farner(in)

I launched Abuzz last Thursday and heard lots of nice things from those who downloaded it.  From the bottom of my heart, I thank each and every one of you. :)  The app was born out of my own need for it.  I actually went into the App Store one day looking for something like it and was astonished that it didn’t exist.  So I got to work – mapping out the app and its various features.  I brought someone in to put it together and, in three months, I had a finished product.

But I failed to get Abuzz significant coverage, and that is my fault and my fault alone.

Other than Louis Gray’s great write-up, I couldn’t get a single other blog to run with it.  That tells me more than anything that the app isn’t as polished as it should be.  I had considered pushing out incremental updates, adding features every few weeks, but it’s clear to me now that those would only be bandages on a much bigger wound.  So the next iteration of Abuzz to see the light of day will be 2.0 (it will, of course, be released as an update, not as a separate app – I’m not pulling any Tweetie stuff, here).

I’ve listened to feedback and had a lot of great ideas come my way.  The interface will get an enormous facelift.  The user experience will be vastly improved.  The app will stand on its own both as a social media search tool and as a Twitter client.  I don’t want to let too much slip, but I’ll say this – I’m going to make sure the app is everything it should be.

Be sure to follow @abuzzapp for updates.

For the past three months, there has been one constant in my life: my Abuzz project.

I played with what I felt was the final version about two weeks ago and ultimately decided to hold off until a few more things were added.  The features in question were features I had planned to issue in a later update but instead found vital to what became Abuzz 1.0.  I’m thrilled to say that Abuzz is now in the App Store.

If you plan on downloading the app, I would love to get your thoughts on it.  Be sure to shoot me an email – shawnfarner [at] gmail [dot] com.  Also, check out the official Abuzz web site over at AbuzzApp.com.

Finally, I’d like to thank Louis Gray for this great writeup.

I’m hoping to develop Abuzz past what everyone has seen so far – I won’t be satisfied until it’s a must-have for iPhone owners.  I encourage you to ping me with ideas for features you’d like to see in updates.  Email, call, text (717-884-9763) – it’s all good. :)

Thank you all so much,

Shawn