

Show HN: DownCount. iOS app for keeping track of important days. My 1st app - robmaceachern
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/downcount/id645771979

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hardwaresofton
Disclaimer: I'm not an iOS developer, and don't do much mobile development
(other than web) -- I've tried iOS (just did some cocoa walkthroughs) and I've
made an android app or two (unpublished, they weren't useful), but that's
pretty much it

I think as far as functionality goes -- Does this hook to any calendar APIs?
Maybe it should? I mean if I have my calendar already stored on
Google/Calendar app, etc, it should be easy to see all the things that are
"coming up". Integration ACROSS calendars (work, private, etc) would make it a
really cool what-do-you-need-to-do next calendar aggregation app

You could introduce coloring for the different places/types of events. Like if
you mark a calendar you import as "work stuff" you'll be able to easily see on
the home page which stuff is work stuff that's coming up/due soon.

Also, I dunno if "DownCount" is a good name... Though I'm thinking of the app
in my own terms, it seems like this is more like "what's coming up" rather
than Counting down to one specific event (I think of countdowns as really more
to do with one thing, rather than multiple, but then again, that's just me) --
so maybe a name like "whatsnext" or "upcoming" in some other language or
"nekst" or something.. I dunno, or maybe downcount is just fine.

Also, I think you can go even MORE minimal with the styling. Since you only
have to pages, why not have both be lists, and swipe between screens? This
will enhance the beauty of the app, and I think you could get even clearer
distinctions between the colored items, and I would think of the common use
case something as like this:

I'm waiting around, not sure when my <event> is, pull out my phone, tap on
DownCount, and I see 5 of the closest upcoming things in big letters, and
bright colors.

Some future features could be gesture-based filtering (this is based on the
premise that you add/discern a way to categorize the stuff going in)?

~~~
robmaceachern
Thanks for the feedback! Calendar integration is definitely on the roadmap, as
are swipes between detail screens. Categorizing items is probably a bit lower
on the list of things to do but I will definitely keep it in mind.

Send me a message if you'd like a promo code. rob@robmaceachern.com

~~~
hardwaresofton
yeah, I don't actually have an iPhone, but good to hear those things are in
the roadmap!

------
robmaceachern
Hi everyone! I'd really appreciate any comments and feedback on the app. Still
riding the initial wave of excitement!

