slimCODE

What is DutchTab? It’s a Windows Mobile application I’ve been working on for the past weeks. My friend Pascal Bourque convinced me (pretty easily) to migrate an application I made years ago for splitting lunch bills at Xceed. We decided to make that a shared adventure, him making an iPhone version, and me the Windows Mobile version.

The idea behind the software is very simple: You enter how much each person actually paid, and also the cost of what they bought. The software automatically calculates who paid too much and who didn’t, and optimally determines who owes who.

The number one challenge was that we didn’t share design, only the name. We headed in our own direction and waited only a few days before release before sharing a few screenshots and screencasts. We did make some adjustments, mostly wording, but kept each application’s personality. I really think this was a wise decision. Both platforms have their own design guidelines, and both devices have their own input methods. I’ll add that Pascal had the easiest part, since the iPhone does not have zillions of buttons. He could concentrate on touch gestures and actions, while I wanted to support buttons and touch screens. My goal is to run on both PocketPC and SmartPhone devices, but the current beta release fails on SmartPhones because I’m using an unsupported feature with combo boxes (dah).

You can learn more about the Windows Mobile version of DutchTab here. This initial release is a beta version, and I’ll be offering those who submit meaningful comments a free license once I release the official version.