Whiskers mentioned again

Just noticed on MSN Tech that Whiskers has been mentioned again.

Phone security: best apps for protecting your mobile


I'm really happy to see it mentioned again. Whiskers doesn't have a very large user base and it's frankly hard to find in the Windows Phone Store. This is both a blessing and a curse...


You see, I gave this little app a name that is purposely misleading in a sense. When you think of 'security' and a password locker/keeper/vault, you don't immediately think of 'whiskers' or a cat for that matter. So that's why I called this app Whiskers. If you happen to lose your phone and someone found it and started routing through it, chances are they would pass over an app called 'Whiskers' not knowing it is an app related to securely safe-keeping information. Whiskers btw is my cat, Toby, who has a bum eye, thus the patch which is a shield. Don't know if i've mentioned that before.

Where is Whiskers in the Windows Phone Store?

While the name 'Whiskers' may thwart those with ill intentions it also seems to make it difficult for people to find the app in the Windows Phone Store. Thus its name is both a blessing and a curse for me.  Search for 'password manager' in the Windows Phone Store and as you can see to the right, you won't find Whiskers.


Admittedly, I have to tweak the keywords I use in the Windows Phone Store. Search for 'password keeper' or 'password locker' and you will find Whiskers. Search for 'password' though and you won't find it. I'll make some changes here the next time I submit a new version of Whiskers and maybe I'll see some better results.


Speaking of which, I do have a new version of Whiskers that's going through the certification process right now. I'll talk about the changes in another post. Until then, thanks MSN for mentioning Whiskers!

Whiskers Development Update

I'm currently looking into how to make the Backup feature in Whiskers better. Right now it's pretty rudimentary but gets the job done with one major short-coming; if your backup is too big you can't back it up. To solve this I'm considering using the new DataTransferManager available to Windows Phone 8...


The major hurdle with the DataTransferManager is that it's only available to native applications. Whiskers was developed with C#. Thankfully I won't have to port from C# to C++. I can develop and run with mixed code if I develop a Windows Phone Runtime Component that interfaces the native code stuff with the managed (i.e. C#) stuff.


The other issue is that this will mean forking versions of Whiskers. One for WP 7.x with the current Backup and another new version for WP8-only with the new Backup. I'm not thrilled with forking and maintaining two versions but you get what you get and MSFT has provided the sandbox we must live and play in.


I found a good article and starting point on this stuff here. I'll be working on this during what free-time I have and hopefully (yes I know, hope is not a plan!) I will have something to share and update Whiskers users with a new and much-improved Backup feature.

Kaspersky's Best Windows Phone Security Apps

I came across this post today on the Kaspersky lab blog where Whiskers has been recognized as one of the best Windows Phone Security Apps. Hooray!


The post lists twenty different security apps and Whiskers made #18 on the list...

It was really kewl to come across this today. I don't have huge download numbers for this app but the feedback I get from people is always great.


When I created Whiskers, I figured it would probably not get very many hits because of the name. You see, the name doesn't have "password", or "locker", or "security", or "encryption" in the name and the Windows Phone Store search mechanism has always been less than desirable when it comes to finding apps using plain old search in the Store. Many people looking for a secure password locker for their WP usually don't come across Whiskers.


There is a reason for the odd name...if your phone is lost or stolen and someone gets access to it, my hope is that Whiskers is not the first app they open to see all of your secrets, passwords, etc. With a name that has "password" in it, I'm sure that acts like a big shiny red button for the curious and down-right evil. With name like "Whiskers", who's gonna look at that? :)

Whiskers Enhancement List

I wanted to jot down a few of the enhancements that I'll be working on in the near future for another minor update to Whiskers.

• Ability to capture an image using device camera and add it as another entry property.
• Fix bug on PIN unlock screen which does not allow period (.) character, which is allowed on the PIN create screen.
• Lock timer option. Controls when the unlock screen shows. always, 30 sec., 1 min, 3 min, 5 min, 15 min, 30 min, and never options. Default is 1 min.
• Support for Landscape orientation.

Not a huge list of items but a few enhancements I will put in to improve Whiskers just a little more.

Stop it already Visual Studio 2012!

I don't hate Visual Studio 2012. In fact, I love it. I also love Metro style apps and have been quietly working on one. The first version of the application is even in the Store.

The disappointment is that almost every step of the way while creating this application, i'm met with resistance and refusal by Visual Studio 2012. There is nothing worse than an IDE that crashes and prevents you from accomplishing the work you need to finish. What's worse is when some functionality used to work but an update to the IDE introduces a problem.

On the surface, the Visual Studio 2012 July Update seems to make the IDE speedy, which is always a great thing. However, its things like this, things that used to work but now don't, that just make me want to bang my head against the keyboard!

Come on guys! Stop breaking things that used to work!