Hey everyone...

I was curious if anyone knew or heard of any programs to keep Track of bowling lanes, stats, etc for the iPhone? I think it would be ingenious if someone came up with something for this!

http://www.bowlsk.com works very well in mobile browsers - I always use it to enter my stuff real-time, at the lanes.

I was wondering if anything would be created as a native application for the iPhone. I really appreciate the website though as it will do for now.

I have it on the list of things I want to do. I want to tie it into my stat keeping website. I believe you have to own a Mac to use the SDK, and I don't have one of those yet.

Brian...
http://www.BowlSpot.com

I have a Macbook. How hard is it to develop and write code to include all that stuff? I saw things and it looks extremely easy to do but in all actuality, I'm not a programmer at all.

When do you think you will have something out for distribution? I would be more than happy to do testing for you.

Wow, what? Are you kidding?

Not extremely easy but if you look at some of the videos, the coding that is written is just cut and paste and Cocoa Touch is just drag and drop for how the interface of the application constructed.

Coding is not easy. Trust us. There are enough geeks on this board to tell you that writing code isn't that simple. CG worked a long time to get his site up and going to where it is now.

So it doesn't matter what you cut and paste? You don't need to understand algorithms or good coding techniques???

Give it a shot and let us know how you make out.

What is CG's website? I didn't know if coding for Mac is different than PC. Does anyone on this site have the ability to code in Cocoa Touch or on the Mac?

I personally don't know how easy or hard it is, but I don't really know if I want to find out either.

woops....sorry CG. Would you ever think of writing for the iPhone?

There is no reason for me to write it on the iPhone... you have to get a data plan with the iPhone, so you have to have access to the site. There is nearly nothing that can be done with an iPhone app that is relevant to what the site does, but can't be done with a webapp. Why duplicate the effort to gain 0 functionality?

I guess your right, but I also think that it might be a good business venture. To have a native application with graphs, oil charts, etc., similar to your site would provide information at the users fingertips. It would be alot quicker to get through information then to go through a web page and to load. making an app, I think, would expand possibilities. Why would Apple open native applications to the iphone when they have web based applications? People want native apps, not web based apps. Native apps are more user friendly, robust, and have the opportunity to do more for the end user all around. Not to mention that it might be a better business venture.

Apple would have to open up their code to let people write applications for it. Recipe for disaster.

Are you kidding? They did that already. iPhone 2.0 software update. There are now native applications on the iPhone.

I'm talking about letting the code out in public for people like you and me to write code for.

Its there. You can download the iphone software development kit for free. You can test it but I believe you have to pay Apple $99 to release it. Anyone and everyone can program for the iPhone. They made it friendly to the small guy and the big corporations alike.

http://developer.apple.com/iphone/
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/program/

I signed up for and got the SDK a while ago. But, I have no Mac, so no ability to develop.

I don't see myself ever owning a Mac either.

Edit: Or an iPhone.

Regardless on whether you see yourself owning a Mac (or and iPhone), I was just curious as to if anyone knew about, could make, or knew if a program for the iphone was in development. It seems like whenever I make a post people jump all over me and a battle starts.

Well we share a common hobby in bowling, but we agree to disagree on which computing device(s) are superior. No worries. Thats why this is a bowling forum and not a computing forum right?

The problem is that programming for a proprietary device such as the iphone just isn't cost effective. Yes there are a lot of bowlers out there, however a very small percentage of bowlers are serious bowlers. And an even smaller percentage of those bowlers actually Track their stats. And an even smaller percentage of those bowlers actually own an iphone. So to rewrite a program specifically for the iphone just is not cost effective. 100 man hours to write the program... 1800 bucks to buy a mac... and what maybe a 100 people actually buy the program for 15 bucks a piece.. Just not cost effective in my opinion.

Good argument...Finally. However, if there was someone out there that had a Mac, that knew how to program, it might be worthwhile to write a program for the iPhone. I wouldnt ask someone to buy a Mac just to write a program for an Apple device.

I agree with the others. I don't really think there's much you could do with a proprietary iPhone app that couldn't be done much easier with a web app. The web is really the perfect development platform for this kind of thing, because it can do the job, and it is easily compatible with all sorts of phones/computers/systems.

humm. interesting to see that people wouldn't ever own a mac or iphone or iPod if they've never owned one. i on the other hand do have a mac and iPod but no iphone. they dont have the iphone on the verizon network or i would own one. i would own anything that Apple makes because it works. i have had other pcs and other players but they would do nothing but crash and not work and i have found that Apple does what they say it will do. which is work. sorry.

i can program on my mac and its easier to do it on than on anything else but i dont have time to do it. i do animation stuff and programs. i have friends that do this kind of stuff for a living and i can see what they say about it. just makes for interesting conversation.

I never said I wouldn't own any of the stuff. I have 2 macs and 3 iPods, but I would never own an iphone unless they open it up to other service providers. ATT are rip off artists. It's nothing against Apple, just ATT.

I'm also not a Mac fanboy as I also own 3 PC's, 3 Windows laptops, 2 Linux Boxes and 2 Windows servers.

So someone says that they don't see themselves owning this hardware (therefore they can't develop the requested software) and you have lecture us on how great everything Apple makes is? If Apple does one thing well, it's to create their army of loyalists.

I have an iPod, have supported and used Mac's and have no desire to have a touch screen phone with a proprietary OS that forces you to get an outrageously expensive plan. I also don't see myself getting the Samsung Instinct that is a touch screen phone with a propritary OS that forces you to get an outrageous plan. I also don't plan to get any other phone that meets that description.

I also don't see myself ever owning a Mac from my experience working with and supporting them and the added cost associated with them.

I do however like my iPod.

Regardless, my comment had nothing to do with the merits of owning any of the aforementioned devices. It was simply stating that I would also not be able to develop anything for the iPhone because I don't own the required hardware and software to develop it.

Apple is not a religion. It's just a company. Sometimes people don't buy Apple products. It's OK.

hey fury, i dont know how hard it would be to write code for the iPhone, but Scott Forrestal made it look pretty easy. See if there is anything you can do. I am curious to find out.

BTW, this became some BS argument about who likes PC and who likes Mac. Its a preference. I prefer Mac, and others prefer PC. Why argue. Please don't argue also about the fact that you might be upset that you are pissed that AT&T is ripping people off for the iPhone plans. Have you seen how much Blackberry plans are lately? Besides, its a smart move on apples part to go with AT&T. T-Mobile is too small of a company here in the US to carry a device with alot less customers. If they ended going with Verizon, they would have to make either a world phone or two separate chipsets in the phone itself. Overseas it would have to handle a GSM signal and in the US with Verizon it would have to be able to handle CDMA. In my opinion, it was a smart move. People hate on people that make good calculated moves in the business world.

Uhm, didn't I say:




Can you please show me where I "hated" on AT&T for anything???? What in the world is going on here? I say I don't see myself buying an iPhone or a Mac and I'm accused of making that decision without any basis and then lectured on how great Apple is. Then when I explain my reasoning, I'm accused on hating on AT&T?

Honestly, this feels like bizaro world.
Lesson learned: Do not say anything that could potentially be interpreted as negative about an Apple product if you're not willing to pay the consequences.

I'm not a software developer, programmer or anything related to computer technology. I own 3 Macs, a PC and a PC laptop. The Macs work for me and Ichat with each other. Others in my family have Macs, and we talk live with video when we talk via teleconference. I like my Dock, and the ease to navigate through any application I use. The PC sits unused in the basement, and is only used to balance a checkbook with Quicken. And the jury is still out on the PC laptop cause I am only on page 72 of the 546 page manual.

I do know 1 thing already though. Vista SUCKS.

I have an iPod, a Nano, and like free downloading. I do not have an Iphone, don't see the need yet.

Please tell me why it takes 7 steps to change the system clock, according to the manual?

And, I don't have to duct tape a camera to my head. Oh, I will admit, my new PC laptop has a built in camera too. But, I can't figure out how to use it. It is somewhere about page 300. I'll get there some day.

Wait a second....you read the manual?

[quoteWait a second....you read the manual?[/quote]

That's what I thought. I just chalked up the camera on my laptop as a loss, who wants to read, reading is for <censored>

Bry, I love the popcorn icon, laughed at that one.

Vista doesn't really suck it's just a learning curve...

It doesn't take 7 steps... That's the problem with manuals they always tell you the long way to do things... Just right click on the clock and click adjust date/time (Vista) Double click clock for XP and it will open a window. Just change the time there.

Not you lefty...

My "Learning Curve" when I got my Mac was 2 hours.



Who cares... I'm sorry I asked a stupid question, because come page two of my post, there is argument about why Mac is better than PC or vice versa.

I have a Mac.
I have an iPhone.
I want a program on my phone that can keep Track of stats quickly and easily without having to write them down and transferring them on to my computer or having to enter them on a website through my mobile browser.

Thats it.
Thats all I want.

Does anyone know how to do this?

Can anyone help me out?

If your iPhone has some sort of spreadsheet program, try that.

What I don't understand is, how is it harder to:

Have a shortcut on your iDesktop or whatever that points to one of the several bowling score tracking websites.

vs.

Have a shortcut on your iDesktop or whatever that launches a native app.

And, what do you gain by chaining your data to your iPhone? What if you want to print a report of your spare percentage?

What could a native app possibly offer on the iPhone that a webapp could not give you? Maybe you don't realize how powerful webapps can be? I won't speak for bryhardt and his site, but mine is very bare compared to the features I will eventually have in it, and it already does quite a bit of stuff. When I am done, the only way you will know it is a webapp on your mobile phone will be because you have to open it in a browser.

There are certain apps that make sense on an iPhone. An app that takes a picture, records the location it was taken, and then uploads it to a photo-sharing site is a perfect fit. And, that kind of app exists. However, the type of application you are talking about does not exist yet on the iPhone. That should say something.

A) What the F do you care what I prefer? Maybe I don't want to use your site to keep Track of what I do.

B) For someone that doesn't have the device, you sure do have alot of negative opinions about it and what it should be used for. Have you seen that there are about 20 apps for golf?

3) I dont want to wait for pages to load everytime I want to enter information and if I want to pull graphs and get something immediately, thats what I want.

Why are you arguing with me? I'll listen to you about some bowling tips, but don't tell me what I should do or question m my preferences in computing. Thank you.

So, you didn't answer any of the questions? I was trying to find out what you think the iPhone offers for this type of application, that a web app wouldn't. From what I've gathered, your only beef is that the internet is slow?

I am not trying to fight. I am trying to learn.

I thought that with the latest and greatest update, that the iPhone 2.0 had twice the speed as 1.0 for internet?

For those that have a first gen iPhone, the web is extremely slow. A native app is that much more fast and efficient. there is a possibility that pictures can be taken of the pins that you leave in practice and the phone would recognize what is left standing.

Having a native app is more intuitive and has many more options than web apps have to offer. The golf apps available do well on the iPhone too. They could use web apps, but choose not to.

One of the issues that users had with the first gen software is the inability to have native apps on the iPhone. It is an unbelievable mobile computing device. If you don't have one or if you don't use Apple products, than you might not understand from which you might want to keep developing web apps. I went on your site from my iPhone, and it is not mobile friendly at all. If I brought my laptop in, it would work dandy, but I choose not to carry my laptop around.

If you ever decided to make a native app for the iPhone, you might make a bit of money, because I'm sure it would sell well. Its all about options. Do a bit of reading on the net as to why native apps are better than web apps on the iPhone and you might understand a bit better.

It does, but native apps are better and more convenient.

I don't see that happening. a) that would take some pretty sophisticated coding, and b) some pins tend to hide behind others and would not be detected.

On a side note, I can't wait to see what Google brings to the table with their new phone software Android. It should be very web friendly. I am holding off on upgrading my current phones until I see what they have to offer.

Check it out. I know a bit about mobile technology (except coding). In the past, verizon and all the other companies tried to make the user interface of the phones identical. Go to Verizon and try it out. I used to work for them. They did it because they wanted to make it easy on all of the users to switch phones. Apple started a revolution in mobile computing.

Andriod is going to be a much anticipated device as well.