Follow along as I build out product ideas with regular updates on progress, screenshots, thoughts on a particular way of doing things and so much more. This is at the heart of what I do and I love it.
Currently active projects:
These are my active development projects at this time. You can click/tap through any of them for more info and see specific posts for the project.
Gluon for Micro.blog
A journey through space and time as I build a cross platform app for Micro.blog. My first app for both iOS and Android.
Status for updown.io
A simple app to display monitored sites from updown.io, with current status and other stats.
Launched projects:
These projects have been launched and are live 🚀
Simple Schedule
A new and simple way to manage bookings, appointments and gatherings on the web
I’m extremely happy I took time to rebuild Gluon from scratch. It was totally worth it! Whilst there are still features missing from version 1.0 of the app, I think it has caught up and is ahead in pretty much everything.
TestFlight
I have opened more spots on TestFlight, which you can get to here if you want to help test the app. I get some great feedback, and I usually respond to everyone personally. Here is a direct link also if you want to copy and paste the URL: https://testflight.apple.com/join/2sbnWuMK
There were 100 spots initially, which have all been taken. A huge thank you to those who actively use Gluon 🤩
Android
With the iOS TestFlight back in swing, I’m looking for Android testers. I do already have a few emails, but please email me again: gluon@vincentritter.com
The Android version still needs some TLC, but I think it’s at 95% in sync with the iOS version. Pretty happy about that and thought that I would only be at 80%.
Gluon works all the way down to 7.1 - so let me know.
The biggest improvement compared to the last build is that the app now feels way faster than the last version. This was one of the many contributing factors that made me pull the app in the first place.
I’m panning to push the button on the Android build some time this week.
Rest of the week
This week I will be concentrating on Replying and Posting, with replies coming first. I may have another feature that I’ll pursue, but I’ll get to that. For the eagle eyed, you may know what that could be (hint: something was introduced in the last TestFlight build).
Again, a huge shoutout to everyone that is helping and also a huge thank you for all your amazing comments.
This week I’ll be working on Replying and Posting for Gluon. I have some ideas that I want to try. First up will be replying though.
I just completed the Appearance section of Gluon. You can also now choose a font that is used to display timeline items. I don’t apply the font app wide, but I could if enough wanted it. Too much of the same font doesn’t look great.
I renamed Hilbert to Status, as I prefer it. Also brought across all the goodness that is in Gluon so that there are great foundations.
Status will be specifically for updown.io and will also introduce push notifications. Will have a small web app supporting the app.
I haven’t spend much time on it except just the design and basic login.
I just released Gluon build 20190301.4, which adds the ability to switch themes and accents instantly. Give it a go and choose a nice combo. I’m yet to style that section so please bear with me - you’ll be able to accents now though. If you want more accent colours, just let me know.
Also added a double tap to reload the current feed you’re on. Just double tap the tab bar icon and you’ll get a haptic feedback event, followed by a reload/fetch. Thanks to @nitinkhanna for this one.
I’m about to push out a new build for Gluon (20190228.3) . It will include a very early experimental “Appearance” option in Settings. When you change any values, you’ll have to press the “Reload App” button at the bottom. Wait 1 second before pressing that, otherwise the settings will not save.
Themes are Light and Dark - these change the overall skin of the app.
Accents will change link colours and colours in the tab bar and header areas.
I’ll be hopefully completing this tonight, and get it nice looking and reload on the fly (it’s nearly working but took it out for now for this build).
Working on a dark theme and also the ability to have different colour accents (for both light and dark). Let’s see if I can add it before the weekend.
I’m about to start another round of Gluon coding. Probably work on the “Following” screen or start work with adding replies. There are a few plans for Favourites and Discover, but they need to sit in my head a little longer.
Fixed a few minor Android issues for Gluon. I’ll have it ready by the weekend and will write a post about a new beta invite 😊
Gluon was approved for public TestFlight a few hours ago 😃 There are many things on my plate and I'll do my best to ship regular updates. Whilst it doesn't look like much changed... everything has!
There are a few things still missing and I'm hoping to be in a good spot in a week or so. I'll also need to check the Android build and get that ready.
