The Month of August

Environment: Downtown office overlooking the lights of SLC

This month has been full of ups and downs without a ton of actual movement.

C1x Development

C1x is essentially finished. I ended up with a much longer list of improvements after V0.0.5 than I anticipated, so V0.0.6 was released recently and the app is in for approval. I ended up being sick for a week and then having a lot of troubleshooting to complete on the backend for C1x, but I'm happy to say that C1x is now launch ready. All of the set-up to be compliant with the App Store is finished, all fixes are in from my own testing of the app, it's got a ton of new stats and features (beyond what I had even thought of in the last update), and it's at long last a product that I'm excited to release into the wild. I've even built a pretty customized spreadsheet for analyzing the data that I'm now pulling from the app.

I submitted C1x to Apple for release, and they rejected my first submission. Not unexpected, as I don't think Apple has ever approved the first one, but I am happy to say that their reasons for rejecting the app (3) are all unrelated to the app itself, but are instead related to the C1x store listing and graphics I want to use on the store. These should be an easy fix, but are low on the priority list because...

Google's app review process sucks. Long story short, Google provides a literal checklist of what you have to complete in order to submit an app for production review. I've checked every box on that list (and Google shows that I have), but they rejected my app due to a list of "potential reasons" which I think they just pulled out of a hat. I can't get in contact with anyone, and they're now making me run testing for another two weeks before I try to submit again. There's no way around this, and I don't think I've ever been as frustrated while developing an app.

Google's trying to ensure that apps are production ready before getting released on Google Play, and I can't fault them for that. What I can fault them for is the fact that they have an arbitrary testing system not visible to developers, and that at no point will anyone at Google ever actually look at my app. When I submit an app to Apple, someone at Apple literally goes through my app to make sure it's ready, and then they approve/reject it. Google never opens up my app file, nor do they look at how people are using it. They instead make sure that I have "active testers", which is purely measured by engagement from a secret quantity of Android testers. Developers or companies with more resources than myself can easily skirt around this requirement, but small indie developers without a team of testers have more trouble. Also, if I had created my Google Developer account two months earlier than I did (back in 2023), I wouldn't have to do this at all. So, Google has created an arbitrary testing system that does nothing to actually check if an app is production-ready, and is only truly enforced for new small Android Developers.

Can you tell I'm frustrated? I know that eventually C1x will make its way to Android, but it is a bit infuriating to work so hard on pulling an app together only to have Google reject it without ever opening it. Oh well, it's a bit out of my hands at this point. I'm a few days into the second review process at the time of writing, and it will be my goal over the next couple of weeks to get as many Android testers as I can in the hopes of passing this time around. Fingers crossed.

I've put so many improvements into C1x over the past month, I have a marketing plan to get started on in preparation for launch, and I've still been keeping up with the C1x reports for pro tour tournaments. My intent is to eventually take a couple of weeks off (once I get through Google's defenses) because I need it, and then get to work on 1-2 features that I think will really set C1x apart from the competition. We'll see what I decide on for those.

Throw with the Pros Marketing

Only new update this month for Throw with the Pros was getting the ambassador t-shirts designed and ordered. They haven't arrived yet, but I'll be distributing them to the ambassadors who gave me a size (2).

Throw with the Pros has done a decent job of retaining the audience I captured from my paid advertisements -- I still have roughly 130 users on Android. Apple won't tell me how many people currently have the app downloaded, but I'm nearing the 500 total download mark on their platform alone.

Professional Disc Golf

My tournament performances haven't really improved, but my form is definitely showing signs of progress and it's drastically improved my motivation to continue. I've been slowly tweaking my putting form and am starting to see solid results (including in tournaments), and my backhand accuracy is the only thing keeping me from putting together 1000-rated rounds. My forehand never left and is still as good as ever.

Although my backhand accuracy is MIA for the moment, the effortless power I've been seeing with only minor form changes is more than enough to make up for it. I'm not always hitting lines, but I'm constantly setting new PRs in terms of driving distances on holes that I've been playing since moving to Utah. 400' is no longer the line I can't cross, and I'm excited to start incorporating more form changes into what I've been developing over the past month.

I was able to cash at Utah States in spite of my poor throwing (which included a couple of stretches of bad luck, including a lost disc and subsequent two stroke penalty for a disc in the middle of the fairway) and I played my first ever tournament round while actively running a fever (Idaho States). These also haven't helped my rating, but I'm less concerned with that right now and much more so with continuing my form improvements and building good habits to become the disc golfer that I want to be over the next 1-2 years.

I've started doing about 30 minutes of daily putting practice as well, so I have to give some credit there for my improved tournament putting.

Substack

No changes to my Substack schedule, though it has become less of a priority for me than I want it to be. I haven't missed a post yet, but I can tell that I'm not putting as much effort into my Thursday posts (which are my philosophical or general life ramblings). It's becoming more of a "check the box" type of activity for me rather than a chance to sit down and dedicate time to improving my writing, which was not my goal when I started it.

I've been procrastinating every Substack post for the past month, and I'm going to try and do a better job of staying ahead and giving myself time to fully develop thoughts and ideas. We'll see if I'm successful on that.

Other

I spent a lot of energy over the past month contemplating options for a future career change, including a number of interviews. After a lot of internal back and forth, I ultimately decided to stay in my current position for the near future in order to be available for some opportunities that might lie ahead. I really have no idea where I might be in 3-6 months, but I'm excited to get C1x out into the world and then find out.

I took a brief hiatus from the chess lessons I've been giving for the past 18 months, but those will resume in the coming month. I also traveled back home for a weekend to surprise my brother who just started college. Quite exciting, and I enjoy getting updates from him on his adaptation to college life.

This month was full of C1x coding with the goal of getting it submitted by today. I more or less accomplished that goal, and now I'm largely at Google's mercy. Not quite the conclusion I was hoping for as I turned 27, but I'm still very close to releasing C1x and then figuring out what to do next. For the first time in years, I do not actively have another project lined up as I'm completing my current one, and I've been intentional in doing so. I'm hoping for a combination of some time off and some freedom to explore other opportunities. It probably won't happen this month, but October might be the ticket.

Onward,

Dylan