Herotime launched in select countries

Just a quick update, and a big one: Herotime smart stopwatch finally launched in select countries in late March. After the mailing list, the closed beta, and the patent filing, there is now a version 1 that anyone in a supported country can put in their pocket and take to the pool.

What's in version 1

This first public release already carries the essentials that make Herotime a real multi stopwatch rather than a clock app:

• Multi-athlete timing — the fully functional, quite stable core of the app: start several athletes, catch every split, and let Herotime keep track of who owns which time.
• Full history review — every timing session is saved and browsable in the app. No more times dying on a stopwatch display or on a wet piece of paper.
• Selective sharing — as requested by many early users, sharing timing results can now be restricted to just the athletes you select. Hand a swimmer her times, and only her times.

We already have quite a few early users out there — in addition to our crowd of beta testers — and their feedback is shaping every build. Sorry it took me a moment to write this up; shipping came first.

A name that says who it's for

You'll find the app on Apple's App Store as "Herotime – Smart Multi Stopwatch for Sports Coaches." That name is doing deliberate work: this is a multi stopwatch, and it is built for the people who time other people — coaches, timekeepers, and the parents drafted into the job at every meet. I hope it communicates that well enough. What do you think? If you find the time, do also let me know what you think of the description, the screenshots, and the video intro on the store page.

Not in a supported country yet?

The launch is deliberately rolling out country by country, so I can watch closely how the first cohorts use the app and fix what needs fixing before going wider. If your country isn't supported yet and you'd still like to get your hands on a — the first? — practical multi stopwatch app, get in touch at marco@bluemedialabs.com and tell me a little about your background as a timekeeper. I'll gladly follow up.

Any comments or suggestions are highly welcome, as usual. This is a milestone, but it is very much the first one.