Archive | August, 2014

So You Want to get into Mobile Development, eh?

Mobile Development has become engrained in our culture. Devices are being pushed to their limits, developers are high in demand in every industry and the biggest companies are just finally catching up with what we already knew: Mobile computing is here to stay. As Bromance Labs, we’ve been here since the beginning – with a couple of other believers – and are here to say we told you so.

 

mobile developmentSo where do you stand in the realm of mobile computing? We attempted to answer that question by asking you who you were in relation to us when we asked who you were. So if you haven’t reached out to us, let us know!  That being said you could be a combination of types. I personally view myself as a user, enthusiast, programmer, and probably dreamer. To explain that last one – I really believe that we can expand the greatness of mobile computing into practical everyday living. And we think the world is starting to agree with us.

What does that have to do with programming? Well… frankly, everything. We have met several developers, entrepreneurs, users and have found that a lot of them share the same passion for mobile computing and have gotten their hands dirty in development for a variety of reasons. As Joel told us last week, we became a company simply because the idea of making something for mobile was exciting (even if it was on the failing BlackBerry infrastructure)! At the time I was developing on the BlackBerry, I actually hated it. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even want to own one. No really – I got one as a prize and sold it. I owned this glorious piece of Windows Phone hardware:

Verizon XV6700

My first smartphone the VZW6700

The reason for having a Windows Phone at the time was the interface, the user experience, the integration. It felt ahead of it’s time. Pocket PC was a valid title for the little smartphone that could. But that faded for me with the release of the iPhone 3G. At the risk of sounding like an Apple Fanboy, I loved it. It was the first time I felt raw mobile power in that device and inspired me to want to dive in completely into mobile development. So for me, it was user experience that made me take the plunge.

I’m telling you this because there are a lot of people wondering if they can get into mobile development and I’m telling you, yes. If you want to do it – do it. We don’t care about the competition – we encourage it, we thrive on it. We’ve met people that have gotten involved with mobile development through so many avenues. One person saw a gap in app he needed for himself, so he learned to code. Another wanted to build a game and had never programmed before, but he learned. I know of a web programmer that wondered if she had the chops to transfer her skills to a mobile app – she did. There are so many ways to get into mobile dev if you want to be a part of the process.

Mobile-App-Development

The reality is that if you want to get into mobile programming there are a lot of resources out there depending on your skill level. You can come in with no programming experience or have 20 years. The truth of the matter is that we really enjoy the opportunity of learning more about our industry and meeting people from all kinds of walks of life.

So we say to the mobile industry: Thanks for having us!

What’s in a Name?

[Pumba:] And, oh, the shame
[Timon:] He was ashamed
[Pumba:] Thought-a changin’ my name
[Timon:] Oh, what’s in a name
[Pumba:] And I got downhearted
[Timon:] How did you feel
[Pumba:] Ev’rytime that I…
[Timon:] Hey, not in front of the Kids

Oh, What's in a Name?

Oh, What’s in a Name?

“That’s a really cool company name”.
“Is that really the name of your company? That’s awesome”.

These are some of the phrases people say when they hear our company name. So in case anyone out there is wondering how we came up with the name for our mobile development company read on…

In 2010, Edwin and I both worked at the same company, when management wanted to explore a BlackBerry app. Edwin and I were tapped to develop the project. While working on it we developed a great working relationship and that’s all she wrote.

From there, we started working on smaller apps. These apps never saw the light of day but they were great learning experiences. Fast forward to 2012, we made the decision to form our own development company called Bromance Labs. The name “Bromance” seemed perfect for 2 guys who work very well together and at the same time crack jokes and make each other laugh until our sides hurt. And we felt like we were working on so many experimental pieces of tech we envisioned ourselves as scientists working in a “Lab.”

So the first app we released commercially is called SleepLab. We worked on and off that project for about a year while keeping our day jobs. There were many highs (when the program didn’t crash) and lows (integrating in-app purchases) along the way. During the development process we hired Corbie the great Pixel Monkey who does outstanding artwork. He turned all of the 1s and 0s into wondrous tapestries or art. We kept plugging away at SleepLab and it was successfully released on both iOS and Android phones and tablets in 2013.

So that’s how our company was named and formed. We’re currently experimenting in the lab on new projects. One said app is going to be really useful if you play board games and you’ve lost your dice or want to brag about your score. Another project that we’re working on is going to be extremely useful for companies that want to have an app presence and don’t have the full resources to do it in house.

I’m afraid we can’t divulge any more information, you know… top secret stuff going on here. If you pry too much, I can’t be responsible for what our minions might do. With that being said we can’t wait to release our experiments out onto the public and for you all to start using them.

Do you have a favorite company name? Let us know!

Have a great week everyone!

Hey Bromance Labs Audience, Who the Heck are You?

Dear Audience,

It was a dark and stormy night when… No wait, it was totally a cool, crisp summer night when I decided to call El Señor Joel Reeves. I was having this existential crisis for our little operation here. You see, we’ve been working on so many wonderful things that we have forgotten about why we started this adventure to begin with: you.

We are not marketing guys, that’s a given. We don’t do everything necessary to put out the word about what we’ve been up to and by our own admission, not the greatest communicators to our community. Well, we decided to change that. We want our community to grow, feel included, get excited when we do, and geek out over new things together. But as Joel and I contemplated the inclusion of everyone, we kept getting stuck on something: who is our audience, anyway? Who were we trying to get excited and about what?

So tell us in the comments below, on Twitter, or Facebook where you fall. How did you hear about us? or what do you consider yourself now?


Future Employers/Investors – Standard Membership

We figure there are a few people that casually come across our site, apps, etc that are interested in learning more about who we are and what we do. Heck, we have the data to prove that! We like jiving about tech trends, and what we are up to. We also enjoyed handing out our really awesome business cards made by the great Pixel Monkey, Corbie Summers:


Programmers – Platinum Membership

A Programmers Life – we love what we do!

Meetups, Hackathons, Coding Horror Weekends, oh my! Some of our best ideas and conversations happen at these events, in forums, on our favorite programming subreddits, and so much more. We really love talking real geek talk and learning from so many people that have been programming for years. So much so, we are thinking about starting a GitHub channel for some projects that surface from these events!


SleepLab users – Sapphire Membership

If one thing is for certain, we find users of SleepLab all over the place! In the unlikeliest places typically. When we first started this project, it was just our little adventure to find out what it was like to put an app on the App Stores! Well, little did we know how much we would learn about sleep patterns and how much people love using our app. Yeah, we love you too!


Old or Current Colleagues – Diamond Membership

Look at your suits.. you’re so fancy

Some people that we have worked with/or currently work with are some of our biggest fans and critics! We love your feedback and we love how we end up talking about the future of what we are doing. We love sharing that excitement with you all. Keep us grounded and humble.


Friends and Family – Ultimate Membership

The heart and soul of Bromance Labs.

Our absolute favorite user base! You guys are the soul of our drive and we adore you. You are the first to beta test, the first to tell us when something sucks and the first to give us high fives. You’re also typically the ones that have to listen to us drone on and on about technical stuff that is typically reserved for those with a Platinum Programmer Membership! Thanks for all you do!

So tell us, who are you? We’re dying to know!