In the middle of last year I began playing around with iOS development. I've long been curious about Objective-C and Cocoa Touch, trying tutorials and reading documentation on and off for a few years. Every so often I'd begin work on an application only to have it end in frustration: either I didn't enjoy what I was working on or more commonly the learning curve proved too steep.
However last year when I began working on another application a funny thing happened: I finished it. My first commit was on May 10th and seven months later to the day, I released it to the app store. It is with tremendous pride that I present to you
Jot. The fastest way to write on your iPhone.
Currently it sits at version 1.2.0. I waited until now to write about it to make sure all initial bugs were worked out before you got your hands on it.
I have a full pipe-line of features planned that I'm anxious to develop and release. The two I'm most excited about are: 1) the ability to customize the editor's appearance and 2) synching of Jots via Dropbox. The latter should prove most interesting as it involves networking which will be fun to learn about.
One of the more crucial elements that enabled me to create this application was the wonderful book, iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide. Without this book the uphill battle to understanding how and why Cocoa Touch works would have been much steeper. If you are at all interested in developing your own iOS App I strongly recommend this book. It's wonderful.
I'd also like to thank all my friends and family for supporting me along the way. Without their help I would still be in development of Jot, continuously tinkering away into oblivion. Also a special thank you to everyone who helped me debug my beta builds. It meant heaps, thank you.
It was a long journey to releasing Jot in the App Store, however the sense of accomplishment I felt when it was released was awesome. To everyone thinking about or working on their first app: keep at it and don't stop. You'll get it done.