Sleep Waves - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

I did have some as I had previously released Sleep Waves for Windows. This was however, my first experience with Android (Java).

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

The most challenging aspect for this particular android app was finishing it and then come find out that the total size needs to be below 100MB in order to submit it to the store without having to do major work and break it up into pieces. I try to use high quality sounds which of course takes up more storage. So I had to go back and play around with lengths of the sound clips in order to meet the target size.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

Some of my favorite apps are “Exploding Kittens” and “TouchDown for Smartphones”. Exploding Kittens because it’s a fun quick game that you can play in less than 5 min. I use TouchDown to handle work emails and its an overall perfect app for my needs. It’s a shame Symantec has brought it to its end of life.

How long have you been working on this app?

I’ve been working on Sleep Waves for about 2-3 months I would say. I do have a day job so I would say I worked on this about 3-4 hours a day a couple times a week for a couple months.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

The thing I had in mind was ease of use and relaxation of the user.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

One thing I believe my apps brings to the table is customization.You have the ability to mix and match multiple sounds and then control the volume on each of those individual sounds. Another great feature is the ability to save the state of the sounds/volume that you have chosen. That way you can start up the app, click the load option and have the sounds you previously chosen up and running without having to select each one again and adjust their volume. The last thing I would have to say my app brings is a developer who listens. I’ve had several request to add sounds and features and those have been added, I mean who would listen to dolphins to get them to sleep haha.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

Of course one of my main objectives is to eventually look at breaking my app up so I can grow that app beyond 100MB and still provide the high quality sounds that are in there now. This will allow me to add more sounds and features such has being able to save more than one mixture of sounds (essentially 3 save slots). Another feature I would like to bring back that I had on my windows app at one time is the ability to import your own sound whether it be sleep sounds or your own music. This would allow you to use the apps timer feature with your own imported sound. Of course whatever the users suggest would also be considered as a possible new feature.

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

I would like for them to share the app as much as they can. The more users I see using it, the more motivated I get to keep working on it! I would also like them to contact me with any bugs they might find, questions they might have or any suggestions they have for the app. One last thing is to please review the app. The more reviews the more people will realize what a great app it is and are likely to try it out themselves, assuming the app is getting good reviews haha...