Paddle Mate Post Weekend Update

Night Testing

As some saw, over the weekend I took Paddle Mate for a night test and it went well. Here is the workout, which I posted from the water to Strava. This was a final field test after a previous couch test with a shorter test run from a past day.

Backgrounding Bugs

After the successful test on Saturday night I added more features on Sunday. When I went to try out the app for a longer 2 mike kayak I ran into several bugs. The major one being backgrounding related. This raises the issues that I need to refactor my PADDLE view to handle resuming when the app is relaunched after being stopped by the system while in the background.

This is one of the final 2 big bugs to shipping the app for testers. It will be my area of concentration when I find time this week.

Sunday's Features

• SHARE view

• Refactored from PADDLE END view

• Send to Strava complete

• Send samples to Paddle Mate (this is for testers or users so they can upload samples so I can add them to my testing and algorithm training)

• WAKE view

• The WAKE view as I have discussed is the view for looking at previous sessions.

• Tweaked the scrollview to layout elements with more space for map and charts.

• Add delete option to delete a session you do not want to keep.

• Add SHARE option

• Hooked in Map and Charts

• PADDLE view

• Added Map view back in. I was getting distracted by tweaking the Map (for maybe an hour) and put it on the back burner until I had a couple bugs in the PADDLE view metrics fixed. This made it back in and I really like it.

• Add ability to have Map and Stats view force screen to not sleep. This is on now for my testing but I think I should expose this with an option. I will address that when I fix the backgrounding bug I have.

Next Steps

Well, I am back to reality. My family arrived back home from a visit to Canada and I am back to my normal schedule. This means a decrease in posts and slowing down of the progress I was able to make over a weekend. I can not pull a 29+ hour effort on Paddle Mate for the foreseeable future but I will need to spread that time out.

Ok, so now that I am back to my normal schedule I will refine my list of what I need to ship the MVP. Here are my upcoming tasks I need to ship for testers:

• Address the backgrounding problem. Not a big deal and I have a handle on how to get the resumption working.
• Second big bug: I found some limits in the iOS-Charts library and was able to not only freeze my app but my phone (until the system could kill my app and it's out of control chart generation). The library was spinning the CPU up to 100% with a lot of nested CGImage creations as it tried to draw a chart for a very large sample set. I need to address this before I ship and find the upper limit on the libraries chart sample size.
• Style the DOCK view of Wakes of previous sessions. I have some ideas here and it is not critical to get the app out the door but I need to move from the current placeholder UI.

Follow Up: The Chart Bug

For one of my charts I was using it to view accelerometer samples while testing and am planning to convert it over to a chart with your speed over the workout. The issue I ran into (which I am happy I did since I have an upper bound to work back from) is that I selected the chart with my 28 minutes of accelerometer data and it's approximately 6700 samples kicked the charts ass.

To solve the problem I am going to limit my sample size based on the time. I need to find that upper limit and then calculate out a sample set size that has less entries than the upper limit for reasonable performance for expected kayaking times.

Feature Decisions

I started Paddle Mate 3 weekends ago. The first weekend I started with proving out the the initial algorithm, setup a way to collect and test sample data, and then began the hard work.

Once I decided the app was viable, I began to polish the app for release. First I had to come up with my wish list and then trim that down into a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) list of features.

The MVP features I desire being:

• Stroke counting
• Real time workout stats
• Location tracking
• Upload to Strava
• Import into Health App
• Submit Samples for Stroke Detection Refinement
• View Past Workouts
• Delete Past Workouts

It has been a busy 2 weeks and I am into the final stretch before my wife and kids get back from a visit with family in Canada. With them away I was able to throw myself into creating the app. 

Over the last two weeks I have put in about 65 hours over 5 weekend days. I have not tracked the weekday nights as well but needless to say, I have invested time on many nights researching, designing, and cranking out code.

All the work is paying off. Yesterday evening (9pm) I took Paddle Mate for a spin around the lake. I put in just over 2 km with the app over 28 minutes. Notes from that:

• Dark Mode for nighttime kayaking worked out very well.
• I need to add an option to not turn off the screen.
• I am missing an activity indicator during the sample submission file generation.

Yesterday's Features

• Sample Submission
• User has ability to choose the data to send.
• Submission is through a Mail Compose view so the user can view what they are uploading and choose to cancel at multiple stages if they do not want to upload samples.
• Tweaked my use of the Realm Database to:
• Decrease write calls.
• Add delete.
• Improve use with tableviews.
• Initial hookup work for Past Workouts (WAKE view) is done.
• Submit to Strava
• Hooked up but my GPX data format is being rejected. 
• More testing/tweaking needed here.
• Created converter and file writers for my location and sensor data models to support CSV and GPX output formats.

Yesterday's Commit List

• Updates to UI design in PaintCode.
• Added tintColor constant.
• Refresh DOCK tableview when returning to view.
• Added Delete button to END PADDLE view.
• Switched navigation from push detail to push in PADDLE workflow to allow pop to root without animation warnings.
• Added PaddlingEffort enum for user submitted samples.
• Added logic for incrementing workout id.
• Added stroke data to sample submission format.
• Added submit samples to Paddle Mate via email submission.
• Added convert location data to sample submission format.
• Fixed warnings in FRDStravaClient.
• Wrote converter from location readings to GPX output.
• Wrote converter from location reading to location CSV output.
• Wrote converter from sensor reading to CSV output.
• Improved use of Realm with Dock TableView.
• Improved MathController default configuration.
• Added Uploading activity indicator and dimmer view.
• Added upload to Strava method. - GPX file format issue at moment.
• Hooked up controls in WAKE view to workout values.

Today's List of Features

• Strava upload
• Fix GPX format
• Past Workouts
• Add Delete option
• Add Submit Samples Option
• Add Upload to Strava Option
• Enable Charts
• Enable Map with route from workout

Paddle Mate: Getting Ready for Testers

Fabric metrics show meSelfie Band
had 22 commits to the master and
has been 100% crash free so far.

For usage metrics and crash reporting I use Fabric.io. Once I have an app to a point where I am ready to give it to a friend to test out I add Fabric.

Fabric let's you setup Beta tests (though I use Test Flight once I have an app that can pass App Store Review for Test Flight Betas), track app usage, and retrieve crash reports if you app crashes.

When I add Fabric I also add versioning to my app so I can track the builds that are in the wild with Testers or in the App Store. For that I use a script in the Build Phases.  My script is triggered off my number of commits to the branch I am working on. So a feature branch will have the feature in the version but an AppStore build will have just the number of commits (from the master branch, where I ship from).

Here is the one I use which I have a link to the original in my comments:

#

# Set the build number to the current git commit count.

# If we're using the Dev scheme, then we'll suffix the build

# number with the current branch name, to make collisions

# far less likely across feature branches.

# Based on: http://w3facility.info/question/how-do-i-force-xcode-to-rebuild-the-info-plist-file-in-my-project-every-time-i-build-the-project/

#

git=`sh /etc/profile; which git`

appBuild=`"$git" rev-list --all |wc -l`

if [ $CONFIGURATION = "Debug" ]; then

branchName=`"$git" rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD`

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :CFBundleVersion $appBuild-$branchName" "${TARGET_BUILD_DIR}/${INFOPLIST_PATH}"

else

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :CFBundleVersion $appBuild" "${TARGET_BUILD_DIR}/${INFOPLIST_PATH}"

fi

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Save" "${TARGET_BUILD_DIR}/${INFOPLIST_PATH}"

echo "Updated ${TARGET_BUILD_DIR}/${INFOPLIST_PATH}"

Paddle Mate now has 

Hackathon: Writing a Microsoft Band App In One Weekend - Update 2

Update 2: Stroke Counter First Pass

I imported a sample set I collected of a simulated kayak sitting on the deck. Then I wrote a PaddleCounter class that I can feed accelerometer into. The class calculates the stroke count as it processes the incoming accelerometer data.

This data then needs to be displayed in the awesome UI I cooked up on a budget. Ok, it never cost me anything and it shows, but you get the picture.

As we can see a couple new features are slipping in. I figure I should track Heart Rate and average Heart Rate for the session. I am also going to collect calories burned and compare that later to calorie burn estimates to see if it is reliable. But I will hook those up later this weekend.

Collecting Samples During a Session

I decided to go with NSNotifications to send out stroke updates from the PaddleCounter class. So, when the PaddleCounter detects a stroke it will send a notification that the main ViewController can then use to display the stroke change.

Testing the Stroke Counter

I want to make testing the stroke counter as easy as possible. I plan to collect different samples and track the number of strokes. Then algorithm development will go like this:

1. Feed my samples into the stroke counter algorithm.
2. Compare what it dumps out with the expected number of strokes.
3. Tweak algorithm, rinse, repeat.

My first stroke counter at about 1 AM sucked and came out with terrible results. What to do?

Charting the Samples

Ok, I was trying to eyeball the samples and hence it was hard to track the trends. So, I need to chart these samples to better understand the data I am getting.

Before I try to rewrite the stroke counter I am puttingthe samples on a chart. For this I am going to use ios-charts by Daniel Cohen Gindi to draw my sample set so I can look for trends.

Here's the new UI with the raw data in the chart and then a zoom in on section:

Samples with Default Zoom

Samples Zoomed In

Ok, now it's time to go hit the water and collect some real samples.

Hackathon: Writing a Microsoft Band App In One Weekend - Update 1

2 Hours in and I have:

• Basic UI for Data Collection
• Accelerometer Data Collection to CSV file using NSOutputStream.
• Export of CSV file using the UIActivityViewController.

Next up:

• Write a stroke counter first pass using some simulated kayaking samples.

Here is the UI for the first set of data collection.

I know, its amazing. Where did I get this UI skills? What can I say, I an old school green on black terminal kinda guy.

Harkathon: Writing a Microsoft Band App in One Weekend

My wife and kids are out of town for the weekend so what's a geek to do? Hold a Markathon of

course.

A Markathon? That's just a Hackathon with a Mark.

What type of App should I create? I've decided I want to learn Machine Learning but I want to be practical and start small so I am going to create a simple stroke counter app for kayaking. For this I will do basic calculations to create the stroke counter. For this weekend the goal to lay the groundwork to do more complex analysis of strokes. 

With this weekends Markathon my goals are:

• Build a harness to collect sensor data.
• Be able to export sensor data during a workout from the Microsoft Band to a CSV (Comma Separated Value) format.
• Collect some Kayaking sample data.
• Crunch the data and create a basic stroke counter.
• Create an app front end for the stroke counter.
• Prep the app for Test Flight.
• Find some testers who want to try out a stroke counter for the Microsoft Band.

I will post throughout the weekend as I complete stages. Follow along and feel free to tweet me if you have questions.

App V1: Knowing When To Stop

Fishing while taking a break
from building Heart Relay.

I have to stop at some point. The hardest part of shipping software you design and write yourself is shipping it. Like any creative activity, you have to know when to stop.

I had a "working" prototype 3 weeks ago in about 3 hours. It had next to no UI, was not intuitive, had no settings, persisted nothing, did not handle Bluetooth disconnects, and many other missing bits and pieces.

The have been plugging away 2-3 hours a night when I can so I can ship a V1. Here are some of the items holding up shipping:

• Completing the list of V1 features for Heart Relay. There are not that many, mostly make it intuitive, performant, and not look like it was designed by a code monkey.
• In relation to one, I am not happy with some of the icons. I should just ship what I have but I want more consistency in the icons and to replace words with icons (harder to understand maybe but I would like the user to not be hit with a screen of text).
• Animations
• I wanted to add some custom animations for both the connecting event (instead of using the default activity indicator spinner) and the Heart Rate measurement (a beating heart).
• Animations and custom icons take time.
• Testing:
• While testing, I discovered that in noisy Bluetooth environments (work) the Bluetooth connection sometimes drops. Due to this I needed to work on reconnect and how to help the user to recover from this.
• Testing takes time.

While doing all this new features have come to mind. Here are things I have cut from V1 or are feature creeps that I will consider for V2.

• Free, Paid, IAP, or Ads?
• Free: For V1 launch.
• Paid: For Pro version later with some whiz-bang additions.
• IAP: Research shows IAP is not worth the work.
• Ads: After launch.
• Heart Rate Zone Tracking
• Going to keep for Pro version later.
• Heart Rate Zone Alerts
• Going to keep for Pro version.
• Will buzz band when you drop out of or rise above your zone target.
• Heart Rate Export
• Going to keep for Pro version.
• Let you export to CSV so later import to whatever app you want.

So, I am still plugging away.

I am debating if I will redesign the app icon. Probably not for V1.

Ok, back to drilling down some reconnection features.

NC-17 Rated Hockey Twitter App on the iPhone

I've gotten feedback about HockeyTweet that goes along the lines:

• An NC-17 Hockey app for the iPhone, that is my kind of hockey.
• Hey, where are the girls in this app?
• What no porn?

Kidding aside, why would I launch HockeyTweet with an NC-17 rating? It clearly is just a Twitter client for sending tweets about Hockey.

For most developers and those that follow the App Store saga, the reason is probably clear. For those that don't know let me explain. There is what is called a UIWebView, for non-programmers, this means a web browser view/window in my app. That UIWebView has access to Twitter so users can authenticate and if required to create a new Twitter account. There is a loop-hole in that UIWebView when you are on Twitter that means you could go out onto the Internet at large and view "objectionable material."

Since I allow the user to be able to navigate through Twitter to the internet they could view something that is objectionable. This sounds ridiculous and it is but the point here is that some apps have been rejected due to this and chose the route of least friction in the app review process.

So, yes, the app is rated NC-17. Does it have objectionable material in it? No. Should it be rated lower? Yes, but why would I go the route that has lead other devs to have their apps rejected?

First iPhone App: HockeyTweet has Launched

HockeyTweet is my first foray into the Apple App Store. HockeyTweet is a Twitter client which makes it fast to send Twitter updates about hockey games in real-time.

HockeyTweet is purpose built for the NHL. But enough of repeating the product page in the App Store, check out HockeyTweet in the App Store.

Here are some of the questions I've gotten about developing for the iPhone and what my next plans are:

Does it cost money to develop for the iPhone?

• Short answer no, for the majority of people though the long answer is yes.
  
• No, if you 1. Own a Mac, 2. Only want to write and test apps on your Mac.
  
• Yes, if you 1. Don't own a Mac, 2. Want to run the app on your own device, 3. You want to post the app to the App Store.

Ok, how much does it cost?

• $99/year (before taxes) for the iPhone Developer license.
  
• $$$$ for your Mac
• $219 CAN (before taxes) for the 8GB iPod Touch to approximately $1200/year for an iPhone
  

Does it cost any more?

• Well yes, what is your time worth? If you are like me and you love to try new things, love to play with different programming languages and create, then this is not a real cost. If you add that time into your costs, it starts to skyrocket, but hey we are here to have fun and design cool apps that solve problems for people.

What are the tools like?

• In a word, AWESOME. I love Xcode (the Apple provider IDE) and the toolset that it comes with. Basically everything I've used to write, debug, run, test software is available. The list of features is long but you won't be disappointed.
  
• NOTE: Your mileage may vary if you don't accept the tools and learn them. I love vi, the editor is not vi. I decided with Xcode to not fight the tools and try to use replacements. This is paying off as I learn more shortcuts and they start to sink in.

What is next for me and HockeyTweet?

• I plan to market HockeyTweet using several tactics with minimum cash. I'll write about how each of these pans out as I try them.
• I will be working on the next version. The app is designed to allow me to quickly integrate other sports. I will be improving the design as I work on the second sport and seeing how I can improve the design to let me integrate other niches quickly.
• I will be adding localization to the app for French.
• I will be monitoring user input for future features and working on any issues that arise.
  

What did you learn technology wise? I've gotten to learn the following (or at least scratch the surface):

• UI design
• Objective-C
• The Cocoa Touch framework - the SDK you build iPhone apps in
• Web Services using Google AppEngine
• Python for the Web Services
• Dealing with performance and responsiveness in a constrained environment
• Integrating open source frameworks into code
• Managing deadlines with team members
• Learning when to stop implementing and ship it ;-)
  

Is it hard to write an app?

• Are you a programmer? Do you have passion? Are you ready to learn? If so, no it is not hard. Again, back to the time issue. If you have it and are willing to do a lot of self learning then it is fairly easy.

Do I have a website?

• Yes, I am currently building Lockernine as my (planned) various apps home on the internet.
  

Have I had sales?

• Yes, though does my wife and friends count?
• I will post an update on sales numbers later once I have something interesting to report, be it good sales, or poor sales.