About Me
My name's John and I'm passionate about mobile apps. I've spent a lot of time over the past few years developing fun and useful apps and I'd like to invite you to download them, try them, and let me know what you think!
Lotto Lens
Scan your UK National Lottery tickets to find out instantly if you’ve won a prize. See how many numbers you matched and how much money you’ve won.
Join over 750,000 users and try for yourself
Looking FWD
Count down to important events in your life - birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc. Instantly import birthdays straight from your Contacts. Never forget an event again!
Join over 20,000 users and try for yourself
Count The Pigs
Use this fun app to record the score as you play Pass The Pigs with your friends. The app includes cute sounds and photographs of all of the positions.
Join over 13,500 users and try for yourself
Bed Time
A simple and elegant clock with a focus on displaying the time in the most pleasing and readable way possible. Dark and dim at night; bright and vibrant during the day.
Join over 12,500 users and try for yourself
Count The Dots
Use this fun app to record the score as you play Yahtzee / Yatzy with your friends. Throw the dice and tap to automatically keep track of your score.
My newest app!
A review of Bed Time on the App Store, and why I love making apps so much:
"This is exactly what I wanted for my iPad. As simple and easy as can be. My eyes are getting bad and first thing in the morning is the worst. But with this I can see the time with out my glasses. With my glasses I can see it across the room. This app made my life better. Funny how a simple thing can make such a difference. Thank you app creator."
★★★★★
© John Mackay. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy
When I started out on my career working with companies developing software, I was extremely naive to the amount of data being captured. Years ago, software was expensive and while it often contained analytics and limited tracking, the companies intentions were typically honourable; they used the information simply to make the software better. However, with each passing year, and with consumers' mindsets now firmly with the expectation that software should be free, companies have had to find other ways to make money. This has resulted in a frankly mind-blowing amount of tracking, analytics, adverts, spam, etc.I often receive two types of emails, one from consumers complaining that I dare to charge money for my apps, and the other from data mining companies offering me lots of money to collect data from my users. The easy solution is to simply sell users data and blast them with adverts. I will never do that.Most of my apps have a small and transparent cost because it takes me a lot of time and hard work to develop apps, and some also have significant infrastructure costs to keep them running. And dog food isn't free and Baxter likes to eat!I treat your data and your privacy in the same way I expect mine to be treated. I will never ask you for any information I don't need in order to provide core functionality within the app, and I'll explain why I need that data at the time it's requested and how it will be used.I don’t share your personal information with third-parties, except where required by law. I will only retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide you with a service.
© John Mackay. All rights reserved.
Terms of Service
1. TermsBy accessing this website and by using the mobile applications created by me, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms of service, all applicable laws and regulations, and agree that you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws. If you do not agree with any of these terms, you are prohibited from using or accessing this site and mobile applications. The materials contained in this website are protected by applicable copyright and trademark law.2. Use LicensePermission is granted to temporarily download one copy of the materials (information or software) on my website for personal, non-commercial transitory viewing only. This is the grant of a license, not a transfer of title, and under this license you may not:
modify or copy the materials;
use the materials for any commercial purpose, or for any public display (commercial or non-commercial); attempt to decompile or reverse engineer any software contained on my website or developed by me; remove any copyright or other proprietary notations from the materials; or
transfer the materials to another person or “mirror” the materials on any other server.This license shall automatically terminate if you violate any of these restrictions and may be terminated by me at any time. Upon terminating your viewing of these materials or upon the termination of this license, you must destroy any downloaded materials in your possession whether in electronic or printed format.3. DisclaimerThe materials on my website and within the mobile applications are provided on an ‘as is’ basis. I make no warranties, expressed or implied, and hereby disclaims and negates all other warranties including, without limitation, implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property or other violation of rights. Further, I do not warrant or make any representations concerning the accuracy, likely results, or reliability of the use of the materials on its website, mobile applications, or otherwise relating to such materials or on any sites linked to this site.4. LimitationsIn no event shall I or my suppliers be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of data or profit, or due to business interruption) arising out of the use or inability to use the materials on my website or mobile applications, even if I have been notified orally or in writing of the possibility of such damage. Because some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties, or limitations of liability for consequential or incidental damages, these limitations may not apply to you.5. Accuracy of materialsThe materials appearing on my website and mobile applications could include technical, typographical, or photographic errors. I do not warrant that any of the materials on my website are accurate, complete or current. I may make changes to the materials contained on my website or mobile applications at any time without notice. However I do not make any commitment to update the materials.6. LinksI have not reviewed all of the sites linked to my website and I'm not responsible for the contents of any such linked site. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement. Use of any such linked website is at the user’s own risk.7. ModificationsI may revise these terms of service for my website and mobile applications at any time without notice. By using my website and mobile applications you are agreeing to be bound by the then current version of these terms of service.8. Governing LawThese terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United Kingdom and you irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in that location.
© John Mackay. All rights reserved.
Contact Me
Please send me a message by completing the form below. I'd love to hear from you! If you're messaging about a specific app, please remember to specify the name of the app and the platform you're using.
If you'd rather email me, you can do so at hello@johnmackay.dev
© John Mackay. All rights reserved.
About Me
My name's John and I'm passionate about mobile apps. I live in Scotland with my best friend Baxter.For as long as I can remember, all I ever wanted to do was work with technology. After graduating with an honours degree in Computer Science from the University of St. Andrews, I embarked on a 20 year long career as a software quality engineer. I've had the privilege of working with some of the largest companies in the world, helping improve software experiences for millions of people.I've recently taken the next step on my journey by developing a selection of my own mobile apps. I've spent a lot of time over the past few years continually improving them in the hope that you also find them fun and useful. Download them, try them, and let me know what you think!
© John Mackay. All rights reserved.
Lotto Lens
If you purchase UK National Lottery tickets, join my hundreds of thousands of customers and download Lotto Lens today!Simply scan your Lotto, EuroMillions, Thunderball, Set For Life and HotPicks tickets to find out instantly if you’ve won a prize. Lotto Lens will tell you how many numbers you matched and how much money you’ve won. It also checks those pesky Raffle numbers for you.The best bit? You can scan your tickets as soon as you purchase them and Lotto Lens will check the ticket automatically once the draw has taken place and send you an alert if you’ve won a prize. Never worry about forgetting to check your ticket again!There are many other great features including smart ticket reminders, syndicate management to keep track of who’s paid and who’s not, and alerts of the latest results.Lotto Lens is fast, fun and incredibly useful. Download today and start scanning!
Please note that Lotto Lens is not associated with The National Lottery or Camelot UK Lotteries Limited.A review of Lotto Lens on the App Store:
"Have been using this app for some months now and very pleased with it. Simple and quick to use and takes all the worry out of checking not just the numbers but the raffles as well."
★★★★★
© John Mackay. All rights reserved.
Looking FWD
What are you looking forward to? Looking FWD helps you count down to important events in your life, such as:• Birthdays
• Anniversaries
• Holidays
• Sporting events
• Anything else you can think of ... pay day, perhaps!You can create your own event types and you can customise all of your events with photos and emoji. You can also create secret events which will only be displayed when you authenticate. Events can be configured to repeat and to send you reminders. You can also quickly import birthdays from your contacts and events from your calendar. Never forget an event again!There's also a beautiful set of widgets so that you can view your upcoming events at a glance right on your home screen.All of your events will be kept in sync across all of your devices via iCloud.
A review of Looking FWD on the App Store:
"I have been using this app for a year and love it more and more with each use. I recently decided to explore some other apps and came back to Looking FWD because none offered all of the features that I have come to love. 1. Offers repeating events 2. Uses emoji as event icons 3. Syncs with iCloud Repeating events are a requirement if you want to be reminded about birthdays and anniversaries. What I like about Looking FWD — and could not find in any other app — is that it also calculates the number of the birthday or anniversary and shows it in the event list. Hence, you can not only see how many days to someone’s upcoming birthday, but you can also see how old they will be. I LOVE this. Using emoji for event icons turns out to be incredibly flexible. I looked at other apps that only offered a built-in icon set and found them limiting compared to the world of detail and options available through the emoji character set. Finally, It was not clear from inside the app that it syncs with iCloud (which is what sent me in search of other apps). When I discovered that the sync is automatic, I am back to stay."
★★★★★
© John Mackay. All rights reserved.
Count The Pigs
Count The Pigs is a scoreboard for the Pass The Pigs game. Use the app to record the score as you play the game with your friends.Features include:• Keep the score of 2 players (or unlimited players with an in-app purchase)
• All of the scores are automatically calculated as you tap on the positions
• You can configure the app to how you like to play the game
• Every position thrown and point earned is saved for posterity
• All positions include a picture of the pigs
• You can enable and disable players to maintain their results historyNote that this app is a scoreboard for playing the physical game; it does not include an electronic version of the game.
A review of Count The Pigs on the App Store:
"Awesome niche app. Well thought out app that fills a niche. Better than paper and even small children can be the “swineherd.” Gladly purchased in app to add more players."
★★★★★
© John Mackay. All rights reserved.
Bed Time
A simple and elegant clock with a focus on displaying the time in the most pleasing and readable way possible. There's a dark mode, with the ability to lower the brightness so that the time is only just readable, ideal for use at night as a bedside clock. During the day, the light mode with full and vibrant colours can be used to keep track of the time while you work.As well as customising the clock with a selection of colours and brightness levels, you can choose to display or hide the date, seconds, use the 12 or 24 hour clock, and of course toggle between night and day mode. The layout of the clock intelligently adjusts to make the best use of the screen whether your device is in portrait or landscape. Bed Time also includes a set of calming sounds - such as rain, ocean waves, a burning fire, etc - to help you drift off to sleep.Bed Time is designed with simplicity in mind - just tap the screen and a small selection of controls will be displayed - or alternatively you can use simple gestures:• Swipe left and right to cycle through a selection of colours
• Swipe up and down to adjust the brightness (which goes extremely low so as to not disturb your sleep)
• Pinch and zoom to show or hide the date
• Long press to switch between 4 different styles
• Double tap to quickly toggle light and dark modeThe Bed Time app is designed to be used in conjunction with a stand on your bedside table or desk.
Pro Tip! You can use the Shortcuts app to automatically open Bed Time when you connect your iPhone to its charger at night time. Click here to see how!
A review of Bed Time on the App Store:
"Seems like every clock app wants a subscription these days (you’re kidding me right?!) or spams you with ads, banners, etc. This app is simple and elegant. No nags or anything. Easily worth supporting the dev with $1.99 for coffee."
★★★★★
© John Mackay. All rights reserved.
Count The Dots
Count The Dots is a scoreboard for the Yahtzee / Yatzee / Yatzy game. Use the app to record the score as you play the game with your friends.Features include:• Keep the score of 2 players (or unlimited players with an in-app purchase)
• All of the scores are automatically calculated as you tap on the dice
• Every point earned and Yahtzee thrown is saved for posterity
• All dice sequences include an explanation and example
• You can enable and disable players to maintain their results historyNote that this app is a scoreboard for playing the physical game; it does not include an electronic version of the game.
My newest app!
© John Mackay. All rights reserved.
Open Bed Time Automatically
You can use the Shortcuts app to automatically open Bed Time when you connect your iPhone to its charger at night time by following these steps:1. Open the Shortcuts app and make sure the Shortcuts tab bar item is selected
2. Tap + to add a new Shortcut
3. Search the Actions for If and add an If statement
4. Tap Condition and select Current Date
5. Tap Current Date and select Time
6. Tap is exactly and change to is after
7. Tap Time and select the time you would want Bed Time to open e.g. 10:00pm
8. Search the Actions for Open App
9. Tap App within the Open action and select Bed Time
10. Drag the Open Bed Time action so that's it's between the If and End If statements
11. Tap the arrow at the top to rename your shortcut and then tap Done to save it
12. Tap the Automation tab bar item and
13. Tap + to add a new Automation
14. Tap Charger, Is Connected, Run Immediately
15. Tap Next and select the Shortcut you just createdThat's it! Now anytime you connect your iPhone to its charger, if it's after the time you specified, Bed Time will automatically open.
© John Mackay. All rights reserved.