[WP7] Sprout SMS

Dean_Mc

Its just politics, there are people in the operators that belive webtext apps decreases usage of their website. Maybe one day...

I'm still undecided on favourites. The wp7 SDK does not allow me to contact information beyond the mobile number and email address. Currently there is no way to get other contact information like name and surname. This presents a problem in terms of user experience when considering fav or recent lists as I only have the number. I'm working on a few ideas I just don't know if they will make the cut.

PS you know if you press the letter beside a contact you get a jumplist of letters so you don't have to scroll. =]

evolutionqy7

yeah i know But still It would save alot of time

Even to get the number showing up that you recently sent it to.
Names arent that important.

Dean_Mc

Just to let you guys know, I'm gunning for a march 30th release.

I've had quite a few other things come up that have pushed sprout back far more than I have liked but based on whats working and whats left 30th of march seems like a solid date.

Diddy Kong

Any sign of the update to include other networks yet?

Dean_Mc

Unfortunately there won't be any more updates...

Sprout SMS has been cancelled due to another party trying to extract payment out of me due to their belief that they own the trademark to the name.

I was contacted by this other party in January via a cease and desist email to the Sprout SMS email inbox. I engaged with this party and a solicitor friend of mine over the next view months while I built out the new features and UI of Sprout SMS thinking that it would not be an issue that could not be resolved.

Over the course of the three months leading up to the eventual release I hired an artist to create some branded material to push the app out to more people. I also purchased some premium icons to help with the overall re-branding of the app and make it stand out more.

2 weeks ago I got a call from my friend who essentially said I had three options. Fight and trademark Sprout SMS (he felt the other parties case was flaky at best), pay the other party money in the form of rights or cancel the project.

At first I thought I would be defiant but in the long run I have seen how these things pan out. Regardless of the eventual outcome the other party indicated that they were up for a fight and indicated that they were already seeking the removal of the app from the marketplace.

Sprout SMS was a free project and at all times the source was available, this was due to the fact that the creator of Cabbage, which the second used, was also free and open source. I had looked at monetizing the app but it didn't feel right. As of version 2 beta the app had cost me around €600 euro but as It was a portfolio piece for me I didn't mind putting the money into it.

If I were to fight my case for the ownership of the Sprout SMS trademark I would have to put more money in. To be honest I simply don't want to bother going down that route. Sprout SMS has been killed off by greed and I don't intend to fight a costly battle to stop it.

As you guys can imagine the whole saga has been a kick in the stones. I have put so much energy into the project, especially the new UI that I just don't want to look at it for a while. While the cease and desist was for the trademark there is nothing stopping me re-branding the project but I just don't have the will to do it at the moment.

So much energy was spent branding the UI and working on every page that the back end work seems irrelevant. For me to put that much work into the brand and have it taken away, I just need to work one something different for a while.

I have to say thanks to SamVimes (cabbage owner) for providing me with a massive amount of support while building version 2 and to the artist (I wont name him here) for offering to supply the same amount of art for another project of my choosing given the circumstances.

I plan to write for a bit about development to distance myself from this whole episode. As I have most of the back end done for a web messaging app I intend to finalize the rebrand at some point but its going to be a month or two before I can give it my full committal.

For now Sprout SMS is gone and it has been removed from the marketplace. If anyone is thinking of developing a similar application feel free to pm me for support or questions. I wont give out the back end as I intend to tidy it over and release it as CabbageWrapper for .Net but I will help you with any part of the app you are having trouble with.

Cheers for all the support guys!

Sorry,

Dean

DjFlin

Sorry to hear this. Another great app hits the dust.

I done a quick search and found a similar app called 'WebTextr', that'll have to do from now on.

Hopefully this experience hasnt put you off developing for WP7, it needs all the developers it can get.

Dean_Mc

Thanks ,

Thankfully it hasn't I just need to move focus off this particular project for a bit for sanities sake. Yeah WebTextr looks nice and I've offered any help needed to the author so you should see it flourish.

wheresmybeaver

Sorry to hear that man, copyright and patent trolls are everywhere these days unfortunately. All they do is serve to destroy creativity and productivity.

Best of luck with your next project and hopefully when you've got some distance between yourself and this saga you can resurrect the code and rebrand SproutSMS for version 2!

Dean_Mc

Great news for fans of Sprout SMS: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=2056330438