Snowfunk

An Android version of Snowfunk Speedway will be next, although I can't promise any firm timescales yet! 1. There are plenty of apps out there with ongoing charges, and particularly sporting apps which often have 'season passes'. This usually covers regular content which, in the case of Snowfunk Speedway, is the embedded rider lineup for the year’s series, plus downloadable lineups before each of the 11 meetings and downloadable results afterwards. For the 2012 season the same service will be provided, any rule changes will be incorporated into the (rather complicated) workings of the app, and I’ll continue to make updates to improve the app and take advantage of any new operating system or device features. During each season, when Apple update their iPhone operating system I will also make any necessary fixes to ensure that the app continues to work smoothly on your devices. I personally consider all of this to be worthy of a yearly fee as it continues my time commitment and development costs, whilst providing a continuing service. 2. I’m a glass half-full person myself, so I’d prefer to look upon it as terrific that I’d enjoyed something completely free for the first year! In fact, I wanted to make sure that there was a demand for the app and that people found it useful. Giving it away for free in 2010 was a good way to find out before I continued to spend more time and money developing it further. It has now grown way beyond a hobby which has led to the fee. 3. I had an agreement with BSI that they would support my app for the 2010 series, but they decided not to renew that agreement for 2011. This is a common and, in my opinion, very useful feature of iPhone apps. You can download something for free and then poke around and see what it can do. You can then decide for yourself whether to pay to upgrade it, keep the free functionality, or just delete it. It’s the perfect way to 'try before you buy', rather than paying money up front based upon a few screenshots and a description. The vast majority of the 59p apps out there are general enough (e.g. games) that they appeal to millions of people and therefore have the potential to make huge sums of money. The more specialized content tends to attract a higher price as the market is so much smaller. An app for speedway fans (already a very small proportion of the population) who own an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad (now a pretty tiny number of people) is unlikely to make anybody rich. I charge what I consider to be a fair price with the hope of justifying the time and expense I incur. Apple also take over 30% of any sales which should not be forgotten!

My name is Craig Williamson and I am the man behind the Snowfunk Speedway iPhone app. I invented the iPhone speedway scorecard as it's exactly what I wanted to enhance my own enjoyment of the series. I would liken it to the well-regarded KanDysoft spreadsheets (also paid-for) except that it works neatly on an iPhone/iPod. Just to clarify what Snowfunk Speedway is and why people may wish to use it. If you enjoy filling out your own scorecard while watching the series, Snowfunk Speedway provides a lot more than a free paper-based scorecard. It only takes a few taps to fill out each heat, and you then have an instantly updated leaderboard that shows you exactly how the race for the semis is shaping up. You also have an instantly updated overall leaderboard so you can see how the title race is looking. Entering riders for the semis and final also only requires a few taps so it really does make the whole process much smoother. If you don’t mind a bit of writing and mental arithmetic, and you are happy to wait for the leaderboard to appear on TV (with its occasional inaccuracies), then a free paper-based scorecard might be enough for you. If you don’t mind using a computer during the meeting, then a free spreadsheet might be enough for you (although the paid-for KanDysoft spreadsheets are hard to beat). If you're not bothered about filling in your own scorecard, then of course you can get the result through the Internet. Snowfunk Speedway can also load the result for you and provides a neat and quick way to browse the meeting. At no cost whatsoever, you can use Snowfunk Speedway to browse results from the last 2 seasons, and you also have a quick way to check the latest news. This is information available on the Internet, but presented in a neat format that I find very useful to have in my pocket. So for a small fee (currently around the price of a pint of beer) you can have a quick and easy to use scorecard covering the whole 2011 season with downloadable rider lineups and automatically updated leaderboards. At no cost you have a convenient way to view the last 2 years’ results and the latest speedway news. The app takes up most of my personal time and there are costs associated with its development. For those reasons I felt it reasonable to begin charging a small fee this season. Ultimately it is a personal decision as to whether you feel it is good value for your specific needs. Hopefully there are plenty of people who, like me, find that it really enhances their enjoyment of the series. Roll on April 30th!