Never underestimate the value of giving an idea a fresh coat of paint.
Implementations age. They stop getting updates. They are missing little things that new incumbents will add by default. They become boring if they're not constantly being reinvented. And they stop being supported by their makers.
Things that people build and give away for free, if its not a true point of pride, will eventually show their age as the makers lose interest...
That's when its time for the second, less-tired wave of makers to come in and stake a claim.
This is very true. Despite iOS coming with a pretty decent weather app, I've purchased three other weather apps looking for something even better. (FWIW, I'm happy with Check the Weather -- http://checktheweather.co/)
I knew that there were a lot of similar apps on the AppStore but I went with my conviction that less is more. Nearly all the apps are multifunctional and include journey planners, maps, alerts etc etc.
As a Londoner, I know my way around, the only thing I want to know is if the tube is even working – this is how Lines was born. I've tried to make the app's simplicity it's main selling point and hope I've achieved this to some degree.
Congratulations. From an idea to an App Store app in 2 weeks is very impressive, but it's 10x more impressive given that you were learning along the way.
Simple question, though: what's the story behind the Metro article? Your story is interesting enough that it makes for good reading anyway, but I was wondering (and absolutely no offense intended -- there's nothing wrong with it imo) if you had a contact/friend/similar who helped you get the article? Again, congratulations, I hope your app continues to sell well.
I actually was doing something similar (well, the very same actually) a few months ago, got to a working version, but then saw that there were already plenty of options, got discouraged, and suddenly lost all interest in polishing/publishing it...
Actually, it is a very useful function. It has usefulness and simplicity. Would you mind to give ROI analysis for your project? This will be helpful to the audience here.
Thanks. As of writing Lines has sold a few thousand copies, so it's made a good ROI. After costs have been paid (servers, iOS dev license etc) I'll be giving some profits to chairty.
There are about half dozen similar applications on the Appstore, for free.
I tried a few, and most of them did the job they were suppose to do fairly well.
How did you convince people to choose yours as opposed to the other ones that already existed ?
Clearly the Metro article is what pushed people (that possibly didn't know that those apps existed) to actually get and download your app.
Congrats and kudos.