Weekly Indie Devlog #4 - CW11, 2024

I want to make the dev logs slightly more personal, So, I'll begin to share bits of personal information and factors here and there that have affected my productivity, for better or worse, to provide a bit more context. Being an Indie Dev can be tough, especially when being a small one like I am. But let's go now... that's how I spent some of my time in the last week:

• A few hours on BG3 (Not a gamer, but that game is just beautiful! and supports macOS)

• Continuing a physical project of building a Paludarium (Mix of terrarium and aquarium) with some branches covering the glass container so that my lovebirds can take showers and relax there. 🐦

  💡

  Taking a break from screens really benefits my mind. Spending hours thinking, physically working, and experimenting helps eliminate my initial tension headaches.

• Elcovia - Another Pinterest rejection

• WearSocials - Another Wear-OS rejection

• WearSocials - Bug fixes

• WearSocials - Share Code Improvements

Elcovia

Initially, I didn't believe that it would be difficult to get Pinterest's Access Tier "Standard" that allows accounts to create pins that can be publicly seen. But well, here's the second rejection I already received after my serious submission, in which I showcased Pinterest integration in Elcovia with a nice recording via "Screen Studio". Now, I've showcased all of the functionality and still got rejected. Additionally, the integration for Elcovia is just to create Pins and link content between Pinterest and Elcovia to each other and showing some Pinterest widgets on Elcovia. So, my app is technically just using an access token for the Pinterest REST API. There's no OAuth flow, which is likely, in my opinion, the reason why it was not accepted.

I will likely keep trying to gain access, as having this publishing as an automatic process would be very beautiful and time-saving.

But additionally, I will make some modifications on my admin dashboard for Elcovia to be able to quickly generate Pinterest post information, copy and paste it to Pinterest, and link it to each Elcovia product manually, for as long as necessary until I have access.

WearSocials

It seems like a sign, as I've been facing rejections from companies and submissions lately, including Pinterest, Gemini Nano Early Preview, and the ongoing Wear-OS App Review Testing Process, which has become an endless nightmare. Since the Play Store App Review Tester hasn't given any feedback, I'm still in the dark, trying blindly to make changes that might satisfy the app review process at Google.

But let's focus on improvements to the WearSocials app version. Alongside small bug fixes, I've worked a little more on the code sharing screen.

The design of the categories to edit the code image slightly changed in a more dynamic and friendly pill like design.

Clicking on one of the categories opens it and shows the related options. Here's an example with the color category.

It now offers more background gradient effects, and a solid color as well. A border can be added to the image as well, with dynamic width & solid, dashed, or dotted border styles. I've had to modify many of the Material Design Icons to fit my needs.

Here's an example where the code sharing screen uses the sweep gradient and a solid border.

There have also been a couple of fixes, mainly regarding spacing and auto text sizing. More code sharing options will be added in the future.

Next Up

• WearSocials: Another Wear-OS app submission

• WearSocials: App release with bug fixes & small improvements, including improved code sharing options.

• Another Pinterest Standard access tier submission

• Investigating Pinterest workaround via secret board

• Perhaps support for Pinterest pin data creation in admin panel for manual sharing on Pinterest.

That's a wrap. See you next time!