Hello,

this week the test version 0.6.0 was released in Google’s PlayStore for all registered testers. This is a very special version, because for the first time it contains the results of the great work of external helpers. I’m note quite sure if these guys would like to find themselves in a text on Facebook, so I won’t call them by name. They are listed in the app and on Twitter. We now have the help of a second programmer, who has provided some crypto functions, but also the first symbol tables were created in great quality. Thanks for that! Would love to get more of this stuff!

Furthermore, this week we managed to create a web version for the app. So it’s possible to use #GCWizard on your browsers even without installing an app. So the functions are available on desktops, like Windows, but also on the devices of all the Apple friends. You can find them on the specially created website https://gcwizard.net.
But it has to be said that the web version does not support all features yet. This is simply because the underlying technology currently supports Android and iOS, but web support is still work-in-progress. You are welcome to use this version, but please keep in mind that there are some errors and display problems. There is, for example, the MapView for the coordinate calculations, which does not load any map data at the moment; or the formula solver, which actually needs a database to save the data, but this is not yet supported in the browser. Just think of it as a kind of preview for the apps, and please draw attention to it when passing on the link! 🙂

Then you might need a few words from the iOS front. Currently we are still very interested in delivering the app for iOS as well. But we are all strangers in Apple’s world and we are still getting into it bit by bit. As already described, it is necessary to build the app on a MacOS, i.e. a MacBook. We have currently tried to avoid this hurdle by installing a so-called “virtual machine” on our systems, on which a current MacOS seems to run well at the moment after some start-up difficulties. The next step was the creation of an Apple developer account, because without this information the app cannot be created. However, this account requires a real iPhone when it is created. Fortunately, we got an older model as a gift (again, the name of the donor is not mentioned here for the reasons mentioned. But many thanks also for this!) Finally, Apple charges its developers a fee of $100 (!) per year (!!!) to get apps – even free ones – into their store. For comparison: Google charges a one-time fee of $25, which is actually manageable. After a long back and forth, we decided that our promise of an iOS app must be kept, and today we reluctantly paid the fee.
But especially the annual repetition of these costs might get us into trouble. After all, we want to work rather cost-neutral (not counting the huge working hours). It’s okay to have some costs, but being forced into a subscription model is something else. Right now we are not sure what to do. The most likely way is that the iOS version will cost money (which will certainly raise questions in the community why the Android version is free, but the iOS version isn’t). But this in turn will lead to us generating income, which would lead to a business registration and ultimately to even more costs and work on taxes, etc. (The same applies, by the way, to so-called “donations” via Paypal or crowdfunding platforms: These are legally not donations, but income) Does anyone of you know more about this and could help us?

We wish you a great weekend,
make the best out of the nasty situation,
stay healthy!

//Mark