Next Read 2.1 Submitted

No major new features included in this update - but it is absolutely required to update your copy of Next Read to this version. Without updating, Next Read will no longer be able to search Amazon, starting on August 15th. Amazon has slightly changed their API and, as a result, Next Read needed to be refreshed.

Also, this version requires 3.0. So that means that if you have not yet upgraded, now is the time to do so. There are a lot of new features in 3.0 that we want to take advantage of, so the decision was made to go with it.

Please email us if you have any questions. The new version should be up on the app store this week.

Next Read, with Ads, now on the iTunes store

The Free! (with Ads) version of Next Read is now available on the iTunes store.  Basically, the way this works is that we have taken Next Read in its entirety and added a space on each of the main tabs for an ad.  Most of the time, these ads will be from AdMob (75% roughly).  Sometimes, you will see a banner from us.  Clicking on the banner will bring up some other sponsors.

Right now, there are no other sponsors.  We are selling 4 spaces via BuySellAds.com.  You can see our listing here..  If you don't know anything about BuySellAds.com and you run a website or sell a product or service on the web, you are missing something great.  They provide a marketplace where advertisers and publishers can easily get together.  The site is easy to use and the folks that run it are super responsive and easy to work with.  Check them out.

So, on the free version of Next Read.  We are going to try this out for a couple months and see how it goes.  There is no guarantee that the free version will live on forever.  We may decide that its not worth it and take it down.  So if free is something you are into, go get it!

Right now, the paid version is still 99¢, and will probably remain that way for a couple weeks.  An increase in price is likely after that.

Announcing a pricing change - and 2.0.1

There will be a pricing change to Next Read soon. A free, ad-supported version of Next Read will be out in a couple weeks. The feature set is exactly the same - no modifications at all. The only addition is a small banner ad placed on each page. Once the free version is available, the no ad version will be going up in price to $2.99. So, if you are allergic to ads and want in on the $0.99 price, get it now.

Also, 2.0.1 is now available on the iTunes store.  It took a little longer than originally planned due to an initial rejection.  Sometimes the folks at Apple doing the reviews are really picky and ask that you get things perfect.  Which is excellent because you essentially get another set of eyes for free.  It is odd, however, when you get told that a certain feature will "confuse users" and then you look around at other apps on the App Store and see that confusion abounds.  Different reviewers have different standards I suppose.

iphonefootprint.com ranks Next Read best of 2008

I was just forwarded a link to iphonefootprint where Next Read was listed in their "Excellence Awards 2008".  Go check out their site for a list of some other fantastic apps.

Next Read 2.0.1 already in the pipeline!

Several people have mailed in questions about removing books from the suggested list.  Turns out that the method of doing that (Zeroing the score) is very confusing.  So we addressed that by adding back the Edit button to that list (and also fixing the crash when deleting a book with the swipe method).

We also fixed an issue with the Refresh button found in the Book Detail.  It was a little over zealous with the refreshing - it would clear sources and list membership as well.

Thank you to everyone who helped identify these issues.  The upgrade should be available on Monday at the latest.

Next Read 2.0 now available.

Enjoy.  Please let us know if you encounter any issues.

Next Read 2.0 submitted to Apple for approval

Here is the official "change list" for the release.  We will update the product page once the release is approved.

* Lists - Now Next Read is not just for books suggested to you. Add lists to keep all those books you have been checking out organized.

* Shake Search - Not sure what to search for? Just go into the search screen and shake your phone. Next Read will take a look at all the books on your lists and look for something similar.

* Notes - Now you can take Notes on each book in your list.

* Import Amazon Wishlists- Have a public wishlist on Amazon you would like to pull into Next Read? No problem - enter your email address and pull down the list. You can optionally save it so that you can browse it offline later.

* Share lists with friends over WiFi - Next time your cousin Ed asks you for some good ideas on what to read next, just tell him to fire up his copy of Next Read - you can zap a list right over to him.

* Email lists - Have a friend without Next Read, or perhaps you would like to print your list? Next Read now supports the ability to email a nicely formatted version of any of your lists.

* Quick Add - What happens when you hear about a book when you don't have an internet connection or when you don't have time to launch a search? With Quick Add, problem solved. Enter a title and author combination or just an ISBN into Next Read. The Book Detail page now has a "Refresh" button so you can pull down all the important details later.

* Listmania integration - From any book - you can now look for Listmania lists that contain that book. This makes it even easier to find new books you might be interested in. Find a list you really like? Click Save and you will always have it.

* Better Amazon page support - No more leaving Next Read to read the product details from Amazon. Next Read now launches an inline browser window so you can get the facts without going too far.

* Performance enhancements and bug fixes.