Two PlayBook apps by me: Screamager and Scientific RPN Calculator

Hi all!

I'm very new on Crackberry but not on the official BB support forums. I have developed three PlayBook apps so far. The first two already got me a free PlayBook from RIM which I really hope I'll get at launch day. I figured I'd show them to you all to see what you think. I made screencasts for both.

The first one is called 'Screamager' and it's available for free in AppWorld. It's a retro-style LED message scroller and animator. It was originally developed on WebOS but I think it's going to be a whole lot more fun and better performing on the PlayBook.

YouTube - Screamager second screencast

The second one is called 'Scientific RPN Calculator'. This app too was first developed on WebOS. I created a brand new photorealistic looking UI for the PlayBook and added a bunch of new features. This app is currently awaiting approval on AppWorld.

YouTube - Scientific RPN Calculator for BlackBerry PlayBook

I'm beyond excited about seeing my apps on the real thing hopefully soon. And of course about developing even better apps once I can develop with actual hardware.

Finally, for whoever else on here likes to develop their own PlayBook apps: I have a third app which is a nice looking unit converter which is open sourced under GPL so you can do with it whatever you want, learn from it etc. The source is here:

https://github.com/TheMarco/Unit-Converter

Let me know what you all think!

I've seen all three of these a few times over at the Dev forums. Both look great, and it's devs like you that'll really help push the platform forward. I'm sure they'll all do great on the market - often, hard word is rewarded. :)

Neat apps! Really kind of you to open source your converter, probably really helpful for new devs. :)

Originally Posted by TheMarco

Hi all!

I'm very new on Crackberry but not on the official BB support forums. I have developed three PlayBook apps so far. The first two already got me a free PlayBook from RIM which I really hope I'll get at launch day. I figured I'd show them to you all to see what you think. I made screencasts for both.

The first one is called 'Screamager' and it's available for free in AppWorld. It's a retro-style LED message scroller and animator. It was originally developed on WebOS but I think it's going to be a whole lot more fun and better performing on the PlayBook.

YouTube - Screamager second screencast

The second one is called 'Scientific RPN Calculator'. This app too was first developed on WebOS. I created a brand new photorealistic looking UI for the PlayBook and added a bunch of new features. This app is currently awaiting approval on AppWorld.

YouTube - Scientific RPN Calculator for BlackBerry PlayBook

I'm beyond excited about seeing my apps on the real thing hopefully soon. And of course about developing even better apps once I can develop with actual hardware.

Finally, for whoever else on here likes to develop their own PlayBook apps: I have a third app which is a nice looking unit converter which is open sourced under GPL so you can do with it whatever you want, learn from it etc. The source is here:

https://github.com/TheMarco/Unit-Converter

Let me know what you all think!

THANK YOU :)
I was thinking about trying to make a unit converter as my first practice app. This will help immensely in helping me learn. :D

Screamager looks nifty :) It would be cool to use while ur playbook is on the charging dock.
Calc looks very polished.

Hey Macro - what was it like developing for PB? How difficult/easy was it? And compared to other apps you created on other platforms?

Thanks!

Nice work, looking forward to the unit converter!

Question for OP and other devs, is there any chance of making a nice solid IRC app for the playbook? That would be awesome!!!

Originally Posted by Machzy

Hey Macro - what was it like developing for PB? How difficult/easy was it? And compared to other apps you created on other platforms?

Thanks!

I'm a front-end web developer mostly so WebWorks is 'easy' for me in the sense that it's the same stuff I do every day. After all it's just javascript/css/html. Before this PlayBook stuff I had done several things on HP/WebOS which is initially harder than developing for PlayBook because it comes with a whole framework while WebWorks comes with almost nothing.

That said, once you master that framework the UI and various other things are easier to develop because on WebOS everything is there (widgets, system calls, the works, really) while on the PlayBook you have to pretty much build everything yourself from scratch. Luckily though there are 3rd party widget frameworks that work on the PlayBook. I used JQuery Mobile in the calculator and the unit converter which seems to work alright (even though it's alpha code and it does have bugs you sometimes have to work your way around).

Screamager has a fully custom UI built from scratch.

A while ago I wrote a blog with some more remarks about it if you want to read it:

Some completely unsollicited advice to RIM regarding the BlackBerry PlayBook - The Net is Dead

Thanks for the compliments everyone by the way!

Hi Marco. I just downloaded the RPN calculator and when i run it, it opens the Android runtime in OS2...is this correct ? i havent come across any droid apps via appworld so far

Thanks - much needed to help with my daughters homework

hi the marco, how about some non-RPN calculator? :)

Hello Marco, Thanks for the app, but just like nikgilbe when I launch the app it opens in the Android player. Yes I am running os 2 beta. thanks

Originally Posted by nikgilbe

Hi Marco. I just downloaded the RPN calculator and when i run it, it opens the Android runtime in OS2...is this correct ? i havent come across any droid apps via appworld so far

Thanks - much needed to help with my daughters homework

Just an FYI -
Marco's app is called "Scientific RPN Calculator". It's a Webworks app.
It is not the new free app that is in appworld. It is in the top spot in the Utilities - Calculator section. Selling at $4.99.

I am a listed beta tester... so that's why I know...