Back in 2014 we wrote about a new photography app for Windows Phone called BLACK. The app aims to emulate classic black and white film styles like AGFA apx 400, Shanghai GP3 100 and one of my favorites FUJI Neopan 400.
A few weeks ago the small company (run by two people) sought to raise funds to bring the app to Windows 10 and Mobile as UWP. The company used the popular AppStretch but fell woefully short of their goal due to lack of visibility (AppStretch is a tool where devs can raise funds for new features for apps and projects). Today, we are fixing that as we managed to convince them to try it again, but this time, we're bringing the full might of the Windows community with us!
For the next 30 days, BLACK is seeking to raise $9,999 to develop their app for Windows 10. In the campaign notes, the companies detail their history, usage data, and plans:
Two years ago during the Microsoft's //Publish/ event in London, we submitted the first version of the app to the Windows Phone Store. Since then BLACK has been downloaded more than 650k times across platforms and 300,000 times alone on Windows Phone, receiving a 4.4 star rating. It has been featured in the store in many countries, and we received an incredible amount of great feedback. People absolutely loved it. If you haven't tried it yet, we invite you to do so and enjoy it for free.Updating the app from Windows Phone 8.0 Silverlight to Windows 10 it's not an easy job. Many of the APIs, coding standards, and tools have changed dramatically. In fact, only about 10% of the existing code can be reused in new version. This means that we need to almost completely rewrite it, which takes time. Unfortunately, we will not be able to do it in our spare time anymore.This is where you come in!If you help us raise our goal, we will dedicate ourselves to this task. We are not looking for profit, just enough to cover development and living costs to make this happen.
The company also lists new features they want to bring including:
- Completely redesigned collection page
- Three new filters:
- P400 TURA EXPIRED 2002
- ACUPAN 800 PATERSON EXPIRED 1999
- N15 ORWO
- Social sharing options
The project should take around two months of development.
Folks, I take this stuff personally, which is why I asked BLACK to give AppStretch another go with our support.
Windows 10 for PC and Mobile (this app will support both) is always in need of talented developers and apps that are unique to the platform. BLACK fills that role and for Lumia users who pride themselves on photography, you should already have BLACK in your collection. I've donated $20 to the cause, but if you could just spare that cup of coffee ($2) or whatever you want it would help out.
Remember, this isn't even about just Mobile as Surface and PC users will also be able to have a great black and white photo app at their fingertips as well. At the very least, please share the AppStretch campaign and spread the word!
Donate to BLACK for Windows 10 on AppStretch
Let's show the developers - Alvaro Arregui and Peter Stojanowski – that we want #BLACKapp for Windows 10!
Download BLACK for Windows Phone
