Newsit talks to the Greek creators of the video app, Horizon, which within a few hours became number one in the Apple.
Let's start from the beginning... tell us a few words about yourself
We are Petros Douvantzis and Stelios Petrakis, co-founders of Evil Window Dog, a mobile development studio based in Thessaloniki. We both hold a Master's degree in Computer Science from the University of Crete and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki respectively.
Where is your headquarters?
When we started working on mobile apps, we were in Heraklion, Crete, where Petros was completing his postgraduate studies while Stelios was working in an IT company. There, in parallel with these activities, we developed our first two applications (Soundbeam and Anagramma). That's when we decided to start something together that we both love: creating apps. Now we have returned to our base, Thessaloniki, and we are exclusively involved in app development and Evil Window Dog.
How did the idea for Horizon come about?
The problem that has existed for some time is that if someone holds their mobile phone vertically and shoots video, then a vertical video will result which does not display correctly on televisions, computer screens, etc. Also, if they rotate the device while recording, the final video will have the wrong rotation.
The idea came to us completely out of the blue, as we wondered why something so important hadn't been solved yet. After some experimentation, we saw that a way could easily be found to prevent videos from being rotated incorrectly.
What exactly does your app do?
Horizon allows the user to shoot horizontal videos regardless of how they hold their device, performing real-time alignment using gyroscope measurements. The user can hold their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad vertically, horizontally or even rotate it while shooting video and the final video will remain horizontal!
https://youtu.be/roag3p3g1r4
Is it exclusively for iOS devices or could we also see it on other platforms like Android and Windows Phone?
So far, we have developed applications exclusively for iOS devices. However, we would be interested in porting Horizon to other platforms so that users with Android or Windows Phone can also shoot horizontal videos.
Hasn't any other foreign company made something similar to this to date?
Before creating Horizon, we did some research on related apps in the space. We couldn't find any app that did what we wanted in the video space. In the photo space, there are already several apps, such as Instagram, that offer photo alignment, however Horizon is the first app to do this in video, and in real time.
Has Apple shown interest in this application?
So far we have not had any communication with Apple.
Is the application only available in the Greek AppStore?
The application is available worldwide, in all App Stores around the world. The languages supported by Horizon in the first version are Greek and English.
How difficult is it to create an app? Besides technical knowledge, what else is needed?
This mainly depends on the characteristics and needs of each application.
If someone wants to create an application from start (concept) to finish (marketing, trailer, updates, communication with users, etc.), they need to have a good understanding of how the App Store ecosystem works, what is allowed and what is not, be informed daily about technological developments, and have enough patience and perseverance.
It's not easy to make an app famous, and it's equally difficult for a featured app to stay in the top spots for a long time.
How long did it take you to create it?
The implementation took close to 4 months to complete. However, it was a difficult time as one of us had just finished his military service, while the other was still serving.
Horizon of 0.89 euros and as soon as it was released it became number one in the preferences of AppStore users.
Edited by: @timkour
Source: newsit.gr
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