In the IT industry, "I have an idea, I am going to make an App about it" is similar to "I have an idea, I am going to write a book about it" for the rest of the world (Maybe not the whole world, but I couldn't find the right category).
Now, I have both those things on my bucketlist. And finally after a 24 hour coding marathon, one of them has been checked.
The Story Behind Awwsome.
I have been visiting reddit quite often since the past few months. One of my favourite subreddits is r/aww. People post images of their pets, put catchy titles and all. It makes you go aww, legit.
Some of the pics are too awwdorable (pardon me). I often end up e-mailing them to people close to me, probably in the form of good morning messages. Them pups are ought to give a good jumpy start to the day. Instant mood lifters whenever you are feeling low.
That's what sparked the idea. An instant mood lifter. Awwsome is an android app which greets you with images of kittens, pups, squirrels, hedgehogs and everything nice on your phone. Plus, sharing with your closed ones is just a button press. Simple.
Download on Play Store.
So one night before going to sleep, I quickly drew on a paper the basic interface and jotted down the functionalities promising myself to work on it tomorrow. As I had mentioned earlier, I really wanted to make the most of these vacations.
Next morning, enter Panda aka Shantanu Jain. Panda is like this one stop android guru. On a normal day, he is always tinkering one thing or the other. He already has 5 apps to his name I think. He is a proper machedu. And I am not going to plug an english translation to that. He is a machedu.
We decided to give ourselves a 24 hour deadline to finish this application and have it published on the Play store.
It was about 12:30 PM when we started. Both of us sitting in one corner of the rc.
We weren't going to host the images or the database on the clients app and instead put it up on server online. I was in-charge of that. A python based script to collect the content, an online service to communicate with the application and the database which would hold all the content.
Panda was supposed to make Android part and its client side functionalities.
About 30 minutes later, Panda and other friends decided to watch Heropanti. After watching Xpose its been downhill for us. All of us our experimenting with such movies, for research purposes ofcourse. After Xpose, Main Tera Hero and Yamla Pagla Deewana 2, I realized I was about to cross the point of no return and stopped myself. Treated myself to Highway and came back to senses. But friends went ahead and watched Gunda and now Heropanti.
Anyway, so Panda left. I was left alone in the very same corner. I kept working on the data collection script and was done in an hour or so. The main barrier was to put that data up on appengine. There were 1000+ entries to be made. For uploading bulk data on appengine, they have this functionality called the bulkloader, but it didn't have enough documentation and SO didnt answer much.
I ignored that method, and tried thinking of some Jugaad. By 6 PM nothing moved and I decided to chuck it and play some football. I decided to resume work post dinner, by that time Panda would have also recovered from the movie.
Post Dinner I decided to ignore the jugaad and attack the problem through the proper way, trying to follow each step of the bulkloader method. Again by 2 AM nothing moved and I decided to give up that method.
I figured out another way in which I converted the csv as a txt and uploaded it. Used the interactive consolve to urlfetch the file, pass it through the python csv module and use each to row to fill the database. It worked. Such a relief.
After that I finished the service and added the random picture functionality. It was a breeze. My work was done.
Panda was still working on the app, the feature to share photos with friends wasn't working as expected. But a machedu he is, he got it figured out. A lot was left on his side, admob, favourites, client database etc.
Now, I don't code in Java. The last I coded in Java was in my second semester. Since then it has always been Python for me. Even my GSoC project is in Python.
I was pretty jobless, and hence started working on the write-up for the store, different promotional banners, twitter profile, facebook page, logo and the name.
We were supposed to do everything in those 24 hours.
We were pretty confused about the name. From the very beginning it was supposed to be DailyCute which would pave the path for such similarly themed apps by us in future. Sometime during the night, I thought Awwsome was a pretty rad name. But the very fact I could hardly find anything named on the internet made my doubt myself. Was it too shitty? How come nobody uses it? Must be shitty.
Anyway, after a lot of deliberating, we decided it would be Awwsome. We were making, coding, publishing Awwsome. See? Its such an awesome name. Hmm. Maybe.
By 8 AM in the morning I was done. With everything. Twitter. Facebook. Banners. Everything.
Panda was still coding the app. I wish I could help him. I was feeling pretty bad.
By 11:30 AM. Everything was done. We were testing it, adding small features and everything. Panda made the apk and uploaded it and went to the next bed and dozed off. I was supposed to fill in the write ups, screenshots and the various forms required before publishing the app. We released the app in beta. It takes a fews hours before it goes live, and I decided to sleep as well.
I woke up at around 6 PM. Panda was already up. He couldn't sleep in the heat. He was already making minor changes and was ready to make the app live for everyone. He is such a workaholic. We made it live. Now Google takes a few hours to make it available. Soon, Awwsome was live :)
24 hours of coding, some dalwaddein, tons of images of puppies and kittens later, Awwsome was born. Published and live in the Play Store.
It is a very good feeling. It is exciting. Its an amazing feeling everytime some code you've written interacts with the world. Many people have absolutely loved the idea and the product.
What happens now?
The excitement dies slowly. Because its tough to get your word out there. Its tough to market. Its tough being shameless. I feel a little bit odd plugging the app in every conversation. But I know it is something good and it is worth it. I have to accept that marketing requires effort. A lot. I know if people would just download it once, they will like it. And I am not even taking credit for it, how can one not like puppies? Are you even human?
Well, if you like the idea, please give it a go :) It will definitely make you smile. Pakka. Promise.
How you can help us?
Download on Play Store. Rate and Review!(FYI. You can download an app in your phone from your laptop too. Open the Play Store Now.)
Like Awwsome on Facebook. We post aww images.
Follow @AwwsomeApp us on Twitter.
Spread the word, it will mean the world to us. Every download equals one tummy rub tous some puppy. Do it because one of the developer is named Panda. Ok? No? Hmm.
So anyway, if you have an idea for an app, just go for it, set a deadline for yourself, or best do a 24 hour coding marathon. It is tiring, but extremely satisfying. This blogpost itself is part of a daily one hour writing sprint. Now, I need to work on the second point on the bucketlist :)
Now, I have both those things on my bucketlist. And finally after a 24 hour coding marathon, one of them has been checked.
 |
Download Awwsome on your Android. |
The Story Behind Awwsome.
I have been visiting reddit quite often since the past few months. One of my favourite subreddits is r/aww. People post images of their pets, put catchy titles and all. It makes you go aww, legit.
Some of the pics are too awwdorable (pardon me). I often end up e-mailing them to people close to me, probably in the form of good morning messages. Them pups are ought to give a good jumpy start to the day. Instant mood lifters whenever you are feeling low.
That's what sparked the idea. An instant mood lifter. Awwsome is an android app which greets you with images of kittens, pups, squirrels, hedgehogs and everything nice on your phone. Plus, sharing with your closed ones is just a button press. Simple.
Download on Play Store.
So one night before going to sleep, I quickly drew on a paper the basic interface and jotted down the functionalities promising myself to work on it tomorrow. As I had mentioned earlier, I really wanted to make the most of these vacations.
Next morning, enter Panda aka Shantanu Jain. Panda is like this one stop android guru. On a normal day, he is always tinkering one thing or the other. He already has 5 apps to his name I think. He is a proper machedu. And I am not going to plug an english translation to that. He is a machedu.
We decided to give ourselves a 24 hour deadline to finish this application and have it published on the Play store.
It was about 12:30 PM when we started. Both of us sitting in one corner of the rc.
We weren't going to host the images or the database on the clients app and instead put it up on server online. I was in-charge of that. A python based script to collect the content, an online service to communicate with the application and the database which would hold all the content.
Panda was supposed to make Android part and its client side functionalities.
About 30 minutes later, Panda and other friends decided to watch Heropanti. After watching Xpose its been downhill for us. All of us our experimenting with such movies, for research purposes ofcourse. After Xpose, Main Tera Hero and Yamla Pagla Deewana 2, I realized I was about to cross the point of no return and stopped myself. Treated myself to Highway and came back to senses. But friends went ahead and watched Gunda and now Heropanti.
Anyway, so Panda left. I was left alone in the very same corner. I kept working on the data collection script and was done in an hour or so. The main barrier was to put that data up on appengine. There were 1000+ entries to be made. For uploading bulk data on appengine, they have this functionality called the bulkloader, but it didn't have enough documentation and SO didnt answer much.
I ignored that method, and tried thinking of some Jugaad. By 6 PM nothing moved and I decided to chuck it and play some football. I decided to resume work post dinner, by that time Panda would have also recovered from the movie.
Post Dinner I decided to ignore the jugaad and attack the problem through the proper way, trying to follow each step of the bulkloader method. Again by 2 AM nothing moved and I decided to give up that method.
I figured out another way in which I converted the csv as a txt and uploaded it. Used the interactive consolve to urlfetch the file, pass it through the python csv module and use each to row to fill the database. It worked. Such a relief.
After that I finished the service and added the random picture functionality. It was a breeze. My work was done.
Panda was still working on the app, the feature to share photos with friends wasn't working as expected. But a machedu he is, he got it figured out. A lot was left on his side, admob, favourites, client database etc.
Now, I don't code in Java. The last I coded in Java was in my second semester. Since then it has always been Python for me. Even my GSoC project is in Python.
I was pretty jobless, and hence started working on the write-up for the store, different promotional banners, twitter profile, facebook page, logo and the name.
We were supposed to do everything in those 24 hours.
We were pretty confused about the name. From the very beginning it was supposed to be DailyCute which would pave the path for such similarly themed apps by us in future. Sometime during the night, I thought Awwsome was a pretty rad name. But the very fact I could hardly find anything named on the internet made my doubt myself. Was it too shitty? How come nobody uses it? Must be shitty.
Anyway, after a lot of deliberating, we decided it would be Awwsome. We were making, coding, publishing Awwsome. See? Its such an awesome name. Hmm. Maybe.
By 8 AM in the morning I was done. With everything. Twitter. Facebook. Banners. Everything.
Panda was still coding the app. I wish I could help him. I was feeling pretty bad.
By 11:30 AM. Everything was done. We were testing it, adding small features and everything. Panda made the apk and uploaded it and went to the next bed and dozed off. I was supposed to fill in the write ups, screenshots and the various forms required before publishing the app. We released the app in beta. It takes a fews hours before it goes live, and I decided to sleep as well.
I woke up at around 6 PM. Panda was already up. He couldn't sleep in the heat. He was already making minor changes and was ready to make the app live for everyone. He is such a workaholic. We made it live. Now Google takes a few hours to make it available. Soon, Awwsome was live :)
24 hours of coding, some dalwaddein, tons of images of puppies and kittens later, Awwsome was born. Published and live in the Play Store.
It is a very good feeling. It is exciting. Its an amazing feeling everytime some code you've written interacts with the world. Many people have absolutely loved the idea and the product.
What happens now?
The excitement dies slowly. Because its tough to get your word out there. Its tough to market. Its tough being shameless. I feel a little bit odd plugging the app in every conversation. But I know it is something good and it is worth it. I have to accept that marketing requires effort. A lot. I know if people would just download it once, they will like it. And I am not even taking credit for it, how can one not like puppies? Are you even human?
Well, if you like the idea, please give it a go :) It will definitely make you smile. Pakka. Promise.
How you can help us?
Download on Play Store. Rate and Review!(FYI. You can download an app in your phone from your laptop too. Open the Play Store Now.)
Like Awwsome on Facebook. We post aww images.
Follow @AwwsomeApp us on Twitter.
Spread the word, it will mean the world to us. Every download equals one tummy rub to
So anyway, if you have an idea for an app, just go for it, set a deadline for yourself, or best do a 24 hour coding marathon. It is tiring, but extremely satisfying. This blogpost itself is part of a daily one hour writing sprint. Now, I need to work on the second point on the bucketlist :)
