The Oklahoman’s iPad app is ready for download
I won the pool.
Last week, a group of developers, designers and project managers were adding levity to their work, taking friendly wagers on how quickly The Oklahoman’s iPad application would be approved by Apple and available to the public via the app store.
The team had just finished a little more than five weeks’ worth of heavy-duty programming to build the home-grown application. They did an outstanding job, especially when you consider the complexity of the product they delivered and the aggressive time frame in which it was requested.
But those brilliant professionals stink at guessing how quickly Apple will act. Some thought it would take weeks. Some thought it might even require some back and forth — as if there would be something in the application that would cause it to be rejected.
Not me. I did no development, but I was confident.
Next Wednesday. No rejections.
Yesterday morning, we received word that the application was officially under review. By the and of the day, it was approved.
I just wish we had real money on this pool.
Kidding aside, we’re extremely proud of this application. The Oklahoman’s iPad edition is a true example how a large initiative can come together quickly. We had it all:
- establishing a vision
- devising a plan
- developing a set of core teams
- planning for sustainability
- testing, testing and more testing
- working out the details
- testing again
And about the time we had many of our work flow, technical and content issues worked out, Apple approved the application. Nice timing, guys.
So yes, we’re proud. But we also know that this application isn’t perfect. We are continuing to add improvements to the app, and we expect you will see upgrades in the near future. We’ll be adding more content features, more technical abilities, more multimedia videos and a few small bug fixes. And after that upgrade, you’ll see another … and then another.
The development team built this application so that we can make many changes to the content display on the fly. Often times, we might not even need to send improvements to the app through Apple’s review process.
Bottom line: We will continue to refine the The Oklahoman’s iPad edition. That’s a guarantee.
So if you own an iPad, download it. It’s free. After you have it on your device, you can see one complimentary edition to give you an idea of the product’s offering. A monthly subscription is required to download future daily editions.
Try it for a month. Users from our test group say it fits their on-the-go, mobile lifestyle perfectly. They’re reading more now, because the great content is in a format that works well for them.
If you are like that, this product is for you.
And if you like it, be sure to let us know. The developers and editors that worked through all the bullet-points above deserve a big pat on the back.
But don’t forget — I’m the one that won the pool.
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