One of the two new apps (Adam’s baby) is a game codenamed LMB. He’s been working on this for quite some time, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to see it nearing completion. I really think that LMB will soon be eating up your time on buses and airplanes, consuming your life and destroying your friendships. I’ll apologize in advance for this.

In the meantime, I’ve been working on a new photography app, with tons of help from Adam and Eric. The codename for this one is Mira. This is one of those small, succinct ideas that I think people will really enjoy. We’re currently doing a lot of work to tune the performance of Mira and streamline the user flow through the app. We spent a lot of time on these aspects of Pano and we think (we hope?) it’s one of the things users really enjoy about it, so we’re trying to attend to those details as carefully this time around as well.

Speaking of Pano, we haven’t forgotten about our contest (though we have gotten a little behind). The votes from our external judges are in, so we’re tabulating and getting ready to announce the winners. I want to thank everyone who entered, and thank you all for your patience.

Now that OS3.1 is out we’re going to be putting together a small update for Pano that should fix some little issues, including UI problems on the 3GS. We believe the big image bug on the 3GS should now be a thing of the past, and I can’t thank everyone enough for holding out through all of this. I haven’t had the heart to look at our app store ratings lately, but if anyone wants to give us a quick rate on the store, it’d be much appreciated.

In terms of a timeline for the new apps, we’re looking at something around 1 month (so mid-October) until the release of the game codenamed LMB, and the new photography app will hopefully be showing up a bit sooner than that, perhaps in late September. As we get closer to those dates I’ll try to give more updates and information.

As always, if you have questions or thoughts, or if you would like us to reject your solicitation for a free promo code, you can always send us an email at support@debaclesoftware.com.

-Julian

See, for maximum slickness the Google app would automatically trigger voice detection when your phone was held in close proximity to your face. (In academia we’d use this as an example of a multimodal interface, but that’s neither here nor there.) The Google app was using the same API as the iPhone uses to turn off the display when you’re holding your phone to your face during a phone call. So what’s wrong with that?

Well, like many useful APIs on the iPhone, the proximity sensor was only accessible through a private, undocumented API. 3rd party apps can access these APIs, but they’re not supposed to. In fact, many people were operating under the belief that using an undocumented API would be grounds for an app rejection. (Apparently not!)

What was extra strange about this situation was that Google almost immediately admitted to using the private API. And then… nothing. The app never got pulled, and everybody continued to receive directions to nearby pizza. At the time some opined that this was a case of Google’s clout winning over, but I don’t think that was entirely the case. All evidence points to Google submitting much in the same way as any other developer has to — they certainly didn’t skip the process or jump the queue. (In fact, Google was left somewhat red-faced as they excitedly announced the launch of their app only to have it not launch on time. So goes the opaque app review process Google; perhaps you and aren’t so different after all.)

Fast forward to today and there is some other API-related news — this time considerably more bitter. Apparently Apple has just rejected the Peeps app for using the unpublished/private Cover Flow APIs in their app. The dirty here is that Peeps isn’t using cover flow at all — they recreated it themselves without touching the API.

And that’s potentially the most important lesson to take away from this whole mess: Apple has no way to formally check whether you are using private APIs or not. This is not something Apple probably wants you to know. Obviously if your app does something super-egregious, it can be expected that someone will pick up on it during the review process, but there are numerous apps that are already flying under the radar. (Case in point: the original launch version of Phanfare used very-disallowed direct access to the camera so they wouldn’t have to go through the UIImagePicker, which is a lumbering nightmare. The app was approved, then pulled some time later when someone at Apple finally clued in.)

But how does Google figure in to this? Well, for one thing Apple certainly knows that Google is using a private API. For all we know the app may be staying up simply because of the clout that Google has, but I’m not sure that’s the whole story. You see, Apple has more than one reason to keep some APIs private. Sure, they don’t want your app secretly grabbing frames from someone’s camera and sending them out over the interblag, that’s obvious, but considering the half-finished state of the iPhone SDK release I think it’s likely that Apple left some APIs private/undocumented simply to shorten their to-do list before release. There doesn’t seem to be much reason for Apple to keep the proximity sensor private until you realize that not opening it up means one less API to maintain, one less API to document and one less API that has to be kept consistent and compatible between firmware updates.

Knowing this, I’d expect that Apple may turn a blind eye to some API access violations because, really, they don’t care if you know what the proximity sensor knows. (I’m not sure if there are any other apps that make obvious use of the sensor, but I have half a mind to throw one together and submit to Apple to test my thesis.)

And, after all this headache, it seems that Apple can’t prevent some developer from spying on you through your camera… that’s somewhat troubling.

* * * Julian is one of the three guys who make Pano for iPhone. We don’t use any private APIs, Apple. Please don’t kick us out. * * *

And then…

Dear Debacle Software, (Oh no…)

Thank you for submitting Pano to the App Store. We’ve reviewed Pano and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because of an Apple trademark image.  We want to remind you of the importance of following Apple’s posted Guidelines for Using Apple’s Trademarks and Copyrights: <http://www.apple.com/legal/trademark/guidelinesfor3rdparties.html>.

If you believe that you can make the necessary changes so that Pano does not infringe on Apple trademarks, we encourage you to do so and resubmit it for review.

The infringement in question, we assume (thanks for not being specific, Apple) is our new icon. Well, what was going to be our new icon. Observe:

>Pano icons: v1.0 and the 2.0 reject

I guess Apple was alright with us showing < 50% of an iPhone silhouette? Perhaps this is just common knowledge, but I haven’t been able to find a list of Apple’s image trademarks. (They aren’t included in their trademark list.)

So now we have to decide: Do we delay 2.0 until we get a new icon ready, or do we ship with the original icon?

(Alternate title: The Storied Exploits of a Resourceful Writer in the Land of Angry Venue Security)

If you’re getting sick of hearing about the Toronto shows then you’ll likely want to skip this article. In addition to attending the two shows last week I was also fortunate enough to head backstage after night #1 and chat with Jimmy and Billy. I thought some of you might be interested in my fleeting time as a Smashing Pumpkins VIP.

This past month has been busy — I’ve traveled back and forth between Toronto and Kingston, Ontario (where I go to school) a number of times, as well as to Greece briefly for a conference. On the 2nd I returned to Toronto for the millionth time to prep for the two nights of SP shows. The plan was to attend both shows and write an article on the two-night format. (Toronto was notably the first of the two-show-format stops on the tour.) At some point during the day before the first show I got the following series of messages from the shadowy figures that pull my strings:

> Hey
> You wanna meet the band?
> In fact
> you don’t get a choice in the matter anymore.

The shadowy figures elaborated that the Pumpkins were interested in sitting down to talk about issues surrounding the current tour, the community, the website. I’d love to think that I’m Everyone’s Favourite Writer™, but I’m sure that timing played a big role in it too. (Score one for right-place-at-right-time!) I had precious little time to prepare for the show and my upcoming interview, and I was supposed to be photoblogging as well. Yikes!

I arrived at the venue (with a fortunate friend) and picked up my tickets at the will-call window. Included were: one (1) media pass; two (2) aftershow passes (and my tickets, of course). We walked into Massey Hall, flashing our badges at various security personnel who couldn’t have cared less and found our way to our seats. I won’t go into the details of the show here, but they can be found elsewhere if you missed out.

Before the show started we tried to get some close-up shots of the stage and the gear (I am an Official Smashing Pumpkins Writer bearing a Media Badge, right?), which did not go particularly well. We were told variously that, “Yes, you can go up close and take some photos,” then “Well, one of you can, but you have to sit down after the first song.” Before taking a single shot, we were told by the head of security (I’m guessing — he was certainly the angriest security guard) that, no, in fact, we couldn’t take any pictures up close. None. Not even before the show started. While he was conveying this to us, we watched other audience members walk up to the stage, take pictures, and sit back down. *sigh*

After the band finished their encore and left the stage we stayed in our seats and watched the house lights come up. Somewhat unsure of what to do next, we decided to wait things out and see if we could get some pictures of the stage, now that the show was over and the true power of our Aftershow Passes came into play. As yet another angry security guard tried to force us from the venue, we brandished our passes in defense (ha!) and we told that the passes weren’t “activated” until they were stuck to our clothing. We duly stuck them to our shirts and found out quickly that, yet again, we were not permitted to take pictures of the stage.

We sat near the stage door in the now-empty auditorium and waited.

We listened in as an event security staff member detailed his upcoming armpit tattoos. (Painful, I’m told.)

Then word came, “They’re ready for you.” We marched backstage, introduced ourselves to Doug, the tour manager and followed him into the dressing room. Doug introduced us to Billy and Jimmy. We sat down and started chatting as various band members, friends, crew bustled in and out of the adjacent rooms.

The subject or our discussion has been posted previously, so I won’t detail that again. Billy and Jimmy were friendly and thoughtful and the time we spent whipped by. I’m pretty sure there were other bandmates here and there, but aside from briefly saying hi to Ginger and Kris I barely took any notice. (We were a little short on chairs, so I sat on a food-warming box.) I fired up some recording software on my iPhone to help me with quotes when I was later writing the article on the interview, and off we went.

Before we knew it we were being told that Massey Hall needed everyone out. (Apparently they’re serious about their curfews…) The room quickly emptied and we were left standing, alone, in the Pumpkins dressing room, which was a surreal experience. After snapping a quick picture (I don’t know, what else were we supposed to do? Steal stuff?) we tried to briefly explore the backstage area and encountered more event staff (yay…), to whom we feigned confusion (”Oh, is this not the way out?”). I snapped a quick shot of the stage from the wings (I’ll count that as a win!) and followed the band through the backstage door to the street.

And there, despite having just left the SP dressing room, we were told by security (angrily, of course) that we needed to keep 10 feet back from the band. So we stood and watched Jimmy and Billy, from a distance, as they chatted with the stalwart fans who had waited outside before climbing into the shuttle to their hotel.

As I drove home I started going over the evening in my head. Before going to bed I had an article to write.

Following Monday night’s Black Sunshine show in Toronto I made my way backstage to talk with Billy and Jimmy. On the agenda was the current state and future of the Pumpkins online community. (That’s us!)

With the recent website revamp (*round of applause for the incredible web team*) and the host of new interactive features that have come with it (as well as soon-to-arrive ones, like the message board), the ability for fans to interact with each other and with the band continues to grow. Billy came onstage in a white Zero shirt, I snapped a picture on my iPhone, and within minutes people online were talking about it. The great thing about all of this is, as Billy said to me last night, that it allows a fanbase that spans the planet to have a community with a genuinely small-town feel. This is definitely what the Pumpkins want.

The downside (there’s always a downside) is that this also means that there are people who will show up and, “poison the consciousness of the community,” as Billy put it. “There is an element of the fanbase that has got to go.” (Billy said, “they’ve got to go,” more than once last night.) These are the people who are, “negative, hostile, counter intuitive to the future of the band.” That means comments that contribute nothing but negativity aren’t welcome on the site, and they aren’t welcome on the boards. The new community features aren’t going to be a free-for-all - Jimmy and Billy were clear that that’s not what they want - but rather a place where people are free to express intelligent and thoughtful comments (pro and con).

The “toxic” elements of the Pumpkins online community, as Jimmy refers to them, are small, but they’re deeply rooted. These toxic elements are a direct impediment to its positive growth. I know that despite being a Pumpkins fan for years, I often kept my distance from parts of the online community because of this subculture, and I also know that I’m not the only one. Billy thinks that the Pumpkins share the blame for some of its development, noting that, “I encouraged people to feel possessive of the band.” As the band moves forward it’s clear that they’re going to have to shed these few people who are holding them back, and holding the community back.

This is one the most important parts of our discussion Monday night: Billy and Jimmy are well aware of the distinction between real, thoughtful criticism and bomb-throwing. One of the first things Billy said to me as we sat down to talk was that SP does not want a community to sit around and tell them everything they do is great. “We don’t think everything we do is the greatest thing ever,” he continued. The Pumpkins have always had a presence online, and they’ve always had an intelligent and open relationship with their fans. A relationship like this thrives on support and love, but it also leaves room for criticism and suggestions. This has always been the case, and it’s certainly not something the band wants to change.

I have to say, this also fits with my experience working for the Pumpkins. I’ve had issues with articles because I’d made factual errors (the Mellotron article had a few rewrites!) and I’ve gotten comments from Billy when he’s felt I could explore issues in more depth, but I’ve never gotten the feeling that I couldn’t say something critical of the band or the music. To be honest, if I ever got that feeling, I probably wouldn’t be sticking around for very long.

I think one of the main reasons why we’re drawn to the Pumpkins and the community that surrounds their music is because of the back and forth between the community of the band. This isn’t some textbook producer-consumer relationship: things flow both ways, and the site plays a big part in that back and forth. This two-way relationship is pretty unique, but it’s something that we can’t take for granted. If the community suffers we all lose out (and that includes the Pumpkins). In Billy’s words, “the future of the band has everything to do with creating a new sense of community.” When we have a community built around trust and support, everybody wins.