John August

Bronson

Pretty much everything is on sale

Apps, Bronson, Highland, Weekend Read, Writer Emergency, Writer Emergency Pack

Every fall, we put many of the products we make on sale. Typically, it lines up with Back to School or Labor Day, but the notions of “time” and “seasons” and “school” don’t seem to match the actual experience of 2020.

Still: bargains!

Through Sunday, September 13th all of the following are half off —

The upgrade to Highland 2 Pro, now just $25 USD.1

The upgrade to Weekend Read is $5.

Bronson Watermarker PDF is just $10.

Writer Emergency Pack is $10 on Amazon and in our store.

We’re also clearing out the remaining stock of our game One Hit Kill from our Pennsylvania warehouse. It’s a great card game for just ONE DOLLAR plus shipping.

  1. Both Highland 2 and Weekend Read are free to download. The upgrade is an in-app purchase, with prices varying a little bit internationally. ↩

Hiring a coder

Apps, Bronson, Geek Alert, Highland, Los Angeles, Weekend Read

We’re bringing in a new person to help us update some of our older Mac and iOS apps. Maybe that’s you!

Requirements:

  • Experience with Mac and iOS development (either professionally or on your own)
  • Familiarity with web APIs
  • Proficiency in Swift
  • Ability to read (and understand) Objective-C

For the right candidate, it should be an interesting assignment. You’ll be rewriting existing Objective-C code as Swift, and bringing a 2019 perspective (and technology) to previously-solved problems. You’ll be working beside Nima Yousefi, who coded Highland,1 Weekend Read and a lot of other useful apps for writers. He’ll show you the ropes and help guide you through the process.

This is a contract gig, maybe 40 hours of work altogether, but there’s always the possibility of future projects. We’re looking for someone in Los Angeles who’s available on Tuesday and Friday afternoons for some in-person discussion.

The right person might be transitioning from another field, a college student, or someone on a gap year. You can look at this as an educational experience, intern-like, but definitely paid. If you’re a hobbyist coder considering becoming an indie app developer, it would be a good introduction. That’s how Nima got started.

Interested? Drop us a note to introduce yourself and your work. Please include links to stuff we can check out, especially Github and sample code.

  1. Fun fact: Highland 2 is almost entirely Swift, except for some very low-level stuff dealing with PDFs which goes all the way back to the original Highland. ↩

I’m on the App Store

Apps, Bronson, Highland, News, Weekend Read

app store article with photoThis morning, Apple posted a profile of me and my software company, Quote-Unquote Apps. If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, you can read the piece here.

Or just open the App Store app and I’m on the front page.

Yes, it’s a little frustrating that the article is accessible only through the App Store app. I get why they do it — they want exclusive content about apps available right where you get them, just like airlines have their own in-flight magazines. But it feels weird to have a link that only some readers can open.

When you agree to a profile like this, you don’t get a lot of control. I didn’t see the story or the photos until it posted. But I’m happy they emphasized the team that makes it possible. Nima Yousefi is our master coder. Dustin Bocks designs everything to pixel precision. Megana Rao keeps on top of support issues and finds new scripts each week for Weekend Read.

While this profile mostly focuses on Weekend Read, in reality it’s Highland 2 that occupies most of our time. Since it debuted in May, Highland 2 has become our biggest hit by far. It’s also the most important app for me as a writer, since I use it nonstop for scripts, books and blog posts like this one.

If you still haven’t checked out Highland 2, today’s the day.

And if you’re a screenwriter nervous about making the jump, definitely check out our new PDF on Switching from Final Draft to Highland 2.

Bronson Watermarker gets a minor update

Apps, Bronson, Highland, Weekend Read

Bronson Watermarker, our app for quickly personalizing PDFs, has an update in the Mac App Store. Version 2.0.4 fixes a drawing bug. screenshot I don’t mention the app as much as Highland or Weekend Read, but Bronson has become the go-to app for a lot of productions in Hollywood. If you’ve received a watermarked script in the past few years, there’s a very good chance it was created with Bronson.

Bronson is available in the Mac App Store.