8u2k-h4Xxuj0r7tXYZo/edit#gid=0

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Apple very nicely listed PCalc as one of the “must have” Apple Vision Pro compatible iPhone and iPad apps at the end of this video.

However, the iOS version isn’t listed on the Vision Pro App Store any more, because the native visionOS app is now there instead.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Tim Cook for ruining his video.

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

So, if around 500 of you could buy a copy of PCalc on or before the 2nd of February, that would be great. Thanks in advance.

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Well, guess I’m a big liar then.

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

I just went into my AVP order, and I could change the pickup day back to the 2nd. So if you got bumped out a day or so, worth looking at your order!

jamesthomson, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to random

Nearly 16 years of PCalc hitting day one on the App Store:

iPhone - 10th July 2008
iPad - 3rd April 2010
Mac - 6 January 2011
Apple Watch - 24th April 2015
Apple TV - 30th October 2015
Apple Vision Pro - 2nd February 2024

No wonder I feel tired!

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

“The status of your (visionOS) app, PCalc, is now Ready for Sale” 🥳

It should be live on the store shortly and is a universal purchase with the iOS version. So if you are reading this you probably already own it! †

† Vision Pro not included.

jamesthomson, 4 months ago to random

Thanks to @_Davidsmith for indirectly costing me $4k today, even though he doesn't know that he did. But it was his fault.

jamesthomson, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to random

I really want to get an Apple Vision Pro as soon as possible, but I don't think I'll be trying to order today because there are too many unknowns ordering one from outside the US, without actually flying there to get it.

I'm hoping there will be some solution for international developers soon, but I'm not exactly confident in that.

EDIT: He bought one anyway.