Sep 30
Love0

How to beat bugs

By How To No Comments

We all know what updating apps is — and nowadays most updates are downloaded onto our phones automatically. We’ll wake up with new features in our favourite app. So: you’d be right to think that the purpose of app updating is getting new features. You’re not wrong — but you’re not completely right, either.

The problem is that the operating systems on our little devices — that’s Android or iOS — are in an ever-upward spiral of updates. That’s great for the consumer — who gets a new update with great new features on a regular basis. But it’s less great for app developers, or those who have had their own custom app developed, because with new features comes new bugs.

Here’s our most recent example. iOS 9 was released last week. There are some great new features we’re excited to implement, like 3D Touch. But right after the update we found our map pins had stopped displaying properly. Over 50% had installed iOS 9, meaning that a huge amount of potential downloaders wouldn’t get the perfect map experience.

Luckily for us, our iOS Developer found and deployed a fix pretty quickly — and we’ve started updating apps at no additional cost to our customers.

But what if you had your own custom app developed? Well, first you’d have to notice the bug — and nobody has time to be checking their own apps to make sure they’re still working perfectly. Then, you’d have to figure out what causes it and how it’s triggered, and tell your developers. And, once you’ve done this, which could have taken a few months, you then have to wait for the developers to find a fix, and then pay them for it. That costs even more time — and could cost anything from $500 to $5,000, as well as the $15,000 or more you spent on getting the app developed in the first place.

And here’s the crux — we give you your own, custom branded app for $1,995 for three years, and a $145/month subscription fee. You read that right — you get your own, always up to date app for a fraction of the price.

If it makes perfect sense to you, get in touch at hello@mytoursapp.com.

Sep 29
Love0

Digitising Local Heritage Links

By Conferences No Comments

We ran a workshop on digitising local heritage last week at the Pt Chevalier library and it was great to hear about the different experiences among the attendees. Timothy Barnett from Auckland Libraries was kind enough to share these links on caring for and digitising heritage items. There is a wealth of information as you start to read through these and I encourage you to spend some time browsing the resources and watching some of the videos.

Digital NZ

The Digital NZ Make it Digital Guides have a wealth of information on digitising content including digitising and imaging.

National Services Te Paerangi

National Services Te Paerangi have a resource section covering a wide range of topics. I particulary liked the photograpy videos on this page.

National Library

The National Library has great resources and a section just on caring for your collections

Other Links

Cover Image: CC-BY_SA Wikipedia:Dvortygirl

Sep 02
Love0

Digitising Local Heritage Workshops

By Conferences No Comments

The Albert-Eden Local Board is holding the Bungalow Festival this month and we’re lucky enough to be involved in a couple of the programmes. As well as 2 audio guides we’re running a couple of digitising local heritage workshops, plus setting up a DIY Book Scanner. Now, you may wonder what this has to do with mobile apps and you’d be right to think that it has absolutely nothing in common!

But we work alongside organisations of all sizes from large museums to small historical societies. And what we love doing is finding ways to make technology available to everybody, whether it’s a massive museum or an individual with a passion for exploration. So we are are running two workshops at the event (both free):

Digitising Local Heritage Workshop

When: Fri 25th Sep 11:00am – 12:00pm
Where: Point Chevalier Community Library, 1221 Great North Road, Point Chevalier, Auckland

As old technology becomes obsolete, how do we preserve our heritage for future generations? Experts from Auckland Museum and Auckland Libraries are coming along to talk about digital archiving, and how we can work together to archive and preserve local heritage.

Register here!

DIY Book Scanner Workshop

When: Sat 26th Sep 11:30am – 12:30pm
Where: Point Chevalier Community Library, 1221 Great North Road, Point Chevalier, Auckland

Find out tips and techniques for scanning and digitally archiving your own photos, books and documents at this workshop. Best of all, you’re encouraged to bring your own materials along on the day.

Register here!

Looking forward to seeing you there. If you can’t make the workshops we’ll be there all day Friday and Saturday with the scanner. Feel free to come chat to us!