Rob Owen

Octoscope v3 Update

2024-10-08T00:00:00Z

Major Update #

Long in the making, Octoscope v3 is now live on the App Store. This update brings export meters, App Shortcuts, a brand-new icon, new widgets & app intents.

There's a ton of in-app optimisations, bug fixes and layout changes too. And the app now works even better at large dynamic text sizes.

Orbit Launch

2024-09-16T00:00:00Z

Orbit Launches Today #

Orbit is now available!

I'm excited to enter the productivity app space with a novel and opinionated take on to-do lists. Orbit is designed to meet the needs of users who want a clearer sense of priority from their task manager, and enjoy the helpful friction of a daily review.

Orbit goes live with day one support for new iOS 18 features, including control center integration and light, dark and tinted icons. I've been thinking about this project for years, and working on the tech since mid 2023.

You can read more on the Orbit page, or head over to the App Store:

Discounts #

To celebrate the launch, I'm offering discounts on annual subscriptions! Use them and share with your friends:

30% off annual individual subscription with code: ORBITLAUNCH
30% off annual family subscription with code: ORBITLAUNCHFAMILY

You can redeem these in-app: scroll to the bottom of the paywall screen and press "Redeem Code". Launch offer codes are valid until 31st October 2024.

The Future #

I've had great feedback through the public beta, and a long list of my own ideas for the future. Get in touch if there's something you'd love to see down the line.

Website Launch

2024-08-16T00:00:00Z

Welcome to the new website. I'll be using this site to host App-related content as well as personal blog posts and news updates. This post covers some of the tech. Read on if interested.

The Technology #

This site is built on eleventy, a javascript-based static site generator. I wanted a static website where I could author cleanly versioned markdown files on my computer, without needing to learn any custom WYSIWIG editor. Any static site generator would have been suitable, so don't take this as a technology recommendation. I'm using Vercel for hosting.

My experience of 11ty so far has been good. I've building on top of the Eleventy Base Blog which has help me bootstrap a working setup without re-inventing the wheel. The builds are fast and I can write in markdown syntax on my local machine.

Why change? #

When setting out as indepedent app developer in 2022, I knew web could be a distraction. I've professional experience in this area and it risked become a comfortable distraction from learning the new skills I needed as an Apple developer.

An attractive developer-friendly website was a risk in the early days, so I started with wordpress - a platform I'm deeply unhappy to use. This was a good thing for my app development. I'm not saying wordpress is bad, but it's a poor fit for someone experienced in static websites, CI/CD, code-driven config and version controlled updates.

Now things have moved forward. I am about to launch my third indie app and want to simplify and consolidate the websites that support the core app business, so I can spend less time & money on the websites while gaining more control and flexibility to do what I need. When you don't need server-side processing, having a web server can be wasteful and costly. Out with wordpress.

I'll be updating the website content, design & technical features over time.