I ‘m not a programmer / developer type myself “ but I admire the heck out of those who are, especially those who produce really good iPhone apps. This weekend, once again thanks to Twitter, I got a chance to ‘meet ‘ the creator of probably my favorite iPhone app ever, and certainly The most fun app I ‘ve seen yet, SmackTalk!.
Marcus Hobbs is the sole developer of SmackTalk! and he was kind enough to take some time via email this weekend to do this interview with me. His answers are excellent “ offering a look at how this superb app came about in less than 3 weeks from initial idea to entry in the App Store!, lots of background on his own successful switch to being a full-time iPhone developer, some news on upcoming SmackTalk! updates and the possibilities of new apps from him, and even a bit of advice for new iPhone devs.
Here is just one of my favorite lines from Marcus:
After 16 years I am now leaving the animated feature business to concentrate on iPhone Apps full-time. Why? Because I feel that my visual and musical dreams can finally come to life on a mobile platform. I have waited for this moment for a long time!
There are lots more though throughout all of Marcus ‘ responses. I have to say, I love a good iPhone success story, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading Marcus ‘ responses, and hope you will as well.
My questions are in bold, and Marcus ‘ replies in plain text
Can you tell us a little about your background? How much experience did you have as a developer – and on which platforms – prior to doing SmackTalk!?
I was born and raised in southern California to musical parents. A dear friend of mine took a programming class in junior high school and introduced me to the world of computers. I started programming games on the Radio Shack TRS-80 at the age of 12.
When my parents saw how interested I was they bought me a VIC-20 and then the Commodore VIC-20 and C64–so my foundations are in very limited platforms. I’m used to working very hard to get a lot of bang for very little buck. Throughout high school I programmed computers and I played guitar and piano in a few rock bands.
I graduated from UC Riverside with a degree in Math and Computer Science and got a job at Walt Disney Feature Animation as a database programmer–Mostly C, GL, and Linux. I was walking through the halls of Disney and saw folks with my programming background doing artistic things like character and effects animation. I said to myself "I can do that!". I switched from pure information technology to 3d animation production and I went on to create the computer generated artwork for films like "Lion King", "Pocahontas", "Hercules", "Atlantis", "Mickey’s Philharmagic", "Meet The Robinsons", and now at Imagi on "Astro Boy". I did character animation and lighting by day on *vast* compute farms, and I composed electronic music at night on real-time platforms.
After 16 years I am now leaving the animated feature business to concentrate on iPhone Apps full-time. Why? Because I feel that my visual and musical dreams can finally come to life on a mobile platform. I have waited for this moment for a long time!
Do you develop for any other platforms?
At this time I am really only excited about the iPhone platform. It’s got a GPS, and accelerometer, an internet connection, a real-time GL graphics display, and I can process audio in real-time. Oh yes–and Apple will distribute my software and collect all my global payments for 30%. Sheesh.
It’s monetized better than any desktop computer and mobile platform out there. The vast majority of users just pirate software–there’s no hope for someone like me to raise a family, or retire years from now when people take software for free. But with the current form of the iTunes App Store an independent developer like me has a chance to get paid fair and square for great software. Even so about 1 in 7 SmackTalk! users are active users who do not pay. I don’t understand why they haven’t yet tossed me a dollar or two–Apple has great distribution and the price is so cheap.
How did the idea for the app come about?
I have tons of personal ideas which are so very important to me, but would probably never make money. I find the most universal and appealing ideas come from paying attention to children–young and old. I noticed that my young children love to hear themselves talk all day long–just the sound of their own voice amazes them.
I wondered what it would be like to have a mirror of your voice–a fun-house mirror. I had seen other talk-back toys before, but I imagined that a platform as limited as the iPhone was powerful enough to take the idea to the next level in interactivity and responsiveness. I could combine my experience in character animation with my experience in synthesizing real-time music to create an truly unique app that is incredibly responsive to you, and make it come to life. Only Squeakier!
How long did it take from initial idea to entry in the App Store?
I was temporarily laid off from my job at Imagi for the month of February due to the global recession. I had been thinking about changing careers –getting into mobile programming– for a long time but when I got that call on Saturday saying "don’t come in to work on Monday" I had nothing to lose–I had a great idea and I had a lot of experience.
I started programming on Sunday February 8 and quickly found out how much I had to learn. My first development version of Smacktalk! sucked so bad I literally threw it away and rewrote it. That was scary for me, but I just kept at it and I had version 1.0 live on the store by February 27.
Of course, now I am getting really adept at the subtleties of the phone and so the best is yet to come! I am so excited because ideas that used to take me days to research I now have at my fingertips. I am grateful to the developer community on the Apple forums. They are so generous with their knowledge and I’m going to pay it forward. If there’s one piece of advice I feel comfortable giving to new developers it’s this: When you are stuck, and you are uncertain, and you know the clock is ticking–that’s when you have to double your efforts and keep trying different things until you break through.
How many people worked on the development of SmackTalk?
I do all the design, coding, and marketing. I’m open to partnering with people, but they would have to kick ass way more than me! So many people come up to me and say "Oh I have a great app idea–I want half. You do the coding". Good luck with that!
But I have to say that my family makes all this possible. After years of watching me working for Hollywood movie studios they understand why it is so important for me to be successful on my own terms and they support the long hours and hard work that it takes to make this successful. Now that I’m working for myself I feel a lot more positive about the example I’m setting for my children. I no longer complain about things out of my control–I’m finally acting out of 100% passion, interest, and excitement.
I believe you’ve got some exciting new features planned for the next update of SmackTalk – things like the ability to record and send recordings, maybe even create your own characters – can you talk about some of those a little?
I am constantly researching the best of the best of the apps in the store, and we’re talking like 150-400 per day. I am always inspired by the work of my colleagues in the App Store–even apps from which you might not make an obvious connection.
The next release of SmackTalk! will let you instantaneously make recordings as long as you like and play them back. Many apps say they have this feature, but the sheer intuitiveness and responsiveness of the interface I’m developing is what makes SmackTalk! so special. I am searching for the absolute best way to get these recordings to your favorite places as easily as possible.
I’m taking the time to get it right the first time–even though I constantly feel the pressure to do a release. For future releases I am developing ways for SmackTalk! to respond to you in real-time–the FUNNIEST ways, the ways that make it feel alive, like it is its own smack-talking creature.
As for being able to customize your own characters, I want to overcome the limitations of the phone to give you every possible way to make your own characters. I have seen a lot of attempts to do this from a lot of developers and I’m learning from their successes and mistakes. I am formulating a design that will balance the limitations of the phone with the best ideas of character design for a general audience. If it’s not hilarious I will take more time to get it right. I couldn’t possibly market SmackTalk! if I wasn’t excited about it.
When is the next update for the app due to come out?
I will be done coding the next release for the 3G within a week, and then I need to test it on the iPod Touch and the Edge. After that I have to navigate the approval process of Apple. I have read so many horror stories–I feel so lucky. I have had only good, quick responses from Apple. But now SmackTalk! is getting more sophisticated and I imagine it will be more complex to get an approval. And we’re all in the middle of a big transition to 3.0 as well.
I imagine it could be in the store by early June. I’m working towards getting into a bi-weekly release schedule. That gives me enough time to do something special for each release.
I don’t think you have any other apps in the App Store right now – any plans for any new ones in future? If so, can you give any hints about what those may be?
I have detailed designs for 1 more entertainment app, 2 music apps, and 1 game app. Now all I need is the time to concentrate on the design and coding, and of course, the marketing of these apps. I’m excited because I’m in a position of having a huge success the first time out, and I have more ideas than I have time. That’s all I could possibly ask for right now.
As a side note I want to point out that I have a lot of electronic music in the iTunes Store — search for "Marcus Satellite". I created all this electronic music by programming real-time software synthesizers and that technology is what made SmackTalk! possible. This unlikely combination is why you haven’t seen any successful copycats of SmackTalk! yet.
Have you got any sad / funny / amazing stories about the whole App Store approvals process? Any rejections because the guinea pig swore at an Apple reviewer after he swore at it?
I have an amazing story: I released SmackTalk! 1.0 on February 27, 2009. I was watching the sales reports and it was getting like 20 sales per day. My family and I were so excited by even 10 sales in a day. Then April 8, 2009 the sales numbers went through the roof. I couldn’t believe it! I went to iTunes and sure enough Apple had put a banner for SmackTalk! on the front page–I had no idea. I am so lucky–someone like me can’t buy advertising like that. I’ll never know for sure, but I imagine that Apple thought SmackTalk! was special and would appeal to a massive audience. That really lit the fuse and it’s been a wild crazy ride ever since. My children are so proud and excited. In some ways being an iPhone App phenomenon is like being a rock star. But don’t tell that to a real rock star like Robert Plant, or Nikki Sixx. They would just laugh at me and tell me crazy stories that I couldn’t possibly live up to. 🙂
OK, as big a fan as I am of SmackTalk – multiply that by 1,000 (or infinity as she would say) and that’s how big a fan my daughter is. So I had to ask for her questions for you. And here they are:
How did you make it?
One thing every new developer needs to embrace is the creative process–It is chaos–and it doesn’t follow a business plan. I tried lots of styles of animation, and lots of different types of animals and humans to get the flavor of SmackTalk! just right.
For example, I tried a hippo and an ape. I thought they were funny–but nobody else did. That was a good example of a time I had to put my instincts on the back-burner and listen to what everybody else was saying. The iPhone, as amazing as it is, is a very limited device–I can’t just put all my "B-sides" into the app. You really have to save the phone for only those things that rock, and throw away what isn’t working, or you will choke the phone and hurt the whole app.
Some people say SmackTalk! is simple, but I guarantee you the reason why you haven’t seen anything like SmackTalk! is because I have tuned the app up to, but not over, the iPhone’s limits.
Can we have a horse and a unicorn added as characters?
We should get our daughters together for a playdate! My 4 yr old daughter Maddie has been on me to animate a horse character since day 1! I am still searching for the most appealing horse photography possible. I just haven’t found the perfect fit for the SmackTalk! family just yet. Trust me, when I find an amazing horse and/or unicorn, they are in!
Can we have outfits for the animals?
I don’t want to spoil the surprise too much but I do have some plans to make SmackTalk! interesting as our lovely planet winds its way throughout all the seasons! I would love to hear your daughter’s ideas for outfits.
————————————————————————–
I want to say a huge Thank You to Marcus for taking the time to do this with me, and for providing such superb answers. He covered so much more ground than I expected. I ‘ve enjoyed reading a number of interviews round the webz with iPhone developers, but I have to say this is one of my favorites “ which is nothing to do with my questions, just purely the quality of Marcus ‘ thoughts and words.
For those of you who haven ‘t checked out SmackTalk! yet, you really should “ especially if you have kids. I ‘m an apps junkie and have lots of favorites, but SmackTalk! is genuinely right at the top of that list, and is honestly the most fun “ and funny “ app I ‘ve seen yet. For lots more about why it ‘s so great, you can check out my review HERE, and a video demo HERE
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS: interview, SmackTalk
