CocoaHeads Belgium

Introduction

This article is hopefully the start of a great series of articles in which we will focus on one of the Developers in our CocoaHeads Belgium Community. Apparently we have a big an thriving community of Mac and iPhone developers here in Belgium. In this first article we will be putting the spotlight on Bert Timmermans, the developer behind the Keypoint iPhone Application.

Bert was the first Developer in our Community who was willing to answer a few questions for us, and this is what he had to say :

Who are you and what’s your experience with Mac / iPhone development ?

I am Bert Timmermans and I am a master student Communication Multimedia and design. My experience with real iPhone development is really limited because I used Phonegap to create my first App Store app. With Phonegap you can create applications in HTML and javascript and there is no need to get really into cocoa.

I have to say this is not a perfect solution because the performance is not the same as a full native iPhone app.

What is your application ?

Main Menu

My application is named Keypoint and is my first iPhone Application and is currently available in the iPhone App Store.

Keypoint is the perfect tool to quickly create fast presentations on the go. You can use one of the 8 high quality themes to create a presentation in no time. Afterwards you can publish the presentation online in just one touch, share it with friends or include it into your personal website or blog.

What problems does it solve ?

Add Presentation

Keypoint is a very unique app because it is the only app that lets you create presentations on the iPhone. The goal of Keypoint is to create fast presentations structures on the go and use the export to complete your presentation.

Keypoint achieves that by allowing you to export your Keypoint presentation to a Keynote file, and in the future other file types might be added as well.

Where / How did you get the idea for Keypoint ?

Keypoint started out as a small experiment to create a web application. Eventually I created 3 public beta’s of the webapplication. Keypoint was my way to learn to develop/design for the iPhone.

How did the product evolve from the basic idea to it’s current state ?

When the product evolved the idea stayed. The main goal was to create presentations fast and easy on your phone and that you can use this on your desktop.

What were some of the Technical issues you encountered during the Development Cycle ?

Like I already mentioned Keypoint was build using Phonegap. So the technology behind Keypoint was based on HTML(5), javascript and CSS. The problem with Phonegap is that the performance is not as good as a fully cocoa app, this can limit you in interface and design issues.

How did the User Interface evolve into it’s current state ?

The goal of the interfaces was to make it as easy as possible to create your presentations. You will notice that app and interface evolved through the beta and final release. (see images)

Export

Are there any specific features which you think are missing in other applications ?

The features of Keypoint are still very basic but I am hoping to put some more time into it so I can work on those. So things like Powerpoint and PDF export are still under construction. But then again is Keypoint the only app to give you the option to create presentation.

Where can we find more information about the Application ? Where can people go to download a trial / buy the application ?

You can find more info at http://www.keypointapp.com, and the application is available for purchase in the iPhone App Store. If needed you can still contact me using the contact button on the Keypoint website.

Screenshots