Issue #1 - Shotbot
Issue #1 - Shotbot
Its finally here, This is the first issue of Indie App Spotlight. I’ve been overwhelmed with the support it has received even before the first issue, so thank you!
It has been something I’ve wanted to do for some time but was busy building RewardMe, but now I have the time to commit. I really hope it helps get the word out about all the amazing apps indie devs create.
The format is a work in progress & I’m sure it will improve as I speak with more developers. If you have any ideas then please let me know.
App Spotlight
App Name : ShotBot
Developer : Richard Witherspoon
This week we take a look at Shotbot created by Richard Witherspoon. It allows you to add frames to your screenshots in a simple way. Of course you’ve been able to do this with shortcuts, however shortcuts can never be as simple as a dedicated app.
What is ShotBot?
Shotbot is an iOS and Mac Application that effortlessly allows you to add device frames around iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac screenshots.
where did the idea for Shotbot come from?
I’ve always been a big fan of Federico Viticci and his Apple Frame Shortcut. It’s amazing how he’s pushed Shortcuts to its limits, but every time I listen to him talk about or read about the improvements he’s made, the more I thought that it needed a dedicated app. This became especially apparent when I was trying to explain to one of my co-workers how to use it. From reading the MacStories article, explaining what shortcuts are, downloading the app, allowing untrusted shortcuts, etc etc, it’s just too much for the average consumer. Sure power users will do it, but the average person just wants to download an app and hit go. So thats what I set out to make.
What’s one stand out feature you’d like everyone to know about?
The extensive sharing support! Shotbot allows the framed screenshots to be automatically saved, copied or shared using the share sheet. There’s also a quick action extension built into the share sheet and a dedicated shortcut in the Shortcuts app. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to share quickly.
How do you promote the Shotbot?
Mainly on Mastodon, but it’s also open source on GitHub. I do iOS as my full time job as well, so I just wanted a fun side project to work on.
How did you decide on the pricing?
There are three main reasons why Shotbot is $4.99 a year. The first is that I value this as a professional tool. I use it every day for my main job and find it invaluable. Second, there are plenty of other free tools that will do the same or similar things (just not as nice or as easy in my opinion). Finally, it’s open source! If you can’t pay the $4.99 a year download a copy yourself on GitHub.
How did you launch the Shotbot?
I always like to do a soft launch with my apps. I’ll get them on the app store and test out some of the most important flows with friends and family devices first. After that I just posted about it on Mastodon. I’ve been very public about building the app, so people knew I was working on it. Other than that, I sent a few emails to some publications, but never heard anything back. Thats okay though, since I do my side projects for fun.
How long did it take to get to the first version?
I built the prototype in three days while on a vacation. After that it took another three months to get out the door. Most of that time was related to wrangling issues with my Apple Developer account. Not accounting for that, it probably took about a month working on it in my spare time to get it into a state I felt happy releasing.
Is there anything you’ve learnt that stands out?
It was a lot of fun working with photo manipulation with this project. I’ve used the photo picker and saved images to a users photo library before, but I’ve never had the opportunity to composite multiple photos together. That was something I had to learn to create this app.
Any tools or apps you would recommend others check out?
I love using Hazel, and especially in conjunction with Shotbot. Anytime I take a screenshot on the iOS simulator, Hazel automatically recognizes the screenshot when it saves on the desktop, moves the file into Shotbots iCloud folder, and runs a Shotbot shortcut to automatically create a framed image. It’s awesome and saves me so much time.
Where can everyone go to find out more?
Follow me on Mastodon! I’m constantly talking about Shotbot and all aspects of iOS development. If you’d like to check out the source code or contribute, check out Shotbot on GitHub.
App Radar
NEW APP
Callsheet by Casey Liss
Callsheet is the best way to quickly look up information about the cast and crew in TV and movies. It respects your time, doesn't try to sell you stuff you don't need, and is designed to answer your questions quickly and easily.
I got to the point of avoiding IMDB due to the awful user experience. Callsheet is IMDB with a great design and non of th ads. It also makes use of Justwatch to show you where you can watch, I would like to see it add a progress feature but still a great 1.0. Well done sir.
UPDATE
Skoro by Kriss Slazinski
Simple scoreboard app. Keep scores when playing sports and games.Version 2.22
Skoro is now also in Catalan.
Kriss goes all out when it comes to localisation & he’s done it again, that takes Skoro upt to 16 languages
Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed the first issue. If you have an app, tool or service that would like to be included then please get in touch.
IndieAppSpotlight by Craig Osborne