Grand List of iPhone Apps for D&D Gaming

[Kragash]

Wow, the approval process is taking ridiculously long. It's been over 2 weeks now and my app is still in review by Apple. I apologize on behalf of Apple for being so slow with this process.

 

[Jhaelen]

Wow, the approval process is taking ridiculously long. It's been over 2 weeks now and my app is still in review by Apple. I apologize on behalf of Apple for being so slow with this process.

Two weeks is slow? How long does it take on average?

 

[mpattee]

My first version took 6 business days, first patch took 8 business days.

 

[Kragash]

Two weeks is slow? How long does it take on average?

Apple seems to be touting that 96% of all application submissions get approved within 14 days. Am I really part of the unlucky 4% that got the shaft? Or is that 96% statistic inaccurate and misleading?

My application is ridiculously simple to test compared to, say, a full fledge game which would require an Apple employee to finish to make sure it abides to all the guidelines. So I don't understand how it can take so long to approve.

Because Apple is so slow with this process, I'll have users hounding me and giving me bad reviews because I haven't included race X or class Y or feat Z in Character4ge. But how could I? I pretty much had to go through all the paperwork and through the approval process a month before Adventurer's Vault 2 and Primal Powers came out.

 

[Hadrian the Builder]

I speculate that the number of independent app developers and new apps is growing faster than apple's review staff, and that's causing delays.

 

[Mark]

Are there IP issues?

 

[Kragash]

Are there IP issues?

Well if feat names, feature names and item names are an IP issue...perhaps. I don't think Apple would know if they were an IP issue. Besdies, I can hardly imagine these feat/feature/item names and a smallish description being enforceable IP considering Wizard of the Coast has borrowed names from World of Warcraft and a great deal other RPGs. To top it all off all of these are readily available from the 4e Compedium.

If it's really an issue, I would simply scrap my local database and have my app get these names and descriptions from the Compendium (and unfortunately force people to have an active internet connection).

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

Oh wow! Great thread, thanks for keeping track of all of this stuff.

I've been playing around with INit, but after some initial promise, I haven't seen much in the way of upgrades, or at the very least, any talk on the developer's thread here on ENWorld. It really just needs a draggable edit mode that dynamically updates a character's initiative as you drag, and perhaps two checkboxes for readying or delaying actions and it'd be a perfect solution for almost ANY game system, for a DM or a player that just wants to help stay on top of the initiative order.

I just downloaded DM Tracker, however, and it's absolutely fantastic--most of my wishlist for INit is somehow addressed in the app which is great. It's a bit of a different animal in its usage perhaps (at least in how I envision using it) simply because it's more geared towards DMs.

After five minutes of playing with DM Tracker, I'm not sure how it would handle readying or holding an action, so that might be something for the developer to think about for a future upgrade, if he/she is following the thread.

But overall..... Big thumbs up for DM Tracker here!

I'm very curious to take a look at both of the character tracking apps once they're both approved.

 

[Mark]

Well if feat names, feature names and item names are an IP issue...perhaps.

I believe that they are.

I don't think Apple would know if they were an IP issue.

I imagine that's what they use the 14+ days to avoid.

Besides, I can hardly imagine these feat/feature/item names and a smallish description being enforceable IP considering Wizard of the Coast has borrowed names from World of Warcraft and a great deal other RPGs.

Some believe that the new naming conventions are meant to thwart any who might have tried to use the OGL to make 4E compatible (while not labeling them such) supplements.

To top it all off all of these are readily available from the 4e Compedium.

That's the point of the compendium and WotC hawkishly putting a stop to various sites that have sprung up using WotC D&D IP to create competing (even if free and not as good) DDI-esque interfaces.

If it's really an issue, I would simply scrap my local database and have my app get these names and descriptions from the Compendium (and unfortunately force people to have an active internet connection).

That might be a potential workaround.

 

[mpattee]

The 14 days for review seems accurate so far for i4e. The original submit took 6 business days and the update I put out the first day it was in iTunes took 8 business days.

The delay for review is a pain in the ass and really makes me wish it wasn't there. It can be a major pain if you have a crashing bug or the like.

The reviews haven't been too hard on me for delays though as I think people who buy apps from iTunes are used to it, and know what to expect.

I was really worried about IP when I was working on i4e. As a result it really includes nothing and just allows the users to input most anything. I'm currently working on adding the ability to import .dnd4e files from the Character Builder but its frustrating as the files don't contain all the information about a character.

The web services for DDI are severely lacking and don't give you much of anything as far as information about things. The only way you can get good info even with a DDI account is all presented in pre-formatted HTML which is basically what is used by the compendium.

On top of this the character builder being windows only basically means that I'm not providing a true import option for any mac users.

I'm pretty sure I could sell a few copies of DDI if I could get a decent web service option for getting info into the app but requiring a DDI account. Seems short sighted in the effort to "protect" their content.