Urban Apps

Recalls has been mentioned in The March 2012 issue of Parents...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:47:59 -0500

Recalls has been mentioned in The March 2012 issue of Parents Magazine under “Medical and Safety Apps Every Parent Should Have”. Get it at http://allrecallsapp.com

Announcing NPR Hourly News for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Fed...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 08:47:00 -0500

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

Announcing NPR Hourly News for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Fed up with the NPR app not fixing any bugs? If you had tried it, the official app is impossible to use! Enter NPR Hourly News. NPR Hourly News is a simple app that plays the most recent NPR News Update automatically. It’s free, and it works. Get it from the iTunes App store.

NPR Hourly News [iTunes App Store]

Announcing SimpleScrobbler For Mac

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:32:00 -0500

Urban Apps is proud to announce the release of our first Mac App store app!

SimpleScrobbler is a Last.fm scrobbler without all the bells and whistles. A Mac App that lives in your status bar and leaves a smaller footprint on your computer.

The small app is less than a cup-o-joe, currently priced at only $1.99. Find out more at the website, or the Mac App Store.

Thumbs - Movie Thumbnails Done Right

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:28:28 -0500

Thumbs - Movie Thumbnails Done Right:

Urban Apps is launching a public beta of our new app: Thumbs. Thumbs is perfect for people with large media libraries, bit-torrent users, or anybody else who wants to generate great looking thumbnails and thumbsheets from their movie collections.

Download it now for free, and please contact us if you have any feedback, beer donations or death threats.

Urban Apps is having a Holiday Sale! Get our award winning...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:33:05 -0500

Urban Apps is having a Holiday Sale! Get our award winning app Ambiance at 66% off for only 99 cents! Get Ambiance Lite for free (normally $0.99)! the sale won’t last forever though, so get your copy while the price is super low!

Ambiance for BlackBerry - No Longer Supported

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:39:59 -0500

We are sad to report that Ambiance for BlackBerry is no longer being maintained. Over the past few years, BlackBerry and RIM have certainly taken their hits, causing customers to switch to better platforms such as iOS and Android. Because of this, we have decided to focus our energy on other platforms.

If you are an Ambiance for BlackBerry customer, your existing copy of Ambiance should continue to work, but we will not be publishing any updates and any future BlackBerry OS update could potentially break the app.

Ambiance only $0.99 — Back to School Sale!

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 19:49:00 -0400

In celebration of being featured by Apple in iTunes this week, Ambiance for iPhone/iPod and iPad is going on sale for $0.99 (normally $2.99) for a limited time only! AND, Ambiance Lite will be FREE (normally $0.99) for 1 day only! Get your copy now!

Ambiance [iTunes]
Ambiance Lite [iTunes]

Ambiance for Android: State of the Union

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:24:00 -0400

There comes a time in every apps lifecycle when it must look in the mirror and evaluate how it is doing, what went well and what could have been better. Over the past few months we have been looking closely at Ambiance for Android and have come to a blunt realization.

It sucks.

When we started the process of getting Ambiance on the Android Marketplace, we made a horrible business decision and decided to outsource the app to a team in India for the work. While initially pleased with the products that the outsourced companies produced, as Ambiance for iOS evolved, Android did not. As other apps in the store started to raise the bar in quality, the Ambiance app fell behind the curve in terms of UI and functionality. Depending on the outsourced company to produce a product that worked great, looked great and had a full set of features was becoming increasingly difficult, and lengthy delays and excuses were becoming commonplace.

In addition the poor business decision we made, there were some poor design decisions made with the Android app as well. Ambiance for iOS has always been celebrated for it’s UI and ease of use, and 2 years ago when we started the project, we naively thought that we should port the UI over to Android exactly like iOS. We decided to make the list and buttons look like iPhone buttons instead of Android buttons, and the look and feel of the app to be an iPhone App experience, not an Android app experience. This has left the app feeling unnatural to Android customers who expect and deserve better.

We messed up. Big time. Here is what we are doing to make it right:

Redesign the app from the ground up - We are throwing out all the old code and are rewriting the app from scratch. It will have functional and visual similarities as the iOS version, but will feel natural to even the most scrutinous Android customers.
Bring the development back home - We fired the outsourced firm a few months ago and have been searching for rock star Android developer to bring on to the team ever since. We have found a code ninja and have already began work on this new version.
Refund existing customers - Due to complications we have had in the past with the Google Marketplace, we will be offering Ambiance as a new app, but will fully refund any previous customers, including the 30% that Google keeps. We want to keep our long term customers pleased and are happy to give the full refund.
Release updates frequently - The benefit of bringing the development in-house is that we have more control over how the app is released. The initial version will not include every feature found in the iOS version, but will have the essential pieces. It will take a few months to complete the first version, but after that, we will be frequently updating the app with all the bits and goodies found in it’s iOS counterpart, until everything is there that makes sense for the Android device. We will also be able to address bugs quicker, incorporate customer feedback, and optimize for different devices much more quickly then we have in the past.

We would like to apologize for our lack of focus on the Android platform in the past, but rest assured that Ambiance for Android now has a dedicated engineer (also an avid Android user and fanboy) providing full attention to it. Consider this the birth announcement of an application that is well in need of a new beginning, a grand-re-opening, a fresh start, you get the idea. Ambiance for Android will be back and will be great.

UPDATE: 11/11/11

The Ambiance Android app reboot is nearly complete. If you would like to help us beta test this new version (v3.0), please contact us at android@urbanapps.com

Get a FREE Promo Code for Hanging With Cheats

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:01:00 -0400

We just released a new app called Hanging With Cheats that lets you cheat the the popular Zynga game, Hanging With Friends, and we are looking for some feedback on the initial version.

Here are some Promo Codes to use to get a free copy in the iTunes App Store. Please contact us or comment below if you use one so we can remove it from the list.

3W93TY64K3N3
RREPYWW4EMAN
KME6LJRYXFL6
JJF9R3JA94W3
JTJAXNMAARTK
RHTAXRNMWXJW
JMRJME4PMLL6
YKPHPANMW3NR
MFHN9HM9P4AE

The app will only help you if you also have the Hanging With Friends app installed, so please only use a promo code if you can use our app to help cheat. Enjoy!

Father's Day Sale — Get Ambiance for Dad — 66% off TODAY only!

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 00:12:00 -0400

Father's Day Sale — Get Ambiance for Dad — 66% off TODAY only!

Ambiance 3.2.3 Available Now in the iTunes App Store

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:27:00 -0400

Both Ambiance and Ambiance Lite have been updated to version 3.2.3 in the iTunes App Store. While this is mostly a bug-fix version, there are a couple of cool new features:

Importing of Audio Files to the Recorder. You can now import any audio file into the recorder for auto-looping and addition to Ambiance. The most popular formats are supported, and the same duration rules apply as when making your own recordings (10 sec - 3 min). Please remember that you must own the copyright to any sound you upload to Ambiance.
Drill Down Library. For those of you with very large libraries, we have added a Drill Down mode to the Library page. This change makes finding your sound much easier than scrolling through a long list. Drill-down is the new default, but can be turned off in settings if you like.
Twitter / Facebook Buttons. Twitter Follow and Facebook Like button on the home screen to make it easy for you to receive the latest Ambiance news, including sound releases, app updates and more.

Head on over to the app store to get your free update.

Ambiance is currently being featured by BlackBerry App World! It...

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 13:02:20 -0400

Ambiance is currently being featured by BlackBerry App World! It is at number 12 on the Top Paid list and rising!

Urban Apps is Looking for Ambiance Partners

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:50:00 -0400

The Brand

Ambiance is one of the iTunes App Store elite. It has peaked at a #2 ranking (Damn you Koi Pond!), consistently floated in and out of the Top-100 paid apps, is the 10th most popular iPad app of all time according to Apple, and the 97th most popular iPhone app of all time. Ambiance has been #1 in it’s category many times and listed as one of Apple’s Awesome iOS 4 Apps. Ambiance has had featured reviews on major publications, and has been featured inside of the physical Apple Store, made a cameo on an iPhone commercial and on a Steve Jobs Keynote

The Problem

Spreading out from iOS, Urban Apps has released Ambiance on the BlackBerry and Android platforms, as well as releasing an Adobe Air Desktop Application that is one of the top rated on the store. Urban Apps is a one-man team and really only focuses on the iOS app and the forthcoming Mac App Store app. The other platforms have all been implemented by outsourcing to a few different companies. While initially pleased with the products that these companies produced, the outsourcing of Ambiance cannot keep up with the pace of the iOS app development and is not a sustainable solution to a growing brand. As a result, sales and spread on these non-iOS platforms are not on par with the iOS platform sales.

The Solution

There are many different ways to solve this problem. We could hire people. We could pay for more outsourcing or a different firm. These could work, but the solution we have chosen to pursue is a little less orthodox and a little more exciting. One of the keys to the success of Ambiance is that it has been able to carve itself out as the leader in this category of apps. Ambiance is a very strong brand. Urban Apps would like to announce a profit sharing opportunity for a couple of (very) qualified developers

As a company that weeds through client app-proposals daily, I know that profit sharing does not sound good, especially for new Ideas… But what about existing, established brands? We see this more like a franchise than profit sharing. By helping developing Ambiance for Urban Apps, you will get to bank on an existing product with proven success, have a clear target in terms of scope and functionality (the iOS app), have access to the Ambiance API, and most importantly, keep 50% of the profit until the end of time.

With the success that Ambiance on iOS has had, we have no reason to believe that similar success on other platforms is unreasonable, as long as the implementation is done correctly. This is where you fit in.

The Developer

You should have experience in working on your platform of choice. We don’t care if you are 16 or 60, high-school drop-out or PHD. You must have shipped an app that we can go buy and inspect. You must be familiar with the look and feel, and user experience of your platform. One of the biggest mistakes we made in developing the Blackberry and Android apps was to develop it to look and feel like an iOS app. Not everything the iOS app can do can be done on other platforms, and a reasonable subset of features in the app is acceptable. At the very least, you should have a decent understanding of the possibilities and limitations of how audio works on your platform. We want Ambiance to be successful on all platforms, but the most important to us right now are:

Android
Windows Phone
BlackBerry
<YOUR PLATFORM HERE>

The Fine Print

There are of course more details to work out and more information to be shared. If you are interested, please contact us with your resume and portfolio. Once we get you to sign an NDA, we will share specifics about revenue and anything else.

Announcing the Re-Release of Ambiance Lite

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:46:27 -0500

Announcing the Re-Release of Ambiance Lite:

Ambiance Lite used to be one of our best selling apps but we removed it from the store about a year ago. Why did we do this? In the shortest possible answer: We messed up.

After seeing the wild success of Ambiance, and the amount of Lite customers who ended up upgrading to the full version, we figured we could make life easier on ourselves by not maintaining a separate Lite version so we removed it. Since then, we have realized that not everybody loves Ambiance… there are many people who use it just once in a while, and really only like Ambiance. We are ok with this, and the 3-download Lite version of Ambiance is perfect for those customers.

Today, Urban Apps is proud to announce the re-release of the 100% free Ambiance Lite app.

Download from the iTunes App Store

TUAW's excellent writeup of Ambiance Desktop

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:17:26 -0500

TUAW's excellent writeup of Ambiance Desktop

Ambiance Desktop is now Available!

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:17:03 -0500

Ambiance Desktop is now Available!

Ambiance is an All-Time Top Paid iPad App on iTunes.

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 23:31:15 -0500

Ambiance is an All-Time Top Paid iPad App on iTunes.

@Ambiance now on sale for 66% off

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:05:00 -0500

At Urban Apps, we want to help spread the cheer this holiday season and what better way than by offering our Award Winning app, Ambiance for only $0.99. Get it while you can because this is only a temporary sale and will go back to the regular price of $2.99 in a few days.

Website: http://ambianceapp.com
iTunes: http://bit.ly/ambiance

- Urban Apps Staff

Ambiance 3.1 Brings Full iPad Support, Airplay, Available Now

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:49:00 -0500

Available now

Urban Apps is pleased to announce that Ambiance version 3.1 has been approved by Apple and is available now in the iTunes App Store.

What’s New in Version 3.1

This update finally brings full iPad support for iPad OS 3.2 and 4.2 as a Universal app. If you have already bought Ambiance for your iPhone, now you can get it on your iPad at no additional cost!

ADDED
——————————
★ Added full native iPad Support (3.2 and 4.2)
★ Added AirPlay for full audio streaming to your AppleTV, Airport Express or other AirPlay device.

FIXED
——————————
★ Fixed “Loading…” forever bug
★ Fixed intermittent crash on load
★ Fixed cache bugs where older, invalid pages would incorrectly be loaded
★ Fixed Push Notification bug where disabling notifications sometimes did not properly disable them
★ Fixed Alarm Theme editing to properly update and save titles
★ Fixed thumbnails not showing in sound detail page header up after downloading
★ Fixed pausing downloading sounds.
★ Fixed crash when entering downloads after deleting a recently downloaded sound
★ Fixed crash on load if last open page was a Web View.

MINOR
——————————
★ Added Free Memory (RAM) stats to contact emails to assist in memory related issues.
★ Minor Interface tweaks (shadows, alignements, etc…)
★ Located and removed some minor memory leaks
★ Memory enhancements to reduce the app’s memory footprint.

If you experience any issues upgrading Ambiance to the most recent version, please contact support@urbanapps.com and we will work with you to get it fixed.

UPDATE: 2:39 AM

We had to remove the app from the store temporarily but it should be back soon

UPDATE: Nov 12th 8:16 PM

The app is now back in the store, this time as version 3.1.1

Keep You and Your Family Safe: All Recalls

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 23:59:00 -0500

Urban Apps is pleased to announce the release of All Recalls, a new app to help keep you and your family safe.

“All Recalls” is a new application that keeps you updated on all the most recent product recalls. See product images, descriptions, company information and other important details to track and learn about the recalled products. In one place, you can track recalls from 5 U.S. Government agencies:

Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.)
Consumer Product Safety Organization (C.P.S.C)
United Stated Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A)
Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (N.H.T.S.A)

Currently, it is the only app in the app store that provides this information all in one place with images, searching, push notifications, sorting, filtering and other features. It is perfect for moms, consumerists and health conscious individuals who are looking for an easy way to stay on top of Recall information.

“All Recalls” - FREE application for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad