X-Plane Story: Working 16-Hour Days At Apple Headquarters [Updated]
X-Plane 9 [App Store Link] was recently released for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and the $9.99 game has received a very positive review at TouchArcade.com. The simulator currently holds the number 6 spot amongst all paid applications on the iPhone.
The developer recounts that on September 1st, he called Apple to see if the company thought it was possible to port their flight simulator to the iPhone. The response was enthusiastic "yes" with hopes that the app could be ready for Apple's upcoming Let's Rock media event. The developers packed up and flew to Apple headquarters in Cupertino almost immediately to start work on the port.
Within 2 minutes, our contact at Apple came down the lobby to get us and bring us to the office that would be our home for the next 7 days as we cranked out the iPhone version of X-Plane on an absurdly tight schedule. Here is the deal: Apple had a Keynote coming up in about 10 days, and wanted to have X-Plane ready to present there, and neither Ben nor I had ever tried to program anything for an iPhone before. Could we get X-Plane into an iPhone in only 10 days? Steve Jobs himself, Leader of Apple, wanted to have a suite of programs ready in only 7 days to present at the keynote, and we had NO PROOF AT ALL that the job even COULD be done... in ANY time-frame! The next 7 days were, to say the least, 'interesting'. Ben and I had an office right in the middle the 'hive-mind', right alongside all the engineers at Apple.
The entire account is a very interesting read and gives readers a unique glimpse into Apple. In the end, while the app was completed in time, it was cut from the presentation since Steve Jobs felt it wasn't "fast-paced" enough for a Keynote demo.Still, the developers are quite pleased with the results and the application is selling very well in the App Store. Future updates to the App have been detailed by the developer including plans for an automotive version.
Update: Story removed, cache still available.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)
Still, I suppose the developers can console themselves with all the money coming in at the moment ;).
The simulator currently holds the number 6 spot amongst all paid applications on the iPhone.
Yes, a patch is now out for X-Plane, which improves fps among other things, but it highlights the whole issue of selling apps that should still be in beta testing.
Programming a simulator in a week -- utterly wow! :cool:
It's not like they had an idea for a flight simulator and some sketches on a napkin... they had a fully functional app that ran on a different platform.
Still amazing though. ;)
Kinda makes the whole game seem rather... rushed. And obviously it was, which I'm not sure is a good thing to boast about.
Yes, a patch is now out for X-Plane, which improves fps among other things, but it highlights the whole issue of selling apps that should still be in beta testing.
There weren't really FPS issues in the first place, It's just an improvement, that's all.
Apple not aware 2 weeks before the event that they had to prepare a Keynote!
Hopefully that is not their normal software development process :eek:
[ Read All Comments ]
Analytics firm Chitika today released a report showing that by its metrics iOS has now surpassed OS X in overall web traffic share in the United States. Chitika's methodology involves an analysis...
One of the most frequent reasons for an iPhone to go on a trip to the Apple Store's Genius Bar is because of water damage. Typically, a water damaged iPhone can be replaced for a flat $199...
TheVerge's Joshua Topolsky summarizes the iPad 3 casing findings reported earlier today, but also adds his own sources regarding some details of the iPad 3.
Image from RepairLabs
As...
Last July, Apple discontinued the white MacBook from its consumer lineup, pushing consumers toward the company's popular MacBook Air line or the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The company didn't kill...
Popular iPhone Twitter client Tweetbot has finally arrived on the iPad, with a user interface instantly familiar to any current Tweetbot user. Designed for the Twitter power-user, Tweetbot packs a...
