A very early preview of Hardwick (machine embroidery digitizing app) running on iPad.

It probably doesn’t look like much yet (especially with the temporary UI for the inspector), but this is the first time my vector engine has run on iOS. Got lots of work to do to make the interface _usable_ with touch, but I’m still pleased!

The Mac version (used in McKinley) is #AppKit, but I built it as layers so that the core was framework-independent. Quite pleased that a #UIKit frontend actually worked!

Wow iPads are expensive these days. I’m considering bringing the embroidery app to iPad, so need something to test my vector engine on. The regular iPad doesn’t support hover with an Apple Pencil, and the cheapest Air is £729!

I put a lot of effort into writing user manuals for McKinley and Octavo. These manuals show up as Help Books in the app (i.e. they display in the Apple Tips app and via the Help menu), and also on the website of the relevant app.

I blogged about how I did it: https://www.amyworrall.com/blog/building-mac-app-help-books

#MacDev #BuildInPublic

Does anyone’s paid app have a command line tool associated with it (eg for use on CI)? If so, do you do anything to check licensing on the command line tool, or do you just hope your users stay honest?

#buildinpublic #indiedev #macdev

I made a What’s New video for McKinley 1.3:

https://youtu.be/O1P_UR0NVQ4

I didn’t talk about the performance improvements that were the main star of 1.3, because I couldn’t really figure out how to demo them! But I discussed the features and some fixes that went into 1.3 and 1.3.1.

Get McKinley at https://mckinleysymbols.com for all your SF Symbol creation needs! (one time payment, no subscription!)

#MacDev #SFSymbols #BuildInPublic

McKinley 1.3.1 is out. (My Mac app for designing your own SF Symbols.)

As well as a few nice fixes and improvements, the app is now also half the size. (The .dmg is 25MB down from 43MB.)

Small fry when disks are measured in terabytes, but every little helps, right? (Pats pocket and tries not to get sued by Tesco.)

https://mckinleysymbols.com/version-history

#BuildInPublic #MacDev #IndieDev #SFSymbols

I have released #McKinley 1.3. (McKinley is my Mac app for making and editing SF Symbols.)

1.3 is a huge update behind the scenes, mainly focussing on performance and correctness. It should be a _lot_ faster to work on symbols with complicated knockouts, many paths, etc.

There’s one main new feature though, Minimum Internal Radius for strokes.

https://mckinleysymbols.com

Get McKinley for $60 (no subscription!) or try the fully functional demo.

#buildinpublic #macdev #iosdev #sfsymbols #indiedev

I’ve talked a lot about McKinley lately, but I also sell another app: Octavo, a Mac app for printing booklets from PDFs or images.

https://octavo.pro

#macdev #indiedev #buildinpublic

Would anyone be interested in a video devlog about improving McKinley’s performance by speeding up our vector algorithms?

#macdev #buildinpublic #indiedev

Yey! McKinley made it to iOSDevWeekly this week :D

No sales of #McKinley over the last few days. I was pleased with my launch week, but now I’m worrying again about how I can market this going forward :(

#MacDev #IndieDev #BuildInPublic

Do any of my followers do machine embroidery?

Would you have any interest in a Mac app to make and edit artwork? (With a native GUI and built on the same vector editor you've seen in McKinley…)

#embroidery #machineembroidery

New in #McKinley 1.2.1: star and wave tools! Also a "Simplify Path" operation, plus improvements to exported symbols.

https://mckinleysymbols.com

McKinley is my tool for creating custom SF Symbols, of use to #iOSDev, #MacDev, #AppleDeveloper folks. Check it out!

What's New in McKinley 1.2, my Mac app for creating #SFSymbols:

https://youtu.be/W6bHzw5pMvY

I made a video showing off some of the updates. These improvements are all in response to user feedback, so if you have any requests or suggestions do feel free to send them in!

#MacDev #IndieDev #BuildInPublic

I'm pressing ahead with updates to McKinley. Some nice fixes plus some additions as requested by my users!

https://mckinleysymbols.com/version-history

#MacDev #BuildInPublic #IndieDev

Less than 12 hours to go to get a 15% launch discount on #McKinley, my Mac app for creating SF Symbols.

Could you live with yourself if you miss this deal? (Probably, but you’d miss out on a discount on a useful app!)

https://mckinleysymbols.com

As I suspected, #McKinley’s floating palettes are polarising. (Although I’ve had more praise than complaints overall!)

Anyone used any great implementations of dockable palettes? (Adobe’s don’t count, I don’t think they’re great!)

I’m not going to go back to sidebars, but some kind of options/flexibility might work, if it doesn’t get in the way!

#MacDev #AppKit #BuildInPublic

MCKINLEY IS OUT NOW!

McKinley is a Mac app for making SF Symbols, combining a vector editor, tools that understand symbol weights, smart preview, an export that skips the tedium of converting strokes to paths, and automatic Xcode asset catalog sync.

Normally $60 (one-off purchase), but there's a 15% launch week discount (to $51) until Sept 14th!

https://mckinleysymbols.com

And for those asking, it's named for McKinley Square in San Francisco.

#SFSymbols #MacDev #iOSDev #Apple #Mac

It’s the calm before the storm for my launch of McKinley on Monday.

I’ve fixed a few more issues reported by testers, but in general I _think_ the app is in good shape?

I guess I should make some tutorial videos, people like those.

On Monday I’ll be posting to forums and doing everything you can’t schedule ahead of time.

Wish me (and my support inbox!) luck!

https://mckinleysymbols.com

#MacDev #SFSymbols #BuildInPublic #IndieDev #iosdev

Introducing the icon for McKinley, made by the wonderful @Iconfactory via their “indie special" deal!

https://iconfactory.com/indie-icon-deal/

McKinley is releasing on 7th September: https://mckinleysymbols.com

#MacDev #IndieDev #BuildInPublic #Icon #IconDesign