Issue 5 - Obscura
This week, we're exploring Obscura, a brilliant photography application created by Ben McCarthy. Version 4 of Obscura has just rolled out, featuring several upgrades designed to make its user interface even more effective and intuitive than before. These improvements range from offering easier ways to navigate through your photo library to subtle modifications to the exposure dial. These changes aim at enhancing the user experience, making the app's interface smoother and more user-friendly.
Obscura has also transitioned to a subscription-based pricing model. This change represents a shift in how the app is monetised, and its creator, Ben McCarthy, provides insight into the reasoning behind this decision.
What sets Obscura apart for me, personally, is the sensation of using a traditional camera. The use of dials for adjusting ISO and shutter speed just works for me. It makes me eager to dive deeper into the world of photography.
App Spotlight
App Name : Obscura
Developer : Ben McCarthy - Mastodon, Twitter/X
What is Obscura?
Obscura is a camera app, built for pros and designed for everyone.
Where did the idea for Obscura come from?
My dad is a professional photographer, so I grew up around cameras, and I’ve always been passionate about technology, and mobile apps in particular. Around 2014, smartphone photography was really picking up steam, but the iPhone camera didn’t offer much in the way of control, compared to a DSLR.
At WWDC 2014, Apple introduced manual camera APIs, and I knew it would finally be possible to make a more pro-oriented camera app. I had only recently started teaching myself to code in the months leading up to WWDC, and this seemed like a great project to sink my teeth into.
What’s one stand out feature you’d like everyone to know about?
It’s a simple one, but the Exposure Dial in Obscura is really great. You just drag your thumb in an arc like you’re turning a physical dial on a camera, and you feel haptics as the dial clicks to each value. Most of the work in Obscura goes into designing controls that are intuitive, unobtrusive, and a delight to use.
How do you promote Obscura?
I owe a lot of my success to having spent so much time volunteering at and photographing conferences in the Apple world. Úll, a conference that ran here in Ireland introduced me to so many great people in this community, and they’ve been incredibly generous with their time and attention. Those connections compounded as I started travelling to California for WWDC, and photographing conferences like Release Notes. Having friends who can help you not just with promoting a new app, but solving bugs, or proving inspiration is the best resource imaginable.
How did you decide on the pricing?
Besides the first few months, Obscura has been a paid-up-front app its whole existence. A big reason why is just the simplicity. All I had to do was choose a price from a dropdown, and the app was ready to make money. I didn’t have to worry about managing In App Purchases, Receipt Validation, or anything like that. And when I was just getting started as self-taught programmer, that was a daunting prospect.
But as the years have gone on, the App Store has been less and less accommodating of paid-up-front apps. There are no options for free trials or paid upgrades between major updates, as well as things like Search Ads really being tailored for free apps. I’ve known for a while that Obscura should probably make the switch to being a free app with IAP, and as I worked on Obscura 4, I realised that subscriptions were really the best option for the sustainability of the app, and my own sanity. It’s hard to know how best to budget your time and energy for a paid up front app as it makes progressively less money each month.
How long did it take to get to the first version?
About a year. I started working on it summer 2014, and launched summer 2015.
Is there anything you’ve learnt that stands out?
Building custom controls is great, building custom navigation is terrible. There are some cases where it’s better to adhere to the system defaults, and that’s a big one.
Any tools or apps you would recommend others check out?
Besides Xcode and Sketch, which I spend almost all my time in:
Bear - for managing text like App Store descriptions, release notes, walkthrough copy, etc. They just had a big 2.0 release, and the app is better than ever
Rotato - A very intuitive app for doing 3D iPhone mockups
Pastebot - I don’t know how I survived before having a clipboard manager and Pastebot is the one I use. I wish iOS supported clipboard managers, maybe next year, I keep telling myself.
Where can everyone go to find out more?
obscura.camera or feel free to ask me any questions on Mastodon.
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IndieAppSpotlight - Mastodon, Twitter/X
by Craig Osborne - Mastodon, Twitter/X