Exclusive Interview With Poster Mac App Developer, Steve Harris

1    Please explain how your app was originally thought of and what were your thoughts behind the marketplace, specifically?

I wasn’t happy with the photo uploading solutions out there on the Mac, particularly for Flickr. Apple’s built in support in iPhoto was not a pleasant experience (although that has improved) and support in Aperture didn’t even exist. Flickr’s own uploader was prone to crashing and lacked polish, while third-party iPhoto and Aperture plug-ins had all the features but were clunky to use and didn’t show anything more than a tiny thumbnail of the photos.

I figured I probably wasn’t alone in my frustration and so set out to create a flexible, polished app that addressed all the shortcomings I saw elsewhere and did what I wanted it to do.

2    Explain the design, how you came up with the colors and themes.

The app largely designed itself, with thumbnails that can be zoomed to fill the window and iOS-inspired sections and pop-overs used for editing the information.

3    Who do you see as the main target market for this app in terms of age, genre and expenditure?

Anyone who’s interested in photography in more than just a casual way and in sharing those photographs online, whether that’s enthusiastic amateurs, professionals sharing their portfolios or businesses using Facebook to connect with their customers.

As far as age goes, I already know the app is mostly used by people between their mid-twenties and mid-forties, but that’s probably more indicative of who’s into photography than anything else.

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

The initial version of the app is the product of around 6 months work from design to its initial release, although that was spread across most of 2010, as I have two other apps to look after.

5    How do you predict sales to be, is there a good solid market for this style of app?

Sales for an app like this will never be extraordinary, but steady, which is worth a lot more in the long run.

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

Animating various the UI was probably what took the most work to figure out. There are a lot of tricks and quirks you need to learn about to make this work smoothly on the Mac, but it’s very gratifying once it’s done.

7    Would you consider developing apps for third parties?

No, I work full time on my own apps because that’s what’s needed to keep on top of everything.

8    What have you learnt from the App Store?

I sell my apps both direct on my site and on the Mac App Store now, and it’s a great way to get them in front of people who may never hear about them otherwise, provided you’re lucky enough to get featured in some way. Otherwise, your apps just get buried and it seems not many people venture beyond the front page. It’ll be especially good for new developers, saving them a lot of work getting their apps out there.

9    Have Apple supported you well with your App development?

The people at Apple are always very friendly, helpful and professional in what they do and my experience with the Mac App Store so far has been consistent with that.

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

I have no plans for any new apps from in the foreseeable future. In addition to Poster, I’ve got two other apps with some pretty loyal and enthusiastic users that are in a constant cycle of receiving updates for new features and improvements, so getting those ready for Mac OS X Lion and moving them forward is what I’ll be doing for this year and next.

11     What do you think about TheAppWhisperer.com? Have we helped you? Would you recommend us? Have we been supportive?

Any site that supports developers and engages users with original content gets my vote. Unfortunately, there are too many sites out there that would rather regurgitate Apple press releases and report the obvious than dig around for something we might not have heard about yet. So yes, you’ve been very helpful and supportive, thanks!