Interviews

Exclusive Interview with EasyTrails GPS Developer

I have so enjoyed using EasyTrails GPS on my iPhone 3GS, I wanted to find out more from the Developer about it from creation to development. Lorenzo Troni is the most charming Italian, as they all are! He willingly spoke with me and explained the very important aspect of MicroDonations – read more here for a thoughly refreshing and gripping interview.

Creation

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Thank you Lorenzo for chatting with us, firstly can you tell our readers how your app was orginally thought of and what were your thoughts behind the marketplace, specifically?

Of course, no problem Joanne, basically everybody is moving, movement is life, and somebody once said "if life is worth living, than it’s worth recording!" We then thought, why not literally record our movements, without having to bring with us another gadget or another tool, if we have already a great iPhone in our pocket?

EasyTrails GPS was born with outdoor minded people in mind, not ones who just sit all day sitting in front of a desk. We like to see iPhone users enjoy travelling around, whether it be mountaintrekking, running in the countryside, discovering a new country, or discovering cool places in their city.

Design

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Can you tell us how you came up with the colors and themes ideas for your app Lorenzo?

Simplicity, Apple look with and a touch of "made in Italy" are the ingredients of our applications.

 

Target Market

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Lorenzo, Who do you see as the main target market for this app?

We believe that the person interested in EasyTrails GPS is an iPhone owner who likes fresh air, that want to get the best from their iPhone when they are out and about. We see that both urban traveler and outside sports are the more useful areas of interest. We have have had very cool comments that define EasyTrails GPS as a "super useful" application, one of the most used apps in general everyday life. People use it to find their lost car, or to write down a list of Natural Parks in the country, and even a permaculture friend mapped all the main trees in his garden, to enable him to have a Google Map of his garden!

Production

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Lorenzo, how long did it take from the original planning to the production process?

In a couple of months our team were already testing the first feature-reach prototypes, but it took much more time to improve it and arrive to the current level of implementation. There are some applications that can be developed in a very short time, but EasyTrails GPS is not such a small, simple, and not-tested app!

Micro-Donations

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How do you view your sales, is there a good solid market for this style of app?

Yes, the market is very open and we believe that will continue for long time. iPhone users know that we’re supporting ecological projects with the Micro-Donations concept, and we are developing other applications in the same line: giving 10% of Zirak revenues to ecological or social-service projects of small non-profit organizations in the world. Micro-Donations are an important tool, that can really support small projects that help our planet!

Obstacles

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What has been the hardest obstacle you have had to overcome regarding this app development?

Well, software development is always difficult and complex, but those who love high-tech find opportunities to learn, not obstacles! Surely in this regard, the Apple-guidelines/rules are quite obsure and complex, but I would not describe them as obstacles…

Third Parties

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Would you consider developing apps for third parties?

Yes, of course, with several applications developed for the iPhone, only four of them we have published directly as Zirak, the others we developed for third parties and if somebody wants to contact us, just go on our http://mobile.zirak.com website!

Apart from "normal customers", we like to send a message to cooperations especially to environment-friendly or green enterprises. It is important that people who want to help the world share their ideas and develop businesses to materialize their vision, to support people that are helping this process as volunteers.

Let’s hope that between the readers of this interview there are also ecologists or enterprises that are interested in environmental sustainability!

Learning Curve

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What have you learnt from the App Store since you launched your app?

We learnt that it is possible to help people and the environment, with a lot of effort and struggle, but it is worthwhile! It’s not an easy field. To survive in the iPhone market it would not be possible without a proper development and marketing team, management and of course, experience!

Compared with other mobile markets, like Android or BlackBerry, where we are also very skilled and develop directly or for third parties, the iPhone is the more difficult.

Apple Support

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Have Apple supported you well with your app? If so, in what way?

Apple has given a good tool to reach directly the user, the AppStore. In the future we hope to have more interaction with them, at least with the more important applications.

The Future

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What next, are you developing another app? Would you go for the same genre again, if not which?

Well Joanne we have developed another application already since the EasyTrails GPS was out in the market! Our app Document Scanner, turns your iPhone into a wonderful scanner. It is very useful if you’re in a meeting, or if you have some documents and you want to get photos with the camera, enhance and organize them within a PDF, send or share with your GoogleDocs or iDisk accounts.

In 2010 we will continue to develop other applications to ensure we explore the huge potential that is, of course, the iPhone!

Thank you so much for this interview Lorenzo, we will you much successful and look forward to working with you in the future, best wishes Joanne

 

Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: joanne@theappwhisperer.com