I’ve been redesigning Hi Jinx Pro and Lite the last two weeks. This is a complete redesign from the ground up. I’m pleased to announce that I am 95% of the way completed. There are a few minor clean up items that need to be completed and then we’ll be submitted this new version to the Apple App Store (cross your fingers that it gets approved).

The new features for version 2 are as followed:

• Both Hi Jinx Pro and Hi Jinx Lite get two characters from the start, Mr. Richardson and Fabulous Steve.
• All other characters (or examples of characters for the lite version) are now downloadable online.
• Each character has a full description and information about themselves.
• If you download a character and then don’t want them anymore, you can delete the downloaded character.
• The app is now theme based. Basically, you can change the background image. There are 7 different themes to choose from.
• There is a “Setting” area so the user can control the settings of the app, aka Auto Update, Return to Last Character used, Remember Last tab of character, and so on.
• There is an “Instructions” area to explain exactly how to use the app via iPhone or iPod Touch.
• The code base is written once for Hi Jinx Pro and Hi Jinx Lite. I just have to flip one variable before the build and all the differences between pro and lite are built appropriately.
• I used Joe Hewitt’s Three20 library, this saved me time and many headaches.
• I used Jeff LaMarche’s SQLite Persistence Objects library for the database storage, another great library, which saved me time and additional headaches.
• The UI (User Interface) has completely changed and looks entirely better.
• The logo will be changed and look more professional (thanks Joel).
• I added one Easter Egg. See if you can trigger it when v2 is released. It’s a tribute to John Scanlon.

The list of features are long and it’s only been two weeks. Thanks to Joe Hewitt and Jeff LaMarche for the use of their libraries to speed up the engineering time. I have one more feature that might have to wait until version 2.1 or 3.0, but I might just add it to the mix. The feature is to allow the user to create their own characters and then they can submit them to me online. Jimmy Chones and I can then approve the voices and then allow other users to download these user created characters. I figure it should take about a week or two to add the feature. I’ve included some screenshots of the new version, enjoy.

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