
[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="400" height="300"  alt="Juicy Bits Logo " url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/juicybitslogo.jpg"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h4>How would you describe Juicy Bits, as a company, and what apps do you offer?</h4>

Juicy Bits was founded in 2009 to produce unique, freshly-squeezed software for mobile devices. So far, our focus has been exclusively on Apple devices like the iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad. We’re evaluating other platforms, and we’re especially interested in the upcoming Kindle Fire from Amazon.

We currently have eight apps in the App Store, and they’re all in the Photography category.

Our first set of apps, 3D Camera, 3D Camera Lite, and 3D Camera Studio, are all focused on making it easy to create true 3D images that can be viewed with red/cyan glasses, with a cross-eyed technique, and as fun wigglegrams that provide a pseudo-3D effect. We also have users who report success using <a href="http://www.hasbro.com/hasbromy3d" title="Hasbro My3D">Hasbro’s My3D</a> product to view the images. 

[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="550" height="259"  alt="Juicy Bits 3D Camera" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/3d.jpg"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>

Our second set of apps focuses on high-quality wallpaper images. We’ve partnered with a photographer whose images have been featured in other operating systems and have had millions of downloads on other platforms. We’ve worked closely with the photographer to fine-tune the images for the iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad screen resolutions. The apps are Nature Images, Nature Images HD, and Textures HD.

We also have an app called Spy Pix that is pure novelty. It uses a technique called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steganography" title="Spy Pix uses Steganography">steganography</a> to hide one image inside of another. This way, you can send secret images and messages to your friends who can then use Spy Pix to decode them. It’s all about fun.

Our most recent product, Halftone, is our first Universal app that runs on iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad. It uses a combination of techniques to add a vintage, comic-style look to your photos. It’s our most popular app to date.

<h4>How many developers do you have on your team? Do you all work from the same location or are you globally based?</h4>

Juicy Bits is a company with one full-time developer in the Seattle, Washington area who partners with other vendors for additional services like design and development. Most of us are in Washington, though we’ve worked with other companies like <a href="http://www.softfacade.com/" title="SoftFacade">SoftFacade</a> who are located in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. As you can probably guess, it’s not necessary for app designers and developers to work in a single physical location.

<h4>Can you tell us about your flagship app and give us its story: when, how and why it was created?</h4>

Our most popular app is also our most recent: Halftone. It has been selected by Apple as its APP OF THE WEEK for both iPhone and iPad in the United Kingdom and Canada, and the app has been downloaded more than 750,000 times. It’s really fun to see what our users create.

Halftone was inspired by a Photoshop technique that takes a standard digital photo and turns it into a comic panel. We figured out how to simplify and automate the process, and we added a bunch of features like custom captions, distressed paper styles, speech and thought balloons, and stamps that make it easy to add fun word-based sound effects along with other shapes.

Halftone also has the benefit of being created after seven other apps. That history and experience allowed us to create our first Universal version. It also allowed us to understand where to apply our resources most effectively.

[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="550" height="259"  alt="Juicy Bits Halftone" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/halftone.jpg"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h4>What's your opinion about PhotoAppLink as an opensource project?</h4>

PhotoAppLink solves a problem that is common across almost all photography apps, and it solves it in an elegant way. We’re huge fans, and we’re already working to integrate it into Halftone. We applaud its creators for identifying the problem and for providing a simple solution that benefits everyone.

<h4>What improvements will you be making to the app in the next update?</h4>

Our next update is for our Halftone app. The update is relatively minor, but it’s in preparation for a much larger set of updates coming before the end of the year. We’ve addressed some technical behind-the-scenes issues, made sure that Halftone runs well on iOS 5, added a “clear image” feature (very highly requested), and a few new stamps. If we’re lucky, we’ll also add PhotoAppLink support to this small update, but that all depends on how much we can get done in the next few days.