I’m excited to announce that BitBQ has acquired LittleSnapper for iPhone from Realmac Software! The fine folks over at Realmac are really focused on their Mac desktop applications. As a result, they have run out of time for LittleSnapper for iPhone. As a fan of the app, I was sad to hear this and that’s when a discussion about acquisition started.
BitBQ will now take up full time development of the application and it will be rebranded under a new name: Cinder. Additionally, the application will be updated to better utilize the Ember service provided by Realmac. Keep an eye on this blog ( or twitter ) for status updates as Cinder makes its way back on to the store, which should occur in the first couple of months of 2010.
For those of you that already own LittleSnapper for iPhone, you will need to re-download Cinder once it becomes available. The App Store will not know that the applications are essentially the same. I really wish it didn’t need to be that way, but it’s the system Apple has in place. I’m going to help alleviate some of the inconvience: for the first two weeks, Cinder will be free. After that, it will become a paid application.
I want to thank Dan Counsell, Danny Greg, and Nik Fletcher at Realmac for their help during this transition.
Great news! Got to admit I was a bit disappointed when I purchased LittleSnapper for iPhone, and then a few weeks later it was freeware. Glad to hear updates will be free for existing users when Cinder goes live. Please setup a page where users can registrar their interest and get news of Cinder development and availability via email. A lot of people are not on Twitter and this will save you the obvious problems of existing users missing the grace period to update for free.
Comment by Will — December 21, 2009 @ 11:07 am
Will, that’s a great idea. I’ll setup a page this week for folks to register their interest. And once Cinder goes live I plan to use more than Twitter and this blog to get this news out.
Comment by Patrick — December 21, 2009 @ 11:15 am
I am a little surprised, but, congratulations, and I hope that it works great. I hope you keep the already fabulous interface as fabulous as it already is
Comment by Jack — December 21, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
I’m also excited to hear someone is going to develop LittleSnapper for the iPhone. My number one wish is that my LittleSnapper library sync to my iPhone. Or that I at least have in-app access to ember instead of having access via mobile Safari. Is that in the plans?
Comment by Brad — December 21, 2009 @ 1:04 pm
@Jack Thanks, it sort of came as a surprise to me as well. Looking forward to maintaining the great UI Realmac has provided.
@Brad The plan is to make Cinder a full fledged Ember client all in app, but not in the first version. For that one, I’m just trying to get it back on the store as fast as I can. Mostly rebranding and updating for a few Ember changes where necessary to fix some issues.
Comment by Patrick — December 21, 2009 @ 3:38 pm
There are 2 main things I was hoping to see from the app. Syncing with the images in the LittleSnapper Mac app, and uploading images via FTP. Are either or both of those in the future? Thanks.
Comment by izdale — December 21, 2009 @ 9:20 pm
@izdale For FTP, were you thinking to a FTP server you’ve setup? As for syncing with the Mac app, I’m not sure as it will require Realmac providing a way to do so. Have to see how that plays out. Would you mind opening up your FTP idea on the BitBQ GetSatisfaction page? http://getsatisfaction.com/bitbq
Comment by Patrick — December 21, 2009 @ 9:30 pm
I would, but Cinder isn’t listed there yet. Unless you want me to add it to Emergency Info or FitnessTrack.
The idea is that you can easily publish photos to your own FTP server from the app. So in the settings, you would enter the server, user name, password, path, port, and web address. When you want to publish a photo in Cinder, it brings up the choices Ember and FTP, and then uploads it to the one you choose. This is because I don’t use Ember, but FTP would still give me a reason to use the app. Or you could really go the distance and make it a complete photo uploading app, with options for image shack, flickr, etc. But if the main idea is Ember, then that’s fine, it’s just a suggestion.
Comment by izdale — December 21, 2009 @ 9:42 pm
@izdale Ah, sorry, I forgot to add Cinder today to the page and of course now GetSatisfaction is down for maintenance. I like your FTP idea. I’ll add it to the “future features” list. I think the initial focus will be full Ember client, but additional upload locations is certainly something I can see adding.
Comment by Patrick — December 21, 2009 @ 9:51 pm
Congratulations on the deal! Are you willing to share the acquisition details? We did that when we acquired Where To? a year ago:
http://www.futuretap.com/blog/how-to-purchase-an-iphone-app/
It turned out to be very successful in terms of press coverage.
Comment by Ortwin — December 22, 2009 @ 4:15 am
[...] (Diese App wird als “Cinder” weitergeführt, das noch nicht im App Store verfügbar ist) [...]
Pingback by Designliste #1 – iPhoneapps | — January 26, 2010 @ 10:20 am
Any news on when you’ll finish this? We’re stuck and looking at other options.
Comment by Jared Earle — February 19, 2010 @ 11:04 am
Jared: Cinder is in the final testing phase and I expect to submit it to Apple on Sunday. It will then depend on how long it takes Apple to approve it.
Comment by Patrick — February 19, 2010 @ 11:12 am