Update: MonoPhix HD 1.2.1 and MonoPhix Lite 3.1, maintenance updates.

Many photo apps have been hit by an iOS6 flaw causing them to crash and malfunction and this was no different for MonoPhix, MonoPhix HD for iPad and MonoPhix Lite for iPhone. The first one already received an update to fix the crashes, but MonoPhix HD and MonoPhix Lite were still offline. With these two updates the entire line of Phix apps returns to the app store and the existing userbase will have a working app once again.

The MonoPhix HD update only fixes the crash issue and MonoPhix Lite received a fix for the crash and a fix for a bug affecting the image picker.

You can download MonoPhix HD 1.2.1 here and MonoPhix Lite 3.1 here.

Update: MonoPhix 3.3 – The most powerful black & white app, fixed.

Our line of Phix apps for iOS has been offline for a few days now because iOS6 caused all of them to crash upon opening an image. (Not our fault, Apple screwed up more things than just the maps app) But we are happy to announce that at least one of them, MonoPhix has returned to the App Store with a fix for the crash and some other improvements.

MonoPhix 3.3 has a slightly altered interface to host more sharing options (coming in the future) and to reduce the amount of clutter in the task bar. We’ve also already added one sharing option, share to Muzy, but it seems to be malfunctioning at the moment. This could be because the sharing API isn’t yet activated at Muzy’s end. And of course the crash has been fixed along with some memory usage tweaks.

We updated and submitted MonoPhix HD a few days ago and MonoPhix Lite for iPhone today. We are also working to bring FlashPhix and FlashPhix lite to version 3.0 with a new interface. This will fix the iOS6 crash on these apps and will bring them back to the App Store as well.

We apologize for the trouble and hope you enjoy MonoPhix 3.3 and all other apps. MonoPhix is available for download at http://itunes.apple.com/be/app/monophix-zwart-wit-filter/id333643515?l=nl&mt=8

WARNING: iOS6 compatibility issues with MonoPhix (HD) and FlashPhix.

Tomorrow iOS 6 will be released and a lot of iPhone 5 devices with the new iOS version are already shipping. This isn’t a blessing for everyone. Due to some unannounced changes Apple decided to make to certain components of iOS, some of our apps will crash after opening an image from the camera roll or taking a new one. We addressed this issue a while ago in a bug report sent to Apple and tried to get help from the iOS support engineers, but they weren’t willing to help because the issue was caused by at the time prerelease software, so we had to search for a fix ourselves.

We managed to fix this issue and we will take MonoPhix, MonoPhix HD, FlashPhix and GrayPhix out of the App Store starting tomorrow until a fix is released. Everyone affected will get an update within a few weeks after Apple decides to approve our fix.

We apologize for any inconvenience and advise everyone not to update to iOS6 just yet as it’s still in a state which we can only describe as buggy.

Update: MonoPhix HD 1.2 – The most powerful B&W photography app for iPad.

It’s been a while since our only iPad app got a little update love, but today we are pleased to announce the release of MonoPhix HD 1.2. And it’s not a minor release. It contains better support for multitasking, support for the new iPad’s retina display, a new mode allowing tonal adjustments, color filters, renewed vignetting and the ability to share your pictures on our new Phix filter and photo sharing service. We also fixed an entire busload of bugs and added some UI tweaks, including the ability to remove the tape from your preview.

Tonal adjustments

One request was to include the ability to control the contrast of each color channel separately. To make red parts of your picture stand out more for example. With the new “tonal controls” you can do just that. And just like the default controls you can still control light and dark tones separately.

Color filters

Just like in the iPhone version of MonoPhix, MonoPhix HD now has color filters aboard (Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow).

New settings panel and retina support

The new settings panel has been partially simplified and now also contains the ability to remove the tape ornaments from the picture preview. Instead of the many options to size your preview you now have 2 options, one for retina devices and one for the first and second generation iPad.

Share pictures and filters on Phix

With the release of iPhix for Mac we have created a new more rich way of sharing pictures and we call it “Phix”. Phix is a service you can use to share pictures, get a shortlink to your picture to share on twitter and facebook and most importantly, to show people what you did to your picture to make it look how it looks. With the recipe option you can upload all your changes along with your picture. For more info: http://phix.im/ .

If you already own MonoPhix HD you can update for free and if you don’t own it you can download it here for 1.99$.

Update: MonoPhix – Vintage Meets Technology v3.2

Yet another MonoPhix update has hit the App Store. This time it’s quite a major update for people who had issues with the vignetting and of course also for people who like some extra features.

The new update basically has 3 new features.

Completely rebuilt vignetting system

We were tired of constantly having to fix vignetting issues and patching stuff so we threw out the old vignetting engine and equipped MonoPhix 3.2 with a new one. Because the vignetting glitch in version 3.0 and 3.1 is actually caused by an iOS quirk it’s very hard to get rid of the glitch completely, but this update comes pretty close. So from now on vignetting should work flawlessly on all standard format pictures and on many cropped pictures or those generated by apps. This also cleared the need for the correction slider introduced in version 3.1. The general vignetting update also makes way for more advanced vignetting effects and the ability to control the vignetting with multiple parameters (eg. radius, hardness, shape, …).

In-app camera access

Now you can shoot pictures directly from within MonoPhix. When we questioned some users this wasn’t directly a killer feature, but apparently people have been switching apps from MonoPhix to others because they could shoot pictures directly from within the app. So now this issue is gone as well and you can easily tap the camera button in the upper left corner, shoot a picture and the default settings will automatically be applied to it.

Gestures

Last but not least is the addition of gestures to swipe between tools. Now for those who question the direction of the swipe, if you swipe to the right the tooltab to the right will open, if you swipe to the left the tooltab on the left will open. See the bottom toolbar as an indicator. There might be an option added to the settings to change this in future versions. All and all, this will be a great way to help you speed up your editing.

This isn’t a particularly bulky update but it adds some important features and hopefully fixes the vignetting woes for many users.

You can download MonoPhix 3.2 here or just press the update button in the App Store.

Update: MonoPhix – Vintage Meets Technology v3.1

NOTE: The newest update contains a bug caused by an incorrect project setting which causes the opening screen to look all buggy and  glitchy. This issue will be fixed ASAP in a 3.1.1 update. It’s sad that these things always happen and simply cannot be caught during testing but they are a result of Apple’s lack of documentation regarding design for Retina Displays. The fix will be submitted tomorrow and will hopefully fix this annoying problem. I apologize sincerely for the mistake.

Today we are pleased to announce the newest version of the most feature rich black and white photo editor for iPhone, MonoPhix. Version 3.1 brings with it a number of fixes for annoying issues as well as stability and performance improvements but also a completely new often requested feature.

Filters

From now on you’ll be able to select a filter for your monochrome conversions. The preset filters are:
-”-” (default)
-Red
-Green
-Blue
-Cyan
-Magenta
-Yellow

Each filter will act like a filter on a camera and filter out light in that specific color. This can be used to enhance the intensity of grass or to accentuate the sky. All these preset filters are available with one tap from within the “Adjust” tab.

Example of the new filter function with the red filter enabled.

 Vignetting improvements

Something which has been bothering users was the quirk in the preview when vignetting was enabled which caused the vignetting to look like venetian blinds. In version 3.1 this is resolved further by adding a few new common picture resolutions to the exception list. If this glitch would still occur users are now able to adjust the preview offset by themselves with an extra slider in the vignetting tab. The vignetting is now also less intense by default and has a higher range.

The new vignetting tab in MonoPhix 3.1

Other fixes

Along with these major improvements came some minor fixes which you will probably not even notice. These include added reliability on iOS 4.3 and up and small performance improvements which speed up the processing slightly. Also there’s now a tooltip at the top of each tab when you next open MonoPhix which will display instructions on hiding a tab overlay and displaying the image unobstructed. These will disappear automatically when the user uses this feature for the first time.

Release cycle changes

We can also announce that MonoPhix will get a shorter release cycle which brings updates and improvements at a faster pace. We are already outlining the the featureset of MonoPhix 3.2 which will bring some more interesting features. MonoPhix normally gets only one major update a year and a few small bug fixing releases but from now one this will change to one major update a year (with UI changes) and about 4 significant minor updates which add extra features and improve existing ones.

–

MonoPhix 3.1 is now available in the iTunes App Store and can be downloaded here.

Here’s the full feature list as seen in the App Store for reference:

• Color filters for Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and of course default (average blending) easily accessible with one tap
• Added a small tooltip to show people how they can hide the tool overlay (this will disappear automatically after being used)
• Vignetting is now lighter by default and has a higher range
• A slider was added to the vignetting tab to allow users to correct the vignetting on the preview in case of glitches
• Fixed vignetting preview glitch on some landscape images (1936×2691)
• Fixed a few minor issues to improve reliability on iOS 4.3 and up
• Small performance adjustments to make the filters run more smoothly

Apologies for the inactivity, clarification and how I’ll make up for it.

A few months ago I promised to release a Mac and Windows version of MonoPhix before the summer holidays and maybe some new apps and updates. Sadly it’s the first month of the summer holidays yet and I haven’t released anything yet.

There weren’t any hickups in the development process that caused the delays, I’ll explain what actually was the issue and it’s rather personal.
I’ve been developing software for 6 years now, completely on my own with once in a while a good soul as temporary aid. And that brings with it that the release cycles are rather quirky and dependent on the time I have at hands or on how I’m feeling. Personal issues have had a great impact on the release time of my software.

I just “graduated” less or more. (there are a few things which I still have to handle to get my degree) But this also meant that I had to get some things finished for school as well. A paper on digital image processing and an app accompanying it, I had to do a 3 month internship and there were some additional tasks. Now that’s what’s been delaying development from March and forth.

But that’s not the only thing. Lately there have been some drastic changes in my personal life which require my attention and which even made me lose track of sales and customer support. Some negative and some very positive but all and all a great shift which caused my concentration to reside somewhere at a sub zero level. Development has been halted for about 2 months now and is slowly coming back on track.

But of course it’s pretty annoying that you guys should suffer from this. Luckily I have a great community of users which kept sales alive and prevented bankruptcy during my “absence”. To thank you all for your patience I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. All apps will be free for an undetermined period of time (somewhere between 1-2 days). This means MonoPhix, MonoPhix HD, FlashPhix, iDuelpro, Lingi and iPhix all drop from their respective prices to 0$/0€ or whatever your currency is.

I would say, grab them while you can. If you don’t like them or don’t need them, don’t punch them into the ground with a 1 star rating and a rage comment in the App Store but just leave them be or drop me a mail on how I can improve them.

Enjoy the sale and of course the 4th of July for all Americans out there!

(download links to all apps can be found in the sidebar of this blog. If the apps aren’t on sale just yet, stand by it takes about an hour for the sales to be activated by iTunes)

Update: MonoPhix Lite – Vintage Meets Technology v3.0 [Major]

We’ve been promising it for some time and since the paid version got an update a while ago it is only fair that the lite version should follow. So here it is: MonoPhix Lite 3.0.

This Lite version of MonoPhix is a stripped down version which allows you to apply the MonoPhix black & white filter, set the contrast for the black & white and set a blending color for the monochrome with 3 presets (B&W, Sepia and Antique) and infinite variations.

The biggest additions when it comes to functionality come in the form of the ability to choose from multiple monochrome filters (Fast Film/Finest Grain) and the color selection tool.

But here’s an overview of all differences between the full and the lite version:

	MonoPhix 3.0	MonoPhix Lite 3.0
Full resolution support	x	x
New wooden UI	x	x
# of adjustable tones	2 (dark and light tones)	1 (overall contrast)
Color blending	x	x
Settings panel	x	x
Retina Display Support	x	x
Multitasking	x	x
Multiple monochrome filters	x (Fast Film/Finest grain)	x (Fast Film/Finest grain)
Exposure adjustments	x	-
Set monochrome alpha	x	-
Noise/Grain generator	x	-
Posterization	x	-
Color inversion	x	-
Burned vignetting	x	-
Bleached vignetting	x	-
Set vignetting radius	x	-
Help file	Full version help file	Full version help file
Price	0.99$/0.79€	Free

So head over to the App Store and give it a try! Or for the 14.000 people who already own MonoPhix Lite, just tap the “Update” button in the App Store’s update section.

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Update: MonoPhix 3.0.1, due to circumstances not what you’ve been waiting for.

I just approved MonoPhix update 3.0.1 for release. I was basically forced because Apple wouldn’t let me reject it or upload a new binary without first approving this one. We are perfectly aware that this update does not fix the iOS 3.x crashes but what does it fix?

-Displays the correct new icon in the App Store
-Fixes a bug where the review dialog redirected users to MonoPhix HD instead of MonoPhix 3.

I asked Apple kindly to test this version for iOS 3.x compatibility and reject it if it wasn’t compatible, but they simply ignored my note and approved it. So I did some testing with a friend who still uses iOS 3.0.1 and fixed every iOS 3.x issue in a new version.

The fixed version 3.0.2 should be available this weekend. I apologize to all iOS 3.x MonoPhix users for yet another delay.

MonoPhix HD 1.1 brings tons of new features to a great iPad photography app.

Our first iPad app, MonoPhix HD was an amazing success at release and has a steady download count at the moment, so we can’t neglect the tons of users who downloaded it. That’s why I’ve set up the roadmap for the next update to give people an idea of what to expect next time MonoPhix HD shows up in their update list.

First of all some people have had some performance issues, others think it’s justified, but the issue remains that some actions can be quite slow to be applied to the preview. We can’t fix this completely and provide a real time preview, there will always be some lag, but we’re going to improve the performance as good as we can and a lot of simultaneous actions will no longer clog up the app. So each action will be previewed within 2 seconds.

Other changes include better support for vignetting. MonoPhix HD already has great vignetting support, it’s even used by some with the filter alpha set to 0 to apply it to non-monochrome images, but it can be better. So MonoPhix HD 1.1 will have the best vignetting support of any iPad/iPhone app. New features include the ability to set an offset for the vignetting and a different type of vignetting to spread light or shadow from each corner instead of the default round vignetting.

Another interesting feature will be a noise generator which gives your pictures some extra grain. This will certainly benefit some users which like some added vintage effect to their pictures.

You will also have the ability to color your monochrome images in another way than just colouring the white parts in the selected color. In MonoPhix HD 1.1 you will choose what shade you want to recolor.

The other features include a help file, some social features on startup to guide you in showing off your MonoPhix pictures, some live tutorials and gesture support eg. Touch based gestures and shake to reset.

And for the iPhone users don’t fear cause all these features will be coming to MonoPhix 3 for iPhone as well.

MonoPhix HD 1.1 will appear somewhere in the next 2 months. It will not have the UI changes requested by some users yet because that requires some general research but it’s a more than worthy update to version 1.0.

In the meanwhile you can enjoy MonoPhix HD, version 1.1 will come as a free update for 1.0 users.