Thursday, October 02, 2008

iTimeZone 1.1: Feature Complete

iTimeZone 1.0 was released on July 11, 2008 alongside Apple's App Store. We started work almost immediately on iTimeZone 1.1, with the main goal being to greatly expand the city list. It has taken far longer to get to this point, almost as long as 1.0 development, but iTimeZone 1.1 is finally feature complete! Here's what we at Tangerine Element have been working on.

21,072 Cities
There were a little over 100 cities in iTimeZone 1.0. The new list doesn't require network access, just like iTimeZone 1.0 didn't, its all included in the application. Developing the infrastructure to make the new city list work took far longer than I thought. Now that the SDK NDA is lifted for released iPhone OS version, the trials and tribulations warrants its own post.

Revamped UI
The User Interface of iTimeZone has been overhauled in just about every way, but I think it's clearly still iTimeZone. Here are the 1.0 and 1.1 screens side by side and notes on all the changes for made in 1.1.

 1.01.1Changes in 1.1
Main with Cities
  • Added toolbar and moved + and Edit buttons. Had to do this to make room for some new stuff, and future stuff :-)
  • Now. Resets the dials to, well, the current instant
  • i button. Shows the new about screen
  • Added detail disclosure button to city. Done to implement standard way to get to city detail
  • Moved sun/moon icon to center. Had to be done to accommodate detail disclosure button
  • Shrunk the city cell height. With the new toolbar, had to reclaim some space so that it was still obvious there was a row below the toolbar
Main Empty
  • Double-tappable Map Image. Double tapping on the map brings you to the Add City screen.
Add Empty
  • Removed the browsable list. With the number of cities, first attempt at a browsable navigation model didn't work out to well. It may yet return though...
  • Changed navigation model so your top city can always be seen
Add Search
  • Country Flags. Adds a little pizzaz and makes the city you are looking for easier to spot
  • Detail Disclosure Button. See some details about a city before adding it
  • State and Country. Put as much info in the cell as possible without customizing
Main Edit
  • Actually this view hasn't changed much
City Detail N/A
  • Tap the Maps icon. Launches Google Maps on that city.
AboutN/A
  • Tap the iTimeZone icon to open Safari on the product page
  • Tap the Tangerine Element to open Safari on the company site
  • Tap either of the link buttons for the sources of some content in the application

What's Next
We just started a private iTimeZone 1.1 Beta. We will go with the flow of feedback as it comes in, but hopefully it won't be too long before the update is published through the App Store. Even if you aren't in the beta right now, feel free to post feedback in the comments, and thanks if you do.