Consulting
Do you have an iPhone or Mac OS X application idea? Happy Apps can help turn it into a reality. We are experts in the frameworks that power Apple's desktop and mobile computing platforms.
iPhone
iPhone is the hottest mobile platform in the industry. We can help you build a new native application for iPhone or port your existing mobile, web or desktop application to iPhone.
Happy Apps is a Registered iPhone Developer and provides custom iPhone application development.
"Happy Apps helped us create an award-winning native iPhone application that showcases our ground-breaking Fonolo service which saves you from dealing with those dreaded touch-tone phone menus. The application allows you to visually scan the phone menus and touch the one that you want to "Deep Dial" into. The service then calls your iPhone, connected at the exact spot you requested.
Happy Apps worked with our original specification to create a detailed proposal and visual prototypes which allowed us to visualize what the finished application would look like in high fidelity. They delivered daily progress reports which helped us see the progress that was being made, along with Ad Hoc builds so we could try out the application as it was progressing. Their knowledge of Cocoa Touch and the iPhone SDK, coupled with their committer role on the TouchJSON library of the TouchCode project gave us confidence and helped deliver the application in a short timeframe.
We are pleased with the results and look forward to working with them in the future." - Shai Berger, CEO / Founder, Fonolo
Mac OS X
Mac OS X's market share has been increasing the past several years partly due to the iPod / iPhone halo effect. Mac users love to use native applications for their beloved platform.
Happy Apps provides custom Mac OS X application development and has developed several native Mac OS X applications for clients. In addition, we have developed a commercial Mac OS X bookmarking application called WebnoteHappy.
"I hired Happy Apps to create a Mac OS X uploader application for Pattern Tap (patterntap.com), our online interface design inspiration tool. They helped me design the application and then rapidly built the app to my very detailed specifications. They were responsive to changes and made great suggestions for improvements.
We couldn't be more happy with the results of working with Happy Apps and look forward to the next time."
- Matthew Smith, Principal, Squared Eye
Ruby on Rails
We are accepting limited engagements of Ruby on Rails web development projects. For example, hosting web service APIs that are used in conjunction with iPhone and Mac OS X applications.
Why should you hire us?
We work with you closely, even though we are remote
We work remotely but we work closely with you. We work via email, Skype, instant messenger, desktop sharing and phone calls to make sure that we understand your needs and that you are always aware of how your project is proceeding.
We delve deep to understand your domain
Whether you are are an established company or a startup, whether you are in insurance, telecommunications, graphic design or building consumer applications, we will research to understand your domain. This helps us understand your problem better and ultimately build you a better application.
"Luis de la Rosa [the founder of Happy Apps] was an integral member of the consulting team hired to undertake our company’s problem of outdated software. Due to the intricacies of the Surety industry, Luis took the initiative in learning the industry lingo, Generally Accepted Accounting Principals (GAAP), the necessary workflow this industry requires, and also helped mentor two up and coming in-house programmers with the Ruby code base.
Luis displayed great leadership and confidence in his knowledge he gained over the course of 1 year with our project, which he used to assist newer programmers who joined later in the project. I firmly believe that without the Ruby knowledge and programming insight Luis brought to the table that we would still be in the documentation phase and still working with antiquated software."
- Sam Grooms, The Gray Casualty & Surety Company
We are a Registered iPhone Developer
Writing, debugging, testing, and distributing iPhone applications are under NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement). Only Registered iPhone Developers can do these tasks. We also have access to iPhone OS betas. Consulting with a Registered iPhone Developer is critical to your success if you're building an iPhone application.
We are an ADC Select Member
Apple Developer Connection (ADC) Select Members have access to extra resources from Apple. We have access to pre-release software. We can access ADC Technical Support.
We have access to WWDC material since 2004
WWDC, Apple's World Wide Developer Conference, is a unique conference in the software industry. All material is under NDA that is never lifted. We have access to WWDC material from 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. We have attended WWDC personally in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
We participate in the Open Source community
We are contributors to Touch Code, the winner of "Best Open Source Project" at iPhoneDevCamp 2. We have contributed to Firefox regarding Mac OS X compatibility. We previously have contributed to Streamlined.
We use an Agile software development process
We practice Test-Driven Development to help ensure your software is built properly the first time and so that it can be enhanced in the future. We develop in short iterations to get software into your hands faster. We create Visual Prototypes to show you what your application will look like early in the process. Our experiences at XP/Agile Universe 2002 and XP/Agile Universe 2003 as well as working with other leading-edge software development firms have helped shape these practices.
"I hired Luis [the founder of Happy Apps] to enhance an existing Xcode project, and the results were great. Beyond the fact that his code 'worked', the classes and functions were well-organized and his comments were easy to understand.
Luis is one of the most communicative, organized developers I've worked with-- before work began, he completed a detailed analyis of the existing source code with the exact level of a detail I needed. He finished the work within estimated time, and discovered some bugs and features I hadn't considered. Luis kept the existing code working as he developed, and kept me updated throughout the process.
I'm looking forward to hiring him again for my next project."
- Geoffrey Plitt, CEO, Mozart Consulting
We are experts in the Smalltalk family of languages: Objective-C and Ruby
Objective-C is derived from Smalltalk and C. Smalltalk is also an ancestor of Java and Ruby. We have over 13 years of experience in these languages. Knowing each deepens our understanding and helps us understand the limitations and how to work around them.
We are experts in application frameworks: Cocoa, Cocoa Touch and Ruby on Rails
Cocoa is the main application framework for Mac OS X. Cocoa Touch is the main application framework for iPhone. We are experts in both. In addition, we are also experts in Ruby on Rails, which can be used to build Web Service API back-ends.
We are colleagues with other expert Mac OS X and iPhone developers
We are part of a few groups of Mac OS X and iPhone developers. We also regularly attend and helped organize NSCoderNight DC, a weekly group of Cocoa programmers in the Washington DC area.
We have relationships with graphic designers
Mac OS X and iPhone applications usually exhibit a greater sense of style and aesthetics. We have relationships with graphic designers who understand what Mac and iPhone users expect.
We know how to ship products
We built and shipped WebnoteHappy, a bookmark manager for Mac OS X. We have helped other clients ship their products. This helps us understand what obstacles you will need to overcome and milestones you will need to reach with your products.