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Show HN: Ghostnote – Contextual notes and todo app

ghostnoteapp.com

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Re: Show HN: Ghostnote – Contextual notes and todo app

#131

Post by thisisit »

ryanSrich wrote: post #116
thisisit wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Currently I am also spending time learn iOS to build an app. And its a long arduous task, specially if someone has never coded ever. Personally, last I wrote a piece of code was 3+ years ago, while in school. I haven't specifically shopped for a developer cause forget $50k, I can't even spend $5k. So I guess sometimes, its not really about offsetting your potential earnings, than it is about whether you could afford…

I'm working through this course - http://bitfountain.io/courses/complete-ios8 It's really comprehensive but absolutely massive. If you have a demanding full time job it could easily take you a year to get through the full course. > I haven't specifically shopped for a developer cause forget $50k, I can't even spend $5k. The problem isn't really the initial dollar amount, it's spending what you think you can make back…

> The problem isn't really the initial dollar amount, it's spending what you think you can make back on the application in a reasonable amount of time (6 months). If you can't make $50k on an app then why spend the money to have it made?

I guess that is where one needs to a fair bit of market analysis. One could argue that ghostnote might or might have a potential for $50k but who knows? Add the fact that some gurus say paid apps are dead while you can find numerous paid ones working fine, it is just confusing.

Then there is decision on pricing the app. I was reading up on some devs who put out their income figures. One might be inclined to think Dash for iOS at $10 might be a hard sell but it has done really good. On comparing to another app priced at $3.99 with same number of downloads, the returns have been much higher.

So the issue doesn't stop with whether I can make it back. But also, how do I make it back. I am too learning it the hard way :)

> I'm working through this course - http://bitfountain.io/courses/complete-ios8

My first impression after scrolling through the page is - It is too detailed. Maybe for complete beginners in programming.

I have started with free Udemy course - https://www.udacity.com/course/ud585

Following it up with the free Stanford classes. Currently need to start with the 3rd lecture.

Re: Show HN: Ghostnote – Contextual notes and todo app

#132

Post by thisisit »

ThomPete wrote: post #114
thisisit wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Currently I am also spending time learn iOS to build an app. And its a long arduous task, specially if someone has never coded ever. Personally, last I wrote a piece of code was 3+ years ago, while in school. I haven't specifically shopped for a developer cause forget $50k, I can't even spend $5k. So I guess sometimes, its not really about offsetting your potential earnings, than it is about whether you could afford…

I think if you have an interesting problem it's easier to get a developer on board than if you have something thats a lot of work but tedious to do. Also I always offer 50/50 split after I have recouped my investment. This is to pay for upgrading the app (an there will be many updates after launch believe me). If the app is interesting then they might be a little more willing to invest their time too.

A query, how did you decide on the price point for your app? There must be some kind of break-even calculation or something?

Re: Show HN: Ghostnote – Contextual notes and todo app

#133

Post by ThomPete »

michaelwilson wrote: post #119

It's great so far. But...I, out of curiosity, flipped on the "Ghost Mode" switch. Now, clicking on the ghost doesn't do anything. What is Ghost Mode? How do I get out of it?

It's one of those "seems like such a good idea" things we probably just should have dropped until we had a better solution.

The idea is that the ghostnote app visually stays out of the way by going semi-transparent when your mouse isn't over it.

So I am guess it's just so low on transparency that you can't see it :)

Got to Preferences and turn it off then you should be able to see the window.

But yeah not the most useful feature for now.

Re: Show HN: Ghostnote – Contextual notes and todo app

#134

Post by hansy »

Suggestion for the landing page: supplement video with screenshots or bulleted use cases for people who can't/don't watch the video (so users can get that aha moment)

Clarification: are notes attached to individual files, or can you also attach notes to file types or even specific file names? For example, any time I click on a .gitignore I see my note for useful git commands.

Re: Show HN: Ghostnote – Contextual notes and todo app

#135

Post by hrktb »

emehrkay wrote: post #123
telekid wrote: post #77

Apple should buy you. This is the kind of new feature that I want out of an OS update. It's incredibly useful, but requires deep system integration to work perfectly. Unfortunately, without access to private APIs, I imagine you're going to hit a wall sooner than later. For example, right now, moving a file breaks its relationship with a note, and an open file's notes aren't associated with the file's finder icon. I i…

> moving a file breaks its relationship with a note How does OS X handle moving files while they're open/in use? One of the first things I stumbled upon when I started using the OS is that it was possible, while Windows would throw an error.

In OSX/linux/unix the application uses the inode (a system level file id basically), which is independent of the path where the file is stored.

This allows to move a file around, even trash, while applications can keep referring to it. This can be weird (if you delete a file in use, it won't be effectively deleted from disk until every application accessing it stop doing so)

Re: Show HN: Ghostnote – Contextual notes and todo app

#136

Post by ThomPete »

thisisit wrote: post #132
ThomPete wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think if you have an interesting problem it's easier to get a developer on board than if you have something thats a lot of work but tedious to do. Also I always offer 50/50 split after I have recouped my investment. This is to pay for upgrading the app (an there will be many updates after launch believe me). If the app is interesting then they might be a little more willing to invest their time too.

A query, how did you decide on the price point for your app? There must be some kind of break-even calculation or something?

I learned the hard way it's better to start low and the raise prices than to start high and then have to lower them.

You wanna give the early adopters a better deal than the later ones.

I knew this app was unique (I frankly have never seen anything close to it) and i knew it was adding value because I use it all the time myself and it has some potential so I could go way higher and still make the same if not more.

But I decided to start at this price because i didn't know what kind of bugs would surface once many people started using it. That way people don't feel like they are overpaying even when they find bugs and I am kind of giving them a discount to provide me with valuable information.

I think that is fair to everyone.

Re: Show HN: Ghostnote – Contextual notes and todo app

#137

Post by ThomPete »

hansy wrote: post #134

Suggestion for the landing page: supplement video with screenshots or bulleted use cases for people who can't/don't watch the video (so users can get that aha moment) Clarification: are notes attached to individual files, or can you also attach notes to file types or even specific file names? For example, any time I click on a .gitignore I see my note for useful git commands.

Hey

Regarding .gitignore not for now but we are building this concept of content zones into the app that would allow you to do that.

With regards to landing page yeah i realize that I should probably just have a video in the beginning. A lot of people think it's just another notes app.

Re: Show HN: Ghostnote – Contextual notes and todo app

#138

Post by ThomPete »

ThomPete wrote: post #21

Also a humble request. I literally went through 3 developers and too much money until I was so luck to find @jimmyhoughjr. Jimmys primary expertise is iOS but I convinced him to help me out on this project for the money I could afford. Jimmy could use some freelance work as he has been out of work for while now (and live in the mid-west). So if you need an extra hand on som iOS work don't hesitate to connect with him…

Also if anyone knows a good windows developer who might be interested in joining uss please don't hesitate to put them in contact with me.

We want this to be cross platform.

Re: Show HN: Ghostnote – Contextual notes and todo app

#140

Post by ThomPete »

decentrality wrote: post #139

I understand this apparently awesome application is only intended for Mac OS X, but it would be wonderful if the web presence marketing it wasn't totally unusable on a mobile device.

Hey.

Can you elaborate a little? Not sure I understand what you are saying.

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