April 2011
1 post
First Screenshots of Chronicle 4
Chronicle 4 is almost ready, evidenced by the fact that I am finally posting screenshots of the new version. Almost everything is functioning properly, and as you can see, the interface is quite updated. There’s a ton that can’t be seen from these screenshots, but a couple highlights:
The Bill Detail Screen
Coolest change is the new “Last 12 Months” view on the Payment...
January 2011
4 posts
2 tags
Updated: Sync Chronicle Reminders with MobileMe,...
Update 2: New instructions for Google calendar on Lion!
One of the best things about Chronicle is that it syncs your upcoming bills with iCal, so you get timely reminders to pay your bills. If you have an iPhone, those reminders will even sync to it.
Even more awesome: Chronicle sync its reminders to your MobileMe or Google calendar account. This is fantastic because if you have your iPhone...
Three Days Later: The Mac App Store Effect
When the Mac App Store launched, I had high hopes. But nothing could have prepared me for what happened on January 6.
Our home inventory App, Compartments, had been selling at a steady, average pace—we were selling between 6 and 10 copies a day, at $24.95 each. We decided to lower the price to $9.95, in hopes of attracting a larger audience at the start of the App Store.
What happened next...
The Mac App Store and Our Free Upgrade Policy
When I launched LittleFin in 2008, one of the things I was sure about was that I wanted LittleFin to always offer free upgrades. As a user, there were few things more exciting to me than getting free updates with new features.
So despite the fact that paid software upgrades are one of the best sources of revenue for developers, I decided to implement a firm policy that our upgrades—no matter how...
LittleFin and the Mac App Store
We are very excited to have both of our apps in the Mac App Store at launch! After a lot of thinking, we have decided on the following policies:
Chronicle and Compartments will be available in the Mac App Store and on the LittleFin website.
Both Chronicle and Compartments will continue to feature free lifetime upgrades, as always, no matter where you purchase.
Pricing Differences
There will...
October 2010
1 post
May 2010
2 posts
Evolution of A Mac App Icon
A good icon is a challenge—it must be detailed enough to look great large, but also be simple enough to be good-locking on the dock.
One of the last things to get finished before Compartments was released was the application icon—not because we waited until the last minute to start it, but because making a good icon takes time.
The Compartments icon was designed by Kenichi Yoshida, who does...
April 2010
2 posts
What Happened to the Apple Downloads Page?
When Apple released the iPad, they made a subtle change to Apple.com: they replaced the downloads tab with a link to the iPad page. Which makes sense. But then, shortly after removing the prominent link to the downloads page, Apple also stopped updating the page entirely. Developers who have submitted updates (including LittleFin) since March 26 have not seen their product updated.
There has been...
Chronicle Loves Keyboard Shortcuts!
Did you know that Chronicle loves keyboard shortcuts? Just about anything you can do with the mouse in Chronicle, you can do with a keyboard shortcut as well.
You can even log payments for all your bills using the keyboard, without ever even leaving the overview screen if you so desire.
If you want to learn all of the keyboard shortcuts in Chronicle, or have a handy reference, just select...
March 2010
2 posts
First Screenshot of Compartments!
Here it is! The first screenshot of the near-finished interface for Compartments, our new home inventory app (click it to see a bigger version). We’re really excited about it. A few highlights:
Really Fast Data Entry
That Quick Add toolbar button lets you enter as many items as you want through one dialog, really fast. Quickly input everything just to keep track of where it is, and fill...
Chronicle Tip: Set a Savings Goal
Did you know you can use Chronicle to set a savings goal? While it’s a little outside the realm of what you might normally use Chronicle for, it works great, and it is a really easy way to help you remember to set aside some money each month.
Here’s how it works:
Create a new bill called Savings
Set the repeat interval to however often you plan to add money to this savings account,...
December 2009
1 post
Chronicle 3.0 Released
It’s finally here! Chronicle 3 is now available, and it brings with it a huge range of interface improvements, and a brand new icon, shown here. The new icon was designed by Kenichi Yoshida, who was an incredible designer to work with, and I’m very happy with how it turned out.
What we tried to do with Chronicle 3 was make it faster simpler, and more streamlined. It takes less clicks...
November 2009
2 posts
Chronicle 3.0 Now In Private Beta
If you would be interested in testing the beta version, drop me a line at beta@littlefin.com and I will be happy to send you the download details. Depending on how testing goes, I hope to have the final 3.0 out in mid-December.
Posted on November 13, 2009
August 2009
1 post
Chronicle 3.0 Under Development: Testers Needed
Version 3.0 is a pretty significant update to Chronicle. The interface is being simplified and improved, the graphics and icons are getting an overhaul, and behind the scenes, all data storage is being done in a more efficient way as well. All this means Chronicle 3.0 is going to be faster and easier to use than Chronicle 2 is. It will be a couple months before a private beta is ready, but if...
June 2009
2 posts
Chronicle 2.2 Adds New Features
Version 2.2 is the biggest update to Chronicle since the initial 2.0 launch. With this update, in addition to several user interface improvements, Chronicle adds goal-setting and statistics to its lineup of features. It’s available now for only $19.95. As always we want to know how you use Chronicle, and what features you would like to see. Contact us if you have any feature suggestions for...
New Website Design!
Finally, we’ve launched our new, cleaner, brighter web design. Our general goal was to make it a little less cluttered, but keep the basic structure. The new website design also coincides with a slight change to our brand identity. We’ve kept the fin and blue water behind it, but added the orange beach-like wave to it. Drop me a line at mike@littlefin.com if you have any feedback on...
March 2009
1 post
Chronicle Selected by Apple as Staff Pick
Apple posted Chronicle into their downloads section, and happily, they selected it as a staff pick in the business and finance category. Thousands have already downloaded Chronicle from Apple. So far, more people arrive at LittleFin from Apple than from MacUpdate and VersionTracker combined.
Posted on March 18, 2009