Psychic power iPhone app

[Deadlift]

New GW iPhone app for psychic powers. Looks nice but at £7.99 quite expensive. But then instead of actually buying the cards maybe not too bad. :confused:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=22200010a

[pgarfunkle]

Beat me to it Deadlift. Yeah I thought it might be good for a couple of quid but then saw the price which has put me off.

If the price drops I may pick it up.

Anyone else had a look?

[DrLove42]

Dear GW.

The Andrpid market share is greater than that of the iOS system. This is only set to increase with android phone sales outstripping iPhone sales internationally.

If you want to maximise your profit, release all digital apps cross platform.

K thankx bye

[Blusox69]

It may be a larger market share but it takes longer to create an app for and is therefore more expensive. Further more once you get an android app released you get all the android users on older version moaning that it doesnt work with their devices, asking when a version for 2.1 will be released, *****ing about their phone maker not updating their OS etc etc.

I write small apps and digital books for all mobile devices and you more often than not have the iOS version ready, tested, packaged and approved while we're still debugging the android version. OS and hardware fragmentation are androids Achilles heel, google sort that out and developers will take them more seriously, especially since their approval system is much simpler!

As for this release ,GW are treading a fine line pricing it so close to the physical version. Seems to be working for them though and it's a step in the right direction.

[olberon]

dumped it on the pad but soon discovered my own version was about 10 times better :P
waste of 8 quid....................

as for the android users; i feel for those guys, but rest asured some day gw wil;l see the light :LP

[Mr Mystery]

Looks pretty nifty!

If I had psykers I'd consider it! Quite like how it generates your powers for you.

And I'll be all over a Fantasy version!

[pgarfunkle]

While I do agree that GW should work on releasing this sort of product along with the digital books across other platforms in the long run stating that they should do it because android has a larger overall market share is bit of a simplistic way of considering things.

GW will take into account the ease and cost of production and distribution on the various platforms along with ease of any required maintenance such as FAQ updates.

Another point which I had not considered before but which was mentioned by another site who have recently produced their own iphone app was that they had built it for ios first because it was the most used os by the mobile devices which visit the site.

[Mr. Furious]

Does it work on the iPad? I don't have an iphone but use my iPad for army lists and faq's already so it would be a handy addition.

[Deadlift]

The iphone apps I have on my iPad 2 work fine, they are just scaled in size for an iphone. Not sure about this one though.

http://ipod.about.com/od/ipad/a/ipad-2-faq.htm

This may answer your question. about halfway down.

[SacredChao]

The app is $13 in the US.... the same price as the physical psychic power cards. Which seems to be a trend in their pricing of their digital products. Methinks that GW needs to learn how to price digital products better, I can't imagine that the digital products are selling that well when the physical products range from either the same price or cheaper.

[Mrchilidog]

It would be neat if the app store had a counter showing how many times an app has been purchased. While I agree all of their digital products are way overpriced, somehow I keep purchasing their digital crack...puff..puff.

[Iyandagar]

Works fine on the iPad. Scaled to the size of an iPhone. Not amazing, but for a forgetful twit like me it may act as a useful reminder. That said, I would rather have it than not... Updates as with their digital codexes should be free.... It's ok, worth the £8? Jury's out forming an opinion...

[Deadlift]

At the end of the day £8 isn't that much really, not for the convenience. Now we just need an iPad rule book, when that hits the app store I will be a very happy dude.

[dwez]

I think they've made a mistake on the pricing if it had have been £1.99 I think you'd have got more people buying it. When I say more people I mean you'd probably have had more than the four times as many people needed to equate to the single person paying £8. Then again if someone has an iPhone or iPad then they're using a premium priced digital device and maybe they think it's still going to sell to those who've already shelled out for expensive kit.

I like the way the app works in the video but I'm not convinced the same price as the hard copies are the way to go. Cheaper to encourage people to adopt the digital tech would have been a better play in my book.

[Kirsten]

all these digital doodads sound great, but I have an android tablet, so no use whatsoever.

[Dalleron]

12$ from the app store. I paid a little more for the cards because I had to pay in Cdn $, but the cards are so much more practical.

[Defenestratus]

all these digital doodads sound great, but I have an android tablet, so no use whatsoever.

You and me both.

The quip about Android being more costly and time-consuming to develop for is largely outdated. Plus, Apple just this week has basically thrown a big fragmentation wrench into their ecosystem so, good luck with that app developers.

BTW, I feel for anyone who waited on purchasing an iPhone for the 5. It has to be the most boring, uninspiring piece of technology that Apple has ever released.

[JimmyWolf2007]

You and me both.

The quip about Android being more costly and time-consuming to develop for is largely outdated. Plus, Apple just this week has basically thrown a big fragmentation wrench into their ecosystem so, good luck with that app developers.

BTW, I feel for anyone who waited on purchasing an iPhone for the 5. It has to be the most boring, uninspiring piece of technology that Apple has ever released.

iOS developers have been aware of that for a while and have found ways around it. While it's true developing for Android is no longer as expensive or time-consuming as it used to be, you get a lot of compatibility and accessibility issues that arise on some devices and not others. And some are as basic as headers being too big or small for some phones or images not displaying correctly. And then you've got the tablet market which further confuses the issue. This annoys developers who work for large companies, and its why they like iOS. Once you know how it works, it works every time, for every iOS device they want it to work for. You don't want to be spending years constantly bug fixing a product you made 5 years ago because ANOTHER new device comes out every month...

But yeah, the iPhone is Apples "Lets put everything on our phone that we should have put on 2 years ago" product. Having said that, it'll still be one of the best smartphones on the market. And contracts allow a surprisingly large number of people to afford them (£500 is a lot of money in one go, but when you're spending £700 over 24 months, people don't mind so much). The smartphone market is getting massively watered down now, and may get even more watered down if Windows 8 and Metro (or whatever it's called now) is even reasonably successful.

As GW appear to be going down the route of having everything the same price digitally and physically, this follows on from the cards and makes sense. And I think it's better than getting the cards anyway. It even adds the thing allowing you to connect your characters to the psykic powers in app, which is more useful than you'd think. But since the cards aren't value for money (paper + pen will give you EXACTLY the same information) the app isn't either really.

What would be REALLY interesting to see, but impossible to calculate is the percentage of hobbyists who own iOS devices...

[Defenestratus]

Having said that, it'll still be one of the best smartphones on the market.

Well, until November when the three new nexus phones are released.

Then its going to be "iAncientTechnology"

As it is right now its half the spec of the android flagship - the S3. Smaller screen, smaller CPU, half as much RAM, no gigabit wireless, no NFC, and the OS is as boring and un-inspiring as the phone's design itself. Its seriously time for an iOS refresh.

If this hardware was released as an android phone, people would be saying "mehhh - release it at $99 and I'll think about it" (I present to thee, the RAZR M by Motorola, which has just slightly less specs than the iP5 but pretty much equal except for a bigger screen and waterproof and being released new for $99 - announced a week ago)

[Gir]

Hopefully the Lumia 920 allows windows phone to really take off with devs, which will be good as it's the easiest phone to code for, and is by far the best phone OS on the market.

Regardless, I'm getting myself a Microsoft Surface at the end of the year, and I'll just code all my own apps to do this stuff.

[wittdooley]

Sweet! Another whine whine complain Android bytch whine complain thread! How exciting.

[Blusox69]

Presumably GW take a look at what type of OS access their site, if it's anything like the data for BoLS then it doesn't matter about market share, almost twice as many people access with iOS, so they would logically develop for that

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2012/09/techwatch-bols-wargaming-and-computing.html

Either way, I like what GW are doing, but if they are going digital and keeping their physical and digital prices pretty much identicle then it would be nice if they released both at the same time rather than dangling it in front of you a month or so on and tempting you to buy what you already have again in a blatant money making manor. However, I don't think GW have ever been worried about how people see or think of them as long as they're making money. Going back to iOS I think Apple and GW have a lot in common in that regard.

[Deadlift]

Sweet! Another whine whine complain Android bytch whine complain thread! How exciting.

Certainly not my intention when creating the thread Sean. But as always you can have these GW app discussions turning into an android v iPhone debate.

We like what we like and fortunately for me GW seems to agree with me.

[Defenestratus]

The Lumia 920 is an impressive piece of hardware. Makes me want to compile AOSP onto it.

But I cringe in horror and want to gouge out my eyes anytime I see that UI formerly known as Metro. Its simply hideous to look at.

[Defenestratus]

Presumably GW take a look at what type of OS access their site, if it's anything like the data for BoLS then it doesn't matter about market share, almost twice as many people access with iOS, so they would logically develop for that

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2012/09/techwatch-bols-wargaming-and-computing.html


Those stats are a bit misleading since me and everyone else I know with an Android Tablet has their browser report as windows/desktop/chrome to the server to fetch the correct site versions.

Otherwise we get the crappy mobile versions on a full screen tablet.

[Gir]

The Lumia 920 is an impressive piece of hardware. Makes me want to compile AOSP onto it.

But I cringe in horror and want to gouge out my eyes anytime I see that UI formerly known as Metro. Its simply hideous to look at.

But it still looks better than Android, and it's amazing to use.

[Defenestratus]

There is no "looking better than Android" since every Android handset is different - there's no standard - and thats what I loathe about Metro and iOS. I'm stuck using the interface that the software is limited to. If I don't like the launcher in default Android - I can go download a home replacement app that takes its place. I can name at least 5 of them off the top of my head.

Plus, aren't all things aesthetic subjective? I mean I think that the iPhone looks like a boring, uninspired brick covered with glass - but apparently a lot of people think it looks good.

Likewise, I think that the storm raven isn't that bad of a model and that pretty much the whole dark eldar range of models is ... well... ugly. Views that I'm sure most people don't share.

[OrksOrksOrks]

There is no "looking better than Android" since every Android handset is different - there's no standard - and thats what I loathe about Metro and iOS. I'm stuck using the interface that the software is limited to. If I don't like the launcher in default Android - I can go download a home replacement app that takes its place. I can name at least 5 of them off the top of my head.

Plus, aren't all things aesthetic subjective? I mean I think that the iPhone looks like a boring, uninspired brick covered with glass - but apparently a lot of people think it looks good.

Likewise, I think that the storm raven isn't that bad of a model and that pretty much the whole dark eldar range of models is ... well... ugly. Views that I'm sure most people don't share.

Ok, we're way off topic now, you're not even pretending to talk about anything other than how much better your phone is compared to someone elses phone, its not that important and most people don't really care. Lets just talk about the app for now, if you've not used it, move on.

[Blusox69]

I got it to have a play with, having a Tau army it's not going to be too much used except with allies. The icon doesn't display properly on my iPad, but it's better suited to my iPhone anyway, my iPad is usually too. Use hosting FAQ and forge world rule PDFs any way. Nice app and a good sign of things to one I hope. GW army builder perhaps?

[Deadlift]

So I was bored at work at work and downloaded the app. Wow it's great.

1 it allows you to build your own psykers from each army. You can even use a photo of your model as its profile pick.

2 The app allows you to pick your powers randomly and stores them in the psykers profile during the game.

3 It even divides each power into turn phases, movement, shooting and assault etc.

4 It also records warp charge points used. So if you get to the assault phase and you have used all your warp points it won't let you use the power.

5 Each power is written exactly as its shown on the cards with the added bonus of letting you select a "rule" like beam on the power and tells you how it works.

6 It allows you to photograph a unit you have cast a power on.

7 It follows the game turn by turn and reactivates your warp points etc each turn.

Is it worth £8 ? Personally yes I think so. Especially for a forgetful sod like me.
I think it's great and better to have if you don't own the cards already.

[Blusox69]

What would have been uber cool would be the addition of a dice generator so you didn't have to tell it that a roll was successful or not, just tap the dice symbol in the corner or something and you get your roll and a result.

[flekkzo]

New GW iPhone app for psychic powers. Looks nice but at £7.99 quite expensive. But then instead of actually buying the cards maybe not too bad. :confused:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=22200010a

https://twitter.com/voxcaster/status/248544081016418304

This leads me to believe that the app has been wildly successful. Just showing up on any top list in that store is a major achievement as the saturation is insanely high (700k apps or something) and filled with terrible pay to play games.