iPhone Duo compatibility

Well, there’s a good news and bad news sandwich for my apps on Apple’s latest iPhone!

The first good news bread slice is that my latest app, Pressured, runs really nicely. It was written using Apple’s very latest SwiftUI language and it shows. There are a few visual changes I will make, but it works very well right now and with improved functionality compared to a standard iPhone, behaving more like an iPad app.

The bad news filling is that my other three apps really only behave sheepishly on the Duo’s folded front screen in portrait and I’m afraid after that it all goes a bit Pete Tong! This isn’t surprising in some ways – Bargain was written 16 years ago, when there was one model of iPhone and its screen size was 3.5″! To say that a lot has changed since then would be an understatement indeed! Similarly, Pink Plaques was written a year or two after that and suffers from very similar problems. Finally, Identicode behaves not too badly on the folded front screen but open the Duo and … oh dear! Although written much more recently it uses particular graphic elements in a way that the other two don’t and so has some very strange behaviour.

The other good news slice of bread in the sandwich is that I will issue updates for these three apps as soon as I’m able in order to make them work as expected with the Duo. No timescale as yet I’m afraid as it’s not a simple job, but I’ll post here with any updates.

My apologies if you try and run any of these three when you get your Duo, but I’m on the case.

Pressured is now available on the App Store

Apple Have now approved my latest app for your iPhone and Apple Watch. It allows you to track the correct pressures for all your vehicles so you have them to hand when you need them and it converts between different units with a tap.

You can read more on my website.

Identicode training and a crossword!

New Identicode icon

I recently found this page in an old copy of TV Century 21 which I thought those of you with the app might enjoy. There’s an assignment and a crossword for you to decipher.

I hope you enjoy it.

Pressured: Easily Manage Your Tyre Pressures

Whilst working on my next big main app (still under wraps!), I decided to take a break with a small app “diversion” which I’ve just submitted to Apple so I hope will be released very shortly assuming approval.

It’s an iPhone utility app loosely in the style of Bargain, called ‘Pressured’, which allows you to add a list of vehicles to your “virtual garage” and record their tyre pressures. You could do this for free in Apple Notes of course, so why an app? Well, you get these benefits included:

  • Your vehicles & pressures are stored in one place so they’re easy to find
  • There’s plausibility checking for the pressures entered for each vehicle
  • You can store pressures in PSI, Bar or kPa and convert between them on the fly
  • Your “garage” syncs with the companion watch app (my first!) so it’s right on your wrist when you’re actually inflating your tyres.
  • It is Accessible
  • Speaks your settings
  • It integrates with Apple Shortcuts
  • Available in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish
  • There’s a little whimsy thrown in for fun. 🙂

As noted above, this includes my first Apple Watch app! The watch data is synced from your iPhone and remains read-only, though you can still switch between PSI, Bar and kPa with a tap to match the pump at the garage. On a dark and wet night, whilst holding a valve cap and a pressure hose it felt as though a watch app could be very useful.

Also, for those that are interested, this is my first app written entirely using SwiftUI, Apple’s new development language and it been quite a learning curve for me. However, it keeps my brain working and it’s very different to how I’ve coded all my previous apps and I’ve enjoyed it very much.

You will need OS 26 or higher to run Pressured and you can find it here on the app is live.

My lovely partner has updated and simplified the front page of my web site as well as well as adding a new set of pages for Pressured. 😘 If it’s not visible yet, it will be very soon.

As always, drop me an email if you’ve any feedback or requests.

An Original Identicode

I recently visited the Museum of Brands in London where an exhibition is currently celebrating 60 (yes, 60!) years of Thunderbirds and 50 years of Space: 1999. It’s a great trip down memory lane and well worth it if it’s your kind of thing and is open until the end of February 2026.

Sitting there on one of the shelves was an actual original cardboard Identicode, the almost mythical item on which I based my app. Despite being a regular reader of TVCentury21, I never owned one of these and in 2025, to say they are rare today is an understatement indeed. My app is functionally identical and of course offers some extra features – why not give it a try?

Updates at last!

New Bargain IconNew Pink Plaques IconNew Identicode icon

Well, it’s been a while hasn’t it?

iOS 26 was the catalyst I think – a new look to iOS, the first since iOS 7, made me think that an update to all three apps was needed.

Mostly, this is just to make them all compatible with the latest OS and also to “clear the decks” for me starting my next app … at last! They all have the new Liquid Glass appearance and new icons to match and they now require iOS 26 or iPadOS 26.

Updates

Identicode can now decode and encode via Apple’s Shortcuts, something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. There are currently 4 but I expect to tidy that to 2 in a future release whilst retaining the same functionality.

Bargain fixes a bug and now clears any previously displayed bargain once you begin typing into a field.

Pink Plaques has had some plaques’ websites updated or removed if there’s no longer anything relevant.

All three are just passed review with Apple and are now live.

Thanks all for your patience. Now, time to roll up my sleeves and start my next app.

I’ve moved to BlueSky and more

Hello 🙂

I stopped posting to Twitter once Musk bought it and a short time ago closed my X account as Musk is clearly a nasty piece of work and unhinged, along with his partner in crime. So, I’ve moved over to a much friendlier place and you can now find me on @blacktablet.bsky.social instead.

Also, there will be quite a change to my work/life balance in a few months and I’m planning a revamp of my apps, a re-release on the App Store, I would really like to get 1000 Words back on the Mac App Store again and …. Start work on and release a brand new app I’ve been wanting to write for years!

Finally – an update!

It’s been a long time but I’m still here!

Rather than a set of separate posts I thought I’d bundle things into a single post.

Firstly, I’m sad to say that 1000 Words is no longer available. It was my first app for macOS and it all worked fine when it was released. When I rebuilt it the following year with Apple’s next version of Xcode (Apple’s application for developing apps) it no longer worked. I spent quite some time trying to work out why but without success so I have withdrawn it. I may well try to rewrite it using SwiftUI, Apple’s new language for apps but that will depend on my free time. Keep an eye out though as I would like to bring it back to life if I’m able.

Secondly, I’ve not managed to update any of my apps for iOS18/iPadOS18. Since I wrote bargain over 10 years ago I’ve always been able to Verify my apps with Apple, but this year, with the latest version of Xcode, none of the apps pass verification. 🙁 This has never happened before and means that they would not be accepted on the App Store. I’m sure I will find out the issue and resolve it but at the moment I’m stuck. Sorry.

Thirdly, my wonderful partner Chris has updated my web site, mostly to remove 1000 Words, but also to provide a smoother and more streamlined experience across difference devices.

Finally, I want to add shortcuts and Siri integration to Identicode which will certainly be a new kind of thing for me. It will need to wait until I can Verify my apps of course, but once that is out of the way it’s something I hope to add in the near future.

Identicode 2.0

Identicode icon

A new feature for you secret agents out there – use the camera to grab those encrypted messages and quickly get to decoding!

Previously you have had to enter the coded messages by hand but now Identicode can take advantage of the swanky tech in your device and extract the text for you and enter it straight into the text area ready for conversion!

This is quite a bonus for agents on critical missions where time is of the essence when getting the message into Identicode and acting on it, so now you’ll be ready get going in no time.

This feature requires at least iOS15, but agents should always have the latest kit on their missions …

Touchy feely

Identicode icon
There’s a new update to Identicode which can be enjoyed by those of you with newer phones – there is now a little physical feedback when tapping the buttons which just adds a little more realism and, let’s be honest, fun, to the app.

There is also another tweak for everyone in that when you’ve converted code to plain or vice versa, the Convert button is disabled until you change the input. Previously you could have it repeatedly convert the same text which was a bit silly (though I don’t suppose anyone did!)

I hope these add some fun and practicality.