Every programming language has something interesting to learn. The difference between Objective-C and Java is huge, I don't even like to compare them, but when you change your environment you need to know what your languange supports. Many Android developers there are used to Web and Destktop solutions try to think that the same solution can solve their problems in the mobile world. Maybe they can, but if efficiency is a concern, solving is not always everything. The path to excellency requires both efficacy and efficiency.

Anyway, I was going to write about runnables and code blocks. The iOS developers are probably used to code blocks, since they are part of the language and used widely, specially to use the full potential of the GCD. But about Java? In Java we have callables (link) and runnables (link). I will write about executors (link) another day, since they are part of the same package.

In this guide "Designing for Responsiveness" (link), you will learn that one way to avoid an ANR is to create a child thread to perform the background computation that would block the main thread. But you can't do everything in threads. Some of your code needs to execute on the main thread (like invalidating a view) and that's why runnables are useful.

Android Activities have a method to execute a runnable on the main thread called runOnUiThread (link). If you are suffering to make your threads to work, like when you show a Toast it causes the exeption "Can't create handler inside thread that has not called Looper.prepare()", writing it in a runnable and then calling it on the UI thread will solve it.

Also, many code that is basically copy/paste could be better written if enclosed within a runnable. Since a runnable is an object, you can also use them as parameters to other child objects of the activity, much like delegates used in iOS. In Objective C we control how to dispatch code blocks, the queue to use them, if they will execute synchronously, assynchronously, etc. In Java, executors will do the trick. I hope you find them usefull.

It is ready for sale! I am working on a new update to train basic math, so not only the memory will be trained but calculation skills as well.

Can you see the word "memory"? Here is the app (link)

You see, it will always be useful because you can train your memory, but it can also be fun once you start training basic calculations.

Today I want to highlight the importance of a good design and user experience. It is common sense, everybody knows a good UX is essential, but are we really given it the attention it deserves?

To be honest, when I am creating something I do not pay much attention to it. I just do what is obvious to me and focus on completing the task at my hands. I have a plan and I execute it, so the analysis in between is postponed until I begin testing. It is then I start to feel the features as a user and review my work with critical eyes. To shape the product created to fit the user expectations, that's the idea.

You can see the UX evolve in apps you download and that is something time matures. The Google+ app is a good example. In the current version I feel the usability much better than when I first used it. So it is important to make your code fluid. It needs to evolve!

The idea of creating an app and then assume the work is over is to think old style. There is not a "final" release. We need to change constantly and so these squared ideas. I am not saying the first release should be buggy or ugly, on the contrary! The first impression is very, very important!

All iOS developers can find an excelent guide described in this document: (link).

Android developers can also find excelent material here: (link).

This subject is amazingly rich and there are plenty of stuff I still want to write and share, but if you are an iOS developer you should also try to read the Android guide and vice versa. I am developer of both platforms and I learned a lot from both guides. They are really usefull!

These two rich material deserves to be revisited another day and confronted with each other, so see you later!

Now that the apps were approved and released, I just uploaded their new binaries! The about screen has a link to my other apps and a link to rate them. The new features of each app will be described in iTunes, once they are released.

The current status of my apps.

I said I was not going to update them often, but these are just quick changes. Now back to my reading saga... By the way I bought a Math book today, ;D.

In this example you can choose four colors for the speech bubble background. You can choose any color from the spectrum and then refine the hue. If you need even more precision you can select the color again and then pick the RGB. You will get the exact color you want.

Selecting colors over and over is a tedious task, but if you pay attention on the screens, there are two buttons on the upper right bar. They are copy and paste buttons. Actually you can copy and paste any property, not just colors, so you don't need to select them all over again if you already have the value you want.

Color selection and RGB color picker.

Productivity apps are supposed to make your life easier, right? Copy and Paste is as must have feature for any app!

Apple has finally approved my new upload. The speech bubbles on this version are specially cool. Just look at them! And of course you can change the colors, shadows, sizes and texts. I wonder if I will ever use one of them myself. I will probably ended up creating frames instead of speech bubbles for my games. But, hey they are cool and I thought you may need one of these resources.

The new speech bubbles.

If there is anybody wondering what I use to render the images, it is math! It is the power of numbers, equations used to draw some arcs, some other bezier curves and vuolla, there is a speech bubble fresh and new!

I can't be helped. I had to tell my first story today about becoming an Apple Developer. I was really surprised, because to complete my enrollment as iOS Developer I had to send a fax to Cupertino! I could not understand why I could not do everything online, but anyway, no big issue. It's part of the past now...

So this is how I began, filling forms to be an iOS Developer. Actually it's quite easy as everything on Apple is very well documented. The steps to follow are straightforward. Anyone can become a member for free and anyone using OSX Lion can download XCode without paying a cent. Then you can start writing your apps on the Simulator without having to wait to complete the enrollment. To run your app on an actual hardware you will have to complete it, unfortunately. But once you do, finish your app and distribute it! I will write about how I did it another day, and some tips about sending faxes. I did send mine, but you actually can do everything online, I will write about it later... See you!