BS Guru

 Image credit: CookieAMA mobile app IFC ("Independent Film Channel") used to joke about themselves that they present good 'artsy' movies that did not sell.  'IFC' mobile games/apps are those with good and original designs built by independent developers neither AAA companies nor funded by AAA companies, who often go against the trend (aka starving artists) providing unique designs and experiences.   How to define a good mobile game? I want to say a fun game with good design and story but let's be realistic, people jump into a mobile game not for fun but for a conversation, a bragging right and to feel superior in a digital world, the 'alternative' world they live in.  It is not about a game but 'I am in'.   While people continue to complain about micro-transactions and data privacy concerns, they continue to play those games and take a blind eye on how their personal data are being exploited everyday.  Some may consider it as a small 'p...

One of the cool features of iOS 17 is creating your own iMessage stickers using photos.  The edge detection is not perfect but good enough for adding a personal touch to spice things up.   It is a new feature so as always, typical confusion how things work, how to get started and somewhat ... buggy.  Apple claims it works on both iPad and iPhone; however, there is no option to create stickers on iPad 'yet'.  You may create stickers either from your photo album or accessing your photo album through iMessage directly but both have some issues. What we know so far:  1.  The edge detection seems to conflicting with its OCR especially with lower resolution photos.  Photos with text have issues to be recognized and added as a sticker (well, at least we know OCR works well 😅).  We tried to turn off live text under Language and Region but it does not solve the detection issue (higher resolution photos seem to be ok without turning off live text either wa...

Image Credit: CookieAMA mobile app Ideally, you don't want to come to me for this type of advice 😓 Developers usually went online and found mostly depressing comments such as less than 1% would appeal, never heard from apple, have been waiting for weeks without any replies ... etc. You should know better by now those comments did not have any merit.    I had helped a company to appeal their app which was rejected by the app store initially.  The company filed an appeal and was approved successfully in 3 days in 2023.  The developer was very upset when he saw the email and already accepted his fate that nothing could be done especially after reading things online, reddit ... etc.   If your app was rejected by the app store, sounds corny but seriously, do not freak out.  Most developers jumped to the conclusion thinking their apps were perfect and WT#.  Unless you don't want to or don't care to solve the problem, you need to calm down and start looking ...

Image credit: CookieAMA mobile app   The deadline is approaching, all mobile apps in google play must target api level 33 by 8/31 or they will not be allowed to ship updates.  Godot is aware of the drop dead date yet there is no commitment to have an update for the 3.5 stable export templates in time.   'That's what open source is all about', we are all free to contribute. They have the fix  implemented in version 3.6 and 'cherry picked' for version 3.5.3 but are not yet committing to release either before the deadline. In case Godot doesn't release the fix in time, the workaround seems relatively simple by setting the target SDK to 33 in the android export dialog.  It will give you a warning 'target sdk 33 is higher than the default 32.  This may work, but wasn't tested and maybe unstable.'   We tested it and our apps work fine, phew~  There are only a handful devices in the market with Android 13 installed and more difficult and expensive to fin...