Under the Radar

00:00:00 ◼   ► hello and welcome to a slightly

00:00:03 ◼   ► different episode of under-the-radar if

00:00:06 ◼   ► you're a longtime listener to show you

00:00:08 ◼   ► might remember that back last December

00:00:12 ◼   ► when I launched workouts plus plus I

00:00:14 ◼   ► kept a kind of a bday diary of the

00:00:17 ◼   ► experience that I think ended up turning

00:00:21 ◼   ► into a pretty interesting episode I'm

00:00:23 ◼   ► honestly personally very glad to have

00:00:26 ◼   ► recorded it just because so often for

00:00:28 ◼   ► these kinds of things you you have this

00:00:30 ◼   ► experience and honestly with independent

00:00:33 ◼   ► development you often have the

00:00:34 ◼   ► experience complete or served by

00:00:35 ◼   ► yourself largely and it's you never

00:00:39 ◼   ► really get the benefit of kind of

00:00:42 ◼   ► recalling and remembering and just you

00:00:45 ◼   ► know having this memento going forward

00:00:47 ◼   ► and so it's very great to record it and

00:00:49 ◼   ► so today this is December 12 2017 about

00:00:55 ◼   ► a year later I'm launching the 2.0

00:00:58 ◼   ► update of workouts plus plus and as a

00:01:01 ◼   ► result it seemed like a good opportunity

00:01:02 ◼   ► to record my experiences again and

00:01:07 ◼   ► hopefully this is interesting and

00:01:10 ◼   ► somewhat instructive it's funny thing

00:01:13 ◼   ► launching a 2.0 update as opposed to

00:01:17 ◼   ► conversion one ivory listen to a bit of

00:01:20 ◼   ► the I first launched a diary for

00:01:22 ◼   ► workouts plus plus and there's a lot of

00:01:25 ◼   ► apprehension and a lot of the sense of

00:01:27 ◼   ► complete unknown about how it will react

00:01:29 ◼   ► to it about you know how it's going to

00:01:32 ◼   ► go I felt like there was a lot more

00:01:34 ◼   ► riding on it a 2.0 update it feels

00:01:37 ◼   ► different like this is a substantial

00:01:39 ◼   ► update and it's something that I've been

00:01:41 ◼   ► working almost exclusively on for three

00:01:44 ◼   ► or four months now it's a large

00:01:46 ◼   ► substantial investment you know any of

00:01:48 ◼   ► my time but I'll say that I'm less

00:01:52 ◼   ► worried about it then I was for version

00:01:56 ◼   ► 1 just because I know the core concept

00:02:00 ◼   ► sort of works you know then it was I had

00:02:02 ◼   ► the experience of workouts plus plus 1.0

00:02:05 ◼   ► to tell me that and then think also I'm

00:02:09 ◼   ► just feeling

00:02:12 ◼   ► slightly liberated by the fact that as I

00:02:15 ◼   ► discussed I think on four or three or

00:02:16 ◼   ► four episodes ago free with benefits I

00:02:19 ◼   ► think was the name of the episode there

00:02:21 ◼   ► was I made the decision that for this

00:02:24 ◼   ► update I'm just making the app

00:02:25 ◼   ► completely free that I'm using this more

00:02:28 ◼   ► as a marketing tool to expand awareness

00:02:30 ◼   ► of my other apps to just in general try

00:02:37 ◼   ► and see if I can make the app broadly

00:02:39 ◼   ► used or you know get wide acceptance and

00:02:42 ◼   ► focus on those things rather than on

00:02:45 ◼   ► trying to you in the short term make

00:02:47 ◼   ► money and that is incredibly liberating

00:02:49 ◼   ► that I'd it's a little weird to not have

00:02:52 ◼   ► the sense of you know if the day goes

00:02:54 ◼   ► really well often there would have been

00:02:56 ◼   ► some kind of you know it's like this

00:02:57 ◼   ► direct payday but it's quite liberating

00:03:01 ◼   ► in some ways to just say like you know

00:03:02 ◼   ► whatever the day is like this is just

00:03:04 ◼   ► step one in trying to build a big broad

00:03:09 ◼   ► audience for the application and

00:03:10 ◼   ► hopefully you know if the app does

00:03:12 ◼   ► really well today that's a good step

00:03:14 ◼   ► toward that process but beyond that it's

00:03:18 ◼   ► it's quite liberating to just be able to

00:03:20 ◼   ► say you know what let's see what happens

00:03:22 ◼   ► and if it doesn't quite go right I guess

00:03:25 ◼   ► you know I'll just continue to sort of

00:03:27 ◼   ► adjust and you know redirect the app had

00:03:31 ◼   ► new features try marketing things just I

00:03:35 ◼   ► have the opportunity to do that in kind

00:03:36 ◼   ► of a fun way but we'll see it's

00:03:39 ◼   ► currently about 5:43 a.m. it's a bit

00:03:44 ◼   ► early but I've started working kind of

00:03:45 ◼   ► early recently and so I'm just doing a

00:03:48 ◼   ► little bit of work before the launch

00:03:50 ◼   ► gets started I expect to launch the app

00:03:52 ◼   ► just before 9 o'clock or so or these

00:03:55 ◼   ► that's when I'll put hit go and iTunes

00:03:58 ◼   ► Connect and then probably do after 9:00

00:04:00 ◼   ► once everything is propagated hopefully

00:04:02 ◼   ► I'll actually you know start sort of

00:04:05 ◼   ► start to promote it and talk about it so

00:04:08 ◼   ► at this point I'm just going through and

00:04:10 ◼   ► editing my sort of launch blog post

00:04:13 ◼   ► where I outline the features and

00:04:15 ◼   ► starting to think of any kind of

00:04:17 ◼   ► checklist items that I need to do

00:04:19 ◼   ► because one thing I've learned from

00:04:22 ◼   ► doing several launches is it's pretty

00:04:25 ◼   ► important for me

00:04:26 ◼   ► to have a like a checklist of things

00:04:29 ◼   ► that I want to do and think about that

00:04:31 ◼   ► now when I'm not kind of in the anxious

00:04:33 ◼   ► excited excitable phase and just write

00:04:37 ◼   ► them all down so right now I'm just

00:04:38 ◼   ► gonna be editing blog posts and thinking

00:04:41 ◼   ► of things I might want to do later on

00:04:42 ◼   ► today and then you know I'll check back

00:04:45 ◼   ► in in a little bit as we get closer to

00:04:47 ◼   ► when I hit go it is now 6:35 a.m. and

00:04:55 ◼   ► this is where the day transitions to do

00:04:58 ◼   ► kind of uh I guess a true indie mode

00:05:00 ◼   ► because as much as I'm excited and

00:05:03 ◼   ► focused on launching the app I am now

00:05:07 ◼   ► going to be transitioning to family

00:05:10 ◼   ► stuff and like getting my kids bright

00:05:12 ◼   ► breakfast and getting them ready due off

00:05:14 ◼   ► to school and then I'll go and drive my

00:05:16 ◼   ► son to school and drop them off and then

00:05:18 ◼   ► come back and it is one of those things

00:05:21 ◼   ► that I feel like is both lovely and

00:05:23 ◼   ► complicated about being an independent

00:05:25 ◼   ► developer where you your personal life

00:05:30 ◼   ► and your professional life are so close

00:05:33 ◼   ► together I try very hard to have them

00:05:35 ◼   ► not over lap too much and get into

00:05:38 ◼   ► intermixed and you know that can cause

00:05:40 ◼   ► lots of problems but they're very close

00:05:43 ◼   ► together you know I'm finishing up this

00:05:45 ◼   ► update and it's a pretty big day for the

00:05:46 ◼   ► business overall I you know I'm about to

00:05:49 ◼   ► just go and make breakfast and do that

00:05:52 ◼   ► kind of stuff and then I'll come back

00:05:53 ◼   ► and I'll do some work and it's kind of

00:05:56 ◼   ► one of those funny things about being in

00:05:58 ◼   ► this role where you're never really away

00:06:01 ◼   ► from work and you're never really away

00:06:02 ◼   ► from home and it is nice I will say on a

00:06:04 ◼   ► day like this to have that balance to

00:06:06 ◼   ► have that thing that's grounding me that

00:06:08 ◼   ► me know my kids you know we're launching

00:06:09 ◼   ► an app today and they're kind of excited

00:06:10 ◼   ► and motivating and encouraging about

00:06:12 ◼   ► that but at the same time it's not

00:06:16 ◼   ► something that they're really

00:06:18 ◼   ► understanding like it's still just

00:06:20 ◼   ► another day for them in a lot of ways

00:06:21 ◼   ► and they're gonna you know we're just

00:06:23 ◼   ► going to go have breakfast like we

00:06:24 ◼   ► normally do have a normal morning and

00:06:26 ◼   ► then you know I'll be coming back to

00:06:28 ◼   ► work and it's a you know a significant

00:06:30 ◼   ► day and that grounding effect is

00:06:32 ◼   ► definitely very nice and it helps me I'm

00:06:35 ◼   ► getting to in my head or you know to

00:06:37 ◼   ► concerned or worried about you know what

00:06:39 ◼   ► the day is gonna look like all right it

00:06:42 ◼   ► is 829 a.m. I am sitting in traffic

00:06:47 ◼   ► coming a home from dropping my son off

00:06:52 ◼   ► at school a lot of mixed feelings

00:06:54 ◼   ► because it's initially as soon as I get

00:06:56 ◼   ► home I will be launching the app so I'm

00:07:00 ◼   ► thinking about it a lot it's worth

00:07:02 ◼   ► mentioning briefly the reason it might

00:07:03 ◼   ► sound different beyond just being me

00:07:06 ◼   ► rather than me and Marco this week is

00:07:08 ◼   ► I'm recording on a mobile recorder just

00:07:10 ◼   ► so that I can do things like this that

00:07:12 ◼   ► it can be a diary throughout the day

00:07:14 ◼   ► wherever I am not just every moment that

00:07:17 ◼   ► I'm stuck in the desk so if it sounds a

00:07:18 ◼   ► little different if the quality isn't

00:07:19 ◼   ► quite what you're used to

00:07:20 ◼   ► I understand that's what's going on

00:07:22 ◼   ► there I also thought it'd be an

00:07:24 ◼   ► interesting probably good time to talk a

00:07:25 ◼   ► little bit about the update itself and

00:07:28 ◼   ► why I'm excited about it even what's

00:07:30 ◼   ► what's what's happening with this update

00:07:32 ◼   ► so we're castles plus 2.0 is the three

00:07:36 ◼   ► main features like the marquee features

00:07:38 ◼   ► our watch based podcast playback

00:07:43 ◼   ► location tracking and zoom support as

00:07:47 ◼   ► well as there's a whole bunch of other

00:07:48 ◼   ► stuff but those are the big three and in

00:07:51 ◼   ► a lot of ways it's kind of finishing the

00:07:53 ◼   ► app that I started with workouts plus

00:07:56 ◼   ► plus 1.0 because in workouts plus plus

00:07:59 ◼   ► 1.0 a lot of those things just weren't

00:08:01 ◼   ► really possible things like swimming

00:08:03 ◼   ► support wasn't great until four point

00:08:05 ◼   ► until watch OS 4.0 location tracking

00:08:08 ◼   ► just wasn't possible before 4.0 and

00:08:12 ◼   ► podcast playback support was sort of

00:08:15 ◼   ► possible before but not really but

00:08:17 ◼   ► wasn't really quite as compelling until

00:08:20 ◼   ► we got the LTE have a watches so those

00:08:24 ◼   ► are that's sort of the big three main

00:08:27 ◼   ► big main features and in addition to

00:08:30 ◼   ► that there's just the whole host of

00:08:31 ◼   ► other stuff it has Siri integration a

00:08:33 ◼   ► new design I did a lot of work on the

00:08:35 ◼   ► charting that I do in the app so to

00:08:38 ◼   ► display your heart rate and your speed

00:08:40 ◼   ► over time there's a lot of other kind of

00:08:43 ◼   ► things like that but those are the three

00:08:44 ◼   ► main features and it's funny because I

00:08:47 ◼   ► think the thing that most people are

00:08:49 ◼   ► probably like in

00:08:50 ◼   ► the initial audience of the app my guess

00:08:53 ◼   ► I mean this is entirely speculative but

00:08:54 ◼   ► my guess is that most people are going

00:08:56 ◼   ► to be interested in the watch based

00:08:58 ◼   ► podcast playback because it's a really

00:09:01 ◼   ► tricky problem to solve it's kind of

00:09:02 ◼   ► hard and it's anytime I was I'm able to

00:09:05 ◼   ► solve a problem that ostensibly isn't

00:09:08 ◼   ► solvable I always you know I'm excited

00:09:10 ◼   ► about that that I was able to because of

00:09:12 ◼   ► a lot of the weird mechanics of how a

00:09:14 ◼   ► workout apps work I was able to get

00:09:17 ◼   ► blood podcast playback working pretty

00:09:19 ◼   ► well and watch in practice I imagine the

00:09:22 ◼   ► actual number of people who use the app

00:09:24 ◼   ► for about podcast playback is gonna be

00:09:26 ◼   ► relatively small um in my own experience

00:09:29 ◼   ► it's really really really nice in a

00:09:32 ◼   ► really narrow use case to have podcast

00:09:34 ◼   ► playback on the watch things like going

00:09:36 ◼   ► out for a run and it's delightful if you

00:09:39 ◼   ► have an LTE watch to just go out and run

00:09:41 ◼   ► with just your watch no phone you just

00:09:43 ◼   ► put your ear pods in and off you go like

00:09:45 ◼   ► that's that's delightful but that's a

00:09:48 ◼   ► relatively small number of people who I

00:09:49 ◼   ► think are going to be using it for that

00:09:51 ◼   ► purpose like the location tracking and

00:09:54 ◼   ► the swimming support is actually

00:09:55 ◼   ► probably a much more important to most

00:09:57 ◼   ► of my customers but I think it's going

00:09:59 ◼   ► to be funny today because I think more

00:10:00 ◼   ► attention is going to come from the sort

00:10:03 ◼   ► of the niche feature rather than the

00:10:04 ◼   ► core feature but I mean part of why I

00:10:07 ◼   ► made the niche feature is because it's

00:10:11 ◼   ► good for press and also it's something

00:10:12 ◼   ► that I just wanted for myself

00:10:14 ◼   ► when I started off making podcasts

00:10:15 ◼   ► playback for workouts plus plus I

00:10:18 ◼   ► started off doing it not really

00:10:20 ◼   ► expecting necessarily that I was going

00:10:22 ◼   ► to ever be able to ship it that it would

00:10:24 ◼   ► ever be good enough to actually release

00:10:26 ◼   ► because I thought there was gonna be too

00:10:28 ◼   ► many weird caveats and quirks and things

00:10:30 ◼   ► I had to work around but in the end it

00:10:32 ◼   ► actually did work out and it's it's

00:10:34 ◼   ► shippable and it it works but I'd

00:10:37 ◼   ► created it mostly for myself for those

00:10:39 ◼   ► rare situations where I'm gonna be you

00:10:43 ◼   ► know wanted to go for a run and don't

00:10:44 ◼   ► want to carry my phone because I really

00:10:45 ◼   ► hate having the little pouch that I have

00:10:47 ◼   ► to you know strap onto my arm or onto my

00:10:50 ◼   ► waist and so it's quite nice to not have

00:10:52 ◼   ► that um Bay yeah so this is kind of the

00:10:54 ◼   ► core features and then it's just a like

00:10:55 ◼   ► a lot of other stuff like it's one of

00:10:57 ◼   ► these updates where you know I probably

00:10:59 ◼   ► added you know 40 50 features and in

00:11:02 ◼   ► total over the course of the update

00:11:04 ◼   ► and in aggregate it's you know it

00:11:06 ◼   ► dramatically changes the way that the

00:11:08 ◼   ► app feels in the way that the Hat yep

00:11:10 ◼   ► behaves but no one of them other than

00:11:15 ◼   ► those three are these kind of like huge

00:11:16 ◼   ► big marquee features but anyway so I'm

00:11:20 ◼   ► driving home I'll be home soon and then

00:11:22 ◼   ► I'll be flipping the switch so you know

00:11:25 ◼   ► unless I just it's like it's a little

00:11:27 ◼   ► bit scary he's like I'm delighted to be

00:11:30 ◼   ► excited to go home but I'm also a little

00:11:31 ◼   ► bit nervous because once it's once I

00:11:33 ◼   ► flip the switch then it's out in the

00:11:34 ◼   ► world and in kind of a weird way it's

00:11:37 ◼   ► it's sort of like I don't know it's like

00:11:38 ◼   ► asking someone out on a date or

00:11:40 ◼   ► something where you have to sort of put

00:11:41 ◼   ► yourself out there but anytime I launch

00:11:44 ◼   ► an app it's not just this thing that you

00:11:46 ◼   ► know is between me and with some of my

00:11:48 ◼   ► close friends now everyone is gonna see

00:11:50 ◼   ► it and and I hopefully like it but maybe

00:11:52 ◼   ► not like it and so those kind of

00:11:54 ◼   ► feelings are really complicated but you

00:11:56 ◼   ► know anyway I'll be home soon and we'll

00:11:58 ◼   ► go from there all right so it is now

00:12:02 ◼   ► 8:55 a.m. and I'm here with my wife but

00:12:08 ◼   ► because it's I was gonna ask her if she

00:12:10 ◼   ► wanted to push the button she's been the

00:12:12 ◼   ► very supportive wife who's but born with

00:12:15 ◼   ► me as I've gone through this update so

00:12:17 ◼   ► it seemed only right that she would push

00:12:18 ◼   ► the actual release of this version

00:12:20 ◼   ► button I'm pretty actually very honored

00:12:22 ◼   ► and excited to do this because I have

00:12:24 ◼   ► never shipped it out there you go your

00:12:26 ◼   ► majesty

00:12:26 ◼   ► you're about to ship it here we go

00:12:28 ◼   ► release this version I see the spinning

00:12:32 ◼   ► this is very exciting lots of spinning

00:12:37 ◼   ► and their wares that say and thereof the

00:12:46 ◼   ► the incredibly uncanny anticlimactic

00:12:49 ◼   ► part of this it's like and then nothing

00:12:53 ◼   ► happens please not right away

00:12:56 ◼   ► so then we just wait and see for how

00:12:59 ◼   ► long it takes to propagate through the

00:13:00 ◼   ► app store it is now 912 am and I'm just

00:13:05 ◼   ► sitting here refreshing the app store

00:13:08 ◼   ► page in a browser they used to do this

00:13:11 ◼   ► in iTunes then the iTunes got rid of the

00:13:13 ◼   ► app store so now I'm just sitting here

00:13:16 ◼   ► in a browser

00:13:17 ◼   ► refresh refresh refresh hoping that it

00:13:20 ◼   ► comes out and the hits the AppStore soon

00:13:24 ◼   ► so I can sort of get out of waiting mode

00:13:27 ◼   ► yeah otherwise it's this is the weird

00:13:30 ◼   ► part of the day where you you hit go and

00:13:32 ◼   ► then you have no idea how long it'll be

00:13:34 ◼   ► until it's actually go time

00:13:36 ◼   ► it is 922 am still frantically

00:13:40 ◼   ► refreshing

00:13:41 ◼   ► 9:38 am getting close to an hour now

00:13:46 ◼   ► since I hit go and I'm still waiting

00:13:51 ◼   ► alright it is now basically ten o'clock

00:13:55 ◼   ► thanks for getting serious I'm still

00:13:57 ◼   ► waiting for it to propagate to the App

00:14:00 ◼   ► Store but I'm giving my command and my R

00:14:03 ◼   ► key at rest by I created a Pingdom alert

00:14:07 ◼   ► now for the App Store page just so once

00:14:11 ◼   ► a minute it's checking it and will alert

00:14:13 ◼   ► me when it's a 2.0 finally appears in

00:14:15 ◼   ► the App Store and desperate times call

00:14:18 ◼   ► for desperate measures

00:14:20 ◼   ► so this morning is not going at all how

00:14:23 ◼   ► I expected it would be yeah so it's

00:14:26 ◼   ► still enough not showing up in the App

00:14:28 ◼   ► Store and I would plan to ready to go

00:14:31 ◼   ► and run a few errands and then go to the

00:14:32 ◼   ► gym and just at this point I figure

00:14:34 ◼   ► things that have settled down so I'm

00:14:36 ◼   ► still just gonna I'm gonna go run my

00:14:38 ◼   ► errands go to the gym I guess I could

00:14:40 ◼   ► say I'm doing some field testing for a

00:14:41 ◼   ► workouts plus plus during that and then

00:14:44 ◼   ► just wait and see hopefully I'll get an

00:14:46 ◼   ► alert at some point that it's up but

00:14:48 ◼   ► yeah not exactly how I expected my

00:14:50 ◼   ► morning to go

00:14:51 ◼   ► oh well sweet is now midday noon and

00:14:55 ◼   ► still no sign of it appearing in the App

00:14:58 ◼   ► Store I've run all my errands I'm at the

00:15:00 ◼   ► gym I'm about to go to a workout if

00:15:04 ◼   ► it'll that I mean everything or nothing

00:15:06 ◼   ► to you that the work I'm about to go do

00:15:07 ◼   ► is a very eternal fight gone bad so I

00:15:11 ◼   ► will be thoroughly worked out and I

00:15:14 ◼   ► guess testing my app over the next hours

00:15:17 ◼   ► and then hopefully eventually it'll

00:15:19 ◼   ► appear in the App Store and I can move

00:15:20 ◼   ► on so it's now 4 p.m. and I realize this

00:15:27 ◼   ► does not make good radio what's

00:15:29 ◼   ► ever just here report after a report of

00:15:34 ◼   ► the app never propagating but at least

00:15:36 ◼   ► on the plus side in a weird way I've

00:15:38 ◼   ► gotten a lot of reports for other apps

00:15:40 ◼   ► are also having the same trouble so it

00:15:42 ◼   ► seems like I just picked a bad day in

00:15:45 ◼   ► the App Store is for some reason having

00:15:47 ◼   ► a massive pickup today and not updating

00:15:49 ◼   ► and not propagating so I don't really

00:15:51 ◼   ► know what that means the kind of awkward

00:15:53 ◼   ► thing is at some point it'll just appear

00:15:55 ◼   ► and so like that and I just be in the

00:15:56 ◼   ► middle of the night and I don't really

00:15:59 ◼   ► know but yeah it's a bit frustrating

00:16:02 ◼   ► alright is now 5 p.m. and I guess I'm

00:16:06 ◼   ► gonna take a break from my vigil I mean

00:16:08 ◼   ► I've been able to do a few other things

00:16:09 ◼   ► work wise today but overall it's been a

00:16:12 ◼   ► bit of a bit of a waste of the day so

00:16:14 ◼   ► far alright it is 6:30 p.m. and finally

00:16:21 ◼   ► progress many many many hours later we

00:16:24 ◼   ► finally have some progress the app seems

00:16:26 ◼   ► to be profs learning to propagate I now

00:16:28 ◼   ► have new screenshots but old version

00:16:34 ◼   ► texts in the App Store which makes me

00:16:36 ◼   ► think that finally it's coming the

00:16:39 ◼   ► moment is finally here it's a little

00:16:41 ◼   ► awkward that it's 6:30 at night but

00:16:44 ◼   ► we'll just do our best so I thought

00:16:48 ◼   ► about it a while it's about 6 54 now

00:16:52 ◼   ► about exactly what I was going to do and

00:16:54 ◼   ► I think I've decided is I'm gonna do

00:16:56 ◼   ► kind of a soft launch tonight just like

00:16:58 ◼   ► a tweet just putting it out there that

00:17:01 ◼   ► hey the updates out it's include some

00:17:03 ◼   ► basic features and then tomorrow morning

00:17:05 ◼   ► I'll do kind of a more concerted push

00:17:07 ◼   ► and effort but I want to kind of just

00:17:10 ◼   ► put it out there in the world but this

00:17:12 ◼   ► update is there it's available am i

00:17:15 ◼   ► thinking there is just I don't want to

00:17:16 ◼   ► have anybody who is essentially thinking

00:17:19 ◼   ► of linking to it or written press or

00:17:21 ◼   ► something something like it's kind of in

00:17:23 ◼   ► this kind of this weird embargoed state

00:17:25 ◼   ► I'd rather just kind of say hey it's out

00:17:27 ◼   ► there you know but do my big push in the

00:17:29 ◼   ► morning I don't know if it's the right

00:17:31 ◼   ► right idea and honestly at this point

00:17:33 ◼   ► I'm just kind of exhausted but that's

00:17:36 ◼   ► what I've decided to do so well you know

00:17:39 ◼   ► do that and see what see where to go

00:17:40 ◼   ► next

00:17:42 ◼   ► so it's now see 754 p.m. the tweets are

00:17:48 ◼   ► tweeted things are you know going pretty

00:17:51 ◼   ► well I'd say the reception in so far has

00:17:53 ◼   ► been generally pretty positive and inked

00:17:56 ◼   ► you know encouraging which is which is

00:17:58 ◼   ► lovely and it's kind of funny though

00:18:00 ◼   ► because I've been doing this kind of app

00:18:03 ◼   ► store stuff for so much longer now that

00:18:05 ◼   ► I'm at a point where well I'm excited

00:18:08 ◼   ► about the launch well it's you know it's

00:18:10 ◼   ► a really fun and you know important part

00:18:12 ◼   ► of the process the actual importance of

00:18:16 ◼   ► it to me is is dramatically reduced

00:18:18 ◼   ► compared to what it may have been a few

00:18:21 ◼   ► years ago because while I know it's an

00:18:25 ◼   ► important part of you know having a

00:18:26 ◼   ► building an apps audience you know the

00:18:29 ◼   ► real test for the app and the real

00:18:31 ◼   ► importance for the app is not how it

00:18:33 ◼   ► performs in the next 24 hours you know

00:18:35 ◼   ► it's how it performs the next 24 weeks

00:18:37 ◼   ► and you're making choices and directing

00:18:40 ◼   ► things to hopefully allow it to be

00:18:42 ◼   ► sustainable in the long term so now the

00:18:45 ◼   ► timber is in a weird way

00:18:47 ◼   ► Mike the enthusiasm for today because

00:18:50 ◼   ► you know any realize that it's a long

00:18:51 ◼   ► journey from here but you know

00:18:54 ◼   ► nevertheless today going well isn't it

00:18:56 ◼   ► with less very encouraging I gotta say

00:19:01 ◼   ► real-time analytics are both the most

00:19:05 ◼   ► wonderful and the most awful terrible

00:19:09 ◼   ► thing in the world of it you might not

00:19:15 ◼   ► know this but if you go into the

00:19:17 ◼   ► affiliate console so if you have like a

00:19:20 ◼   ► link to something in the App Store you

00:19:22 ◼   ► can create an affiliate link where you

00:19:24 ◼   ► get a little commission but mostly I use

00:19:26 ◼   ► it so I can kind of keep track of where

00:19:27 ◼   ► my links are coming from and inside of

00:19:30 ◼   ► that panel there's a real-time tracker

00:19:33 ◼   ► of clicks on those links which is great

00:19:38 ◼   ► except it also just means that I'm just

00:19:40 ◼   ► sitting here and have been sitting here

00:19:42 ◼   ► for the last five minutes just watching

00:19:43 ◼   ► this ticker go by you know every time

00:19:46 ◼   ► someone clicks on a link to workouts

00:19:48 ◼   ► plus plus in the App Store so yeah Oh

00:19:51 ◼   ► wonderful but also terrible certainly if

00:19:54 ◼   ► I was trying to get some

00:19:55 ◼   ► work done all right it is coming up on

00:19:59 ◼   ► 10 o'clock at night things are settling

00:20:03 ◼   ► down it's kind of nice I'm up later than

00:20:06 ◼   ► I usually am it's about past my bedtime

00:20:07 ◼   ► but I wanted to just sort of you know be

00:20:11 ◼   ► aware if there's any issues that jumped

00:20:13 ◼   ► up I am honestly kind of nervous about

00:20:16 ◼   ► in the morning when I had a lot of

00:20:18 ◼   ► people who say hey can't wait to use it

00:20:19 ◼   ► first thing in the morning for my

00:20:21 ◼   ► morning run

00:20:23 ◼   ► I'll have tested the app like you know

00:20:26 ◼   ► as much as I can I take it very

00:20:29 ◼   ► seriously the responsibility of people

00:20:31 ◼   ► we know recording their workouts in the

00:20:33 ◼   ► app and expecting it to work flawlessly

00:20:34 ◼   ► and so how a little nervous now and

00:20:38 ◼   ► we'll hopefully I feel a bit better in

00:20:41 ◼   ► the morning when I get a few reports

00:20:43 ◼   ► back of things working correctly

00:20:45 ◼   ► but right now I'm just tired you know

00:20:47 ◼   ► I've been up for a long time at this

00:20:49 ◼   ► point had kind of a rough day middle of

00:20:52 ◼   ► the day anyway and but overall things

00:20:55 ◼   ► are going good I'll check in in the

00:20:57 ◼   ► morning I do my little publicity push

00:21:00 ◼   ► and kind of move on to the next phase of

00:21:02 ◼   ► things it is now about 8:30 on Wednesday

00:21:09 ◼   ► morning so the next the day after the

00:21:11 ◼   ► launch Espo's and yeah things are good

00:21:14 ◼   ► things went well overnight I was up a

00:21:15 ◼   ► little bit late just respond to people

00:21:17 ◼   ► on Twitter and just kind of getting a

00:21:18 ◼   ► general sense of things and watching

00:21:20 ◼   ► those curses real-time reports and

00:21:23 ◼   ► overall I'd say you know things seemed

00:21:25 ◼   ► well there's a couple issues around

00:21:27 ◼   ► podcast import and transfer but I always

00:21:30 ◼   ► knew those were going to be the rough

00:21:32 ◼   ► edges

00:21:33 ◼   ► honestly I'm most glad that I haven't

00:21:36 ◼   ► had any reports of things going on with

00:21:38 ◼   ► you know data loss or things like that

00:21:41 ◼   ► like that's an area that I will say it's

00:21:43 ◼   ► like the one thing I always remember

00:21:45 ◼   ► when I was taking classes in college and

00:21:49 ◼   ► they would talk about like sort of

00:21:51 ◼   ► real-time systems and things where the

00:21:53 ◼   ► you know it's like you know if like a

00:21:54 ◼   ► flight control software or something

00:21:56 ◼   ► where you can't make a mistake because

00:21:58 ◼   ► you know then people will get hurt and

00:22:02 ◼   ► while I'm delighted that I don't work on

00:22:04 ◼   ► any high software like that and I was

00:22:06 ◼   ► kind of decided that I do really just

00:22:08 ◼   ► didn't want to go

00:22:09 ◼   ► down that road the closest thing to it

00:22:11 ◼   ► in a weird way that I do is safeguarding

00:22:13 ◼   ► people's workout data that you know I

00:22:16 ◼   ► take it very seriously that people take

00:22:17 ◼   ► their data very seriously and you know

00:22:20 ◼   ► took a tremendous amount of effort to

00:22:22 ◼   ► make sure that even if things go funny

00:22:24 ◼   ► like the app crashes or battery watches

00:22:26 ◼   ► that battery runs out on your watch or

00:22:28 ◼   ► whatever like the data is safe and

00:22:30 ◼   ► you'll be able to get it back so

00:22:32 ◼   ► thankfully so far that seems to have

00:22:34 ◼   ► worked and I haven't had any you know

00:22:37 ◼   ► widespread reports and you know overall

00:22:38 ◼   ► the reception's been pretty good I was

00:22:41 ◼   ► noticed that I was mentioned on nine to

00:22:43 ◼   ► five Mac and Mac rumors which I was not

00:22:45 ◼   ► expecting at all which was super cool

00:22:47 ◼   ► and like kind of it's always exciting

00:22:50 ◼   ► when you just see Rab mentioned and you

00:22:52 ◼   ► know something a publication that you

00:22:54 ◼   ► read normally but you know how did I

00:22:57 ◼   ► know expectation or guess that that was

00:22:59 ◼   ► gonna happen they just picked it up from

00:23:01 ◼   ► somewhere else I suppose I hadn't

00:23:03 ◼   ► reached out to them so like that was

00:23:04 ◼   ► super cool yeah now I'm about to publish

00:23:07 ◼   ► on my like a blog post and I'll do kind

00:23:09 ◼   ► of a little a secondary push this

00:23:11 ◼   ► morning and then just kind of settle

00:23:13 ◼   ► into it and you know see where the app

00:23:15 ◼   ► goes alright I'm going to wrap up this

00:23:20 ◼   ► diary at this point it's you know the

00:23:23 ◼   ► day after P launch too late as it was

00:23:27 ◼   ► and you know things are settling down

00:23:30 ◼   ► the place this is the I have a few kind

00:23:34 ◼   ► of closing thoughts and things that are

00:23:37 ◼   ► just sort of the realities of launch and

00:23:39 ◼   ► you know this the Steyr didn't go

00:23:40 ◼   ► exactly how I planned but I think in

00:23:41 ◼   ► many ways that's that's something that's

00:23:43 ◼   ► interesting to discuss before I do that

00:23:45 ◼   ► though I do need to mention that this

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00:24:40 ◼   ► thanks for our thanks to Leonard for

00:24:43 ◼   ► sponsoring this show so in close some

00:24:47 ◼   ► closing thoughts I was trying to think

00:24:48 ◼   ► of how I could wrap this up and really I

00:24:53 ◼   ► think you know in many ways then he'd be

00:24:57 ◼   ► unfortunate but still meaningful lesson

00:24:59 ◼   ► of this experience is making sure that

00:25:02 ◼   ► you have you know manager expectations

00:25:05 ◼   ► for something like this that you know

00:25:07 ◼   ► the launch went well it was picked up in

00:25:09 ◼   ► places I was not expecting to be picked

00:25:11 ◼   ► up as best I can tell from initial sales

00:25:13 ◼   ► and response it went you know and as

00:25:15 ◼   ► well as I could have hoped for

00:25:16 ◼   ► you know things things are good but I

00:25:20 ◼   ► think it's often easy to end up with

00:25:23 ◼   ► kind of like a movie in your mind right

00:25:26 ◼   ► like you end up with this expectation

00:25:28 ◼   ► that is outsized to reality and in that

00:25:32 ◼   ► I think that's the reality of what

00:25:33 ◼   ► happened to me in this case and you know

00:25:35 ◼   ► things like it being delayed and you

00:25:36 ◼   ► know I have planning around I launched a

00:25:39 ◼   ► particular time and that not happening

00:25:41 ◼   ► but you know that that's life that's

00:25:42 ◼   ► what's going to happen but I think the

00:25:46 ◼   ► thing that is probably most important to

00:25:48 ◼   ► remember is that you know it's like the

00:25:51 ◼   ► this is just day one this is the first

00:25:55 ◼   ► couple days it doesn't actually matter

00:25:57 ◼   ► probably in practice or in reality you

00:26:00 ◼   ► know what Pratt what matters in practice

00:26:01 ◼   ► is what happens over the next few weeks

00:26:03 ◼   ► few months like that's the life of the

00:26:05 ◼   ► app not not today

00:26:07 ◼   ► and what's really probably important for

00:26:08 ◼   ► today and this is something then not

00:26:11 ◼   ► encourage every anyone launching

00:26:12 ◼   ► anything to do is to just celebrate the

00:26:14 ◼   ► accomplishment of getting to this point

00:26:16 ◼   ► my wife is incredibly good at this and

00:26:19 ◼   ► you know like we're having a fancy steak

00:26:21 ◼   ► dinner tonight at home just to celebrate

00:26:25 ◼   ► this and she makes a big deal out of you

00:26:27 ◼   ► know getting to this point because you

00:26:31 ◼   ► know especially when you're an

00:26:32 ◼   ► independent developer you have you you

00:26:33 ◼   ► know your family is your team in that

00:26:35 ◼   ► and you know if I was working at a

00:26:37 ◼   ► bigger company maybe we would you know

00:26:39 ◼   ► I'll go out too I'll go out to a nice

00:26:41 ◼   ► lunch or go out to a happy hour or

00:26:43 ◼   ► something like you might have a

00:26:43 ◼   ► celebrate you know have a cake in the

00:26:45 ◼   ► break room whatever it is like you may

00:26:48 ◼   ► have something that you would do but you

00:26:50 ◼   ► know being a one-man shop like it was

00:26:52 ◼   ► yeah if you remember back to the

00:26:54 ◼   ► beginning of this this episode I had had

00:26:56 ◼   ► my wife push the release button which

00:26:58 ◼   ► was kind of exciting and then also like

00:27:01 ◼   ► you know we're celebrating it tonight

00:27:02 ◼   ► and it might making a big deal out of it

00:27:06 ◼   ► by being intentional about that I think

00:27:07 ◼   ► it's an important part of you know it's

00:27:11 ◼   ► like you can only do so much and I think

00:27:13 ◼   ► we were saying we always you know it's a

00:27:15 ◼   ► its base but it's parenting advice but

00:27:17 ◼   ► we always talk about in the in my my my

00:27:20 ◼   ► family about you know we praise

00:27:22 ◼   ► performance not outcome we focus on you

00:27:26 ◼   ► know the input the effort the how much

00:27:30 ◼   ► effort you put into something your

00:27:32 ◼   ► intention about it and we feel good I

00:27:34 ◼   ► and focus on that rather than the

00:27:35 ◼   ► outcome you know I it makes no sense to

00:27:37 ◼   ► have your goal be tune if your goal is

00:27:41 ◼   ► to have a number one app say for

00:27:44 ◼   ► whatever definition of a number one that

00:27:45 ◼   ► is the unfortunate thing about having

00:27:48 ◼   ► that as a goal is you have no control

00:27:50 ◼   ► over that directly you can't do anything

00:27:53 ◼   ► to make that happen

00:27:54 ◼   ► it may happen or may not happen but most

00:27:57 ◼   ► of the reasons why it would happen are

00:27:59 ◼   ► outside of your control you know you say

00:28:01 ◼   ► I want to have and want to hit number

00:28:03 ◼   ► one on launch day like if that's your

00:28:05 ◼   ► goal then the reality is what if someone

00:28:08 ◼   ► else lunches on that day and they have a

00:28:11 ◼   ► better app than you you're not going to

00:28:13 ◼   ► meet your goal

00:28:14 ◼   ► but you did everything you could right

00:28:16 ◼   ► focus on the on the input and like I'm

00:28:18 ◼   ► very proud of that work I put into this

00:28:20 ◼   ► the effort it took the you know the

00:28:23 ◼   ► patience it took my goodness there was

00:28:24 ◼   ► so much testing with this app update but

00:28:28 ◼   ► the focusing by focusing on those things

00:28:32 ◼   ► and this it's a hard thing like it's so

00:28:34 ◼   ► easy to just focus on the tangibles and

00:28:36 ◼   ► the measurables because I think that's

00:28:38 ◼   ► easy

00:28:39 ◼   ► it's easier to do and if there's a

00:28:41 ◼   ► natural inclination to to focus just

00:28:42 ◼   ► something that's a bit more measurable

00:28:43 ◼   ► but you know focus on the outcome or

00:28:46 ◼   ► focus on the performance

00:28:48 ◼   ► of the work that I did we're gonna

00:28:50 ◼   ► celebrate we're gonna hopefully you know

00:28:53 ◼   ► and then move on from here and I think

00:28:55 ◼   ► that that's what I mean that's what I'm

00:28:57 ◼   ► doing this I'd encourage anyone to do

00:28:59 ◼   ► make sure you manage your expectations

00:29:00 ◼   ► and you know hopefully that will be

00:29:02 ◼   ► enough to have a good launch and to

00:29:05 ◼   ► finally having a good launch as you know

00:29:07 ◼   ► if they think things not falling apart

00:29:09 ◼   ► when it gets out into the world like

00:29:10 ◼   ► that's something that you have control

00:29:11 ◼   ► over and some that you can do so anyway

00:29:14 ◼   ► hopefully this diary was interesting I

00:29:16 ◼   ► know these episodes are a bit different

00:29:17 ◼   ► than what normal yeah Marco and I will

00:29:19 ◼   ► be back for a normally scheduled program

00:29:21 ◼   ► next week so if this is not your thing

00:29:22 ◼   ► don't worry and I will talk to you next

00:29:25 ◼   ► week thank you so much for listening and

00:29:27 ◼   ► thank you to Leonard for supporting the

00:29:28 ◼   ► show