If you’ve ever found yourself needing to send one of your lists in Clear to a friend or co-worker, you’re going to love the latest update to Clear for iPhone and Mac.

The ability to Email lists is a feature we’ve received a lot of requests for, and we’re really excited to launch it today! To send your list, just shake your phone to bring up a handy email option, or if you’re using Clear for Mac you can find it in the Actions Menu. The email contains both your list and a file that allows the list to be opened in Clear!

If you’ve not yet picked up a copy of Clear, check it out on the App Store for iPhone and Mac.

We’ve got lots more in the pipeline for Clear, including some of the other most requested features. But for now, stay focused and keep Clear!

Last week we announced Analog Camera for iOS, and so far the reception has been pretty overwhelming, the announcement got picked up by the likes of TechCrunch, TUAW, AppShopper, iMore, Forbes, MacLife, and many, many more.

We released a very short (12 seconds to be exact) video giving a brief glimpse of what to expect and so far it's received almost 70,000 views! If you've yet to see it, take a peek below:

Analog Camera for iPhone is due out later this month. You can follow @analogcamera on twitter or sign up to our newsletter to be one of the first to know when Analog Camera goes live!

When the company was much younger, we used to pre-announce releases with a fair amount of notice. As with any project, best laid plans get changed, and release dates get missed.

Recently we’ve been a lot more disciplined in how we plan our releases. It’s a popular myth that apps are “easy” to make and I thought I’d talk about the compromises and decisions we have to make every day when building apps.

So there’s this thing called the Iron Triangle. It’s been slightly adapted and tweaked for software development over the years, but basically the saying goes that there are three variables to keep in mind while developing an app:

1. Date (Shipping Date).
2. Features (Capabilities, what the app can do).
3. Quality (UI/UX/Code).

Sounds reasonable. But here’s the catch, in reality you can only ever really prioritise two out of the three attributes. Here’s a typical diagram showing what an Iron Triangle looks like. Pretty boring, huh?

Here’s an example of how it might work during a project. Imagine you’re halfway through development of an app and you decide to add a new feature, albeit a small one. By doing this one of the other variables will have to give. You can ship on time with a slightly less polished app, or keep the quality up and ship later than planned. These seemingly little changes can happen countless times during a project and as the changes stack up things can get out of control very quickly. That shipping date you originally planned for just keeps getting further and further away.

Now lets look at a real world example. With Clear for iPhone we made the decision to choose date and quality. We wanted to ship a polished app (that’s always our main goal), but not spend a year on it as we wanted test the waters on iOS. Cutting back on features was the obvious choice although not an easy decision. By doing this we managed to ship a high quality app in a very short space of time. So Clear for iOS easily fits within the rules of the iron triangle.

Perhaps it’s better visualised as an isosceles triangle, instead of an equilateral triangle. Mainly due to the fact that we give more weight to two out of the three attributes.

Unfortunately projects don’t always go to plan… We’re now wrapping up development on one of our other yet to be released iOS apps. As with Clear we decided to focus on time and quality, build an app that is super focused, has a great experience and only has the features that really matter. Everything looked good on paper so we set aside around 3-4 months to build it. During development things changed. Features were added, the UI was tweaked, the user flow re-worked many times, In-App Purchase (IAP) was added then removed and many other little decisions were made along the way. All these changes happened because we care deeply about the products we ship, we care about keeping the quality up, about building something that feels just right.

So where does that leave us? I’m really not sure to be honest. But whatever the shape of the project, the takeaway from this is to use the iron triangle as a reminder of how every little decision you make along the way affects all other aspects of the project more than you might realise.

We’ll be taking the wraps off our next iOS app in the coming weeks - follow @realmacsoftware to be the first to know when it hits.

We’ve been fortunate enough to have our apps featured a few times on both App Stores, and we often get friends and developers asking us what our secret is. Unfortunately there’s no secret or shortcuts to getting featured but then you probably knew that already, right?

It’s worth understanding that Apple doesn’t feature apps to help us developers, it features apps because they benefit Apple and its customers - as long as you remember that, you’ll do just fine.

That said, there’s a number of things that people often overlook that we feel can improve your odds. So here’s my shortlist of things that you can do to increase the chances of getting your next app featured.

1. Build a Great App

I know this is obvious and much easier said than done, but it really is the most important thing to keep in mind. If you’re building an app to try and make a quick buck you’re not going to get featured. If you’re passionate about building great apps and shipping something you’re proud of, the chances of being featured are much greater. Sooner or later Apple will take notice of you - consistency is the key here!

If you look at it from Apple’s perspective, Apple only want to highlight apps that show off how great the Mac and iOS platforms really are. They certainly don’t feature apps as a favour to developers — again, they do it because it benefits Apple.

2. Target the “Latest And Greatest”

Going to WWDC (or just watching the videos) is a great way to find out what new APIs are in the next OS release and what Apple’s focus over the next year is going to be. This will give you invaluable insight into what you should be supporting in your app.

One example of an API that you should be looking to adopt is iCloud. This is a major strategy for Apple and I believe iCloud is going to be key to the company’s long-term success. If there’s a place for iCloud in your app and you’re not using it, now is the time to adopt it!

Remember it’s in Apple’s interest to highlight apps that show off the latest OS and hardware releases as that drives adoption of those technologies and devices – it all comes back to doing what benefits Apple.

3. Make it Universal

Providing it makes sense (and it doesn’t always) your app should be available on Mac, iPhone and iPad. By doing this you have a much better chance of being featured - here’s why. Imagine this scenario; Apple are looking at putting together a feature on productivity apps, they have literally hundreds to pick from. Are they going to pick the one that’s available on Android and iPhone - or are they going to pick one that’s a universal iOS app, uses iCloud and is available on the Mac too?

If I were Apple I know which one I’d pick.

4. Invest in good UI & UX

Competition in the App Store is absolutely insane, you’re now competing with huge companies that have endless resources and world class teams at their disposal. Chances are you’re going to need to step up your game!

It’s increasingly rare for one-man development shops to get featured on the iOS App Store these days, but if there’s one thing that I’d advise it would be to reach out and hire the most talented UI/UX designer you can afford.

If you don’t have the funds to hire someone full-time, then Dribbble is a great place to find new and upcoming designers who might be happy to team up with you to work on the next big thing.

5. Get Media Coverage

This is pretty tough to do but is absolutely essential for a successful launch. I know it sounds obvious, but it’s crazy how many app developers leave it to the last minute or plan to do it after they ship.

Ideally you should be trying to build some hype to get bloggers and tech sites talking about your app before it launches. I’d suggest putting up a teaser page that includes a promo video or at the very least some screenshots and information about what your app does and when you plan to release it — teaser pages that have little or no information about the app are pretty much useless.

You will also need to make sure you have an email sign-up form and all the usual social buttons on the page to help you build up a following of people interested in the app. A timely announcement when you launch will help propel you up the App Store charts, giving you some much needed visibility and increasing the chances that the right people at Apple will take notice.

You should’t start teasing your app too early - A couple of weeks is generally about right. Any longer than that and you run the risk of people getting frustrated or worse still, a competitor stealing your idea and launching before you.

One More Thing…

Keep in mind that Apple get almost 1,000 app submissions a day, and the small team in charge of reviewing them may just simply miss your little gem of an app due to the huge amount of drivel that gets submitted everyday.

To make sure Apple know about you and your app you should try getting in touch with someone at Apple. I know they sometimes seem like a walled garden, but if you genuinely have a good app, Apple want to know about it.

How do you get in contact with Apple? I’d recommend going to WWDC, chatting with Apple developers after the sessions and in the Labs, submitting Radar Bug Reports and generally networking with your peers as much as possible. Apple will also reach out to developers who pop up on their radar, making your marketing efforts even more important!

There are over 750,000 apps in the App Store, so the chances of getting featured are pretty slim. The good news, however, is you can still have a successful app even without ever getting featured. It’s not a make or break deal, it’s just the icing on the cake.

Good Luck!

Today we’re excited to announce something a little different, something we’ve been working on in conjunction with our friends at Impending.

Your iPhone is the perfect home for a pet, and Hatch happens to be that pet. The adorable, mystical Fugu creature is your loyal companion and goes everywhere with you. Starting today, you can put your name down to adopt your very own, special coloured, Fugu egg which will be hatching in early 2013! In case you need persuading, here’s one Realmac-coloured Fugu which we’ve adopted here at the office.

We’ve been itching to tell you all about Hatch, and hope you’ll check out the teaser video and sign up to adopt your own Fugu too!