Archives for March 2009

Fun with Passwords

March 18, 2009 by Ellen

Can you guess the 20 most common passwords?

Sporcle, a really fun site where I’ve been spending too much time, has a game where you do just that.

I only got 5, but looking at the answers, I maybe could have come up with at least 2 of the others, if I hadn’t given up so fast. On the other hand, I’m not convinced their answers are all that accurate. They’re very male, if nothing else.

But, if you use any of these as your passwords – don’t. Pick something a lot more secure. Your passwords aren’t protecting just your email and facebook pages. They’re protecting your money. Probably all of it except what’s in your pocket right now.

Don’t use weak passwords and don’t use the same ones everywhere. Do change them frequently and store them safely.

We Changed Apple! New AppStore Rating System

March 12, 2009 by Marc

appstore12 OK, I’m just guessing but it is pretty cool that on the heels of our survey Apple has implemented a change in the AppStore rating system. I don’t honestly believe they did it just for us, but it is nice to know that Apple is trying. Unfortunately, it doesn’t solve all the problems of the AppStore rating system but it’s a start.

If you’d like to learn more about this change, read on after the jump!

iPills is Out and Free!

March 11, 2009 by Marc

ipills_logo I wanted to let everyone know that our latest iPhone offering, iPills, is now available in the AppStore. The best is that it is FREE!

So what is iPills anyhow? I’ll describe it by explaining WHY we made it. In this day and age it seems like everyone is taking something. From allergy and cholesterol meds to fistfulls of asprin and “little blue pills”, we’ve all got something we’re on. At the same time, we’re all busier than ever and when someone says “Did you take your pill?” it’s easy to go “Um, well, maybe?”

Enter iPills! With iPills you can easily keep track of what you’re taking and when you take it (or miss it!). You can even email a history to yourself or a caregiver showing exactly what you took and when you took it.

Now to answer the inevitable “Free? Seriously, dude. What are you thinking?” question. I’m going to be honest – WE like this idea but we don’t know if YOU will like it. By making it free, we can find out if this really is something people need. If it is, start sending your requests! If the app is popular enough, we’ll take those ideas, expand the app and create a Pro version (available at a reasonable price of course!)

So go ahead and check out the web page ,or just grab a copy today! It’s FREE so you’ve got nothing to lose – and who knows – it just might make your life a little bit easier!

ipills01_screenshot

PS:And no, developing this had no impact on eWallet or ListPro. Both of those products are handled by different teams – and to give you an update, we’re all using ListPro on our iPhones here and it rocks. I can’t WAIT until it’s finished and we can fire it off! I’ll definitely keep you updated!

Final App Store Survey Results

March 10, 2009 by Ellen

What One Change You’d Like

appstore1 Here’s the result of the final question in our survey (check the archives if you want the rest), as well as the winners of the gift cards.

To the question: “What one change would you like most to see in the iTunes App Store?”, over 60% of you picked free trials. I guess given that so many of you indicated that you bought apps regardless of price (or at least didn’t just buy the $1 and $2 ones), trials makes a lot of sense. 18% opted for better categorization, with just under 10% wanting better find. Specifically:

Of the “other” replies, you asked for:

All of the above!
All of these, app store is almost unusable
General change to the style how people use (browse) the app store
More serious apps like eWallet and less junk
“Best of breed” featured apps, regardless of popularity (# of downloads)
Better search and iTunes like search playlists (to exclude junk devs)
Less crap!
Moderated reviews
Review moderation. Many reviews cite problems that are due to apple
Dated reviews with version reviewed
Sort by rating
Rankings based on revenue
Amazon.com-like functionality: wish-lists, similar-apps-bought, order-by-ratings
A wish list to keep track of apps, music, etc. until I can decide on them
Wish List capacity to store for later purchase
A way to save a list of apps I am interested in.
Robust wish list (as at Amazon)
More game options
Would be nice to have a VIDEO review on apps (esp games) rather than on YouTube
Demo capability
The original ability to see all aps by post date
Canadian redeem codes, for the love of Bob!

I grouped those for better readability, but otherwise didn’t edit them at all.

I’m happy to see that Apple took down reviews from non-buyers late last week. I hope – and believe – we’ll keep seeing improvements to the App Store. Find and trials would be great ones!

OK, and now for the 12 gift card winners. Congratulations to: Ken M., David B., Robin C., Addison H., Gina G., Dennis B., Drew C., Terry W., Louie L., Susan L., Nicole T., and Paul T. You’ve each won a US$10 gift card. People in the U.S. will get iTunes gift cards; people outside the U.S. will get gift cards from your local Amazon site. I’ve sent out emails about these already; if you think you’re one of the winners and didn’t see one, please be sure to whitelist emails from iliumsoft.com. I’ll re-send them to anyone I didn’t hear back from.

Once again, thanks to everyone for participating!

Still More App Store Survey Results

March 4, 2009 by Ellen

Results #3: Everything Else

appstore1 Here are the results of most of the rest of the questions on our App Store Survey. Earlier results are here (how you find apps) and here (how you evaulate apps
[Read more…] about Still More App Store Survey Results

Marching right along with a new contest winner

March 2, 2009 by Julie

It’s time once again for the latest monthly installment of our blog comment contest. We had a lot of great comments in February – so many helpful replies and suggestions from Ellen’s iPhone survey posts and Marc’s updates to all the exciting things we’ve got going on around here. It makes me glad I don’t have to pick the winner myself! So, let’s get on with it and find out who the computer has chosen this time around….

The lucky winner for February is: Doug Winenger, for commenting on How Do You Use the iTunes App Store. Congrats Doug! I’ve just sent you an email explaining how to get your prize. If you don’t receive it, reply to this post and let me know.

And to everybody else: if you haven’t read some of our recent posts, scroll on down the page, take a look, and let us know what you think. Be sure to keep the comments coming – the next winner could be you!

Archives for March 2009

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What One Change You’d Like

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Results #3: Everything Else

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