Distant Suns – Mike Smithwick
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About the Episode
Are you looking for dead simple ways to increase your downloads? Well today’s guest talks about how a simple icon change led to 8 times more downloads for his free app. Also, if you are a programmer then listen to the part of the show where he shares how to debug your code properly.
Mike Smithwick is the CEO of First Light Design, LLC.
Show Notes
What a Simple Change can do to Your Apps
Several of the conferences that Mike had went to always have a section on icon design and it had always taken his interest every time they present icons which looked artistically good but did poorly in the App Store. His icon, early on, was made up of a planet and some stars, just like other astronomy apps out there so it didn’t really tell a story. Mike decided to add little graphics – a little telescope and a kid next to it – and it did wonders to the free version of the app. That version was downloaded eight times more so it really carried traction and did upsells in the free version.
How to Debug Your Code Properly
If you are a new programmer, you need to learn the tools inside and out. Mike shares that he always makes it a point to learn new tricks every week. Stack Overflow has been very useful for him in tracking down problems and solving weird error messages. Learning machine code is also very helpful in identifying what can either be a bug or what is going on under the hood of your codes. Shader debugging support is also useful in doing 3D stuff.
Show Mentions
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