084 - Apps & Video Games

Small additions like sound effects and haptic feedback can make an app feel alive. In this video I walk through a few apps that do it well, show how I've used it in Futureland and Kompressor, and point you at the API you need on macOS.

In this video:

• Pieoneer: https://appahead.studio/apps/pieoneer/
• Futureland: https://futureland.tv
• Kompressor: https://kompressor.app
• Playdate: https://play.date
• Ivory: https://tapbots.com/ivory/

The macOS API for trackpad haptics is NSHapticFeedbackManager. It's Force Touch trackpad only, and it takes about five minutes to wire up.

One thing I got wrong in my own app: using the exact same sound for every action. It gets annoying fast. Vary the pitch or randomize between a few samples.