Naturespace | Blog

We are currently in development of a forum that allows for an organized way to post and read user descriptions and reviews of the in-app purchases. Until this forum is created, we invite you to submit them here. If you are reading this on Facebook and would like to review a track without your name being linked to it, send it in an email, and we will post it for you without identifying you. Rather than have us describe the tracks more, we feel that user feedback would be more useful to people. Clearly, we would never say “I didn’t like this one”, but we want to know just as much as anyone if there are tracks that are disappointing or just different than you expected. Obviously, we want to hear all the positive reviews as well as anything else you think would be helpful to others. While we will retain the right to remove anything we feel is offensive or off-topic, we won’t be deleting negative reviews. We want this to be helpful, not an ad. Also, any requests for new audio will be considered; feel free to suggest them here as well. When the forum is complete, we will integrate all reviews there. As always, we look forward to hearing your feedback.

We have confirmed that there is an issue regarding excessive energy consumption issue with some phones. Energy consumption and battery life are a bit of a moving target because the phones out there are all different in terms of battery health. So the feedback we have received via email from users has been very helpful (and really, really concise). We have the solution and are in testing now to confirm that the changes don’t negatively affect any other component of the app, as well as quantifying the update’s effect on energy consumption across many phones with different stages of battery life. We will keep you posted. Thanks for your patience while we figure it out. The fix is coming soon.

We are excited to announce the release of Naturespace 2.0 as an update to the highly successful free app. Many new features have been added, as well as a vast catalog of all-new content available via in-app purchasing. This release is the culmination of many years recording the sounds of the natural world with our holographic microphone techniques.

“How am I supposed to know what I am buying without preview?”

We knew this was coming, it’s not an oversight, it’s a carefully considered decision. Here are a few of the reasons why we chose to not offer a preview function…

Before we get into the subjective realities of having preview or not, there is something you may not realize, and it’s something we have known for so long that we forget that everyone else probably doesn’t know this, but it’s true. Now, you won’t be surprised to know that Apple has big, giant servers. That’s because Apple hosts the files for iTunes music, both the songs and the previews you get there, Apple hosts the files for the iTunes movies and their previews, too. And Apple hosts the files that are the actual apps in the app store (including Thundergod), but… in-app purchases are not hosted by Apple. They are hosted by us. That includes any previews that would be involved. Imagine if every band on iTunes had to host their own files and previews, both financially and technically. Now, if we were a paid app, maybe we could build that cost of serving previews into the cost of the app. But we are a free app. There are way more people who download and use free apps than paid. Previews would become it’s own form of entertainment rather than a means to provide useable information. It becomes a game; read about a track, hear what it’s like, and move on to the next one. The need to hear it has been satisfied, and the listener never actually had the experience. Clearly this is in no one’s best interest, not yours and not ours. And now, with everyone previewing all the stuff, most of them having no intention of buying anything, since they are just curious and checking it out, it’s very possible that we just went out of business because of hosting costs. There are 85 million iPhones out there. It’s simply the financial reality of being a free app. So if we have to serve it, we have to charge for it. Below is all of the other reasons why we don’t like preview; it covers the preview issues that affect people who would actually buy Naturespace.

Naturespace is unique, it is more than just nature sounds, it is holographic audio. It can take up to several minutes to acclimate to a holographic space when you hear it for the first time. This isn’t just some lame excuse, it’s totally real. The listener would be making their decision based on a false premise: that they can know what the experience of listening to the space for 10 minutes would be like if they listened to it for 30 seconds. While it may be true that by hearing the sound of a cardinal in a preview, they may have avoided buying a track with a cardinal because they have 30 cardinals in their yard now and the last thing they want is another one in their headphones. But what if the cardinal wasn’t in the preview? The point being that many of our loops are long, undulating, changing ambiences, with all sorts of sounds that may or not be present in a 30 second preview. No matter what 30 seconds we pick, it won’t tell you everything about it. It will only tell a tiny bit. We truly believe that in general, you can’t know whether you like a Naturespace track until you have owned it for a while. You can not tell if the holographic space is relaxing in 30 seconds. It is simply not possible. Our tracks are between 6 and 13 minutes long and are designed to transport you to another space. 30 seconds is a weak analogy to the experience you have when listening for 10 minutes; a single rumble of thunder can last up to 40 seconds. Do you think you would be able to get a sense of our thunderstorms in 30? Not in any meaningful way.

We realize that for some, perhaps many, the lack of preview is a deal breaker, and we understand that. For those people, we hope you frequently enjoy and use the free tracks that come with the app; we strongly believe that it is a completely useable app with no further purchase required. It is not a “lite” version, with features missing until you pay for them. The only thing that costs money is adding to your library. Many tracks are a dollar, the rest are 2 dollars, and a few are 3 dollars. We think it’s worth the risk. Remember, all these recordings are our own, unlike many other sound apps in the app store that are more of a repository of lots of sounds with extremely variable levels of quality. Naturespace quality is consistent and self evident.

We do care what you think, so please let us know by emailing us, by posting here on our blog, or on Facebook, where we can respond to you (unlike the reviews in the app store where we have no way to communicate with you).

Thundergod has been updated and is available for download. We have added Aegir, God of the Sea to the collection, as well as an enhanced sleep timer. Also, Thundergod now retains the earbud optimization settings, and you can now scroll the list of tracks with your finger. Soon, an update for the free player will be available as well.

Apple has chosen Thundergod for the “What’s Hot” section of the iTunes App Store. If this is how you found us, then we would like to welcome you to Naturespace! Thundergod is an app that will continue to expand and grow… more storms, and a few other surprises. And please, feel free to ask us questions either via this blog, on Facebook, or on Twitter. We have no way of communicating with you via the app store and customer support is a priority at Naturespace.

There is also much information to be had on our website for those who are interested.

In 2008, we camouflaged our recording equipment in a costume, and followed our kids around while trick-or-treating. This particular neighborhood was chosen for it’s overly enthusiastic community. As a thank you for being a Naturespace fan, we are giving it away for free until the end of Halloween, at which point it will disappear like a ghost. Let us know what you think!

Remember, headphones only for the holographic effect.

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Thundergod has been reviewed by The Unofficial Apple Weblog. Check it out! If anyone has any questions about Thundergod, please feel free to post your question here. We take customer satisfaction very seriously, but we have no means to respond to you via the app store. That’s why we have this blog!

Location Spotlight:  St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge, Florida

About a quarter-mile offshore, at the mouth of the Apalachicola River in the Gulf of Mexico, is a small, undeveloped barrier island, St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge. With many types of habitats, ranging from tidal marsh to freshwater lakes and streams, St. Vincent is a haven for many endangered species. Bald eagles, alligators, sea turtles, indigo snakes, colonies of bats, red wolves, and a vast compliment of migratory and tropical birds take up residence here.

With no motor vehicles allowed, and access to the island only by boat, St. Vincent is preserved in as natural a state as possible. Hunting is done in a managed way with the goal of maintaining wildlife populations at a level compatible with the habitat. Our visit to St. Vincent was a unique pleasure; the absence of motors always brings us joy, but it was the uniqueness of such a small island with so many diverse species and habitats that really stands out for us. The Naturespace track Infinite Shoreline was recorded here. Since it is at the mouth of the river, the waves strike the shore at a very oblique angle, which presents a waveline that cascades from right to left, as opposed to head-on. Totally unique, quiet, clean, diverse, and on the ocean; it is one of our favorite spots so far.