DA 5Star for iOS and iPadOS is Launched
DA 5Star is 33% off until 2020-10-21.
To celebrate the launch, DA 5Star is 33% off until 2020-10-21.
App Store link: https://apps.apple.com/app/da-5star/id1473088658. If you already purchased the macOS version, you can get the iOS and iPadOS version for free.
What is DA 5Star?
DA 5Star is an iOS and iPadOS 14 home screen widget app that displays a random 5-star review of your apps and podcasts, and refreshes after however long you choose. It also has a macOS version that displays 5-star reviews as wallpapers.
Features
- Widgets: This is the sole purpose of DA 5Star. It displays a random 5-star review of your apps and podcasts in the widget, and refreshes after however long you choose.
- Apps and podcasts: It supports 5-star reviews of apps and podcasts on Apple platforms.
- Custom themes: You can customize the widget themes so they fit on your home screen.
- Review list: You can view the list of 5-star reviews of your apps and podcasts.
- iCloud sync: Your added apps and podcasts are synced with iCloud (macOS version is not yet supported).
- Custom app icons: It provides 5 alternative app icons.
- Dark mode: Yes.
The story behind DA 5Star
On July 6, 2019, I was listening to EP 56: The happiest Customer of the Independence podcast. Curtis pitched this app idea:
A mac app, that will sit in your menu bar. You can feed it your iTunes connect information. And it will go to your ratings, pull random 5-star rating every however many hours. And have like kind that those motivational quote things, but have in your wallpaper.
After hearing it, I just couldn't stop thinking about it. As developers, we all experienced those 1-star ratings that ruin our day or week. We humans are bad at ignoring them. We fail to remind ourselves that there are more important 5-star customer ratings out there. So I immediately created the Xcode project and started implemented. On the next day I sent the hosts @eataduckimust, @parrots, @jellybeansoup a demo. I got great feedbacks and launched the first version in two weeks. I later then released 5 updates to improve it.
I didn't expect other huge updates to the app. Until one day after 2020's WWDC, I realized that this app is now viable after the introduction of iOS 14 home screen widgets. So the iOS version was born.
NOTE: The initial macOS version was a $1.99 (USD) paid upfront app. I decided to raise the price to $2.99 (USD) with the launch of the iOS and iPadOS version (it's a universal purchase). But I'm keeping the original price for another three days, so it's effectively a 33% off launch sale.
Again, you can purchase DA 5Star here: https://apps.apple.com/app/da-5star/id1473088658.