[2 points for anyone who read the title as Professor Farnsworth]

It took a while (much more than I anticipated), but now the new version is finally out! It might be a while before all of apple's servers be updated with the change, but it shouldn't be more than a day, and would probably be less than a couple of hours. Make sure you're downloading version 1.2.1 (or 1.2.2 - it's the same, but I made a slight mistake and the app itself is version as 1.2.2, while I entered 1.2.1 on the description of the store).

As you should know by now (and if not I recommend reading this and this), this version is for making MySongbook compatible with the new iPhone OS 3.x (including, but not limited to, the scrolling bugs), and fixing the database corruption issues. I also updated a few external libraries that I use (like the wonderful Tap4Help), and I also use an analytic library (of Pinch Media) to help me better understand the usage of the app (in other words, find which features are less used, and see how I can improve them). This library only sends anonymous data (very much like Google Analytics and alike, that are used on most websites), though you can easily turn that off in the "Settings" app.

One more thing that was changed is the app's rating - Now the rating is 17+ instead of 4+. That's because I'm using the built-in browser inside my app, so I have to rate my app at that level (it's Apple's policy). There isn't any real content inside my app to earn that rating for those of you who might be worried.

So that's it! If no issues will be reported in the next week or so, I will be able to go back to actually developing new features.

PS - keep checking my website (or become a fan of MySongbook's Facebook Page to get updates) - now that this whole thing is behind me, I also plan on writing more about my experience developing for the iPhone (like tools I use, trends I notice, etc), about my progress on new features, and who knows what else.

Day 16th: Checking my email... hit refresh couple of times just to be sure - no new messages from Apple! ...login to iTunes Connect (the site for developers)... hit refresh - again, no change! sigh... log off, log in, and check again - still nothing!

This has been my routine for the past week. Usually I'm doing that several times a day, and every day I hope that today will be the day my update be approved, and yet every day I check and see that nothing has changed. This is the same image I've been seeing for the past 2 weeks:

There used to be a time when it took no more than 7 days for apps to be approved (or that was my experience), but it seems that time is long gone. I've tried sending an email to Apple, explaining that the changes I made were so tiny (around 10 lines of code + updating external libraries), that there shouldn't be a reason for the review process to take so long, and emphasized how crucial this update is to any user who's running my app on a device with the new firmware. I only got a canned response that didn't really shed any light on the whole thing.

I know I'm not the only one who experience these long review times, and this is sadly not uncommon to read very long threads of the frustration of developers about the whole review process, but it just keeps me in this stressful state that I had to write something about it...

Hopefully my next post would be to announce the availability of the new update... and hopefully it wouldn't be so far away.

[Update - 29/08/2009] - It seems that these days it takes longer for Apple to approve apps, and so I update my estimation that the update should be available in 1-2 weeks from now.

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First of all, I'm sorry how things went the way they did. I've never thought that that would be the way I'll treat my customers, as I think support is one of the most important things in any product, and I definitely have failed you on that respect. I also want to say that though I've chosen to stop responding to most messages, I have read every single one of them, and it hurt me that I didn't know how to respond to them anymore. I know it might sound strange to some, but this being my first big project, I care very much what people think of it, and just as it felt so wonderful to read the great reviews I got at the start, so did it felt so bad reading all the bad reviews this past few months, and so I'm sincerely and utterly sorry.

It took a bit more time than I expected but the new update was finally approved by Apple and I strongly recommend you´ll update to the new version since it fixes many bugs that I know annoyed many of you.

I've just finished working on a new update to MySongbook, that should be available for download in the next two weeks (depending on a bit more testing, and as usual Apple's review process).

This update doesn't include everything that I thought I'll be able to get done in time, because I discovered a lot of bugs that needed to be fixed (all kind of weird file encoding issues to name a few), and so I spent more time tracking down those bugs and figuring how to fix them, than working on new features.

The main new feature in this update is that now there's a chord voicing engine inside my app - that basically means that now instead of having a library of chord diagrams that I had to type by hand, MySongbook will generate the voicing for the chord. What this means, is that now almost any chord you can think of will have a chord diagram, and not only that, but you'll be able to see all the alternative forms of playing that chord. Also, if you are left handed or happen to play a banjo, mandolin, ukulele or another string instrument (up to 6 strings), you'll also be able to view chord diagrams for your instrument (through the general Settings).

I still plan to add more features in the future, and stuff like playlists and downloading songbooks from chordie.com are still on my to do list, but I'm afraid they would have to wait for the next update. I simply do not want to delay this update any longer because of all the bugs that I discovered and fixed, and so I'm sorry if you were looking forward for one of those features, and ask that you'll be willing to wait a little longer.

I also want to announce that I'll be going on a vacation in South America for a while - this was planned long ago, and was actually delayed for some time now, so I could work a bit more on this app. While I'll be there, I'll still be answering your emails and support requests, though it would probably take me longer than the usual quick response you've been accustomed to. I expect that I'll be able to check my mail at aleast once or twice per week, so don't worry if it takes me a few days to answer your question (and if one of you is happen to be from that area, then recommendations for places to see are also very welcomed).

Something amazing happened yesterday - Apple showed a preview of their next software update to the iPhone/iPod, which will open up the iPhone for many new possibilities, which were until now impossible (possimpible ?), and I can already imagine all the great new features I'll be able to add to MySongbook.

One of the many new features, is the ability to finally use the built-in music library from third party app, which means that I'll be able to link from a song in MySongbook, to a song in your own music library, and play in the background while you practice how to play it on the guitar... now how great is that?
Another great new feature, is peer-to-peer connection between close by iPhones. Now imagine that you play in a band, or just with a friend, and you both have MySongbook - you'll be able to sync your scrolling speed and position within the song between all the players. This will also allow you to share songs you wrote with your friends with a simple click.
And that's not all! (hate sounding like a sales person) - there's even a way for me to simply add audio recording capabilities, so you could record yourself playing!

...and all those things are just the tip of what will be possible when this new version will be available in the summer - too bad it's so far away... just when I thought I had the road map for MySongbook all figured out, Apple had to come along and make me think of all these great new features... damn you Apple! :)

I recently got a few bad reviews on the iTunes App Store, and wanted to talk a bit about them.

It took a little while longer than I expected, but the first update (of many) had just been released, and should be available to download. As I said on my previous post, the main changes are chord transposition and browser bookmarks.
I'm already working hard on the next update, which should at least include alternative voicings, support for different tunings, and probably auto-fill. There are also a few bugs with downloading zip files from some sites, which should be fixed, and I'll see what else I'll be able to cram in there (maybe basic playlist support, downloading songbooks from chordie, editing/deleting songs by artist...).

Again I want thank everyone for the great reviews your posting, and for all the great suggestions I'm receiving - THANK YOU!

I've just released my first app to the iTunes App Store, called MySongbook. It's an app for finding, viewing and managing song's chords just like a songbook.

MySongbook Page
Buy using app store