• Developer name: Jeff Rock
• Company Name: Mobelux
• Location:U.S.A.
• Apps at the App Store:1
• Website: Mobelux

About Dev:

Tell us a little about you, and your current company.

My name is Jeff Rock. I live in Richmond, VA, and I co-founded Mobelux with Garrett Ross in September of 2008. We’d been going back and forth about starting a software company for years, but when Apple announced the iPhone SDK it all kind of fell into place. We both have a passion for well-designed software and we knew that this might be the only time that we  could get in on the ground floor of something great, so we decided to go for it.

About your Work:

What did you do before taking up iPhone development?

Before iPhone development I did a little bit of everything, from video editing to software UI design. In fact, I had dabbled in just about everything except programming, which proved to be a issue, so I took a programming 101 class at the university I was enrolled at, picked up a copy of Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X, downloaded the iPhone SDK and got to work.

What apps have you developed so far? Tell us about your apps in brief.

Tumblrette -  Post text, photos, quotes, links, chats and audio to any of your tumblelogs  and check your dashboard from anywhere. Tumblrette is our first released app and has become the premier Tumblr iPhone app. It’s even featured on Tumblr’s Goodies page!

Which one of your own apps is your favorite, and why?

Tumblrette wins by default since it’s the only app we’ve released! It’s also a big deal for me since it’s the first app I’ve ever written.

How do you go from idea to app? What’s the process?

When we come up with an idea we start by asking, “would I use this?” We’ve eliminated dozens of ideas based on that question. Once an idea passes the first test we isolate the core features that the app requires to function. Then we critique what we’ve isolated until we have a lean set of 1.0 features. From there it’s off to the sketch book. These aren’t elaborate, we don’t use templates or colored pencils. They simply indicate UI and design direction. The real magic happens in a massive Photoshop document laced with Illustrator Smart Objects that serves as the basis for the design and all the artwork that requires creation. Then, outside of some research tasks, the coding begins. We believe strongly in design, and that no programming should start until the design doc is 98% solid. Then we use Redmine for our feature/bug tracking and create a loose roadmap for builds. From there it’s an iterative process up to 1.0.

Any exciting stuff you are working on? Give our readers a hint of what to expect from you next.

We’re branching out from just iPhone development for our next release. That said, we’re really excited about creating ecosystems of applications that are comprised of an OS X app, iPhone app and web app. I think you’ll see a lot of that from Mobelux in the future. Oh, and for all you Tumblr fans, we might have another special treat in store for you as well!

Do you develop for other platforms? How do you compare the iPhone development platform with other platforms?

My only other experience is with Mac OS X and website development. The parallels between Mac OS X and iPhone OS are self-explainatory, since most everything in the iPhone OS is derived from OS X, but I find that from a design standpoint, designing for the iPhone OS has a lot in common with creating websites. The static resolution creates a fixed canvas on which to create and that leads to a kind of pixel-level perfection that you can achieve.

Tell us something about how users are responding to your apps. What’s the most flattering comment you have received? Or the weirdest?

Overall we have very positive reviews and an incredibly supportive user base. The most flattering comment? Probably when [Tumblrette was reviewed by Ars Technica: “With a healthy dose of Tumblr integration, unique features like drafts, and gorgeous UI polish throughout, Tumblrette is a great choice for both established Tumblr users and those considering signing up.” The weirdest? Probably this one: “One of my favourite mini-blog web service on the net, so I found it very useful on the iPhone to blog even in my toilets.”

About the App Store:

Name two iPhone apps you consider are cool, excluding the apps you’ve developed. What makes these apps stand out?

Got to go with Tweetie. You can tell that the developer really thought through the way a mobile Twitter app should be designed and followed through with a stable, fast implementation. I’m also a huge fan of Things. Another great example of applied restraint and thoughtful design.

Any message to your fellow developers?

Sweat every pixel. People can tell when you create something that you love. Oh, and quit making gimmick apps. We have enough.

Thank you for your time, Jeff.