Mimiran runs well on various screen sizes, and while I wouldn’t recommend writing a whole proposal on a phone, I’ve certainly made tweaks while on the go and away from my computer. However, a responsive web app is missing a couple of things:
- Native notifications
- Importing contacts (especially because for a lot of folks I meet, their phone is essentially their CRM)
So I’ve been working on an iOS app to address these issues.
But since I’m new to the App Store world, I wanted to create a low stakes app to get my feet wet. Inspired by Apple’s own “EdgeLight” app that uses XDR displays as a built-in ring light, but feeling like that was really for folks recording video, I created BoxLight, which has a few advantages, designed to maximize control and screen real estate (I’m focused on the Zoom user, who may have notes or other apps open at the same time). BoxLight gives you:
- More screen space by pushing the light to the edges and making inner corners smaller (just enough to snuggle in an app window).
- More control– you can adjust individual sides. For example, if you have good overhead light, you can shrink or even hide the top light to give yourself more space. Got a window on one side but darkness on the other? Hide the light bar on the window side and expand the one on the dark side.
- Focus dimmer– sometimes when you have lots of windows open, it can be hard to tell which one is active, which sometimes throws me off when I’m typing notes during a Zoom meeting. The Focus Dimmer option lets you dim non-active windows to a degree of your choosing.
Getting the app approved was quite an adventure. I got accurate, but unhelpful feedback from the reviewers, sending me through loops, repeatedly following instructions, while missing the underlying problem, which was not highlighted in the App Store Connect tool or the feedback. Even after Googling, I would end up on support pages whose instructions I had just followed in vain. Fortunately, ChatGPT figured it out pretty quickly. (Maybe I should have started there.)
Anyway, if you’re on a Mac and you do a lot of Zoom calls, I think you’ll like BoxLight, now (finally) available on the App Store. Would love to hear what you think. (And check out these other tips for successful Zoom networking.)
(Mimiran iOS app in the works. Stay tuned.)