Play Free Bird!

FC,

I attended WWDC earlier this year and it was a pretty good place to just think about the possibilities of the iPhone. One approach I've taken is to simply look at all the features of the phone and ask, 'what could you do that encompasses all those features?'

In addition, the iPhone is a device where short-use apps will succeed the most, as well as those with nice looking interfaces.

Adding to this, the fact that I really enjoy live music, and seeing that a lot of people are now using cell phones at concerts as lighting devices, rather than real lighters, the idea just kind of clicked. I realized there were actually many features the phone had which would make it compelling. I've tried to craft iLightr as perfectly as possible and I hope that you all enjoy using it. The 99¢ is more of way to see that people appreciate it and think it has value rather than a way to make loads of money. I'm sure I won't be retiring any time soon… :)

Now the goal is to just get people to realize that our app blows all the others out of the water. We took several weeks to perfect it and unfortunately all these other cheesy apps started hitting the scene. We have to get people to realize that there is a true difference between ours and all the others.

Good luck with your great iPhone app ideas, I'm sure the best is yet to come!

I'll throw in my $0.02 since I think the iLightr is pretty cool. I'm biased though, I was lead developer for it :)

I can totally understand people that are simply not interested in any novelty apps of this sort, everyone's entitled to their view. However, I will say that I think our app is of a much higher quality than the majority of entertainment apps out there.

We wanted to create a smaller app that put our name out there and gave people an idea of what we were capable of. Thats why we created an app that uses a lot of the cool features specific to the iPhone: Accelerometer, OpenGL, sound effects, high-quality graphics and icons.

In one way, its amusing to me to see so many people complain about charging anything for an app when they had no problem shelling out $200-300 for a cell phone (~$1800 after 2 years). The other lighter apps, any competent dev could write up in a weekend (but Crazy Lighter crashed for everybody on initial release). Ours, on the other hand took several weeks and we really thought through how to make it as compelling as possible. (Things like the volume of the lid-closing sound taking account of how fast its moving, and a bunch of other little details like that) From my perspective as an iPhone user and developer I think this is what sets the iPhone/Mac crowd apart from other users. We want to get wowed by the little details. Granted, its still a small app, but this level of craftsmanship is going flow over to the next app we write and it might be much more involved.

Right now Koi Pond is the top "paid for" app (a solid well-designed one too), but I think ours matches if not rivals its interactivity. Crazy Lighter is #9, an app that crashed a ton and has almost no interactivity. You make the choice on what you think is worth paying for. I think that large or small, high-qaulity apps are what people will want at the end of the day.

Okay, this is definitely a silly app, and just like CrazyLighter (which I got when it was free), but you never know when it might get you some attention from the act on stage!

I held up CrazyLighter during "Save Me" at an Aimee Mann show in Philly last week and she noticed it and me, and later when she forgot the lyrics to one of her songs, she asked me to Google them for her (unfort a fan remembered them first)!! While I was searching, she improvised a little song about googling/iPhones.

It was a very cool experience. I got mentioned on Ms. Mann's fan forums as well as in the local Philly paper's review.

Full story: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fdphl/2735911698/

rocklighter.com for me

you know what makes a great simulation of a lighter? A real lighter!!!! Seriously, it's not like you need to smoke to carry one...and you can actually light a candle, fire, cute person's cigarette at the bar who's been giving you the eye....

myLite in the app store has a cigarette lighter under its effects -> rock concert and it is free.

I will use my $.99 to BUY a real Lighter!!!

Doesn't the developer know the stigma of the white lighter?

For people whining about all the lighters out there check out the video of it first http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU2VQj6hAsU

It is really mesmerising to play with.

New rule: If it's just a picture, wallpaper, screen-saver, or barely-interactive animation, DON'T APPROVE IT, Apple!

This is seriously dumb.