We’ve been working hard on a very cool new iOS app. If you’d like to be among the first to know more, enter your name and email address below and we’ll be sure to keep you in the loop.
![1.2 Promocode Giveaway [updated]](http://www.glasshouseapps.com/blog/wp-content/themes/bigfeature/library/timthumb/timthumb.php?src=/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/12-promocode-giveaway2.jpg&w=528&zc=1)
[UPDATE: The winners have been randomly chosen and sent their promo codes. Thanks to everyone who entered!]
Version 1.2 of The Early Edition has been approved! This is primarily a speed and performance update, but don’t let that disappoint you… Our beta tests produced dramatically faster fetching speeds compared to earlier versions. Needless to say, our beta testers were pretty happy with these improvements under the hood.
So… to celebrate this release, we’re giving away 20 copies of The Early Edition! All you have to do is log in to your Twitter account and tweet the following message:
You’ll also need to follow us so that if you win we can DM you a promo code. We’ll randomly choose 20 winners on July 4th. Please note that promo codes are valid only for redemption on the US App Store.
On a purely functional level we gained a huge amount from WWDC via the sessions and labs on offer. We were presented the amazing opportunity of being able to talk directly with Apple engineers and designers. These are the brilliant minds behind Apple today and there they were, helping little guys like us, one-on-one. Wow.
There was also a motivational level that’s hard to pin down on anything specifically about the week, but by Friday you couldn’t help but be itching to get on with the job of making great new apps or making your existing ones even better.
Then there was the networking and social side. WWDC attracts almost everyone who’s anyone in the app world, but it was just as cool meeting the smaller indie developers and students with bright ideas and boatloads of enthusiasm. I even met someone next to me in a queue who I’d had email conversations with before. And spending time with Marc Edwards from Bjango was fantastic. We’d never met in person until last week despite us both being Australian, (and thank you to Qantas, who spookily seated us right next to each other on the flight over – in a 747!).
As a designer I guess I’d have liked it if there were more labs and sessions available for UI and interaction design, but on the whole it really exceeded my expectations and I’m definitely planning on returning next year.
With over 5000 attendees, I’m amazed at how organised and efficient things were. Of course there were queues for just about everything (including the men’s toilets) but that just gave us another opportunity to meet people.
Everyone at Apple who had a part in WWDC this year should have a huge pat on the back. And if you’re a developer, trying to decide whether or not to go next year, I can’t recommend WWDC highly enough.
Having sold out in just 8 days, we were thrilled to have grabbed our tickets to WWDC 2010 just in the nick of time. It’s very exciting to be going along for the first time and we’re particularly looking forward to the sessions and labs. We wouldn’t be able to attend if it weren’t for those who’ve purchased The Early Edition so we’re hoping to be able to give a bit back in the form of improvements to the app, enabled by insights gained during the week.
If you’re a Twitterer, you can follow us on either the Glasshouse Apps account (updated by Graham), or Nick’s account. We’ll be tweeting a lot I’m sure. 
If you have a question relating to the new version of The Early Edition, be sure to check out this new 1.1 FAQs article.
Since we’ll be out of reach for the next couple of weeks due to the Worldwide Developers Conference, we’ve whipped up an FAQ post with answers to some of the questions we’ve recieved in the last few days. Click here to view the 1.1 FAQs.
Yippee! Another air-punching moment was had this morning when I received my notification that version 1.1 of The Early Edition had been approved and was ready for sale. If a watched pot never boils, it’s amazing that this one got beyond lukewarm!
Here are the most notable new features and performance enhancements:
✔ Sections: Now you can group & view feeds in customized categories
✔ Google Reader / OPML feed & folder importing
✔ Feed discovery: Now you can enter a website URL & The Early Edition will search for discoverable feeds
✔ There are now four ways to filter your news: Last Fetch, Today, All Dates & Past Editions
✔ Saved state! Now when you exit the app and relaunch, it will go back to the page you were on
✔ Auto-fetch will now only occur the first time you launch the app on a given day
✔ Fetching now includes a progress bar as visual feedback
✔ You can now cancel a fetch before it is finished
✔ Speed & performance enhancements
✔ Greatly improved international character support
✔ UI enhancements
✔ App Store links now open the App Store instead of web previews
✔ New Help menu with answers to frequently asked questions
✔ Bug fixes, including some feeds that were causing crashes
Having the update approved is quite a load off our minds seeing as we’re leaving for WWDC in a few days. Thank you to those who’ve given us feedback and also to Apple for approving the update.
If you’ve got any suggestions or requests on this update, please use the feedback button in the app itself (tap the “i” button) so we have them all in the same place, rather than using the comments here.
