[Paid Software Announcement and Discussion] Chainfire:
DSLR Controller was originally built for Android 2.x years ago, and a lot of things have changed both in the camera world as well as the mobile world. Despite bolting on many improvements, the code shows its age. To take it to the next level and get everything I want into it (customizability, compatibility, portability, speed, etc), a lot of the core needs to be changed, the UI needs to be changed (if not in appearance or functionality then certainly how it's been coded), etc. It pretty much comes down to not just overhauling major parts, but completely redoing it from scratch, and rebuilding it as envisioned from the ground up.

This brings with it a number of issues. It is a lot of development time (and thus money) investment up front, of which you will see no results, until it is almost done. In the mean time, you can't really release anything that isn't up to par with the current version of DSLR Controller, and you can't just replace the current version as old users/devices may no longer be compatible, stranding paying customers. A lot of additional equipment needs to be gotten and tested with to ensure compatibility and portability (remote and end-user testing isn't really workable with apps like these). Not to mention that DSLRs are pretty much doomed, and this is definitely being reflected in daily sales.

The past year hasn't been very good on a personal level, which isn't your problem of course, but it is one reason for the lapse in development of certain apps. This one adds to the fact that in light of the above, it feels like a waste of resources to spend a lot of time on improvements in the current app. There have been talks with a team (from a big brand in the camera world) to take over the IP, pretty much solving the resource problem, but ultimately that fell through, after the talks taking up a large part of my time for months.

Also, I know it seems like DSLR Controller has generated a lot of funds, but spread out over the years its been available, subtracting equipment costs, corporate taxes, wage taxes, etc, you wouldn't be able to hire one(!) half-competent coder for the money left at today's going rates, not to mention the risks involved with hiring people. Even though I do get paid and get all these toys to play with, wanting to build it has always been a large part of this, as there are definitely more profitable ways to spend the time. At the same time having to compete with $300 equipment, and people still complaining about the $8 price.

This app is also a complete nightmare to support, as by far the bulk of the connection issues are not due to the app itself, but due to camera configuration, phone configuration, hardware incompatibilities, firmware incompatibilities, etc. That is, excepting the case where DSLR Controller just hangs, which sometimes (but definitely not always) is an issue with the app. Not to mention the droves of questions and reported issues by people who simply don't understand how their cameras work.

All of that being said, I do believe there may be a business case where a rebuild with additional features and support for Nikon and/or Sony and/or (insert other brands here) and other OSs like Linux, iOS, OS X, Windows, etc using a shared core may at least break even. That is, providing I can find competent developers to do it (as there is no way I can pull this off by myself), and finding said competent developers with at least somewhat relevant skills might in fact be the biggest problem to solve. Still, even in the best case scenario, I don't believe any work will get started before end-of-summer.

Don't mistake the lack of visible activity for lack of interest. What to do with DSLR Controller and how to get there is something I consider every day, as in the end, it's still the app I've enjoyed most developing over the years. But if the solution means spending more resources updating the current app, developing a new one, or investing funds to get a whole new company off the ground with a handful of people to cover both major brands and major OSs - that I don't know yet. But I do hope to have an answer to that sooner rather than later.

(this post was written in a rush as I need to run for another appointment but I didn't want to leave this unsaid, so if it's jumping here and there and not fully coherent, that's why)