Inkpad: Vector illustration app for the iPad, now open source
To expand on my motivation for open-sourcing Inkpad and Brushes:The biggest reason is the ideological element. For all the usual reasons, I’ve come to feel that software should be free/open-source. I feel really good now that these apps are free software. I can’t remember the last time I felt this happy to be working on them. I’m fortunate enough to be in a position where I can pursue other values in life besides dollars. Turns out I really like GitHub stars.In addition to that, I experienced serious burnout after we spent a year (2012) rewriting Brushes to be a more modern iOS app. This was in response to Procreate which, in my opinion, blew all the existing painting apps out of the water. (Now that Brushes is open-source, I can feel free to compliment a competitor.)Despite our own impression that we had radically improved Brushes with minimal UI changes, the update was poorly received by many existing users. At that point I essentially lost all motivation to pursue it as a business.Ultimately, I decided that rather than letting the apps rot on the store, or trying to sell them to another developer, releasing the source code was the right thing to do. I’m hoping to collaborate with other developers, and keep Inkpad and Brushes alive as open-source projects for as long as there is interest.