Mobile First

7 weeks ago I saw this post on reddit where someone was sharing pictures of their child's owl sudoku game. These are the original pics.

I like strategy games in general and I thought this was adorable. At the same time I was very tempted to make a web version of what I was seeing.

And sure enough I did just that. My first version was complete the next day and it was single level with owls. I shared it with the OP and got some good feedback.

• For the game itself I used a sudoku package which was originally written by some Google engineer and ported to javascript by some kind person. But the games it generates are very difficult and no ability to adjust the difficulty.

• I used react to make the game and with many cards and things at play the rendering on low end devices was just crap. Turns out box-shadow transitions are very expensive haha.

• With a more difficult game it is difficult to organize everything in the mind so the OP from reddit suggested I add ability to take notes.

Even with these issue the first version was playable but I was super excited with what I had made since this is my first game and I wanted to build it more!

I have since then added more game elements like levels and scoring. I have added steps to improve the baseline game generator to make the games easier earlier on with gradual increase in difficulty. I have added notes. I have also improved the rendering and am able to run it with mid range android device which I think is a huge accomplishment personally :D

Theme-wise I have gone from owls to animals, and now on to "pictures" in general. I did this because it gives me more room to add more levels and other fun stuff later. I don't want to box myself in too early.

So with all that said I invite you to test my first ever beta game. It is still a work in progress but playable. Please leave feedback if you play it.

https://sudoku.mobilefirst.me/

ZenPic is a photography app for Smart TVs that displays vibrant, neutral images that transition over time. We have put together a collection of over 1000 carefully selected images that create relaxing moods and are perfect for display in large screen. We felt that with everything going on in the world this would be helpful to create some balance within homes and workplaces.

Here is just a tiny sample of the style of photography you will find in ZenPic:

To give you some context, this is our first Smart TV app and we are really just starting to explore this space. This first version of the app is very simple but we have a plan on adding more features such as choosing a theme for photographs. That way if you use it at a workplace waiting area for example, you can choose images that fit your business such as "pets" (for a vet clinic) or "sailing" for a marina, etc.

If you would like to try the app, you can find it at Google Play and App Store. You will need to search for "ZenPic" with Android or Apple Smart TV to be able to install it. I will add the store links here for preview on other devices: App Store and Google Play

About two days ago Tim had this idea to make an app for Apple TVs that shows high-res photography and crossfades different images over time. Well, it was a great idea overall — it is very easy to execute and would allow us to make out first TV app and increase our presence in the app stores.

We started by making a collection of curated photography that would be optimal for display in TV screen. Then Tim tackled the iOS version, and I made the android version.

We were slightly concerned with the minimum functionality requirement as this MVP version is very simple, but we already passed Google Play review. We have plans of adding more functionality in the future or if Apple gives us a hard time with approval.

We hit another small road block with Apple because turns out you must actually own an Apple TV to be able to sign the app, so we had to order one and with the pandemic, the delivery will not happen until next week and then we also have to clear the Apple review process. Hope all this works out!

In the meantime, here is a preview of the Android app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mf.mobilefirst.zenpic

Yesterday I shared an update about trending on reddit.

Today seeing over 1000 new users following the reddit post. Incredible!! Thank you so much!! This is by far the single biggest 1-day acquisition numbers I have ever experienced.

Happy to share that our new open-source Android virtual keyboard is receiving a lot of love from reddit users right now.

This is so encouraging, thank you all!! 🙌

You can get the app on Google Play

Past month has been wild for everyone for many reasons, wow. Beyond the obvious pandemic, here is what we have been up to at Mobile First:

• We got our first website contract (monthly subscription)

• We hosted a free workshop to teach Squarespace - two people showed up and rated our workshop 5 stars! (more on this below)

• Made this page which I think is pretty cool

• Started working on ProgrammingProblems.app! More info on this here

• Got some official MF swag from Stickermule! Try this link for this $1 promo!

So about the squarespace thing - we are in the business of building apps. However, we also 100 % believe a lot of simple sites can be built without a developer. In the spirit of everything Gary V says, we wanted to take what we know well and give that to people for free - which in our case translates to teaching people how to build simple websites. We were super glad to have people show up and the session went very well overall!

Hopefully we can convert it to an online resource and/or do more sessions in the future once this pandemic eases.