Interviews

Exclusive Interview With Charles Jamerlan, iPhone App Developer Of Finger Maniac

Finger Maniac is a fast and furious game for the iPhone or iPod Touch, it is highly addictive and great fun. We wanted to find out more about how Finger Maniac was developed and how it has become so successful. We spoke with Charles Jamerlan the developer of this app to find out – read this fascinating interview now.

The Beginning

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Hi Charles, can you tell our readers how your app was originally thought of, what were your thoughts behind the marketplace, specifically?

Sure Joanne, well I had been developing an educational game that would teach people how to type fast an accurately on the iPhone. Then one day I had come across a game on the web that challenged gamers how fast they can type the alphabet. So I thought it would be neat to build this game I was working on around this challenge. From this, Finger Maniac was born.

I have quite a few apps on the App Store I think the marketplace is indeed quite brilliant and ingenious, for both Apple and indie developers. The trouble now is getting your app visible with the thousands of apps that currently swim in the store. So definitely, marketing is key to success in the marketplace.

Design

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Can you tell us how you came up with the colors and themes ideas, design?

I wanted to go for a fun, cheery, and “papery” theme for this game Joanne. So I designed everything around a crumpled paper background, along with hand drawn text styles. More importantly was choosing the correct background music – I believe it helps to set the mood for playing the game. Who wants to play a game with dreary boring music?

Target Market

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

Everyone. Everyone knows how to type. Everyone has free time. Everyone is competitive. Put those all together, and you have the perfect formula for the Finger Maniac gamer. The game sports online leaderboards – which which allows customers to challenge friends and family, or even complete strangers!

Production Process

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How long did it take from the original planning to the production process of your app?

From start to finish, the total hours of completing this game was about one month. I always find the hardest part is designing and creating a solid gameplay environment
for the game. Once that is completed, the coding is fairly straightforward.

Sales

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

Sales are fairly average, between 10-20 sales per day. It had been downloaded a lot more upon its release, but with every app on the store, the sales dwindle as days go by. Its quite hard to compete with a ton of other great apps, so that’s where marketing and promotions will come into play – such as our contest where you can win a brand new Apple iPad!

Obstacles

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

Its quite disappointing to pour all your development efforts into a solid product, only to have it sell none. So I would say the hardest obstacle would be how to market and sell your product successfully on the store.

Third Parties

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Would you consider developing apps for third parties?

Absolutely! In fact, part of my core business is developing for third parties – as the app explosion is booming, more and more business are looking for ways to get their products and brands out into the app stratosphere. It’s a very good time for seasoned iPhone developers these days.

App Store

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

Put out a great products, learn to market your product well with all the tools you can use, and pray for some good luck! It always helps to be lucky on the app store – you can featured by Apple, or just have a great day of sales. It can only take one small step to make great leaps on the app store.

Apple Support

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Have Apple supported you well with your app?

They have been very good in my experience. Apps are reviewed in a very timely manner and payments come on time – I can’t complain!

The Future

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

Yes, I am in the process of developing a few apps, some games and some entertainment novelties. With the pending launch of the iPad, I have a few great ideas ready to go at launch as well.

Apple iPad

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The Apple iPad – what are your thoughts about it and how do you think your app will integrate?

I believe the iPad is a new revolution of computing – the future as we see it in the movies is finally coming to reality. Yes, it may be “underpowered” in specs to some degree, but what Apple does great is in the user interface. I have never seen a product work so well with a user – you don’t have to be technically save to use one. Its definitely going to change the landscape of consumer computing.

As far as my apps are concerned, I’ll be making iPad specific versions to make use of the extra real estate – the more space the merrier!!

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: [email protected]